Little Ones Perishing: Don't Miss the Meaning

by Jim Elliff

What do these verses mean?

What do you think? If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying? If it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray.

So it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish. (Matthew 18:12-14)

What these verses are not about

First, these verses are plainly not about ninety-nine Christians and one lost person. It is not an evangelistic text. I admit that the passage would make a colorful evangelistic text if it were intended by Jesus to be that, but, it is not. We are compelled to read it another way because of the context. Context kills a lot of good sermons and this is a case in point.

The phrase, “little ones,” is defined in what precedes it. Jesus said in verse six, “But whoever causes one of the little ones who believe in Me to stumble . . .” indicating that these “little ones” are believers rather than unconverted people.[1]

Second, these verses are not about children, either infants or pre-schoolers, or children who are “below the age of accountability” (a concept in search of a biblical foundation).

As I have stated, those who take this short three verse illustration out of the context of the whole treatise on “little ones” in verses 1-20 make them evangelistic; but those who isolate verse 14 from the preceding two verses arrive at an even greater error by assuming “little ones” is about children. By lifting this verse out of its context they might even make the case that all little children are promised eternal life if they die. Now, that might or might not be true, but this is not the passage to find anything on that subject.

It may seem acceptable to assume that “little ones” means “children” since the passage starts with Jesus setting a child in the midst of his disciples, but we soon learn that Jesus is only using a child to illustrate what a person must be like in order to be converted. That is, a person must become like a child in simple, eager faith. Following this clear application, Christ uses the term “little ones” or “child” to mean “believers.”

What these verses are about

These verses are Jesus’ way of describing the security a believer has in the fold of Christ.

We know that Jesus is very protective of his own children because of the severe warnings that precede the sheep illustration. He gives three:

He warned that it is a dangerous thing to cause “one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble.” This first warning is so severe that Jesus believed it necessary to make His words memorable in order to get the magnitude of it across to the hearers. He said, concerning any who cause believers to stumble, that “it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea” (vs. 6).

Millstones were circular rock slabs of immense weight (think of tractor tire proportions) with a hole in the middle. The offender would be better off if he were dropped in the depth, not the shallows, of the sea while wearing a millstone necklace! You cannot forget a picture like that.

God deals severely with stumbling blocks, a term used to mean temptations to cause believers to stumble morally which could divert them from following Christ. Such temptations will come to believers, “but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes.”

Jesus also warns about causing ourselves to stumble (vss. 8-9) indicating that we can aid in our own ruin. In exaggerated language, Christ says, “If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life [which means, become a believer] crippled or lame than to have two hands or two feet and be cast into eternal fire.”

Perhaps the most rattling of the warnings, however, is this:

See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven. (vs. 10)

Angels can do damage to people. One of them killed 185,000 Assyrians in one night. Angels assigned to protect believers are facing the Father waiting for His command to act on behalf of His children. It is a dramatic picture. Though some people who misunderstand this text see in this passage guardian angels for all infants, it is actually about guardian angels for all believers. God has ways to protect his children that are truly supernatural.

But these warnings do not do what the sheep illustration does. The sheep illustration goes further. It speaks of God’s determination to find lost sheep and to thus keep them from perishing. He will find the straying sheep and bring it back. He adds assurance to the disciples whom He is addressing when He uses the words, “your Father who is in heaven,” as if to remind them that even they are among those who would be returned if found straying.

The return of a straying sheep brings rejoicing on the Shepherd’s part, and, no doubt, on the sheep’s part. More rejoicing takes place over a returned sheep than over the ninety-nine who are doing well enough. Christ likes all his sheep in place and will not rest without bringing them into right proximity to Him.

Jesus does not say if the sheep’s return involves discipline, though it must surely. Hebrews 12:5-11 addresses that. God disciplines every son so that they may “share His holiness.” He loves us too much to let us go, but will bring us back, even if it takes painful disciplinary action. But the point here is not to address how He brings them back, but that He certainly will.

I don’t want to go further than this, though it is tempting to see 1 Peter 3:9 in this light. This is that famous passage that says, “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” Concerning this passage, it is essential to consider the pronouns. Does Peter mean that God does not desire “any,” meaning “any of you believers,” perish in a similar way Jesus uses the idea in Matthew 18? Again, the larger context of the entire chapter will guide us. Peter either means “all” believers, or “all” people in general, or “all” the elect. As you read the end of the chapter, there are more hints to suggest that 1 Peter 3:9 parallels Matthew 18:14, although I am unprepared to die for this view. Jesus’ sheep passage and this often confusing passage might profitably be studied together.

Of Christ’s words in Matthew 18 there should be little uncertainty, however. God will not let “little ones” perish. He will lovingly search and find them. He will welcome them back graciously, regardless of the scars or even open wounds that briers, rocks and ferocious animals have left upon them. Understood this way, the right way, this passage offers amazing comfort.

