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Is Confession of Sin Required for Forgiveness?

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Does God only forgive the sins we confess? Is confession of sin requires for the forgiveness of sin?

When it comes to the issue of the unforgivable sin, some people seem to believe that all sin is “unforgiven” until we confess it. In other words, you are not forgiven unless you confess.

This idea is drawn primarily from 1 John 1:9:

1 John 1:9 if we confess our sins

While I could get into the Greek, parse the words, diagram the sentence, look at the grammar, and perform word studies on this verse (which I have done in the past) I think that would bore you to tears. So let me just summarize for you what I believe 1 John 1:9 and the surrounding context teaches.

Confession and 1 John 1:9

Once a person believes in Jesus for eternal life, they begin their relationship with God just like any baby begins its relationship with its mother: in perfect harmony and peace. In the case of God’s family, the Father and the child are in perfect fellowship (1 John 1:3).

As we remain in fellowship, the blood of Jesus continually purifies us from all sin (1 John 1:7). As new believers, we may not know all that God expects from members of His household. We may not know how to live according to rule and reign of God. As a result, it is probably not long—maybe only a few seconds—before the new believer sins. When this happens, what does God do? God forgives. Repentance and confession are not required because new believers often do not know how to properly behave as a member of the family of God.

I once sat with a brand new believer who used profanity in his very first prayer. I smiled to myself as I listened to him pray, and I believe God smiled also. Was the bad word a sin? Yes. Was God approving of this man’s sin? Of course not. But God is thrilled with every new person who is born into His family no matter how they come to Him.

All of us should be extremely grateful for this. I am convinced that all of us commit numerous sins every day which we do not realize are sinful. And if we had to specifically confess each one of these sins, we would spend all day trying to figure out what was sinful and what wasn’t, and confessing anything and everything which might potentially be sinful, just so that we could make sure we had confessed everything. Thankfully, we do not have to do this, because Jesus cleanses us from all sin, whether we confess it or not.

Forgive our SinsBut there comes a day in the life of every believer when God decided to start working on us with a particular sin. There is no set order or timeframe on sins God seeks to liberate us from. God works with each person in His own time and His own way. But He does work on each one of us. God decides that a particular behavior or thought pattern in our life must change. He wants to make us look more like Jesus, and help us better reveal the light of the Gospel, and to do that, we must straighten out a particular area of our life.

So God instructs the Holy Spirit to begin working on us in that area. When this happens, God has already forgiven us for this sin.

But when we sin, God wants us to come to Him and admit what we have done, and thank Him for the forgiveness we have in Jesus Christ (1 John 1:8-9). This helps maintain our fellowship with God.

Family Relationship and Fellowship

It is like any parent-child relationship. If a child sins against a parent, and the parent asks the child about it, the worst thing is for the child to deny it. The child is caught, and denial only compounds the problem.

But if the child confesses what they have done, then the fellowship between parent and child is maintained. This is how it works with God as well.

God, your heavenly Father, loves you so much, that He has already forgiven you for all of your sins, past, present, and future.

There is no sin which you can commit which will surprise God or which will cause Him to separate you from His love.

But when He makes us aware of a sin we are committing, He desires and expects us to agree with Him that we have sinned. If we do not agree, then this is essentially the same as calling God a liar (1 John 1:8) which only makes the damage in our fellowship greater. If, however, we agree with him that we have sinned, then the fellowship is restored.

Note as well that in the case of sin, it is never God who breaks fellowship with us, but we who break fellowship with God. When we sin, we turn away from God, but He never turns away from us.

Our relationship with God is like a relationship with any family member. Once the relationship is established by birth, nothing can break it. But the fellowship can be radically damaged, and the only way to restore the fellowship is through confession.

This is how I understand 1 John 1:9. It is a call to maintain fellowship with God by agreeing with Him when He points out our sin.

God has already forgiven us for all our sins. But when we confess our sins, it is agreeing with Him that we have sinned, so that we can be restored to fellowship with Him. Confession restores fellowship within an already existing relationship.

(And in case you are wondering, you may not need to confess your sins to a priest either…)

Do you fear that you have committed the Unforgivable Sin?

Fear not! You are forgiven. You are loved.

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Can God Forgive Me?

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Forgiven

If there is a sin which you believe God cannot forgive, just remember that there are a whole host of sins mentioned in the Bible that true believers have committed, and yet they are still part of God’s family.

The Bible talks about believers who commit idolatry (1 Kings 11:1-10).

Others believe only for a while and then fall away (Luke 8:13).

We read of some who do not continue in the Word of Christ (John 8:31), do not abide in Christ (John 15:1-8), become disqualified in the race of the Christian life (1 Cor 9:24-27), or resist God’s correction up to the point of physical death (1 Cor 11:30-32).

