Where does the evangelical idea come from that one must only confess their sins to God? Lets rightly divide this subject because I find that this is probably the single most misunderstood doctrine and most attacked by the devil to get people to be trapped in bondage and not hae victory in their walk with Christ.
Why does the organization Alcoholics Anonymous and other organizations like it ( narcotics, porn addicts ) have good success rate. Albeit the success rate is not perfect, it does seem to work. Its because deep down inside, every human has a need and a desire to be loved for exactly who they are without any masks on. So when people go to these meetings and confess publicly that they are alcoholics or narcs and then evryone accepts them for who they are then it makes them feel loved and fulfilled.
This should also happen in the church but unfortunately... when people confess that they are alcoholics in the church instead of getting loving support they get pointing fingers, judgemental glares and all that jazz... but you cannot go on your whole life pretending and hiding the sin that you are doing in secret, the burden on your conscience is too much to bear and it will wear and tear you down, even to the point of giving you mental disorders like double personalities(happened with me)
You see the error of the Catholic church is claiming that sins can be forgiven by the priest and that they must be confessed to Him, because of this error the evangelical church did a reactionary defensive move and said that they can only be confessed to God, which is just as dangerous!!!!Because sin that is kept hidden is in the darkness, and all sin in the darkness that has no light shed on it, it grows. Darkness makes the bad seed grow just like Light makes the good seed grow. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that we are not allowed to confess our sins to other people... in fact it even encourages it, the people in the old testament all openly confesssed their sins in the temple when they were transferred on the the lambs that were killed in their place.. People who came to John the baptist confessed their sins to him and he told them each what to do for each sin they confessed to him...James 5:16 also encourages to confess our sins to one another and pray for one another so that we may be healed.
Look at king David, if when he looked at Bathsheba he had got down on his knees and repented to God right away that would have been that, his sin was just a thought... but no David didn't just think about he took his hands to the plow in an open rebellion against God by stealing Uriah's wife and murdering him. He had time to then confess his sin but no, he hid it. Since God is love and he can't let his children dominated by the sin that grows int he darkness, he sent the prophet to rebuke him and EXPOSE him, after being exposed and the light shone on his sin he had nowhere else to run , so he repented as seen in psalm 51. But it is so much better for us and for God if we do it of our own free will, because God gets more glory that way.
Jesus was willing to go through public shame for us on the cross, people mocking him spitting on him beating him , provoking him ...why are so unwilling to suffer any humiliation and shame for his sake by confessing our sin publicly and testifying about the difference that Jesus is making and doing in our lives so he can receive glory and the prize that he deserves for his suffering?
Lets look at scripture to support what I am saying now:
Joshua chapter 7
The Israelite conquest of canaan which is a foreshadowing of the church, they are going to attack a small people and are convinced of victory , but because of the sin of one man who also tried to hide his sin, the whole army was defeated and humiliated. The sin of one man affected the entire nation . When the man was found out look at what Joshua says to him in verse 19: Give GLORY to GOD, confess what you did, DO NOT hide it from me. In the old testament this kind of sin brought with it a punishment of death and that's what happened to him, to demonstrate God's justice and his fiery wrath towards those who disobey him. But lets look at another example of exposed sin:
When they brought the adulterous woman before Jesus, she was exposed by force, but look at what Jesus did in chapter 8 of John. He looked at her and said neither do i condemn you, according to what Jesus said, he would be the only one able to throw a stone at her and he chose not to and forgave her becuz he saw that she was repentant, He showed God's love in all it's glory, don't you want to give glory to this God?
All sin sooner or later must be confessed to God because all sin is against God but please,
Don't hide your habitual sin from others, confess it to trustworthy people and free yourselves from that burden of trying to keep it hidden, no longer will you come to church crying and repentant and then leave the building turn your back and go do the same sin again, break this nasty cycle with true repentance , be accountable to other christians with your porn/ alcohol addiction, let them pray for you and you will then be victorious and super useful to God in ministry.
Why does the organization Alcoholics Anonymous and other organizations like it ( narcotics, porn addicts ) have good success rate. Albeit the success rate is not perfect, it does seem to work. Its because deep down inside, every human has a need and a desire to be loved for exactly who they are without any masks on. So when people go to these meetings and confess publicly that they are alcoholics or narcs and then evryone accepts them for who they are then it makes them feel loved and fulfilled.
This should also happen in the church but unfortunately... when people confess that they are alcoholics in the church instead of getting loving support they get pointing fingers, judgemental glares and all that jazz... but you cannot go on your whole life pretending and hiding the sin that you are doing in secret, the burden on your conscience is too much to bear and it will wear and tear you down, even to the point of giving you mental disorders like double personalities(happened with me)
You see the error of the Catholic church is claiming that sins can be forgiven by the priest and that they must be confessed to Him, because of this error the evangelical church did a reactionary defensive move and said that they can only be confessed to God, which is just as dangerous!!!!Because sin that is kept hidden is in the darkness, and all sin in the darkness that has no light shed on it, it grows. Darkness makes the bad seed grow just like Light makes the good seed grow. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that we are not allowed to confess our sins to other people... in fact it even encourages it, the people in the old testament all openly confesssed their sins in the temple when they were transferred on the the lambs that were killed in their place.. People who came to John the baptist confessed their sins to him and he told them each what to do for each sin they confessed to him...James 5:16 also encourages to confess our sins to one another and pray for one another so that we may be healed.
Look at king David, if when he looked at Bathsheba he had got down on his knees and repented to God right away that would have been that, his sin was just a thought... but no David didn't just think about he took his hands to the plow in an open rebellion against God by stealing Uriah's wife and murdering him. He had time to then confess his sin but no, he hid it. Since God is love and he can't let his children dominated by the sin that grows int he darkness, he sent the prophet to rebuke him and EXPOSE him, after being exposed and the light shone on his sin he had nowhere else to run , so he repented as seen in psalm 51. But it is so much better for us and for God if we do it of our own free will, because God gets more glory that way.
Jesus was willing to go through public shame for us on the cross, people mocking him spitting on him beating him , provoking him ...why are so unwilling to suffer any humiliation and shame for his sake by confessing our sin publicly and testifying about the difference that Jesus is making and doing in our lives so he can receive glory and the prize that he deserves for his suffering?
Lets look at scripture to support what I am saying now:
Joshua chapter 7
The Israelite conquest of canaan which is a foreshadowing of the church, they are going to attack a small people and are convinced of victory , but because of the sin of one man who also tried to hide his sin, the whole army was defeated and humiliated. The sin of one man affected the entire nation . When the man was found out look at what Joshua says to him in verse 19: Give GLORY to GOD, confess what you did, DO NOT hide it from me. In the old testament this kind of sin brought with it a punishment of death and that's what happened to him, to demonstrate God's justice and his fiery wrath towards those who disobey him. But lets look at another example of exposed sin:
When they brought the adulterous woman before Jesus, she was exposed by force, but look at what Jesus did in chapter 8 of John. He looked at her and said neither do i condemn you, according to what Jesus said, he would be the only one able to throw a stone at her and he chose not to and forgave her becuz he saw that she was repentant, He showed God's love in all it's glory, don't you want to give glory to this God?
All sin sooner or later must be confessed to God because all sin is against God but please,
Don't hide your habitual sin from others, confess it to trustworthy people and free yourselves from that burden of trying to keep it hidden, no longer will you come to church crying and repentant and then leave the building turn your back and go do the same sin again, break this nasty cycle with true repentance , be accountable to other christians with your porn/ alcohol addiction, let them pray for you and you will then be victorious and super useful to God in ministry.
