Even though, I'm generally in agreement with Joseph Prince's teaching on grace, nevertheless, his teaching on confession of sins nearly flips me this morning! He writes in his book, Unmerited Favor, that we don't need to confess our sin, because he sees that as "work". He explains that 1 John chapter 1 was written not for believers but unbelievers, viz., the Gnostics. 1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sin, God is faithful and just and will forgive us and purify us from all unrighteousness." This verse is for unbelievers and so believers do not need to confess our sins any more.
In his zeal to preach Grace, he seems to have forgotten that faith is a necessary condition to experience grace: "For by GRACE are you saved through FAITH" (Eph 2:8). Faith is not passive believing but always an act. Confession of sin is an ACT of FAITH based on the FACT of Jesus' death on the Cross. It is not to be confused with WORKS, which are self-efforts to justify ourselves before God. If the confession of 1 John 1:9 is "works" then the confession in Rom 10:10 would also be "works" not faith: "For with the heart one BELIEVES and is justified, and with the mouth one CONFESSES and is saved." Paul is saying that we believe (faith) in our hearts, but our mouth CONFESSES what we believe. Confession of sin is possible only if we BELIEVE that God will forgive us and cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness. Confession is a RESPONSE OF HEART FAITH to God's Grace offered in Jesus Christ. Did not Jesus say, "Out of the abundance of our heart our mouth speaks?" (Mt 12.34)
6 comments:
Does a believer says that he has no sin?
If he says that he has no sin then he actually denied Jesus Christ as his savior. He is an unbeliever, isn't.
Let's look at the context to 1 John 1:9 in verse 8 in the Amplified verson:
1 John 1:8
If we say we have no sin [refusing to admit that we are sinners], we delude and lead ourselves astray, and the Truth [which the Gospel presents] is not in us [does not dwell in our hearts].
It is clear that verse 8 is talking about unbelievers.
I quote in sentence "Confession of sin is possible only if we BELIEVE that God will forgive us and cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness".
Exactly, doesn't this sentence describe what John spoke in 1 John 1:8, "If we say we have no sin…” to some unbelievers who said that they have no sin. God already declared that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Some religious leaders always lead their congregations in the confession of sin, before worship, in the midst of worship, after worship, that make you so sin conscious like a heavy burden weighing on you. As a result, we are became very sin-conscious and self-conscious that we must confess all our sin to earn God’s approval fearing the wrath of God if we forget to confess all our sin.
Sadly, these same leaders never preach about the finished work of Jesus on the cross. Just hear what David spoke in Romans 4:8 Blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin."
Let me say, confession of sin does not transform you. It is beholding Jesus Christ that we are transformed from glory to glory.
I hear it from my own ear from Pastor Prince that he is not against believers to confess their sin.
Finally, let me say that Pastor Prince is preaching the Gospel of Grace to the whole world, in USA, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia. Isn’t it a calling?
Dear Christ Alone, I am quite agreeable by & large with Pastor Prince's message on Grace. It's a needed balance to the law-oriented preaching that one hears often from the pulpits in this country & elsewhere. For this reason, I share your belief that Pastor Joseph Prince has a special calling. However, sometime in our zeal to preach a particular doctrine, we may inadvertently take texts out of their contexts to prove our point. So, my issue with Ps Prince is his argument that 1 John 1:8-9 is addressed to unbelievers, not believers. If we look at the context of 1 John 1:8-9 (Ps Prince himself has often said that a text taken out of its context is a "con"...), we will conclude that the "WE" is to be read as "we believers." The only time the Apostle uses "you" in his epistle is in verses 1 & 2 to refer to the readers. Otherwise, "we" refer to the Apostle John & believers like himself. E.g. "If we (believers) say we have fellowship with Him while we walk in darkness..." (v.6). "If we (believers) walk in the light as He is in the light we have fellowship with one another..." (v.7) etc. So verse 9 must be read, "If we (believers) confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us and [continuously] purify us from all unrighteousness." Confession sin does not minimize grace but magnifies grace because grace has no meaning apart from sin. Grace does not make confession UNNECESSARY but makes it POSSIBLE.
Hi Christ Alone
Although I admit that Pastor Prince might be wrong to say that these 1 John 1:9 is written to unbeliever, the whole gospel is all about Grace after the cross.
Do you know that if the whole of 1 John is written to believers, there is no mention of continous confession of sins? Christ has forgiven all our sins when we become believers - past, present and future.
For 1 John 1:9, the word confess in the Greek is not really "confess" in English. It is made up of "homo" and "logos" meaning to speak the same. Who are we speaking the same about our sins? God and us are speaking the same about our sins. What does God speaks about our sins? Hebrew 8:12 is the answer - "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." (NIV)
Long before I ever heard JP preach, the Lord asked me why I continued to ask him to forgive me? I was told that is what I needed to do, but he led me to scripture that he had put robes of righteousness on me and took my filthy robes. Old testament. And my sins are far as East from West and deepest seas. He led me to asking others to forgive me for my mistakes and ill spoken words that hurt them personally. But as far as God is concerned he forgave me fully one time with the Blood of his son. If I could make God love me more by asking him to forgive me every time I sin then that would be good. If sin separated me from God then I would never be able to pray or ask God for anything. When my sin is always before me I am separated from God. This is why God gave his son to die for our sins and God righteously judged them ALL. Even if you don't believe! This is why my Dad asks me to Love my enemies. Because he died for them too!
I appreciate your comments and I do believe God is often quicker to forgive us than it is for us to ask for forgiveness. If the Parable of the Prodigal Son is anything to go by (Luke 15:11-24), it tells us that only when the younger son ADMITTED he had sinned (v.18) that he was able to EXPERIENCE the Father's forgiveness (embrace) and restoration of his rights and privileges as son (Luke 15:20-22). Note that the younger son already has a relationship with his father (he's not an alien). Similarly, when God asked Adam, "Where are you?" (Gen. 3:9), He was not asking Adam for information (God knows everything) but for admission (confession) from Adam that he has sinned. Adam, instead of confession (admitting he had sinned), blamed Eve for the problem. Adam is also a type of believer. But God expects him to admit he has sinned (confessed).
Ephesians 1:3 tells us that God has already blessed believers with every spiritual blessings. I suppose that includes healing from sicknesses. But how many believers are experiencing continual health without sickness? Why? According to Apostle James: "We have not because we do not ask" (Jas 4:3). Just as we can only experience healing when we ask God to heal us, so we can only experience forgiveness of sin when we ask God for forgiveness. This is the basic principle of faith: everything has been given to us in Christ, but to experience every one of God's blessings (forgiveness included), we must believe and ASK for it. There is a gap between Eternal Facts (what God has done for us in Christ) and Experiential Truths (what we experience personally). The gap is bridged by faith: Eternal Facts + Faith ==> Experiential Truths.
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