Confessions
A few posts back, Before And After, anonymous left this comment....
"Your post brings to mind a verse that I have always wondered about. I actually thought I saw it on there, but now I can't find it. The verse is James 5:16 which says, "Confess your faults one to another, and pray for one another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." When are we supposed to keep things to ourselves and when are we supposed to "confess"? I would like to hear people's ideas on this if anybody has an opinion."
Looking at this word for word, I have a few thoughts. First of all, there is not a time specified as to when we're to confess our sins and that leads me to believe that we should confess them immediately.
Confessing our sins to another human being does nothing for the sin. Only Jesus can fix and forgive the sin in our lives. Jesus only! Not Mary and certainly not a man dressed like a mother wanting to be called father. (I got that from Pastor Goodman.) But in this verse, it says to confess our sins one to another and I think it's like that because of a couple of reasons. For one, it lets other Christians around us know that they're not the only ones that fight the flesh and it encourages them to press on in their fight and not give up. And secondly, it teaches us to be honest where we are in Christ and teaches us not to try and hide our sin. Through the ages of time, man has tried to hide their sins, but God's WORD says, "Be sure your sins will find you out." It may not seem like it at the time, but when you confess your sins to one another, you are allowing yourself to grow a little more in your Christian walk.
The next part of that verse says to ".....pray for one another, that ye may be healed." When someone confesses their sins, we shouldn't sit back with our arms folded and a proud look saying, "Well! I knew they weren't all what they seemed to be!" No, we're to pray for them so that God can work in their lives and heal their heart and mind from whatever sin problem they have in their lives.
Then lastly, the end of that verse says, "....the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." Although some may feel better about standing in front of their church confessing some sin in their life, this verse tells me to choose someone that is going to pray for me. Someone who has a close walk with God. As nice as it would be for anyone to confess to their church and not be talked about and brushed to the side, it just doesn't happen that way. So it would be wise to confess to someone you know that has access to the throne....and actually uses that access to pray for others.
We, CHRISTIANS, all have access to the throne. Are we using it for others?
Anonymous said they would like to hear what others thought about this verse. Please tell us what you think.
"Your post brings to mind a verse that I have always wondered about. I actually thought I saw it on there, but now I can't find it. The verse is James 5:16 which says, "Confess your faults one to another, and pray for one another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." When are we supposed to keep things to ourselves and when are we supposed to "confess"? I would like to hear people's ideas on this if anybody has an opinion."
Looking at this word for word, I have a few thoughts. First of all, there is not a time specified as to when we're to confess our sins and that leads me to believe that we should confess them immediately.
Confessing our sins to another human being does nothing for the sin. Only Jesus can fix and forgive the sin in our lives. Jesus only! Not Mary and certainly not a man dressed like a mother wanting to be called father. (I got that from Pastor Goodman.) But in this verse, it says to confess our sins one to another and I think it's like that because of a couple of reasons. For one, it lets other Christians around us know that they're not the only ones that fight the flesh and it encourages them to press on in their fight and not give up. And secondly, it teaches us to be honest where we are in Christ and teaches us not to try and hide our sin. Through the ages of time, man has tried to hide their sins, but God's WORD says, "Be sure your sins will find you out." It may not seem like it at the time, but when you confess your sins to one another, you are allowing yourself to grow a little more in your Christian walk.
The next part of that verse says to ".....pray for one another, that ye may be healed." When someone confesses their sins, we shouldn't sit back with our arms folded and a proud look saying, "Well! I knew they weren't all what they seemed to be!" No, we're to pray for them so that God can work in their lives and heal their heart and mind from whatever sin problem they have in their lives.
Then lastly, the end of that verse says, "....the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." Although some may feel better about standing in front of their church confessing some sin in their life, this verse tells me to choose someone that is going to pray for me. Someone who has a close walk with God. As nice as it would be for anyone to confess to their church and not be talked about and brushed to the side, it just doesn't happen that way. So it would be wise to confess to someone you know that has access to the throne....and actually uses that access to pray for others.
We, CHRISTIANS, all have access to the throne. Are we using it for others?
Anonymous said they would like to hear what others thought about this verse. Please tell us what you think.
Labels: thought from scripture
posted by Kristi @ 2:11 AM
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