Confession,confrontation And Forgiveness The Essentials For True Happiness Series

CONFESSION,CONFRONTATION AND FORGIVENESS

The Essentials for True Happiness.

By Henry Jaegers

“So it shall be when he becomes guilty in one of these, that he shall confess that in which he has sinned. He shall then prepare as a burnt offering according to the ordinance. So the priest shall make atonement on his behalf for his sin which he has committed, and it will be forgiven him”. (Leviticus 5:5, and 5:10 )

I have often heard uninformed people say that the Old Testament was for the Jews under the law, and but in the New Testament we are under grace. This study in Leviticus shows some basic New Testament principles that those holding to this previous view will totally miss. From cover to cover, the Bible is the absolute word of God. Although times change, and God's plan is more fully realized, the truth is, that God never changes. He is still holy and perfect, and man is totally depraved. When man commits sin, God in his love and mercy provides a way for restoration. The comments in this article contain facts that many Christians seem to misunderstand.

A simple illustration can be seen in how God dealt with our first parents. First, God created Adam perfectly. He had no need. His surroundings, and his person were created without flaw. If we were to say God made any mistake in making Adam, it would probably be in allowing Adam to make a choice. But that was no mistake, that was part of God's perfect plan.

Next we find God giving Adam just one command. He was not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That should be easy enough but as we shall see, it wasn't. Adam and his wife eventually succumbed to temptation and took of the forbidden fruit. Upon doing so Adam experienced a great separation. He didn't know what to call it but we know it to be the word " guilt””. Guilt is a great motivator to get us to do something, and true to its purpose, Adam acted and covered himself with fig leaves. Full of fear and guilt, Adam beside covering himself with fig leaves, hid himself in the garden. But God being the great loving compassionate One that he is, came looking for Adam. We cannot hide from God although we may fool ourselves into thinking we can. We cannot cover our own guilt either, because God knows all about it and the only way to get rid of guilt by turning to God.

We find God in the Garden calling out to Adam “”where are you" It was not that God didn't know where he was, but something had to happen that was important. Adam had to face the fact of his guilt, and God was calling him into accountability. God began the process of removing Adams fig leaf covering to present him with something better. During this time of confrontation, Adam made all kinds of excuses before he finally confessed to God that he had sinned. Most Bible expositors do not tell us, but it's there. Before God could give Adam a covering sufficient for his sin, he first had to be brought to the place of confession. Once Adam acknowledged his sin, God gave him a new covering of skins and gave him an opportunity for a new beginning. That is what being born again is all about.

We find this idea of confrontation many times in Scripture, but the one most prominent is when Nathan confronted David about his sin. How important this process was. We do not know or could not imagine the depth that David could have sunk had Nathan not confronted him first about his sin. I remember talking to a new pastor in a church I attended and I told him that the church he was pastoring was "a safe church." He didn't know what I meant by that. Can you imagine a man called of God, not understanding that a safe church was one as never having any fear of being confronted about sin. I have attended many churches just like that one since the time I shared this with him. Somehow men need to know what the purpose of guilt is. The law in its application is meant to convict man of sin, using guilt to drive him to seek a remedy. Many people become superficial because the fact of sin has never been brought to the surface.

Once a man has received God's covering for sin then a new phase of the Christian life begins. Receiving God's forgiveness, and covering opens up new opportunities for spiritual growth and development. God never intends for us to remain neutral. Many Christians never experience true happiness in their life because they have not known, by experience, the fact that God loves them. They are content to live in the superficial mold and never realize that true happiness comes by giving and serving. That's what Christ has created us for. “Saved to serve ïs a statement that opens the door to true happiness.