Anyone who studies the revivals of the past can notice that the outpourings of God's Holy Spirit have been accompanied by repentance and the confession of their sins on the part of God's people. The Presence of the Spirit of God encourages us to confess our sins because such confessing is a necessary part of Christian discipleship.

The Scripture teaches us (Romans 8:1) that we must walk each day in Christ by faith, being without condemnation in the sight of God. The joy of the Lord is our strength, and we are to avoid gloom and self-condemnation as much as possible.

However, we must always be ready to hear the rebuke of the Holy Spirit and to bring the offending act, word, or thought immediately to the Lord for forgiveness. If we are walking in the Spirit of God the act of confessing our sins will not depress us but will enable us to live the life of victory in Christ.

Why is it that we do not include the practice of confessing our sins as part of our discipleship? We may have supposed that the exhortations of Scripture against sin are directed toward the people of the world rather than toward the people of God. Or perhaps we are ignorant of what the Scriptures actually teach.

Both the Old and New Testament writings are explicit as to what constitutes sin in the sight of God. Many of the biblical pronouncements against sin can be categorized under lust, murder, or idolatry.

Mankind has not changed since the days of Noah and Lot. Lust, demon worship, and violence filled the earth in those days. Lust, demon worship, and violence fill the earth in our day.

The nations of today resemble Sodom and Gomorrah. They are hurtling toward destruction with express-train speed. God always will exercise His wrath on sexual lust in all its perverted forms, on demon worship, and on violence. This equally is true in the churches and in the world.

Perhaps we Christians interpret God's long-suffering and forbearance as an acceptance of our sins, a Divine resignation concerning the behavior of mankind. If so, we have no conception of the smoking wrath of God that forever is directed toward sinful practices. We are not aware of the maelstrom of destruction that surrounds us.

For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? (I Peter 4:17,18)

Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men;... (II Corinthians 5:11)

A misunderstanding of Divine grace. One of the more important reasons for not confessing our sins may arise from a misunderstanding of the manner in which Divine grace operates.

The term grace, it appears, frequently is understood to mean only the forgiveness of sins that occurs at the time of the believer's initial acceptance of the atonement made by the blood of Christ. The application of Divine grace to the older Christian's life often is limited to the idea that God forgives our stumblings and shortcomings. Such seems to be the customary understanding of the grace of God in Christ.

To be continued.