But Knowing The Truth Will Set You Free
Lie # 9 “Repentance in both the Old and the New Covenant means the same thing – be sorry for and confess your sins to God.”
No, because the terms of the New Covenant radically changed mankind’s relationship to God. Repentance under the Mosaic Law focused on turning from sins and back to God. But Jesus’ finished work won forgiveness of the sins of the whole world and reconciled mankind to God – from His viewpoint – even before you and I were born. Now, what is required is a change of mind towards God (New Covenant repentance) by each individual to be humble enough to believe and receive what Jesus has done in order to be reborn of God. No Israelite was reborn of God before Calvary so God gave the sacrificial system for forgiveness of sins under the Mosaic Covenant. No sins were imputed before the Law was given. 1 John 1:9 is not addressed to believers but to Gnostics. See Chapter Fourteen and Appendix # 4 and Lie # 18 for a thorough discussion of this vital topic. I also have a small book devoted to the topic of God’s total forgiveness of all of mankind’s sins and related insights called Discovering Jesus’ Radical Gospel of Total Forgiveness.
Lie # 10 “Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to convict every believer of every sin so that they repent by confessing their sins in order to stay in fellowship with God.”
No, but the Holy Spirit does still convict in Adam sinners of their sin to bring them to Christ for salvation. But Jesus sent Him into believers to convince them of their righteousness in Christ so that they live consistently out of the new creation being that they now are, in Christ. Believers are spiritually united with God and sinning does not break fellowship from God’s point of view because He forgave and forgot the sins of the whole world through Jesus some 2000 years ago. It is “wrong believing” that makes the believer think or feel that he loses fellowship with God. It is precisely when a believer sins that he needs God’s help the most – not His supposed rejection. God forsook Jesus at Calvary so that He would never leave or forsake any believer or refuse fellowship with His children. See a detailed exegesis of this very important issue in Chapter Fourteen of my Elephant book and in the “Discovering …” book.
Coming Next Week: Lies # 11 and #12 that often confuse many Christians. REMEMBER: Wrong believing which leads to wrong living. Conversely, right believing leads to right and prosperous living in Christ. Contact me (below) with any comments or questions about the content of this Blog. Lenny
life, that is, Jesus himself.