Five Operations of the Holy Spirit Part 22
As we learn to tell the truth, to refrain from the filthiness of the flesh, to forgive, to be peaceable, to be gentle, we enter fellowship with God and the blood of the Lord Jesus atones for the part of us that has not as yet learned the ways of righteousness.
There is one more thought to be gleaned from I John 1:7: if we do not walk in the light but continue in sinful practices, the blood of the Lord Jesus does not cleanse us from sin. If we have believed in Christ, and then have made no attempt to follow the Holy Spirit but have maintained the filthy practices of the pit from which we were dug, the blood no longer will atone for our sins. The judgment of God will fall on us.
In such case, the Lord will send warnings and afflictions to us. If we still do not heed but resist the loving promptings of the Holy Spirit, we will be chastised or destroyed with the fires of judgment. Men will gather us and cast us into the fire and we will be burned (John 15:6).
If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. (I John 1:8)
Anyone can see that saved people do sin. Sin is sin, and accepting Christ does not change our sin into righteousness. God's judgment is on sin no matter who commits it.
When we Christians claim we have no sin we are deceiving ourselves. There is as much hatred, criticism, backbiting, foolishness, lust, envy, competition, lying, stealing, vaunting, vainglory in the churches as there is in the world. If anyone claims that saved people have no sin, either he is unwilling to see what is in front of him or he has had little experience in the Christian churches.
How do we go about breaking the bondages of our sin? How do we put to death the deeds of our body (Romans 8:13)? How does the Day of Atonement (Leviticus, Chapter 16) work so we can obtain not only forgiveness before the Mercy Seat but also the carrying away of our sins from the camp?
The next verse of I John, Chapter One shows us the way to put to death the deeds of our body: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (I John 1:9)
As we march along in the daily path illumined by the Holy Spirit of God, there arises from time to time an awareness of some sinful practice in our life. It may be a form of spite, hatred, unforgiveness, fear, pride, uncleanness, dishonesty, personal ambition, cruelty or some other sin.
When we go to prayer and are sure that the Holy Spirit is dealing with us concerning this sin, and that our disquiet is not merely an accusation of Satan, we are to confess the sin to God, naming it and judging it to be sin.
When we name the deed, confessing it to God clearly, judging it to be sin and turning away from it in sincere repentance, two events take place: first, God is faithful and righteous to forgive every trace of guilt associated with the history of our practice of that sin; second, He cleanses us from the unrighteousness itself.
We emphasize once again that there is authority and power in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ both to forgive the guilt of our sin and to cleanse our nature from all unrighteousness.
There is delivering power in confession. Satan's hold over us is maintained by keeping our motives and lusts hidden in the dark recesses of our nature. When we are willing to obey the Holy Spirit of God and allow the light of God to illumine our secret thoughts we are on the road to deliverance.
As the disciple fights his way along through the wilderness of this life, the Holy Spirit probes ever deeper into the chambers of his heart. One by one the sins are brought into the light of God.
As they are exposed the disciple is required to name them to God and to judge them as sin. The more clearly they are named and the more forcefully they are rejected the greater is the deliverance from their power.
The process of judging, confessing, and rejecting sin is part of the eternal judgment mentioned in Hebrews 6:2. It is the spiritual fulfilment of the Levitical Day of Atonement (Leviticus, Chapter 16).
The Body of Christ is the judge of all God's creation. When a member of the Body of Christ names his own sin there is enormous power brought to bear on the particular bondage. The disciple judges it as sin and rejects it. The blood of Christ forgives the sin and washes the unrighteousness from the personality. The Holy Spirit fills the particular area of the personality with eternal life.
The result is, the next time the disciple is tempted in the specific area he discovers that he now possesses the power to resist the temptation. When we now draw near to God and resist the devil he flees from us. Try it and see for yourself.
Confession of our sins to God is essential. It is impossible to obtain victory until we do so. We must become increasingly proficient in the process of confessing our sins, learning to distinguish between our introspection and the accusations of the enemy on the one hand, and the conviction of the Holy Spirit on the other hand.
There are pitfalls along the way as we enter the practice of confessing our sins. For example, we know we are getting off the track if gloom and depression settle on us. These never are from the Father but are from the adversary.
We confess our sins as an act of strength and joy in the Holy Spirit, not in the blackness of gloom and despair. Why should we be gloomy and despairing? We need to thank God every day that He shows us our sins and gives us the wisdom and power that enable us to confess our sins and then to resist the devil.
Day after day, day after day, the Holy Spirit leads us against the enemies in our land, so to speak. Day after day we confess the new areas of unrighteous behavior that the Spirit brings to light.
We are not stating that the Holy Spirit will expose some new sin in our personality every day or that we are to confess sins we committed before we trusted in Christ. We are to address only the thinking, speaking, and acting we are practicing now.