Confession is a 4-Letter Word

 Confession is a 4-letter word. I know some of you will start counting the letters to see if I am correct. Well, I know it is a 10-letter word. But for many Christians it may just as well be a four-letter word, that is, a swear word or an insult. Christians are supposed to be without sin, so they have nothing to confess, right? Most Christians seem to think this way. They hardly practice the spiritual discipline of confession. Sometimes it is simply because it is uncomfortable to confess. It is like undressing in public. For most of us undressing in public is a no-no, and if others undressed you in public, it is one of the worst embarrassment in life.

Unfortunately that is the nature of sin. When you have sinned, and people know about it, you feel naked. You just want to hide away. That is exactly what Adam and Eve did after they sinned. They felt naked, and they hid away in the bushes. In order to cover their nakedness, "they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves." (Genesis 3:7 NIV)

Many Christians still think they can hide their sins from God. Jesus told a story of the Pharisee and tax collector who went to pray. The Pharisee did not know how to confess his sins. He told God about all his good works. The tax collector on the other hand confessed his sinfulness. 

Confession of sins is hardly understood. Why should we confess our sins? Doesn't God know everything? If I committed a sin, he already knows about it, right? Why do I have to confess it? When Adam and Eve sinned, God knew what they did before they told him. One of the most puzzling verses in scripture is 1 John 1:9. It says "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9 NIV).

This verse seems to suggest that if we don't confess, God will not forgive us. The question that arises is: IF we are forgiven IF and only IF we confess our sins, why did Jesus have to die? Surely if we just confess our sins, God would forgive us? Was Jesus' sacrifice necessary? To answer those questions, we need to understand what is happening when we confess our sins.

The classic illustration of confession of sins is found in the Old Testament. God gave the people of Israel this ritual to perform every day, and once a year, on a special day. This Special Day was called the Day of Atonement. The Jews call it Yom Kippur. In 2013, the Day of Atonement will come early on 14 September. The 14th of September is the earliest that the Day of Atonement can be on our calendar. The last time this day came so early was 114 years ago in 1899. So this year is somewhat special when it comes to the Day of Atonement. What does this Day have to do with Confession, though? Well, everything!

The first kind of confession happened everyday. Every time a person sinned, they were supposed to confess their sin and bring a lamb or goat to the priest to offer it as a sacrifice. If you could not afford a lamb or goat, you were allowed to bring two doves or young pigeons. If you could not afford two doves, you were allowed to bring 3.6 litres of fine flour. All these sacrifices were preceded by confession. Once this was done, "they will be forgiven.” (Leviticus 5:13 NIV) See also Leviticus 5 as a whole.

On the Day of Atonement, there was a more elaborate ritual, which was performed by the High Priest. This is described in more detail in Leviticus 16. For the purposes of this article see what it says about confession of sins: 

"He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites—all their sins—and put them on the goat’s head. He shall send the goat away into the wilderness in the care of someone appointed for the task. The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a remote place; and the man shall release it in the wilderness." Leviticus 16:21, 22 NIV)

This ritual foreshadowed the sacrifice of Jesus Christ who is the ultimate sacrifice, offered by Himself as the High Priest. "...When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption." (Hebrews 9:11, 12 NIV)

The ritual in Leviticus 16 on the Day of Atonement foreshadowed Jesus, who was represented by both the live goat on whose head the sins of ALL the people were confessed, and was led to  Golgotha, and was crucified there in the wilderness, outside the city, and the goat that was killed as a scarifice. That means that when Jesus was crucified, all the sins of humanity were on his head. But how did they get onto his head? They were confessed onto his head. Who confessed them onto his head? Christ himself as the High Priest. You do not have to confess them yourself. Jesus did that for you 2000 years ago. When you confess you share in his confession.

However, as you read in Leviticus 5 above, there was another daily ritual of confession of sin and sacrifice which happened everyday as people sinned. This confession was done by the priest. The priests foreshadowed all Christians, all believers. As Peter puts it, we are "a royal priesthood" which serves under the High Priest, Jesus Christ. (1Pet. 2:9).  Each day as we commit sin, we are to confess our sins onto the head of our perfect sacrifice, Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. However, this confession is also a participation in the perfect confession of Jesus Christ, our High Priest. It is the Christ in us who leads us to this confession. By ourselves, we would rather hide in the bushes like Adam and Eve did, instead of confessing.

If we do not confess, we choose to continue carrying our sins ourselves. Therefore, to confess is a way of saying "I have sinned. I deserve to die. I am naked. I need to be covered up." In response, God the Father says you do not need to carry those sins anymore. "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."(2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV). You do not need to die for your sins, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3:16, 17 NIV).

You don't need to feel naked, Jesus has been stripped naked on your behalf at Golgotha, but he covers you with his righteousness. You do not need to walk around with the load of sin. Jesus calls on all who are burdened by the weight of sin to come to him, so that he can take it away as symbolized by the Azazel goat on the Day of Atonement.