Still others stray from the faith (1 Tim 1:5-6), shipwreck their faith (1 Tim 1:18-20), fall away from the faith (1 Tim 4:1-3), deny the faith (1 Tim 5:8), cast off initial faith to follow Satan (1 Tim 5:12-15), stray from the faith by loving money (1 Tim 6:9-10), teach false doctrine (1 Tim 6:20-21), and deny Christ and live faithless lives (2 Tim 2:11-13).

We have the examples of people in the Bible who murdered and yet are part of God’s family (Jacob’s sons).

Other men like Solomon, Amaziah and Uzziah will most likely be in heaven, but did not live faithfully to God during their lives.

There is Lot who committed incest with his daughters, Ananias and Sapphira who lied to the church and to the Holy Spirit and who died as a result, but will still be in heaven.

Scripture is full of examples of people who committed almost every sort of sin, and yet by every indication, were still forgiven by God and will spend eternity with God in heaven.

The grace of God runs deeper and wider than most of us will ever know. The ocean of God’s grace never runs dry. The limits of God’s grace are never reached.

No matter what you have done, there is forgiveness for all your sins through the grace and mercy of God.

And not only is there forgiveness, but you have already been forgiven. See here and here.

Do you fear that you have committed the Unforgivable Sin?

Fear not! You are forgiven. You are loved.

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Is Failure to Believe in Jesus the Unforgivable Sin?

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believe in JesusOne popular view about the unforgivable sin is that it occurs when someone fails to believe in Jesus for eternal life.

The idea behind this view is that while God forgives all sin, He cannot and will not forgive a person for refusing to believe in Jesus until they actually believe in Jesus for eternal life.

In other words, if they continue in their unbelief until death, then they will never be forgiven, and will therefore be eternally separated from God. Of course, once a person believes in Jesus for eternal life, they are forgiven of this sin as well, and will spend eternity with God.

I held this view for many years, but eventually rejected it for several reasons.

Reason I Rejected this View on the Unforgivable Sin

First, in Matthew 12:31-32, Jesus says that those who commit the unforgivable sin will never be forgiven. It is not that they might be forgiven if they eventually believe in Jesus, but that once this sin is committed, it will never be forgiven. To say that it will never be forgiven as long as they don’t believe removes all the force from Jesus’ warning, and makes His argument redundantly self-evident.

Second, if Jesus was simply talking about the sin of unbelief, why didn’t He just talk about unbelief? He frequently warns people about their lack of faith, so if that was the issue here, why not make the same warning again?

Third, the big problem with this view on the unforgivable sin is that it has almost nothing to do with the Holy Spirit. The concern of Jesus in this particular text is that the unpardonable sin is against the Holy Spirit. If a particular view about this sin can be explained without ever mentioning the Holy Spirit, this is a good indication that this view is wrong.

Finally, this explanation of the unforgivable sin reveals a basic misunderstanding about forgiveness. Many wrongly assume that God does not and cannot forgive us of our sins unless we first do something to trigger His forgiveness. For example, many believe that God does not and cannot forgive us unless we first confess or repent of our sin. Those posts I linked to show that this is not true.

Similarly, some believe that God does not or cannot forgive us of our sins unless we first believe in Jesus. But this also is not true. Forgiveness is the free gift of God to all people for all their sin regardless of whether they want it, receive it, ask for it, or believe in Jesus for it. This was seen in a previous post about forgiveness.

This, of course, raises questions about how there can be an “unforgivable sin” if God freely forgives us of all our sin. That excellent question will be answered in a future post.

For now, we must reject this view of the unforgivable sin. The unforgivable sin is not a failure to believe in Jesus for everlasting life. God forgives all people freely without condition.

Of course, if you have not yet believed in Jesus for eternal life, why put it off any longer? Believe in Him today.

Do you fear that you have committed the Unforgivable Sin?

Fear not! You are forgiven. You are loved.

Fill out the form below to receive several emails from me which explains how you can know that you are loved and forgiven by God.

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Did Israel commit the unforgivable sin by rejecting Jesus as the Messiah?

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unforgivable sinSince the controversy in Matthew 12 involves Jesus defending His claim to be the Messiah to the religious and national leaders of Israel, some Bible scholars and teachers believe that the unforgivable sin is Israel’s national rejection of Jesus as the Messiah.

The strength of this view is that it does not simply look at what is said and done in the text of Matthew 12:31-32, but looks at the surrounding context of Matthew 12 and the Gospel of Matthew as a whole, and sees that Jesus is trying to show the people of Israel that He is their promised and prophesied Messiah, but no matter what He says or what miracles He performs, they keep rejecting the truth and denying the clear evidence in the signs that He performs.