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[1] Some may wish to see this passage as evangelistic because of verse 11 (“For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost”). The verse is considered an added one in some later manuscripts and is therefore either not included or in brackets in most translations. If included, it should be thought of as emphasizing the saving work of Christ in this way: “You are protected by God because Jesus came actually to save, not to lose, his own.”

Copyright © 2009 Jim Elliff
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Christmas: Bah Humbug or Gloria in Excelsis?

by Jim Elliff

We do Christmas slowly. That is, instead of tearing into presents for a ten minutes rush of adrenaline, we open them one by one and take all morning. We wrap everything, even stocking gifts. If something can be divided into two packages, we do it. Even gum is wrapped.

It happens like this. The question is asked, "Who gets to give the next gift?" Then that perfect gift is found, handed over, and opened as dramatically as possible. Exclamation follows and a huge hug and "Thaaaaaanks; that's just what I wanted!" In fact, we might play with the gift, or try it on, right there. We've seen a half an hour pass before another gift is opened.

You get it, we want it to take some time, to enjoy it, to savor it, not conquer it.

We talk about Christ's birth around the advent carousel the night before, sometimes following a candlelight service, and always accompanied by (imitation) eggnog (called "egg knocker" when the kids were young). That's very special to us.

Now this brings up an important point. Should we really do all of this? The Puritans did not think so, and they had some good reasons. For one thing, they found in the holidays a call to Rome and a high, formal Anglicanism that they felt was the deceiver of so many through the ages. They wanted nothing to do with religious traditions and ceremonies passed down by men. I may have stood right with them in their day, especially in England. After all, Christmas is really "Christ Mass." I understand their concern and applaud them for their courage.

Today Christmas is almost entirely secularized. It is a merchant's most profitable period as eager shoppers raid their shelves. Can we be any more comfortable with a secular Christmas than the religiously-loaded Christmas the Puritans detested?

Here are some reasons it is okay to celebrate Christmas, complete with gift-giving and "egg knocker":

First, the day itself is not really the day Christ was born. Nobody actually has the exact day down, but most believe it was not during this time of year at all. Probably it took place in the spring, not on a "cold winter's night that was so deep."

Second, diversity over the years has taken away much of the "Romish" flavor to the holiday. Our Catholic friends do as they wish on the night before and the day of Christmas, that is granted. But we do not have a state church. There are so many other ways Christmas is celebrated that no one really thinks about it the way the Puritans did so many years ago. The problem is not so acute because of so many years of varied expressions. At least this is true in our part of the world.

Third, God can be honored in gift-giving and generosity as well as in singing carols and telling the story. They're both important if done in the right spirit. We don't have to make something spiritual out of giving gifts. You may make a birthday cake to Jesus if you wish, but you don't have to. We do need to be Christian, however, about everything we do. Emphasizing the giving part of the day can heal lots of wounds, open calcified hearts, stir up gratefulness, and just be plain fun. God's not against fun is He?

Fourth, there may be better things to be different about. In other words, we might show our radical difference better in the way we treat other shoppers, the kindness we show to retail clerks, the warmth of our hearts, the largeness of our generosity, the thankfulness we express and really feel.

Fifth, there are admittedly some great opportunities to make Christ known during Christmas. With all that is bad about it, we can still make our point. And we will have some sympathy for our message. For years I've led Christmas Eve services, short ones of only 45 minutes, but packed with meaning. The building will be full and all kinds of our friends and family will hear the truth as clearly as we are willing to express it.

What really does bother us is the mixture of the secular with a superficial acknowledgment of Christ's coming. This is why I separate what I do at Christmas. I find the evening with the family and the church the best way to think on this marvelous incarnation of Christ, without which we have no salvation. It is the most important thinking we can do during this season. But since there is no sin in giving and receiving, we can enjoy that also.

As for superficiality in acknowledging Christ, much harm is done. But that harm is for those who pretend a worship of Christ when they have no heart to follow Him. That's not where I am. For me and my house, we desire to follow Christ. And as sincerely as we know how, we intend to celebrate Christ's coming to "save His people from their sins."

What happens on Christmas day happens in church buildings all across our country every Sunday morning. Most of worship is pretended in the country's churches, and many show up who care very little about anything but doing a religious duty or being seen by others. But please don't stop me from worshipping on that day.

As for us, a world of superficiality cannot stop us from worshipping Christ for His coming to earth if we really want to do it. Gloria in Excelsis!

Copyright © 2002 Jim Elliff
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'Tis the Season to be Jolly?

by Jim Elliff

"'Tis the Season to be jolly?" Well, maybe.

The business of Christmas, that is, the hard and cold commercial trade of the Thanksgiving to Christmas sales window, is a measure of how well America is doing. It's the thermometer in our corporate mouths.

