Matthew 15:6 KJV [...] Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition.
From another thread:
{{___ but in your statement below do you believe that all future sins are forgiven without asking forgiveness for commiting them?
{{___ [||] >All sins, past, present, and future, are forgiven for those who are born again.> [|| - my .10 ] }}
Yes, I believe that all the future evil in the walk of the born again has been unconditionally forgiven through the blood sacrifice of the Savior on the Cross.
A requirement to ask for forgiveness after having a bad conscience about a specific thought, word, or act, is works righteousness. It is a form of the universal error, the error of the Galatians.
The requirement for asking forgiveness is based on misinterpretation and mistranslation of a single verse. Nothing is found elsewhere to support it. The whole of the Gospel, properly understood, is against it.
1 John 1:9 KJV If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
John Nelson Darby, known to some as "the greatest expositor of Church truth since Paul", has written in his Synopsis of the Books of the Bible that the "sins" in view may reasonably be taken as sins committed before conversion. Darby is marvelous in avoiding giving offense to those who hold different views. He suggests that we take John as one who writes abstractly. In this later statement, I believe that he is speaking as a responsible Christian leader, avoiding giving unnecessary offense. The first statement may well represent his opinion as a scholar. The usual interpretation is at odds with the rest of the epistle, and, indeed, the rest of scripture.
1 John 3:6 KJV Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.
1 John 3:9 KJV Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
1 John 5:18 KJV We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.
The almost universal explanation is that continuous or intermittent sinning is in view in these three verses. In my opinion, this is errant pedantry bordering on the logically ludicrous.
The biblical definition of "sin" is much narrower than the dictionary or even the Bible dictionary definition. The Hebrew and Greek words mean "missing the mark". In biblical context, coming short spiritually. It is impossible that the new and new kind of human spirit that is the result of being born again should come short of that spiritual glory which God (who "is a spirit") intended for a creature made in His image.
Romans 2:9 KJV Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;
In situations where any man, including the born again, is bothered by conscience, this verse is applicable.
The Greek is precise. The evil works its way out of the man. The soul suffers. The case of the born again is detailed later in Romans 7 and 8, highlights:
Romans 7:20 KJV Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
Romans 7:25 KJV I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.
Romans 8:2 KJV For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
This freedom certainly frees those possessing the spirit of that life which is in Christ Jesus from any traditional rule that requires any work of confession after noticing an activity of the sin that still dwells in their already crucified flesh.
Only the traditions of men say otherwise.
The full form of this particular error is known as the sacrament of confession. It is still at least partially in effect among almost all Christians. The sacrament and confessor parts have been removed by the Reformation. More flexibility has been allowed by others, including most of baptized humanity.
1 John 1:9 Geneva If we acknowledge our sinnes, he is faithfull and iust, to forgiue vs our sinnes, & to clense vs from all vnrighteousnes.
The Geneva translators, men driven from England for their beliefs, seem to stay partly clear of the common error in this verse. The inner apprehension of evil thought, word, or deed, as indeed evil, and as already forgiven through the blood sacrifice of the Cross, is the work of the mind of Christ in the believer.
The too much neglected Love Is Now by Peter E. Gillquist expands on this interpretation. I am indebted to this book and to a noted Christian counselor in Houston for starting me in the right direction on this verse. My present understanding has been a great blessing. May it be a blessing to others.
