God doesn’t save us to fail.  He saves us to be victorious, fruitful and abundant, and have a life that goes on into eternity.  He has given us a path and we should walk along it. He will show us what to do and God will show us His truth.  Along that path we need to continuously re-evaluate what is truth to us.  To be successful, we will have to wrestle with the truth.  If we are going to be successful in our relationship with Christ, we need to see our own sin and repent of it.

Christ has offered us complete deliverance from guilt, shame and rejection.  We have all sinned, all have fallen short, and all need Christ to set them free.  There should be no guilt… for Christ has forgiven us!

“All we like sheep have gone astray” – this applies to us all!  We have all done things wrongly under God, and gone our own way, along our own path.  The Bible tells us that this is sin.  And if we sin, we need a saviour.  We read that “the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all”.  This is only applicable if we give our sin to Him.  If we keep that sin, and don’t give it to Him, are we forgiven?  I would say that sin remains on you.  You wouldn’t be free to live a liberated and guilt free life.  Conditions would come back into your life, as you haven’t given it to Him to wash in His blood.

The power of God can break those chains!  If we confess our sins, they are laid upon Christ.  If we hold them back, their power can still work in our lives.  In Proverbs 28: 13 we read:

He who covers his sins will not prosper,
But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.

A Christian who holds onto a sin won’t prosper in His spiritual life.  God will reveal to you what your sins have been and are.  Sometimes a stream of rebellion comes into people’s lives – a rebellion against God.  Over the weeks, their lives change.  Sin can be a shameful thing.  No one wants to be in that place of shame and weakness, but if we cover it up we won’t prosper.  It will niggle away at us and affect us.

But He gives us the answer… confession!  We confess what that sin is (Romans 1 provides a list that levels us all) and He will have mercy.  In 1 John 1:9 we read:

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

We are to confess and repent of our sins!  We confess with our mouths or hearts, and turn away from that thing.  Confession belongs to us and repentance belongs to us.  If we confess and repent, God is faithful to forgive us!  We can’t just buy something to feed better.  Only God brings satisfaction – living above things, fruitfulness.

We can become stale in our walk and not deliver.  Instead we cover the sin and it remains unforgiven.  What will remain covered in our lives?  Love the truth of the scripture!  If we keep thing hidden, they will multiply.  They will bear fruit in our lives and they will hold us in bondage.  Time doesn’t erode sin.  Sin is sin, and it doesn’t go away on its own.  It will ruin and spoil us, and spoil the plans God has for us.

There’s no need to dig out old sins, but if there’s still a sin from long ago in your heart, you need to deal with it!  Christ’s power is the only power that will break the bondage of that sin.  Walking in God’s path is such a blessing for us.  Nothing other than God satisfies!  God has given us a pathway that satisfies, but we have to do this thing as we walk along that path.

God will protect us from the lying accusations of the devil.  He accuses you of things that don’t belong to you.  Sometimes we can rekindle sins.  If we rekindle then, we need to repent of them!  If we hide them, they will keep on bubbling away.  We need to keep confessing and keep repenting, until such time as He calls us unto eternity.  His plan is to protect us!  If you have doubts and guilt, you can throw those things away!  The guilt and shame doesn’t belong to you anymore.  They have been taken by Christ on the cross!  You are free to stand in victory!

Confessing and repenting is part of the call for us to live by the power of Christ.  In Isaiah 61:10 we read:

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord,
My soul shall be joyful in my God;
For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation,
He has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments,
And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

What a wonderful place to be, where your soul is joyful in God!  After confessing and repenting, when you’re in the right place with God, you can stand in the joy and delight of God!  You no longer feel wrong and contaminated, you stand clothed in robes and garments given to Christians by Christ!  The old robes, the upsets and doubts are gone!  The new covering, a new right standing with God Himself, will be given to you by Christ!

Is that something that is precious to you?  Confess your sins and repent.  Come to Christ and trust Him to deal with it.  The miracle is that He does!  And you will move on in Him!   He is faithful.

Amen.