Jesus' Sacrifice, Confession, Repentance

          Repentance may be the most unpopular of all the doctrines of Jesus Christ, because it requires being humbled and contrite pertaining to His Truth.  We must not forget, God uses foolishness to save mankind (see 1 Corinthians 1:21-25).  He used the sacrifice of the body and soul of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, to redeem the fallen race of Adam and Eve who was dead in sin, mortality and unbelief.  So we see in the New Testament, specifically in 1 Corinthians 11:25, concerning the Lord’s Supper, that when we eat and drink of the Passover Lamb, that is, Jesus Christ, we are eating and living in His Word, and also in a state of contrition for sin.  As God said through Moses, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word from the mouth of the LORD doth man live” (Deuteronomy 8:3).  So in this passage, we clearly see that the human life that God made was meant to be sustained not only by physical food from the earth, but also spiritual food and drink from heaven, of whom Jesus Christ is the fullness thereof.  Jesus said, “I am the Bread of God who came down from heaven, to give life unto the world” (John 6:33, John 6:51).  So where does confession come into play?  The confession for Christians is due to the fact that sin is still an existing problem for humans, even genuine children of God who are born of the Spirit; they must deal with sin because they accept the laws of God (which is the knowledge of sin), whereas the Gentiles, in a sense, have no knowledge of sin, because they are lost in unbelief (Romans 5:13, 7:8).  A lot of Christians feel very self-preserving and not wanting to confess their sins and faults, but God made this way of repentance the only true way of being perfected: this is the new covenant found only in the blood of Jesus.  The Apostle Paul warned the Church not to eat and drink the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner, which I have always interpreted as being unrepentant, or proud, when the body of Jesus was sacrificed for our sins, so the attitude we must have during bible communion should be contrition and inward reflection.  Not that we would perfect ourselves through repentance, but rather ask the Father to bring death to our sinful parts, to perfect and heal our hearts, and live only to God as being risen from the dead (Romans 6:13)  We should never seek to justify ourselves if we truly have sin or fault in us, we must continually offer unto God a broken and contrite heart, and through daily eating His flesh and drinking His blood (The eating and chewing of His Word and His blood washing our sin that we confess) we can stand perfected by the Father and the grace of Jesus Christ.  God created us to be His sons and daughters, and to experience perfection, and it truly comes through this Priesthood of the Word of God, and understanding the doctrines of Christ, and understanding the purpose of the Cross of Christ and the broken body; at the heart of this work of God is His abounding Love for humanity.  It is a mystery, and the Apostle Paul covered a lot of these topics throughout the New Testament, especially in the book of Hebrews.  Let’s take a look at a few Scriptures:

“By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” - Hebrews 10:10

“For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.” - Hebrews 10:14

“How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” - Hebrews 9:14

““If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” - 1 John 1:9

And another verse that is in the Old Testament, which foretold the Cross of Jesus Christ, and that His blood would flow as a fountain for the remission of sin:

“In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.” - Zechariah 13:1

          So here are five Scriptures that talk about perfection, there are more than these, but I just wanted to whet the appetite for learning this truth.  It’s true, that our conscience is perfected, even when we are first born of God, if we have truly been born of God, than we did have an experience when we felt like a brand new person, and we suffered afflictions, and Satan buffeted us at times, but the good news is, a Child of God is always a Child of God, they can never be lost or unborn, God does not cast away His children, even if they feel pain and suffering, His grace is greater.  I would also like to add to the topic of “perfection”, perfection comes through knowing the full revelation of Truth, and such is revealed in the Holy Scriptures and Prophecies.  As Paul taught Timothy, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:  That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17 emphasis added)