Needs are created through the media in order to entice the buyer into purchasing more this year than last. No one is to be disappointed at Christmas, after all. The manipulation is as blatant toward children as adults. And who can bring themselves to crush the psyche of anyone by not giving them all they want?

The end result of all of this is "happiness." The receivers of the presents are happy and the merchandisers are happy. The media people are happy and the credit card people are happy. Everything is happy during Christmas.

Happy is what it is supposed to be, that is. But sometimes things go south. The economy may well not cooperate.

Sickness may invade the home, jobs may be lost, anger and sulkiness may pervade the atmosphere, death may stalk a family member, drugs and alcohol may taint family togetherness, divorce clouds may darken the skies, disappointment may rule a child's spirit, and depression may turn you pensive and silent. And so it goes behind the closed doors or in the inner space of so many. The Bible says that even in their laughter there is sorrow.

Can tinsel and presents, carols and candy really bring happiness? Not often, and not much. And if our happiness is based on circumstance, is it a true happiness? Isn't it just a playful escape, a temporary delusion? Does a little thin paint on the outside eradicate the rust beneath? Do cosmetics on a corpse make the death go away?

I think the diversion is worth something, mind you, But when the reality is so strong, do we have the right to call even Christmas a source of true happiness?

This "reality" is much more troubling than the list mentioned above-the depression, sickness, sulkiness, and aggravations. The reality for a person without Christ is a permanent state of non-forgiveness, alienation from God, separation from the true people of God forever, and hell. Those are the matters that make happiness hard to come by and what makes laughter so fugitive for the thinking person.

Even joy based on family can elude you. Everything is moving, changing, shifting. You cannot rest on anything to bring solid, stand-against-all-odds joy but that which is permanent. And that which is permanent is God.

When the angels sang about Christ's birth, they said that they were bringing tidings of "great joy." Great joy?—yes, joy for every person who will come to Him by faith. It is in the relationship with God through Christ where joy is found.

If a person is related to God through His Son Jesus Christ, then joy, that deeper happiness that is more than a facial characteristic, is a birthright blessing. The true Christian should be joyful because his sins are forgiven, his place in heaven is secure, his life is in-dwelt by God's Spirit, and he has an open door to God's throne room. No matter what happens, he always has reason to rejoice because the big things are taken care of, and the Spirit in him promises to help him through all the rest. In a word, his joy is not based on circumstance, but on huge unchanging facts and an even bigger God behind the facts.

For sure, some true Christians forget what they have and need a refresher course on what is provided for them, but on the main you will notice that true Christians have joy that is bigger than circumstances. I'm not saying this about pseudo-Christians, of course, the church-goers who really don't know Christ.

Christmas then is not the season to be jolly, as if the other seasons are the opposite. But it is the reason to be joyful. Christ's coming to the earth, His perfect life and sacrificial death as a substitute for sinful people like us, is certainly a reason for joy to all who will come to Him by faith.

Is that you?

If you are one of those who has not come to Christ, then the best you can do this season is to hope for good circumstances and a kind of naïveté about your actual situation before God. But things could be different and the coming of Christ that you are singing about this holiday time could become the best news you have ever heard-good tidings of great joy!

Copyright © 2002 Jim Elliff
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Sorrowful Yet Always Rejoicing

by Daryl Wingerd

Paul's instructions are unambiguous: "Rejoice always" (1 Thess. 5:16).

Really? Always? Are there not times when it is OK not to rejoice? Are there not times when the pain is simply too intense, the burden too heavy, the sorrow too deep? Did he really mean to say "always"?

I know a man who is dying. By the time you read this he will probably be gone. For 20 years he has battled skin cancer. The cancer was manageable for a while, but required multiple surgeries—not just 15 or 20, but over 200, mostly involving parts of his face, head, and neck. Painful skin grafts from other parts of his body were applied to cover some of the damage, but most of his right ear, all of his left ear, part of his nose, and large portions of his scalp were simply cut away. At one point the cancer invaded the bone of his skull. His body was too weak to withstand anesthesia, but surgery was necessary anyway. Using a hammer and a chisel, the surgeon chipped away with brain-rattling strokes until the cancer spot was removed.

Even when he was not under the knife (or the hammer and chisel), the man was required to apply a cancer-killing ointment, the burning sensation from which was nearly unbearable and lasted for days. Eight years ago, due to radiation treatments designed to destroy the cancer, his kidneys failed and he was consigned to dialysis treatments for the rest of his life, three times weekly, in addition to the ongoing surgeries to combat the ever-advancing cancer. On one occasion, complications from dialysis nearly ended his life. Even when things were going "smoothly," the downward drag on his physical wellbeing was persistent and obvious.

