Confession
What does it mean?
It means to admit a thing. It means to say that what is, IS.
Forgiveness
What does it mean?
The rightful possessor may look at the debtor and say that the debt is no longer owed. It's their prerogative. Their right. Their choice.
If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord,
The rightful possessor, the owner,
The Creator whose words are not confessions but creations,
The Supreme One, Controller, Decider, Effector
And if you believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead,
Immortal, unstoppable, uncontainable, uncontrollable,
dying, defeated, buried and destroyed,
Immortal, unstoppable, uncontainable, uncontrollable
You will be saved.
from dying to immortal,
defeated to unstoppable,
from entombed and destroyed to uncontainable, uncontrollable.
Altar
Fire
Purify
12 Stones
Ascend
Confess
Aroma
Forgiveness
Take the slip, consider
Write it down
Who has ascended? But christ has descended.
Confession.
What does it mean?
It means to admit a thing. It means to say that what is, IS.
In it's barest interpretation, you're confessing a desire for salt when you ask to have it passed,
And it's a confession when you tell your mom "I love you"
Or say "The sky is blue"
It's called a 'confession' when you admit to a crime,
Or when you tell a strange old man in a white collar about the dark blots on your soul.
They're all confessions.
Admitting that what is, IS.
Sovereign.
What does it mean?
You're familiar with copyright. What is copyright? It means that the creator of a thing has the rights to direct how a thing is used.
So, who is the creator of you? The creator of morality? The creator of righteousness? The creator of... well... everything?
And the idea remains: The creator of a thing has the rights to direct how a thing is used.
The creator of you has the right to direct you.
The creator of the world has the right to direct how the world works.
And if He says that a thing IS, it is. (Genesis 1:1)
And that's the big difference between my words and the Creator's words.
Mine words (at best!) confess what is:
the snow, my fingerprints, gravity, my own depravity. (Psalm 8)
While the Creator's define it:
each snowflake and all sparrows, a million million unique fingerprints, the laws of physics and absolute morality.
(Job 38:22, Matthew 10:29, Psalm 139:13, Colossians 1:17, Romans 13:8)
Forgiveness.
What does it mean?
You know what a debt is. It's any time that a person must give something to its rightful possessor.
They owe them that thing.
At that point, there are only two options available:
They may pay off the debt (That is, give the thing owed to the rightful possessor)
Or forgiveness. That is, the rightful possessor may look at the debtor and say that the debt is no longer owed.
It's their prerogative. Their right. Their choice.
And it's not just things that you can see and hold with your hand:
Everyone owes their father honor. (Ephesians 6:2)
Every citizen owes their government taxes. (Romans 13:6-7)
Children owe their parents obedience. (Ephesians 6:1)
Believers owe their spiritual leaders double honor. Whatever that means. (1 Timothy 5:17)
Every creature owes their Creator everything they ever were, all that they are, and everything that they ever will be. (Isaiah 45:9)
You owe your Creator everything you ever were, all that you are, and everything that you ever will be. (Job 38-41)
You're in debt. Because of your position, because of your behavior, because of who and what you are.
And there are only two options available:
Pay off the debt, or forgiveness.
That is, either give everything that you ever were, are, or will be.
Which is impossible, since you cannot somehow give more than all you will ever be.
Or forgiveness. Forgiveness from Almighty, unstoppable, un-controllable, uncontainable God.
Who owes nothing to anyone, and does as He pleases.
Atonement.
What does it mean?
Be pithy, be wordy, take the letters apart: Atonement/At-one-ment. The act of bringing two parts together,
the act of fixing a broken thing, a broken relationship.
The act of removing that debt.
When God gave the law to Moses, he had an entire world of images to draw from.
And when he spoke of atonement, the image that he drew was this: (Leviticus 4)
Take an animal (A goat, a bull, a pair of doves, a lamb)
Place your hand upon it, (to identify with it: I am this lamb)
Cut it's throat. (I bleed, my life—that's what blood is—is gone)
And once it's prepared, (my life given to God)
burn it on the altar, a pleasing aroma.
