Austin Bible Church
When you sin, then confess or name that sin to God the Father, immediately that sin is forgiven. When God forgives us, He forgets the sin. Since God has forgotten the sin, we are to forget it. Look at that sin from divine viewpoint - forget it. Look at other people’s sin from divine viewpoint. If they confess their sins biblically, God forgets them and we have no right to remember another’s sins. 1 John 1:9; Phil. 3:13; Psalms 103:12.
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9, NASB)
“Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,” (Philippians 3:13, NASB)
“As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.” (Psalms 103:12, NASB)
If we remember a sin we have previously confessed, it becomes the basis of perpetuating that sin and perpetuating divine discipline. If you are under divine discipline, when you confess known sins to God the Father, one of three things happens. Divine discipline is removed, or divine discipline is turned to blessing, or divine discipline is lessened with cursing being turned to blessing.
If you remember a confessed sin, you create or sprout a new sin from a dead sin. You may be under divine discipline not from confessed sin, but from the new sin. Perpetuated divine discipline is caused by perpetuated sin. Isolate confessed sin by using faith-rest. Claim God's promises and apply them to your situation to stay in fellowship. Believe in God's faithfulness in 1 John 1:9. The result will be inner happiness, inner peace, and inner power.
There are three areas of converting sins or sprouting a new sin from a dead seed of confessed sin - mental attitude sins, verbal sins, and overt sins.
For the mental attitude sin of hatred, if you have confessed a sin involving you and someone else and when you see this person, you have mental attitude hatred, you have sprouted a new sin of hate from a dead sin. The result will be divine discipline for the new mental attitude sin of hate.
For the mental attitude sin of a guilt complex, remember that what is not of faith is sin. We are forgiven on the basis of God’s faithfulness and grace and what the Bible says in 1 John 1:9, not on the basis of your faith. If we confess, we are forgiven. Rom. 14:23.
“But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin.” (Romans 14:23, NASB)
For the verbal sin of gossip, this is running someone down and what you have said to others is not true. For the verbal sin of maligning others, this is running someone down and what you have said to others is true. Leave the judgment to God who is the only the perfectly righteous and omniscient judge. Rom. 12:19.
“Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY," says the Lord.” (Romans 12:19, NASB)
There is the verbal sin of public confession of sin which often passes for revival. There is the verbal sin of blaming others for your sins by projecting them onto someone else who has not done those sins. There is the verbal sin of discussing past failures with people in order to get their sympathy. Overt sins include harassment, violence, and revenge activity.
All believers have failed and all have an old sin nature. We must continue to confess our known sins to God the Father using 1 John 1:9 and forgetting the confessed sins using Philippians 3:13, isolating the sins as in Hebrews 12:15, and moving on as in Philippians 3:14.
“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9, NASB)
“Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead,” (Philippians 3:13, NASB)
“See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled;” (Hebrews 12:15, NASB)
“I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:14, NASB)
In Hebrews 12:15, “See to it” means to constantly ride herd on yourself. Check yourself that you don’t perpetuate your confessed sins. Apply faith-rest and 1 John 1:9. “Comes short of the grace of God” means failing to use the grace of God. Don’t miss using the grace of God by allowing one confessed sin be the basis for another new sin. “That no root of bitterness springing up” is a new sin from a dead sin. “Causes trouble” means that remembering past sin can create a guilt complex. “By it many be defiled” means that when you carry a guilt complex, others are affected.
If you don’t isolate your sin, all other doctrines will not get you out of sin. So this is an important doctrine.