The Ohio Independent Baptist, February 1973

WORDS OF FORGIVENESS AND CLEANSING I John 1:9 i. one of the be t– '10\\ n pas ages in a II the New Testa- 1ent Scriptures. It may be a familiar , believer. a. John 3: 16. But, while >me Ch ri . ti an seen, detern1 ined to se the ve r. e a an invitation to tl va tion. it i not for the un aved fld ac tua lly carrie no under<; tandable 1e age for tho c who are not true hri sti an . It i intended for those ho have been aved, given and ritten to those who know the Lord >demptively, as the entire context .. the chapter an<l the Epistle make ~ry clear, and its ble ed truth is >r t/1e111. So let u be sure, at the :!r) outset of thi s tud y, that we un– er land thi s great ver e to be a par– cular directive to the aved, address– j spec ifica ll y to those who are \valking in the light" - and not a act to be used with those who are nsaved. The admonition in vs. 9 offers tree con ide ra t ion ( I ) The · con– ~ssion of sins, ( 2) The carrying w-ay of ins, and ( 3) The clean. ing f the sinning sa int . We hall treat the rst only briefly and then give at– •nt ion to Nos. 2 and 3. I ) TJ1 e ConfessicJn of Sins. " I f we confess our sins. . . ." When believers sin , something mu l e done about sin. o r sins, and our !llowship with God must be restored . his is God's instruction for sinning hr ist ians in every such situation. The ivine directive sets forth the prope r ttitude for Christians toward the sin ommitted - not to deny it, or try > conceal it, or ignore it, but to ( / 111 it i I and get it out of the way. onfcssion is the point. and it does ot mean merely to pray, or to con– ~ss in general. It involves, first , the efinitc and honest naming of c; pcc ific 1oughts and actions to God: and ,cond. it must be the confe<;s ion of 1c lips growing out of true contrition 1 the heart over the sin . Nothing , said as to where, or when the con– ...ssion is to take place, or the precise HE OHIO INDEPENDENT BAPTIST n1 a nne r or po. tu re of the ora l con– fe. sion . But u 1 hc11 is 11ecessar )' t<J he (!<Jn e i · clearl.v. si111p/_v, an(/ precise!)' stc1t e(/. N an1 e the act of sin before the Lord , acknowledge that v,,1e have engaged in those ac ts bccau e we have the na ture to in still within U<;, and be as ha n1ed of what we have done. Thi ~ confe, sion hav ing been tes tified before God, then what He ha c; pro– n, i e d is done . ( 2) T/1 e Cc1rr~v in1-: CIH'a.v. of t/1 e Sins, " He ic:; fa ithful an<l juc:;t to for- . . ' ' give u, ou r 1n .. The two adj ec tive. , "fa ithful a nd just" desc ribe the character of the o<l to whon1 we confesc:; . They dc- c rihe ii ·/1at He is in H im e lf. He is fa ithful to His Word , true to H i pro111 i. e. ( Heb. I O:23, " For He i. faithful th at pron1i sed"), and ju t an<l ri ghteous of per on a nd action ( Rom. 3:26) . Since we belong to Him, and a re now Hi children, the great a nd blessed attributes of H is per on and cha racte r are jc)r 11s, put for1/1 in cJ11r he/1alf, they do not la nd agai nst us. Because of what Christ did in bea r– ing our sins in Hi own bod y on the cross, the fa ithfulness and right eou. - ne s of God are pron1i sed and pl edged for our forgivene s, when we make honest , forthright confe sion of our exact inful act<; to Him, a Chri - ti an . What is the nature of the for– givenes ? Here i what we have des– ignated as the \word of forgive ne ··. The term in the Greek tex t rendered "forgive" is the verb form ap/1ei, f ron1 ap/1iei111i, " to send away fron1 , di s– mi ss, make to depart. ' ' The verb i found in Matt . 13: 36, "Then Jesu havi ng sent 0\1,ay ( aphei . ) the mt1lti– lt1dc..." It is used by Paul in the significa nt pac;sage in I or. 7: 11 - 13 . whe re he SJ)Cakc; of the n1 a rital ohli– ga ti onc; ancl regulation s an1ong hri - ti an . In vs. I I Paul sayc:;, "Let not the hu c:; l1and p111 av. 1 c1_v (a phi cna i) hi s ,vifc..." In vs. 12, he c; ta tes. 04 [f n1y brother hath a wife tha t beli eve th no t ... let him no t put /1 er Ql1' 0)' " (aphieto). And in vs. IJ, the Apo<;– tl c instructs the wife likewise, ·• ct her not lea ve (aphic to) hin1 ." Thi \ is the word chosen by the Holy piril to exprc~s what Gou docs with our confessed sins. He clis111isse.\ them, and thus (/isp<JSe\· of them . He casts the111 CJ[], se11cls 1/1e111 aiva)' never to appear again - as into the very depth c:; of the c:;ea. o we arc freed fro n1 the i r aw fu J gra s p a nd gui I t , no longer arc we slaves to them for they do not exist . On our ~idc, the con fec:;c:;ion n1ca ns aha n(l<J11 i n.r.: the si n, and it can be done heca11se G <Jc/ cJ 11 r f ot/1er /1as sent t/1 e sin aivay. Further– mo re , there is: ( 3) T/1 e Cleansini of 1/1e inni11u .5aint. "And to c lea nse us fron1 a ll unrigh teousne s. ' ' To engage in any act of . in , and to thu s walk in da rkne aga in a ft er we havc been brought over in to the rea ln1 of li ght , ic; to po llute the cha r– acter with unrighteou ne . Acco rd– ingly. whe n the <.,pecific si n is con· fc scd, that in i sent away, and th e cha rac ter an d life of the confc si ng be ticvcr are pu rifled, c leansed, and he wa lks in the li ght again, with dignity and ri ght cou\ ne , with grati– tude a nd hono r. The word "clea nse·· is the verb form katharii;ei. from ka1/1ari(l z<J. " to c lea n e, rende r pure , to purify by e - pi ation , purge ou1.·· lt is the word from which con1e the ngli sh "ca th– a r. i , cat ha rtic, ca th artica l", etc., and very lit era ll y de ignate a 1/1tJrouil1 flus/1i 11.!.!-<)Ltl. In this way we are pt1ri– fi ed , n1ade c lean. The ao ri t ten e of the ve rh n1 akes the fac t tha t we under– go a tota l. complet e. and effective flu hing-out of all unrighteousness re- su lting fron1 the ac t of in. Every dirt y effect, a ll unc lea nne and de- fil ement a re thu purged out of our heing, our n1 ind and hea rt, and we tand pure and in fellowship with the F a ther and with Hi Son Je u Christ. Hun1an words fail to adequate– ly ex pre , the wonde r and ble. e(i– ne s of thi. unutterabl e grace of God . Le t u con1 e back to I John I : 9 and consitle r agai n, and ponder anew, the e blessed v. ord of forgivene . and clean. i ng. We regret the error t.hat appeared i n our .. 1 i 111 p ses o f Tru t h" art i c I c by Dr . eorge L. l_avv lor thi pa. t n1onth . lnadvertentl)' our printer u eu the title - TH TRIPl Fll F OF 'TH - M lNI TRY lt ~hould ha, c rca I- B IT or OR THO C WHO H AR THE WORD OF G D AND KF .: p lT .. . l uke 11 · ~~ We are sorry. o err i · hun1an - ,, e ,, 1 h it weren't o! FEBRUARY, 1973 15 i ,, I