Despite his heroic efforts, the cancer has now prevailed. His doctor, a noted skin-cancer expert, recently recommended that no more surgeries be done. Further cutting would only add fruitless pain and suffering. With about 50 tumors growing out-of-control on his head, chest, and back, and with reason to believe that it has now invaded his lungs and wrapped itself around his spinal cord, the man has decided to decline any further medical intervention.

Recently he was being wheeled out of the hospital, with little or no hope of physical improvement, let alone recovery. One of his three daughters was at his side when the nurse pushing the wheelchair said, "I hope you have a good day today." He looked up at her and said, in a weak but confident voice, "This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it." The nurse said she knew a song with those words, one she learned while at a summer camp as a teenager. The three of them began to sing as they walked, "This is the day, this is the day that the Lord has made, that the Lord has made. I will rejoice, I will rejoice and be glad in it, and be glad in it."

What basis could there possibly be for this kind of rejoicing in the face of such dire circumstances? Hadn't this man just learned that he had lost his twenty-year battle with cancer? Wasn't he downcast and discouraged after eight years of wrestling with the effects of kidney failure? Hadn't he just discovered that all his fighting and suffering was for naught? Why would he—how could he—rejoice at a time like this?

I know his secret. In Philippians 4:4 Paul puts the command to rejoice like this: "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!"

Note the words, "in the Lord." The man I know had determined to rejoice always, in every earthly circumstance, because he knew that he was safe and secure "in the Lord." Though his body was nearly dead, though his suffering has been intense at times, he would always be joyful and thankful in Christ, his Savior. He could rejoice despite his physical discomfort because he knew his name was written in heaven. He knew that he would one day experience "fullness of joy" in the presence of God (Ps. 16:11), and this assurance colored every aspect of his life with happiness of the deepest sort.

Rejoicing always, as Paul meant, does not rule out sadness, mourning, and other normal expressions of grief. I have seen this man grimace with pain. I have seen him express frustration, weariness, exhaustion, and longing for physical health. Through these past 20 years, he did not always have a smile on his face. He was not always cheerful. His family members are comforted by the fact that he will soon pass out of suffering into bliss, but they are also sorrowful.

His daughters will soon lose the first man they ever loved. His wife will be without her companion of 53 years. Nevertheless, they, like their father and husband, have learned the secret of rejoicing "in the Lord"—the secret that enabled him to rejoice even through the worst of his suffering. Unlike others who have no hope in Christ, they have every reason at a time like this to be "sorrowful yet always rejoicing" (2 Cor. 6:10).

Christian, take Paul's command to heart and rejoice always, even in your deepest sorrow!

For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself. (Phil. 3:20-21)

Copyright © 2008 Daryl Wingerd. Permission granted for reproduction in exact form, including web address. All other uses require written permission.

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Mingling Groans of Pain and Songs of Hope: Charles Haddon Spurgeon on Depression

by Susan Verstraete

It's a good thing he wasn't born in the 20th century. Many believing brothers and sisters would label his tendency to melancholy sinful, or evidence of a lack of self-discipline, or even the result of shallow faith. A psychologist would probably send him away with a prescription and a self-help book with twelve easy steps to overcome depression. But Charles Haddon Spurgeon, perhaps the greatest preacher of the 19th century, had a different attitude toward his affliction.

Spurgeon knew "by most painful experience what deep depression of spirit means, being visited therewith at seasons by no means few or far between." He warned his students, "Fits of depression come over the most of us. Usually cheerful as we may be, we must at intervals be cast down. The strong are not always vigorous, the wise not always ready, the brave not always courageous, and the joyous not always happy." Although he said, "Spiritual darkness of any sort is to be avoided, and not desired," he never assumed that a Christian suffering depression must necessarily be in sin. Instead, he wrote, "I note that some whom I greatly love and esteem, who are, in my judgment, among the very choicest of God's people, nevertheless, travel most of the way to heaven by night."

Spurgeon goes on in his book, Lectures to my Students, to give some of the reasons believers fall into sadness. He also provides hope for those so overtaken.

"Is it not first, that they are men?" Spurgeon acknowledged that being a Christian did not make a man or woman immune from suffering. In fact, he said, "Even under the economy of redemption it is most clear that we are to endure infirmities, otherwise there were no need of the promised Spirit to help us in them. It is of need be that we are sometimes in heaviness. Good men are promised tribulation in this world." But he points out that through this suffering, we "may learn sympathy with the Lord's suffering people." Paul says something similar in 2 Corinthians 1:4; God "comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God."

"Most of us are in some way or another unsound physically." Spurgeon suffered terribly with a joint disorder that was diagnosed as gout. He was forced to stay in bed, sometimes for weeks at a time in excruciating pain. "I have been brought very low," he wrote to his congregation during one long bout, "My flesh has been tortured with pain and my spirit has been prostrate with depression. . . . With some difficulty I write these lines in my bed, mingling them with the groans of pain and the songs of hope."