It is also argued that Matthew 12 is somewhat the turning point in the Gospel of Matthew. From this point on, Jesus begins to minister more toward Gentiles than to Jews (cf. Matt 13–15). Those who hold this view believe that while Jesus came primarily to the Messiah for the Jewish people, after they rejected Him, He refocused His mission toward being the Savior of the world. Matthew 12 is seen as a key text for this transition.

Those who hold this view point out that after the Pharisees claim that Jesus is performing miracles by the power of Satan (Matt 12:24), Jesus calls them an “evil generation” which deserves condemnation for rejecting the Messiah (Matt 12:39-42). After this, Jesus makes several predictions about how God will turn to a people who will not reject Him, and how Jerusalem and the Temple will be destroyed (cf. Matt 13:41-43; 16:1-4; 21:18-19, 42-46; 22:1-14; 24:1-2).

Nobody Can Commit the Unforgivable Sin Today?

Note that if this theory is correct, then nobody is able to commit this sin except for the Jewish people living at the time of Jesus Christ. In other words, since we are not Jewish and we are not living at the time of Jesus, we cannot commit this sin.

According to this view, the unforgivable sin was a particular sin which only Jewish people could commit who were alive during the ministry of Jesus and who saw the signs He was performing and should have recognized Him as their Messiah, but rejected Him instead.

This view is comforting since it makes the unforgivable sin impossible to commit today.

Weaknesses with this View on the Unforgivable Sin

However, the idea that this sin cannot be committed today is also the major weakness of the view. While Scripture does at times include descriptions of unique sins that cannot be committed by future generations—such as God’s instruction to Adam to not eat fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil—it does not seem that this particular sin falls into that category.

It seems that Matthew included this instruction from Jesus not simply to explain what happened to the Jewish people, but also because he believed that the possibility of committing this sin was a real danger for future generations as well.

At the time of writing, Matthew was warning his readers about this sin, and people today must receive this warning as well.

Furthermore, the very words of Jesus indicate a warning for all future generations. He applies the warning to “anyone” and not just to the Jewish people who were alive in His day.

Jesus also says that anyone who speaks against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but this view about Israel’s rejection of Jesus seems to say the opposite, that Jewish people who rejected Jesus by speaking against Him would not be forgiven.

So for these reasons, we can say that the unforgivable sin is not Israel’s national rejection of Jesus as the Messiah.

There is definitely a warning for all people who read this passage in Matthew about the unforgivable sin, and we must not simply say that because we do not live in the days of Jesus that people today cannot commit the unforgivable sin. People probably can commit this sin, but we must not too quickly assume that people have. Instead, we must discern the nature of the unforgivable sin, and then help counsel and love people who fear they have committed a sin which is unforgivable. Most likely they haven’t.

Do you fear that you have committed the Unforgivable Sin?

Fear not! You are forgiven. You are loved.

Fill out the form below to receive several emails from me which explains how you can know that you are loved and forgiven by God.

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Is Attributing the Works of God to Satan the Unforgivable Sin?

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Unforgivable SinMany believe that the sin of blasphemy against the Holy Spirit — or the unforgivable sin — occurs when someone attributes the works of the Holy Spirit to the works of the devil. This view is based on Matthew 12:31-32, where some of the religious rulers state that Jesus was casting out demons by Beelzebub, the ruler of demons (Matthew 12:24).

This is one of the most popular views about the unforgivable sin.

Attributing the Works of the Spirit to the Devil

It is often taught that this sin is committed when a person sees a miraculous work of the Spirit, and rather than give glory to God for what was done, gives credit to the devil instead.

It is believed that this sin is committed when people see the works and miracles of God, but state that the miracles are being performed the power of Satan rather than by the power of God.

This view is commonly held in Pentecostal charismatic circles where miracles, healings, and demonic exorcisms are a frequent occurrence. Leaders of these ministries sometimes state if other people write off supernatural healings, demonic exorcisms, and the gift of tongues as possibly coming from the devil, such people deny the power of the Holy Spirit and commit blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, which supposedly is the unforgivable sin.

Of course, in some charismatic circles, the behavior goes way beyond healing and prophecy and speaking in tongues. Some churches engage in holy laughter, barking like dogs and braying like donkeys, getting slain in the Spirit, rolling in the isles, and having tooth fillings changed to gold.

Yet when non-charismatic Christian leaders state that these sorts of activities are unbiblical and therefore not of God, they are sometimes condemned by charismatic leaders as having committed blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.

So essentially, those who believe that that blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is attributing the works of the Holy Spirit to the devil use the fear of this sin to keep other people from challenging or questioning whether are not their miracles really come from God.

