Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
The exact nature of our wrongs is sin, and the Big Book of AA is very small when it comes to addressing this matter.
Chalking up man's failings to a sickness, people who abuse alcohol have in fact found an excuse for a perversion which is a symptom for the fallen nature that plagues all of us.
I do not write this condemn people, but rather to point out that the real problem that we in the human race face is much deeper than doing wrong.
We are dead, spiritually dead in our trespasses, and we need life!
"And you hath he [Jesus] quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
"Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:" (Ephesians 2: 1-2)
I do not write this condemn people, but rather to point out that the real problem that we in the human race face is much deeper than doing wrong.
We are dead, spiritually dead in our trespasses, and we need life!
"And you hath he [Jesus] quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
"Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:" (Ephesians 2: 1-2)
Paul comments on the flesh that wars against the Spirit of God:
"And the commandment,
which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death.
"For
sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me.
"Wherefore the law
is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good." (Romans 7: 8-10)
The notion that we are called to confess our sins in order to be forgiven is an unscriptural teaching, one which misconstrues a telling verse in 1 John 1: 9:
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1: 9)
When the Apostle John wrote the First Epistle, the reader must take note that John does not address the believes in the Body of Christ. A few verses down, John write:
"That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.
"And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full." (1 John 1: 3-4)
Now, if John were writing to believers, would he be informing them about the Deity and incarnation of Jesus Christ, and then appealing for them to have fellowship? Of course not! Obviously, in the first chapter of the First Epistle, John is not writing to believers.
God is faithful and just to forgive us all our sins because they were all punished in the body of His Son, fully exhausted once and for all! Therefore, we do not confess our sins in order to be forgiven, but rather because we have been forgiven!
Not in one epistle does Paul ever tell his readers to confess their sins to be healed -- not one! To the most carnal church, Paul writes instead:
"Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.
"What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.
"But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
"Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
"What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
"For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." (1 Corinthians 6:15-20)
"Know ye not . . . know ye not. . ;know ye not. . ." this is the tack that Paul takes. He does not tell them to confess their sins, but reminds them of whose they are in Christ!
We cannot confess our sins enough, for the blood of Jesus has already cleansed us and keeps on cleansing us from all unrighteousness!
It is an old religious tradition, one drawn from the Old Covenant, which leads men to confess their sins. In Christ, all sins are wiped away forever! Love keeps no record of wrongdoing (1 Corinthians 13: 5), so why should we?
The notion that we are called to confess our sins in order to be forgiven is an unscriptural teaching, one which misconstrues a telling verse in 1 John 1: 9:
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1: 9)
When the Apostle John wrote the First Epistle, the reader must take note that John does not address the believes in the Body of Christ. A few verses down, John write:
"That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.
"And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full." (1 John 1: 3-4)
Now, if John were writing to believers, would he be informing them about the Deity and incarnation of Jesus Christ, and then appealing for them to have fellowship? Of course not! Obviously, in the first chapter of the First Epistle, John is not writing to believers.
God is faithful and just to forgive us all our sins because they were all punished in the body of His Son, fully exhausted once and for all! Therefore, we do not confess our sins in order to be forgiven, but rather because we have been forgiven!
Not in one epistle does Paul ever tell his readers to confess their sins to be healed -- not one! To the most carnal church, Paul writes instead:
"Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid.
"What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.
"But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
"Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
"What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
"For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's." (1 Corinthians 6:15-20)
"Know ye not . . . know ye not. . ;know ye not. . ." this is the tack that Paul takes. He does not tell them to confess their sins, but reminds them of whose they are in Christ!
We cannot confess our sins enough, for the blood of Jesus has already cleansed us and keeps on cleansing us from all unrighteousness!
It is an old religious tradition, one drawn from the Old Covenant, which leads men to confess their sins. In Christ, all sins are wiped away forever! Love keeps no record of wrongdoing (1 Corinthians 13: 5), so why should we?
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