With characteristic balance, Spurgeon understood that physical pain and natural temperament contribute to depression, but did not allow his students to use them as an excuse for despair. "These infirmities may be no detriment to a man's career of special usefulness," he said. "They may even have been imposed upon him by divine wisdom as necessary qualifications for his peculiar course of service. Some plants owe their medicinal qualities to the marsh in which they grow; others to the shades in which alone they flourish."

"In the midst of a long stretch of unbroken labor, the same affliction may be looked for." Spurgeon's schedule was exhausting. In a typical week, he preached ten times. He answered approximately 500 letters, taught in a ministerial college, administrated an orphanage and dealt with dozens of individuals concerning their souls. He wrote for publications, entertained visitors at his home, taught his own family and encouraged his bedridden wife. It is no wonder that his health suffered under such a workload. Spurgeon's church finally insisted on regular vacations for him each year. Spurgeon told his students, "The bow cannot be always bent without fear of breaking. Repose is as needful to the mind as sleep to the body. . . . Rest time is not waste time. It is economy to gather fresh strength."

"One crushing stroke has sometimes laid the minister very low." On October 19, 1856, the 22 year old Spurgeon spoke for the first time in the Surrey Gardens Music Hall in London. The church was no longer big enough to contain the crowds of people who wanted to hear him preach. Thousands packed into the music hall, seating themselves in aisles and stairways after all the regular seating was full, and hundreds more waited outside, hoping to hear part of the sermon through the windows. Just after Spurgeon began to pray, someone in a balcony shouted "Fire!" People pushed and shoved to get out of the building, and a stair railing gave way under the pressure. Seven people were killed and 28 more were injured. The tender-hearted Spurgeon never completely recovered from the emotional impact of this incident. He wrote, "I was pressed beyond measure and out of bounds with an enormous weight of misery. The tumult, the panic, the deaths, were day and night before me, and made life a burden."

Many have experienced a natural disaster, the death of a loved one, devastating financial loss or overwhelming disappointment when a child or a fellow believer has fallen into sin. Spurgeon offers hope from his own experience. "The fact that Jesus is still great, let his servants suffer as they may, piloted me back to calm reason and peace. Should so terrible a calamity overtake any of my brethren, let them both patiently hope and quietly wait for the salvation of God."

"The lesson from wisdom is, be not dismayed by soul-trouble." In the end, Spurgeon acknowledged that depression may come to some believers for no discernable reason. He did not consider it an illness, a sin, or surprising condition, but an inevitable season in the life of a Christian and an opportunity to demonstrate trust in the God who will one day wipe away every tear.

Any simpleton can follow the narrow path in the light: faith's rare wisdom enables us to march on in the dark with infallible accuracy, since she places her hand in that of her Great Guide.
—Charles Spurgeon, Lectures to my Students

Copyright © 2007 Susan Verstraete.Permission granted for not-for-sale reproduction in exact form including copyright and web address. Other uses require written permission.

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Confessionism: The Misuse of 1 John 1:9

by Jim Elliff

Do you believe that you must confess every known sin to God?

For many years earlier in my ministry, I made statements such as the following:

In order to be restored to fellowship with God and to be filled with the Spirit you must confess every known sin to God.

What am I to think of such instructions now?

Sadly, this teaching adds a layer of requirement for our forgiveness not intended by God. And it may lead to confusion and sanctification troubles for the believer if taken seriously.

My Experience with Confessionism

The word confession in the original comes from the conjoining of two words, "to say" and "the same." Confession means to agree with God on his assessment of our actions and thoughts, and to name our sin to God.

I did not find "confessionism" in the dictionary, but will coin the word as a way to name the practice and the teaching that believers are under a necessity to confess every known sin to God as a vital ingredient of their sanctification.

I had considerable experience in this practice early on. And I put many others under the burden of it also. I won't say that God did not use this method in some ways for good during this period (I was, after all, attempting to draw near to God), but I finally came to a very different and much more liberating view of sin and forgiveness. And I came to regret having put myself and others under a bondage that I believe God did not intend. A wrong view of confession can lead those who are perfectionistic or overly sensitive by nature into a spiritual quagmire.

Biblically my former views on sanctification always circled back to one verse, 1 John 1:9. This verse was a foundation for sanctification not only for me, but for those who were my teachers. Let me remind you of it here:

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

I took this verse to mean that each time I sinned I had to confess that specific sin to God (and to the others I sinned against—which in itself is true) in order to be forgiven and cleansed. If I did not do this, I was living an unforgiven and polluted life, one in which the Spirit was not free to work. To have unconfessed sin was to remain "in the flesh."

I did not believe that the verse meant that I was just to scratch the surface of my sinning, but that God demanded that I scour out each and every sin until it was brought before Him. It did not mean some sins but every sin. And it did not mean just the big ones, but the smallest of them also. It meant not only the specific sin itself, but each occasion of that sin. I could not summarize my sins and say, "Lord, the usual."

