We resist grace because we do not believe He exists, and we suspect that if He does exist, He will manifest His power only to punish and judge. We cannot leave our confession hanging and vulnerable waiting upon the awful silence, we cannot believe that the alien touch from beyond the silence will be a healing touch of kindness. It is too much to believe, it is too good to be true; we have always known only dread. We do not think He will come through, our sins are over our heads, our conscience is too powerful for our ephemeral and silent and invisible God to overcome.
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
Here is the pattern:
We CONFESS. We simply acknowledge the truth of our shortcomings and failures. We “walk in the light.” We admit our fault, our weakness.
He forgives, He cleanses us. HE cleanses us. He cleanses US – together as a community. We do not cleanse. We cannot cleanse. He cleanses us from ALL UNRIGHTEOUSNESS. We are a prisoner locked in a cell with no key, no tools, no resources, no means of escape. He rescues us where we could not rescue ourselves.
We confess, He forgives and cleanses:
13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’
14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other.
Luke 18:9-14
Notice that the tax collector does not promise to reform, does not elaborate on how he plans to change. He simply confessed with great authenticity, and great humility, and he was the one who is justified. Because he confessed well, God forgave much, and cleansed deeply.
We confess, He forgives and cleanses:
16 Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Hebrews 4:16
Notice that we draw near to a throne (authority) of grace (mercy), where we are free and able to confess what hinders and ails us. We confess our sin there. We find mercy (forgiveness) and find grace to help (cleanse) in our time of need. If we are in need, it means we cannot cleanse ourselves, but seek another to help us.
We confess, He forgives and cleanses:
1 Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness; According to the greatness of Your compassion blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity And cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions, And my sin is ever before me.
Psalms 51
David, in the face of being confronted with truly heinous sin – murder, adultery, misuse of power, deception – knows that he cannot cleanse himself. He cannot demand forgiveness. He asks for grace, for forgiveness, and asks that God would wash him thoroughly. What we have in Christ, he sought desperately.
Why do we resist?
Why does anyone balk at this? Why would we press the responsibility and obligation onto our own shoulders to cleanse ourselves, to reform ourselves? Why do we resist grace?
Here is why: if we merely confess, and do not determine to change ourselves, we depend on the supernatural action of God to cleanse us. We cease our efforts, we cease being our own God. We have done with our piddly and pointless efforts. We sew no more fig leaves, we hide no more behind the bush. Naked and ashamed we come as our useless and crumbling loin-coverings fall away.
We resist grace because we do not believe He exists, and we suspect that if He does exist, He will manifest His power only to punish and judge. We cannot leave our confession hanging and vulnerable waiting upon the awful silence, we cannot believe that the alien touch from beyond the silence will be a healing touch of kindness. It is too much to believe, it is too good to be true; we have always known only dread. We do not think He will come through, our sins are over our heads, our conscience is too powerful for our ephemeral and silent and invisible God to overcome. Our inward pain is too close and too painful to let go to something so distant and unreliable as faith in God. To comply with His awful judgement, to silence the condemning voices, to satisfy the gaping maw of our terrible conscience, we must act, for we are assured that He will not. We know that justice will not bend, and we do not believe the blood of Jesus can really take our own load. We must force ourselves to do what the law demands, because we suspect that our invisible God is weak or dead or worse, as our conscience tells us He must be, silent only to hate us. We cannot bring ourselves to believe that God will cleanse us because we do not believe in God. We only say we believe because we do not want to embarrass ourselves to the other wretched pretenders.
Thus Jesus has it right. Of course. Our core problem is unbelief (John 6:28-29). It really is. It is not a subtle point of doctrine. It is central, it is our main problem. We are a wreck and a ruin because we truly do not believe.
And here is what I am here to say. He is real. There is a real and living God. He exists! The universe did not pop into existence out of nothing, and Christianity is not a bloody and disgusting myth set up to trick mindless sheep into tepid obedient colorless moral death. In the secret places of our dread and guilt, He can work powerful wonders, true miracles. If we confess our sins, HE IS faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, HE WILL cleanse us from ALL UNRIGHTEOUSNESS. Yes, He can do it, He will do it, He exists and He will certainly keep His promises with great power and persistence. He who began a good work in us will complete it to the end (Philippians 1:6). He will complete the work in your present life, there is therefore NOW no condemnation (Romans 8:1).
We cannot use law or clever theology or the art and wisdom and thought of man to manipulate ourselves into the truth of this. It is the work of God. Our redemption, our sanctification, our life in Christ, is to be the evidence of the very finger of God. We confess, and He forgives, and cleanses. The “normal” Christian life cannot possibly be stripped of the supernatural, it begins and continues and grows and ends by the work of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:1-8). The Holy Spirit will not touch anything if it is not holy, but by the blood of Christ, we are holy and perfect in Him!