Now that we have seen that, indeed, our sins have already been pardoned, the question is: What motivates genuine confession and repentance? Is more involved than our need to experience restoration from the ruin that sin has caused? We opened this discussion in Part One. Now we need some concrete answers.
If we believe the gospel, we know that forgiveness did not come without great expense. God could not legally forgive us for even one sin, apart from the shed blood of His dear Son. Thus, every sin was directly implicated at Calvary.
More than that, Jesus continues to intercede in the heavenly sanctuary on our behalf, because of our sins. Pause and consider how He must feel. Consider what Satan must say. Can you imagine the conversation? Every time we sin, the adversary is there to "rub it in." "Look at them," he says, "You gave up heaven for them. They must really appreciate it." Can you hear the sarcasm? "Just look at how they behave. You stooped to take their nature and live as a man among men and die in their place. Now, just look at them. You were willing to die forever, that they might be saved. Yet they continue to sin. I told you they weren't worth it."
No, we do not know the exact words that are used. We can only imagine how the conversation goes, but we do know that the Bible says that Satan accuses us before God "day and night" (Revelation 12:10).
How does Jesus feel every time we sin? Do you suppose He is embarrassed, not only before Satan, but before the heavenly angels? He said, "Whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed" (Luke 9:26). Yes, He is at times embarrassed, not only before the heavenly hosts but before all the unfallen worlds. Hebrews says, "We have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities" (Hebrews 4:15). Do you suppose He is hurt? Do you suppose His experience is like being crucified afresh?
"What a Friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear." His love is incomprehensible. His grace is indeed amazing. He did not deserve the cross, and He certainly does not deserve to ever be hurt again. So when we sin, if we truly understand the gospel, we should go on our knees and ask for forgiveness. We do not ask because of some self-centered motivation, but we do ask, because we are genuinely sorry for hurting the One who loves us most. Genuine sorrow can only be realized through an understanding that the condemnation has been removed at the cross, and thus we are free to serve the Lord instead of self interest. "If we confess our sins," we give evidence that we believe the gospel and we have the assurance, that we shall be cleansed of "all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).
In light of the fact that Jesus has already forgiven us, He does not need to die for our sins every time we ask for forgiveness. In His death He pardoned all of our sins. Since He has already pardoned our sins, and yet sin remains in our hearts, two issues remain to be addressed. By continued sin, we are hurting Him and giving a poor witness to the world. Therefore, we confess so that He can remove sin from our hearts. We confess so that God can cleanse us. Yet this is not a self-centered desire. We confess so that His righteousness can be imputed and imparted in our hearts and we can give an effective witness to the world.
More than that, the important issue in our cleansing is the vindication of God--and not merely our own salvation. True, we must have both the "title to heaven," as well as a "fitness for heaven." Yet our desire for the fitness for heaven is not born of selfishness. Our fitness is needed --yes, even required--in order to answer the charges of the enemy against the government of God. These charges are perhaps best seen and understood through a study of the story of Job. In the book of Job, Satan's argument was that all mankind had chosen him as their leader, and he implies that none were loyal to God. Therefore, God responded by asking, in essence, "What about Job?" Even though the majority of those on earth may have by their lives denied God, there was one whose life and character showed perfect loyalty to God in the midst of a world of corruption. Satan responded by suggesting that Job was merely serving self (see Job 1:9, 10, 2:4), just like all the rest. However, in the unfolding of the story, Satan was proven wrong by the life that Job lived in spite of all his afflictions.
These same charges against the government of God will be the issue in the last days. "Nobody really serves God. They have all chosen Satan as their leader." God was proven right in the case of Job. Nevertheless, it must be conceded that Job was just one man. However, at some point, God will have to be able to say, "Here is the patience of the saints. Here are they that keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus" (Revelation 14:12). At that time, the "saints" will be a representative group from "every nation and kindred and tongue and people" (Revelation 14:6). That group will be sufficient to settle the issue for all eternity. "When the Son of man cometh, will He find [the] faith on the earth" (Luke 18:8)? Will there be a representative group of people who have an unshakable faith? The watching universe will not be able to look inside the hearts of the final generation to examine their faith. Only God can do that. How will the watching inhabitants of the universe be able to see the evidence (faith is the "evidence"--Hebrews 11:1)? James explained how faith is revealed. "I will show you my faith by my works" (James 2:18).
This is why Christians need cleansing. Our desire for cleansing is not a manifestation of a self-centered desire for something that is necessary in order to save our own skins. We understand that the condemnation has been lifted, and we will have another concern upon our hearts. The evidence that will settle the questions of the great controversy must be revealed in our lives. This will demonstrate the power of the gospel, vindicate the character of God, and allow Him to finally bring the great controversy to an end. If our hearts are in any degree still plagued with selfconcern, we cannot have the victory. Without victory, God will not be vindicated. Yet the Holy Spirit will not minister a victory over sin which is sought in contradiction of the most fundamental principle of the gospel-- salvation by grace through faith. Thus, self-concern must die, and it can only die when it is buried in the love of God (see 1 John 4:18).
The final generation will understand these issues clearly. Thus, although pardon precedes repentance and confession, nevertheless, true believers repent and confess their sins. We find that there are two important reasons for confession, and neither is rooted in a self-centered desire for salvation. We confess, when we understand that our sins hurt the One who loves us most, and we also desire cleansing, because it is necessary to God's final victory in the great controversy.