All of this meant regular (daily, hourly, immediate) introspection of my life until every sin and every nuance of sin was laid before God in prayer. I made "sin lists" from time to time and could always write pages. I was determined to keep short accounts with God. In other words, confession of every sin was at the heart of my perception of sanctification. Without it, I was not filled with the Spirit. With it, and with a reliance on the Spirit called "reckoning myself dead to sin and alive to God," (sometimes described as putting Christ back on the throne of my life) I was "setting the Spirit free" to work in and through me. My sanctification was either "on" or "off," depending on my action in this area. If I confessed my sins and believed that Christ was on the throne, then He lived through me, but if I did not, He did not. It was a kind of semi-perfectionism. And it seemed to me to be the living out of 1 John 1:9.

John's Way of Dealing with the Believer's Sin

Now, let me spell out the fuller, more correct view of confession found in the 1 John passage surrounding the confessionist's locus classicus (1:9). It will take a good reading of the context. I've emphasized some portions. Please carefully go over the following passage:

This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world. (1 John 1:5-2:2)

First, note that the passage spells out its purpose clearly—"I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin."

The purpose of the confessionists' use of 1:9 is to get the Christian into a place of being forgiven and cleansed by God and therefore in fellowship with Him and filled with the Spirit, but the purpose of John was obedience. And this, in 1 John, is repeatedly given as the mark of the authentic Christian.

But note, secondly, that John demonstrates clearly that the believer's sins are immediately and totally covered by the sacrificial work of Christ. For instance, in verse 7 he asserts that the believer (who is consistently described as the one who walks in the Light), enjoys this promise: "the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses [him] from all sin."

This action word (cleanses) is continuous, meaning that the blood of Jesus unfailingly cleanses the believer from his sin at all times. There could be no sin that the blood does not cover, confessed or not confessed. Though our sins were taken care of in the cross of Christ, and by His blood being spilled for us, it is applied immediately in time to every sin we commit the nano-second we commit it.

In 2:1-2, John makes things even clearer. He says that when the believer sins he has the Advocate's help who is the propitiation for our sins, and the sins of all kinds of people in the world. Propitiation means that a pleasing and satisfactory sacrifice was made by our Substitute already. Nothing more is required for forgiveness once we are in the family. If it were not clear enough from what we have already read, he removes all remaining confusion by adding: "I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for His name's sake" (2:12).

We are as forgiven as we can be.

The Implications of Confessionism

Now, consider the implications of adding the work of confession for ongoing forgiveness with the data we presently have. If something more is required for forgiveness and cleansing from all unrighteousness (a state required for heaven), then the believer is in a dilemma. What if he fails to confess some sins? What if he fails to confess one sin? Is he unforgiven and not cleansed from all unrighteousness? This is not what propitiation and the continual immediate cleansing from sin by the blood assert. Must we add to what God has so completely accomplished? Isn't Christ's death and the application of His blood enough? Doesn't this additional requirement diminish the cross by making my naming of a sin, each sin, a prerequisite to forgiveness?

So what about 1:9, the verse used by those who contend for confession of every sin?

Before unfolding the meaning of this text, I must remind you of the danger of looking to one verse to establish a doctrine. It is true that if our sanctification and forgiveness and cleansing from all unrighteousness depended upon just one verse, that would be enough to settle the issue. But it is highly unusual of God to mention such a major doctrine, one which would apply every day and hour of our lives, only one time in the New Testament.

To establish the confessionists' position, we would have to bypass the book of Romans, because it does not talk of confession of sins to God when it addresses our sanctification—as well as Ephesians, Colossians, Philippians, the pastorals, James, and all the New Testament books, none of which speak of the confessionists' view. It is quite strange that it would have been missed by so many biblical authors who specifically address our sanctification. These writers do sometimes speak of confessing sins to one another, and of repentance, but never of a requirement to name every sin to God. This should lead us to examine the verse more carefully to see if we are interpreting it correctly. I contend that we are not.

My Convictions

I want to state my views about the verse. I don't claim infallibility here, of course, but I can say that I have given these matters a great deal of thought through the years. Having believed so strongly in the other direction, I did not think I could afford to be wrong.

Let me give you an expanded paraphrase of the text and then explain my emphases:

If we walk in the light, that is, if we are true believers, then we have fellowship with each other and this wonderful thing happens: the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us continually from all sin.

If we say we don't have sin, we are liars and the truth is not in us, that is, we are not true believers at all.

However, if we confess our sins (that is, we are now characterized by admitting sin as a sign of being a true Christian—a person who now walks in the Light), then God is faithful and righteous (on the basis of what Christ has done) to forgive us of all our sins, and to continually cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

For the confessionist, if I am right in this interpretation, this passage is now turned on its head. Instead of encouraging us to name every sin as a necessary means of ongoing sanctification, the passage is glorying in the completed and sufficient work of Christ. That is, in this passage we see just how forgiving God is in Christ and how his blood continually works on our behalf.

