If We Confess
September 03, 2017
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9
Quickpage: Just Breathe by Raspberry Road
Please note that there is no requirement in the Bible to confess our sins to a priest. (Actually, all TRUE believers are part of the royal priesthood.) It is enough to confess them directly to God. We have access to God through His Son, Jesus. There is NO other mediator between God and man--not a priest, not the pope, not Mary or any other person who has died, not through any angel. (We are NEVER told to pray to anyone except God, nor to seek any method of forgiveness apart from that given in the BIBLE.) There is a passage related to confessing sin (that is causing physical illness) to one another so that the sick person may receive healing. It is also important to ask forgiveness from people we have wronged.
Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and heaven gave rain, and the earth bore its fruit. My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins. James 5:13-20
“If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times. “Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.’ And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay what you owe.’ So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you.’ He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.” Matthew 18:15-35
For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. 1 Timothy 2:5-6
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 1 Peter 2:9
Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”? Or again, “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son”? And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says, “Let all God’s angels worship him.” Of the angels he says, “He makes his angels winds, and his ministers a flame of fire.” But of the Son he says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.” And, “You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands; they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment, like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end.” And to which of the angels has he ever said, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”? Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation? Hebrews 1:1-14
And his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. And a crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, seeking you.” And he answered them, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking about at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! For whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.” Mark 3:31-35
As he said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!” But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” Luke 11:27-28
Jesus made it very clear that although Mary is considered blessed for having been chosen to carry Jesus in her womb and raise Him as her Son on earth, she does not hold an exalted position among believers. He does not need to obey her as people assume who think that she can tell Him to do what she says when we ask her. He is God. She is not. She does not even HEAR any prayers, nor does anyone else who has died. Angels are ministering spirits who no doubt carry prayers to GOD, but we don't pray TO them. When we pray, we have faith that God hears us and that He will answer according to His perfect will. Our faith is not in ANYONE except God. That would be idolatry. The same applies to offering WORSHIP to ANYONE other than GOD (and yes, it IS worship to ascribe abilities and qualities that belong to God alone to Mary or anyone else.) For anyone who thinks of Jesus as a mere man, or worse yet, still as Mary's BABY, that is not biblical or pleasing to God in any way. (It goes without saying that we are not to pray to or worship statues or medallions of anyone, not Jesus, not Mary, not angels, etc.) Furthermore, Mary herself would not be pleased if she were aware of these sinful activities being directed toward her. She is not "co-" anything to do with ruling the world or saving mankind.
From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. 2 Corinthians 5:16
For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Romans 12:3-5
I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols. Isaiah 42:8
If you would like to learn the truth about the false teachings from an educated man who was Roman Catholic most of his life, please go to YouTube and enter Fred Tarsitano in the search bar. He will take you through each teaching and show what the Bible says about it. MANY have been deceived into believing untruths about salvation, but here is help from someone who cares, who has been there and is not rude about it. He also covers the erroneous beliefs of some other groups such as Jehovah Witnesses and Mormons. We need to know what we believe, why we believe it and that it matches what the Bible says rather than taking someone else's word on it. We will answer for ourselves according to the measure of truth we have had the opportunity to receive by God's grace and mercy.