In other words, those who hold to this view use it to quell any challenges and quiet any questions about their ministry. They tell others to not question and not challenge them, because if they do, they might be committing the unforgivable sin.

Problems with this View on the Unforgivable Sin

Though this is a popular view, it is not the best interpretation of Matthew 12:31-32.

First, Scripture is clear that not everything that appears spiritual is from the Holy Spirit. Satan can and does counterfeit the work of God.

Second, we are supposed to test the spirits and see if they are from God (1 John 4:1). If we believe a certain activity is not from God but is a counterfeit deception, it is our obligation to denounce it. It does not seem that God would tell us to test the spirits and denounce those that were false if doing so could accidentally cause someone to commit blasphemy against the Spirit. The warning of Jesus against this sin in Matthew 12 seems to indicate that one commits it intentionally; not accidentally.

Furthermore, many religions and cults other than Christianity see miracles, signs, wonders, speaking in tongues, ecstatic experiences, dreams, visions, healings, and other such things. Certainly charismatics would be quick to denounce these practices as not being from the Holy Spirit, for they are not performed within “Christian” churches. But since these practices are nearly identical in form and frequency as those done in charismatic circles, these charismatic teachers must be careful about condemning these practices in other religions, for could it not be possible that these other miraculous experiences are also from the Holy Spirit? If so, then these charismatic teachers are attributing a work of the Holy Spirit to the devil, and are therefore speaking blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (according to their own definition).

After all, God works in mysterious ways, and we cannot be certain that the Holy Spirit is not at work in the lives of other religious practitioners—even in miraculous ways—with the intent of bringing them to faith in Jesus Christ.

If charismatics are right, they must not condemn any miraculous utterance, prophecy, sign, miracle, answer to prayer, or spiritual experience of any person or religious group as being of the devil, for there is no way to be certain when and where the Holy Spirit is blowing (John 3:8).

So although this theory is compelling and seems to fit the context of Matthew 12:31-32, the fact that it is impossible to live out in real life indicates that it is not the proper understanding. Theology must not only fit with Scripture, but must also fit with what can be lived out in life.

Fourthly and finally, however, this view does not actually fit the context of Matthew 12:31-32.

While it is undoubtedly true that in the context of Matthew 12:31-32 Jesus is performing miracles and casting out demons, and the Pharisees accuse Jesus of doing such things by the power of Beelzebub, this does not mean that condemning the work of the Holy Spirit as a work of the devil is the same as blasphemy against the Holy Spirit.

Note that Jesus does not actually say that the religious leaders have committed the unpardonable sin. Instead, He says they are in danger of committing it. They were on the path to committing this sin, and Jesus was warning them about it. After all, if they had already committed it, why would Jesus warn them about it? He wouldn’t have.

Though the Pharisees accusation Jesus of working together with the devil, Jesus warns them that if they continue on the path they are on, they may likely commit the unpardonable sin. They have not committed it yet, but if they persist in denying all the evidence that is before them, they may come to a place where they put themselves beyond the reach of forgiveness.

So this proves that attributing the work of the Holy Spirit to the devil is not the unforgivable sin.

If you make a mistake in testing the spirits, you are forgiven!

Though we should always strive to rightly discern the Spirits and to see when something is being done by the Spirit of God or by an evil spirit, if we make a mistake and discern wrongly, we have not committed the unforgivable sin. We have simply made an error in judgment, for which there is infinite grace, mercy, and forgiveness.

The Holy Spirit is not so sensitive as to condemn forever those who confuse His works with those of the devil.

He understands that we are influenced in many ways by many voices and that sometimes we lash out at Him in anger, saying things that we do not mean, and thinking things we later regret.

It is a serious sin to say that something is evil when it is good, and this is why Jesus warns the Pharisees when they say this about His miracles. So while such a sin is getting close to the unforgivable sin, it is not the sin itself.

If you have attributed to works of the Holy Spirit to the devil, do not think that God has left you or that the Holy Spirit has abandoned you. Neither is the case. God still loves you and forgives you, and the Holy Spirit is still with you, drawing you to be more like Jesus Christ. If this were not so, you would not be reading this post.

So be encouraged. Be comforted. Recognize that you are forgiven. Then ask God to help you move on from whatever you have said or did so that you can know the truth of His infinite love, and be drawn deeper into fellowship with Him.

Do you fear that you have committed the Unforgivable Sin?

Fear not! You are forgiven. You are loved.

Fill out the form below to receive several emails from me which explains how you can know that you are loved and forgiven by God.

(Note: If you are a member of RedeemingGod.com, login and then revisit this page to update your membership.)

 

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