I'm seeing it this way:

1. Walking in the darkness is not a form of inferior Christianity, but is about living as a non-believer; walking in the Light is not being spiritual as a Christian, but is just a description of being a true Christian.

2. Obedience or walking in the Light characterizes all true believers, although this does not imply perfection.

3. The believer is continually cleansed from all sin and nothing more could be done to accomplish that end other than what Christ has already done for the believer.

4. The believer enjoys fellowship with God and other believers.

5. Believers know that they have sin and readily admit their sins. Of all people, believers are the most sensitive and knowledgeable of their sins. In other words, walking in the Light not only means that we are substantively changed by God in terms of obedience, but that we see our sins clearly and admit them. If people who profess to be Christian do not admit their sins freely, then they are deceived. They also make God a liar and prove that His word is not in them.

6. This admission of our sins is not about naming each individual sin to God, however, but is the opposite characteristic of those who say they have no sin.

7. "Forgive us our sins" and "Cleanse us from all unrighteousness" are salvation terms, not sanctification terms. Perhaps the word "all" ought to be in italics!

8. This state of acknowledging sin describes the true believer—he does not hide what he is and what he does. If one comes to Christ having had this transformation into openness, he has stepped into the Light. John is not saying that a believer must name every sin in order to be sanctified. He is saying that this characteristic admission of sins found in the person who has become a believer is that which obtains the result of his being totally forgiven and cleansed from every sin on the basis of the death of Christ.

9. God is faithful and just to forgive every sin and cleanse from all unrighteousness because of Christ's atonement alone. In other words, the believer does not confess in order to get something. What he seeks he already has.

10. Nothing more needs to be done after a person comes to Christ to merit forgiveness or cleansing. "Propitiation" means that God has been entirely satisfied with the payment His son gave on the cross. Even if the believer sins, he has the Advocate who is the full propitiation for his sins standing in for him.

11. God does intend, as the passage teaches, for the believer not to sin (1 John 2:1), therefore ongoing repentance of sin is a characteristic of our walk with God—our walk in the Light. Ongoing repentance is different than naming every sin.

Confessionism is a Problem for Us

If this passage is a call to immediate confession of every sin we are in trouble:

1. We are in a logistical dilemma. We cannot remember every sin. If our forgiveness depends on this, we are in serious trouble. For this reason, most advocates of this theology say that the confession we are to do is to be for every known sin. But that is an accommodation to the text. It does not say that. Actually, no Christian has confessed every known sin either.

2. We are in a theological dilemma. We have a Catholic theology of sorts. That is, if forgiveness is dependent on our ongoing confession, then what if we die with unconfessed sins? Does this view of confession of every sin being essential for forgiveness and total cleansing mean that our sins are not separated from us like the east is from the west? Does it mean we are not forgiven? Does it mean we are not cleansed from all unrighteousness? In other words, does it mean that the work of Christ on our behalf is ineffective when it comes to forgiveness and cleansing? Does it mean that we are not justified until we get to the end of life, and only then if we have confessed everything?

3. We are in an exegetical dilemma. By this I mean that we cannot reconcile the fact that the same text admits to a continual cleansing from all sins on the basis of the blood with no conditions for the believer, while also requiring the condition of detailed confession in a contiguous verse.

What God is after is not our naming our sins, but our turning from our sins in obedience. He requires repentance from specific sins. He already knows what you do. As Trapp says: Ammendment of life is the best repentance. This is the life of the believer. Naming all our sins may be therapeutic, certainly, but it can never be said to be required.

At the same time, I want to assert that naming sins is normal for the believer. In fact, this is the assertion of the text. We freely admit sins to each other and God. It is natural for us to do so because God has given us a clearer view of ourselves. It is within our new natures. We need not feel that God requires we should never name a sin to God. But it is not the aim of our preaching and teaching to get people to enumerate sins to God. We may name our sins on the way to repentance, but we do not do so in order to be forgiven or cleansed. We trust Christ's work for that, alone.

One Additional Passage

I have to bring one more passage to your attention, or you will find it and call me a liar. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus stated in his model prayer: "And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors." Immediately after this prayer, anticipating some misunderstanding, He further says, "For if you forgive others for their transgressions, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions" (Mt. 6:12, 14-15).

I'll admit that Jesus has said that we should ask for forgiveness, but, again, we need to look more closely. He is really saying this: Forgive us as, or in the same way, that we have forgiven others. In other words, I'm asking that your forgiveness of me (which we can say is full and free in Christ's sacrifice, needing nothing else) would be the same as my forgiveness of others.