It's smoke in the air—You can't catch it, and even if you manage that, you can't somehow un-burn it.
Only the creator of time and space has access to it.
It's only God's now.
My life belongs to God now,
my body belongs to God,
my past and my future are God's.
And when that is done, God chooses to forgive us.
Let me make this clear:
Giving everything you can to God does not pay off your debt.
Giving your life for Christ doesn't earn your forgiveness. (1 Corinthians 13:1-3)
Even if you give the perfect sacrifice, you still don't deserve forgiveness.
You can come in faith, knowing that you are unworthy and giving all that you are,
And you're still in debt.
But (small comfort) at least you agree with your creator when you confess that you're in debt.
But God forgives! It is His grace: He forgives! (Ephesians 2:8)
It's not by your confession,
It's by His creation:
If He says that you're forgiven, you ARE.
If He says that your sins have been taken from you, as far as the East is from the West, they're GONE. (Psalm 103:12)
If He looks straight at you and He says that you have the holiness of Christ, you DO. (2 Peter 1:4)
Because when he looked into the darkness and said "LIGHT", there was light, (Genesis 1:3)
And when He looks into your dark soul and says "LIGHT", there is light.
And that light is righteousness—We are cleansed from unrighteousness.
He has promised that. (1 John 1:9)
Purified from all unrighteousness. Not just the sin, but even everything that hinders. (Hebrews 12:1)
From sin: Hatred, disobedience, selfishness, envy, complaining and arguing, and all the dark things that are there,
and from everything that hinders: misplaced friendships, obsessions with boys or tv shows or politics or theologians.
You've been cleansed of that, purified of that. It's gone. Beyond your grasp.
You're dead to that, freed from that. You're gone. Beyond its grasp. (Romans 6)
If He says that a thing IS, it is.
If He says that you are forgiven, you ARE.
But he's not stopped at atonement,
Nor has he paused at forgiveness,
Which would put you in a position where your history is forgiven
And tomorrow is a new day to fall into sin.
Rather, He has made you a new creation.
The old is gone, the new is here.
You're dead to sin, alive in Christ,
We are children of God. (1 John 3:2)
Not his minions,
not just slaves,
we are his children.
And when Christ appears, we will be like Him.
So, be pure as He is. (1 John 3:3)
So step outside of your fears and your brokenness,
Stop identifying yourself by your past and your future.
When forgiveness was made, it was made eternally.
Eternal Creator, knowing the end from the beginning.
He made you,
And knows all the hairs on your head
And all the moments in your life
And every sin that blacks your soul.
And He forgives them. All.
Not for the sin that you'd carried (in time) before the moment of atonement,
But every single thing from the very beginning to the ultimate end,
And He's forgiven them. All.
It's completely gone, burned like the lamb on the altar.
It's smoke in the air—You can't catch it, and even if you manage that, you can't somehow un-burn it.
And the Creator has spoken: It doesn't exist.
So, where to now? Live in that forgiveness.
He graciously gives you everything you need
to be as pure
as Christ. (1 Peter 1:3)
Go, live pure in the freedom of Christ.
Alternate Thoughts and Words:
He chose the image of a lamb, slaughtered and then burned to show us what forgiveness looks like.
That's the image that scripture uses. It's called a burnt offering.
Only God knows what it looked like before it burned.
The same goes for a debt toward you:
Either your debtor must pay themselves out of debt,
Or you may forgive.
Fun fact: Generally, a copyright goes on for several years after the author is dead.
Is God dead?
Lol, j/k. That's not the right question—God operates outside of copyright law.
"If we confess our sins God is faithful and just to forgive our sin and purify us from all unrighteousness."
If anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Creator, Jesus. He is righteousness. And he makes us righteous. (1 John 2:1-2)
Confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
If you do not forgive the one that sins against you, neither will you be forgiven.