Thursday, October 21, 2010

Dealing with Sin: Confession

Against You—You alone—I have sinned and done this evil in Your sight. So You are right when You pass sentence; You are blameless when You judge. 5 Indeed, I was guilty [when I]  was born; I was sinful when my mother conceived me. 6 Surely You desire integrity in the inner self, and You teach me wisdom deep within.
Psalms 51:4-6 (HCSB)

How do we deal with sin?  We must learn to confess our sin.  Confession is simply saying the same thing God says about it.  David teaches us some important things about confession.
  • Sin is ultimately against God.  We may have done some things too others or against others, but really the transgression mostly is against God.
  • We are inherently evil.  It is not that we as Human beings are born good and turn bad, but rather are born sinful and need to become a new creature to be Holy like God.
  • God desires us to be righteous/Holy.  We are challenged as Christ followers to become what we are not, holy and righteous.  That happens through the process of sanctification as we submit ourselves to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
One of the interesting and truly encouraging truths is that David, a man after God's own heart, knows about confession out of experience.  He too was sinful and needed to confess.  Don't give up Christ follower.  You are not alone!

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Dealing with Sin: Acknowledgement

For I am conscious of my rebellion, and my sin is always before me.
Psalms 51:3 (HCSB)

How do we deal with sin?  For most of us, at least when we are living out of our flesh rather than the Spirit, will try to ignore or excuse sin.  We learn from King David in Psalm 51 that what we need to do is acknowledge our sin.  David called sin what it is sin.  He said I know of "my rebellion."  That's where its at isn't it?  We must recognize that no matter what word we use to describe it, it is a rebellion against the Lord.