He then states that this forgiveness of others in the believer is so standard, so much a part of what it means to be a Christian, that no true believer is without it. If you are not a forgiver, you are not forgiven. To not be forgiven is to be damned to spend eternity in hell.

Christ is talking not in specifics about confessing every sin before God. He is rather talking in generalities about the nature of salvation. He is saying: Please make the nature of your forgiveness to us the same as that we have toward others. It says nothing about specific confession, but it does tie forgiveness of sins to the new nature He gives true believers.

In the New Testament, there are no other references requiring the confession of individual sins to God. The Christian is a person who is totally cognizant of his sins and open about them (though he should use discretion when speaking of them). But he is also one who must not diminish the effect of the cross and the blood in his life. To do so does not glorify Christ's work as complete.

Copyright © 2006 Jim Elliff
Christian Communicators Worldwide, Inc.
Permission granted for not-for-sale reproduction in unedited form
including author's name, title, complete content, copyright and weblink.
Other uses require written permission.

www.CCWtoday.org

Seven Ways to Get Smart About Kids' Toys This Christmas

Jim Elliff & Steve Burchett

If you have plastic up to your gills, or if you want to be more frugal about gifts, or even if you enjoy using what God has given you in a redeeming way, you may appreciate these ideas this Christmas:

1. Gather up as many bags of used toys as possible to put into circulation. Relatives or a church friend might need some of your toys for their younger children. Local organizations like foster care associations, rescue missions, or pregnancy resource centers are often receiving slightly used toys to give away to needy children. Perhaps you can do as Jon Elliff suggests: Let each child select and keep one box of toys and one additional “big item,” like a doll-house or an indoor plastic basketball goal, then give the rest away. Kids can get used to doing this right after or right before Thanksgiving each year. It could become part of the Christmas experience.

2. Teach your kids that used items are just as fun as new items. There really is little use in having to buy new items for children when you could provide them with better toys for less money by shopping at thrift stores and garage sales, or by swapping out with other parents. Kids really don’t mind this. The only thing that can spoil this is creating lust in children by exposing them to too many advertisements. The toy manufacturers know just how to appeal to kids.

3. How about doing some internal recycling sometime around Christmas? Try grouping the kids’ toys into boxes and storing them. Each month (or whenever you think appropriate), rotate in a new box of old toys and temporarily retire the ones the kids have just been using. You will only need about three or four boxes for this. This will make old toys more interesting and appreciated. Perhaps you could ask the kids to select a boxful of toys for now, before Christmas, then, after they have played with their new Christmas toys awhile, do a good job of separating all their toys for the rest of the year. The kids could help you sort them.

4. Parents could have a gathering with other parents in the church for a toy exchange. Each family could bring a box full of toys (or more), and swap toys for a whole “new” set that could then be wrapped and given to their children. Bring toys that are nice enough to pass on.

5. Instead of having “gift exchanges” where each child brings a brand new gift to give to another boy or girl (who may not like it), have a “new to you” gift exchange where each child brings a used toy (or even more!) to give away.

6. Have a “Christmas garage sale.” Involve the kids in the whole process, from cleaning the toys to setting up. It may be more enjoyable to move the sale out on your driveway. If it’s cold, be sure to have hot chocolate ready for the customers. The toys (and hot chocolate) could be free, or the kids could charge reasonable prices (cheap) for everything and use the money they make to buy gifts for others in the family. Or, the kids may be encouraged to give the money they make to help children somewhere in the world who have much less. You may enjoy doing this Christmas garage sale with other families in your church and/or neighborhood. This may be a strategic way to meet or reconnect with neighbors.

7. Along with collecting food items to give to a needy family in your church or community, also include age-appropriate toys. Let your children pick out several from their own collection that they think will be especially enjoyed.

Ultimately we want to promote and provide a context for the exercise of the selflessness which can only be found in people who know Christ. Some kids especially need work in this area because of years of over-stimulation and childlike self-centeredness. In many countries of the world, children have only a couple of toys (maybe handmade). Though we should enjoy what we have, doing as much as possible to make kids grateful is a really important parental task. It is one that is not easy and demands prayer and careful planning, over time.

If our children are truly followers of Christ, they will enjoy the encouragements to think in God-honoring ways about their toys. If they are not, these ideas will provide many opportunities to preach the gospel to them. For example, as we teach them about giving up their toys for the temporary joy of others, we will be able to speak about the Christ who gave His life for the eternal joy of His people. And God may even use the sinful struggles your children have with some of the ideas above to convict them of their sin and their need of the Savior. These seven ideas will matter most if parents connect them to the gospel.

Copyright © 2009 Jim Elliff & Steve Burchett
Christian Communicators Worldwide, Inc.
Permission granted for not-for-sale reproduction in unedited form
including authors' names, title, complete content, copyright and weblink.
Other uses require written permission.

www.CCWtoday.org