If We Confess Our Sins

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

After prayer, heartfelt reflection, and good conversations with trusted friends, I have removed the article’s original content.

The reasoning behind removing it is primarily twofold. First, I have removed it because of clarity—or lack thereof. I learned a long time ago that the CLARITY of communication is just as crucial as the CONTENT communicated. In attempting to address a broad issue in such a small space, I generalized where nuance was required, and it caused my specific arguments to be misunderstood, and therefore misapplied.

My second reason builds on my first. I take my job as a pastor very seriously. As a pastor, I am not to bind anyone’s conscience past what Scripture allows. This, of course, means that I should make reasonable and necessary applications of God’s word—something the original article was attempting to do. I am to preach the gospel, but I should also communicate how that gospel applies to our lives and calls us into action in a fallen world. As the apostle James tells us, faith without works is dead (James 2:14-26), so it’s not enough to only have good theology; we must have lives that are in-keeping with what we believe. However, due to my lack of clarity on a subject that desperately needs it, I believe I bound more than God’s word allows. This is an error on my part. 

I am not above heeding the advice to which I was calling all of my readers: repentance and faith. I am honored that you all take your time to read what I have to say. I do not take that for granted. By God’s grace, and to the best of my ability, I want to live the life I’m calling others to live. One of strength found in weakness. One of exaltation found in humility. One that trust’s that my sins cannot exhaust God’s grace.

I generalized where nuance was required, and therefore I bound more than I should. If you read the article in its original form, will you please forgive me?

I’ve kept the “links” portion below. I trust the men whose article’s I’ve liked to. They’ve given this topic the clarity and nuance it deserves. I hope you will read their words and embark upon the reflection I was attempting to promote.

Links

Below, I’ve linked to some helpful articles written by people far more intelligent than myself. Men who have their integrity in-tact as consistent witnesses to objective truth through the past five years.

Only the Church Can Truly Defeat a Christian Insurrection, by David French

The Roman Road from Insurrection, by Russell Moore

Truth over power: It is past time for the church to speak plainly about the election, by Esau McCaulley

Whataboutism Is a Mark of Foolishness, by Brett McCracken