The Culture of Hope Founded on Faith
A Coming-Alongside Love
During a recent conversation about the function of God’s people within the Church, the topic of forgiving others when they confess sin that shocks us was discussed. But we are not called to forgive when someone confesses to us. According to 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”, God has already forgiven each of us when we repent and confess to Him. Instead, we are called to pray for those who are struggling with sin. James 5:16a tells us to “Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that you may be healed.” Our part is to come alongside, as instruments of the Holy Spirit, to pray for each other and to allow the Holy Spirit in us to communicate Himself into each other’s lives. This requires quality time spent with God together.
King David’s relationship to God previewed the tender walk with God that the New Testament granted to all who believe through the blood of Jesus Christ. Even under the Old Covenant, David knew the forgiveness of God based on his confession of sin. He wrote in Psalm 32:5, “I acknowledged my sin unto thee and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.”
Confession to God is a result of an inner attitude of humility before God, acknowledging the sin that so grieves God’s heart of righteousness. Confession not only represents our desire to please God and the trust we have in God’s promises, it also demonstrates the layers of learning and growing in faith that we have experienced for however long we have believed in God. When we then confess to our brothers and sisters in the Lord, we express the same humility to the children of God, recognizing that these people we trust with our deeper knowledge are God’s feet on earth, carrying in themselves, “as good stewards of the manifold grace of God” (1 Pet. 4:10b), the love and support we all need.
This kind of coming-alongside to meet the needs of other believers is the hallmark of the believer. This is what it means to love one another according to Jesus’ commandment found in John 13:34-35 “A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another, as I have loved you that you also love one another. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one to another.”