Confession is a means of receiving grace, just like Holy Communion and baptism. They are a way of sharing in Jesus' death, thereby receiving the grace of God. To confess is to put down your load of sins at the foot of the cross. If you do not confess your sins, you are refusing to put them on the head of Jesus the Lamb of God. You are effectively saying I will carry my own sins, I will die for my own sins. God cannot forgive you in that case. Forgiveness is in and through Jesus Christ only. As you confess your sins each day, each week, each month, each year, you declare the sufficiency of Jesus' sacrifice over your sins. When you confess your sins, you accept the sacrifice of Jesus. When you do that, God "...is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9 NIV)

"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God....” (Luke 18:13, 14 NIV)

Please note that John says that not only will God forgive us when we confess our sins, but he will also purify us from all unrighteousness. The Greek word for purify is katharizo, from which we get the English word catharsis. Catharsis is a psychological term used for emotional healing that comes from talking about one's painful secrets. For example, if you have murdered somebody, and the guilt is killing you, a Psychologist will help you talk about the murder, and most people find healing from that. Even victims of rape and incest find healing from talking about their experiences. Confession, however, is about accepting and acknowledging your sin, your guilt, and by so doing passing it on to the head of one who can take it away from you and make things right.

Confession is like a coupon of grace. Christians have limitless supply of these coupons. Each day they can hand them in for God's grace, freely given, to be freely received. It is unthinkable that anybody will starve, when they have a bag full of coupons, which they can hand in at their local supermarket to receive groceries for free. By not practicing this discipline of confession, many Christians are living lives starved of God's grace. 

Some may ask: are you saying we must just keep sinning and confessing so that grace may abound? Well of course not! John seems to have anticipated this question. See what he says next as he continues in chapter 2 "My dear children, I write this to you SO THAT YOU WILL NOT SIN. BUT IF ANYBODY DOES SIN,  WE HAVE an advocate with the Father—JESUS CHRIST, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world." (1 John 2:1, 2 NIV). John is saying that when you confess, it is like pleading guilty in a court of law. The good news is that you will not be condemned, because you have an advocate in Jesus Christ, who has already atoned for your sins. That's great news! That's the gospel.

As you start practicing this discipline of Confession of Sins, may you "...grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen." (2 Peter 3:18 NIV). Confession need not be a four-letter word!

Who is Azazel?

The Jews will be observing the Day of Atonement on 14 September this year. The last time this day came so early in September was in 1899, 114 years ago. This year the Day of Atonement will therefore be one of those once in a blue moon events.

If you do not know what the Day of Atonement is, please read Leviticus 16 before you proceed with this article. In brief, the Day of Atonement is the one day in a Jewish Calendar that the High Priest was allowed to enter the so called Holy of Holies in the temple. Before he entered the Holy of Holies, the High Priest needed to perform some rituals.

In brief, the following are the main rituals that happened on the Day:

"Then he is to take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting. He is to cast lots for the two goats—one lot for the Lord and the other for the scapegoat. Aaron shall bring the goat whose lot falls to the Lord and sacrifice it for a sin offering. But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord to be used for making atonement by sending it into the wilderness as a scapegoat. “When Aaron has finished making atonement for the Most Holy Place, the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall bring forward the live goat. He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites—all their sins—and put them on the goat’s head. He shall send the goat away into the wilderness in the care of someone appointed for the task. The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a remote place; and the man shall release it in the wilderness." (Leviticus 16:7-10, 20-22 NIV)

The High Priest was to take two goats and cast lots on them. One lot was for the Lord, and the other for the scapegoat. The Hebrew word for scapegoat is Azazel. This is a strange name that has confounded many biblical scholars over the centuries. It's clear meaning is not known, but is thought to mean "who God strengthens" or "the strong one against/for God". Some have said Azazel is a name of a demon. What is Azazel, and what was it about?

Firstly, to understand what Azazel means, we do not need to go anywhere else except the very passage where it is found. This word is only found here in Leviticus 16 in the whole Bible. The first clue about what Azazel represents is in Leviticus 16:10: "But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord to be used for making atonement by sending it into the wilderness as a scapegoat." (Leviticus 16:10 NIV)

As you see this goat was presented alive before the LORD to be used for making atonement by sending it into the wilderness. If Azazel is a name of a demon it means that a demon is being used for making atonement. That can't be! Jesus is the one who makes atonement for our sins, not a demon or the devil. See what John says: "He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world." (1 John 2:2 NIV). Whatever Azazel means it cannot refer to a demon or the devil.

Secondly, we have further clues about Azazel in other verses in Leviticus 16: "“When Aaron has finished making atonement for the Most Holy Place, the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall bring forward the live goat. He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites—all their sins—and put them on the goat’s head. He shall send the goat away into the wilderness in the care of someone appointed for the task. The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a remote place; and the man shall release it in the wilderness." (Leviticus 16:20-22 NIV)

See that the sins are confessed over the Azazel goat so that the goat can carry their sins into the wilderness. In Leviticus, when sacrifices were made, the sinner confessed their sin over the lamb or the goat so that the sacrifice carries the penalty of death on behalf of the sinner. The one who carries the sins of humanity is Jesus Christ. John the Baptist said Jesus is  the lamb of God "who takes away the sin of the world! (John1:29 NIV). The Orthodox Jewish Bible says that Jesus is the Azazel who takes away the sins if the world. 

"On the next day, Yochanan sees Yehoshua coming to him, and Yochanan says, Hinei! The Seh HaElohim (Gn 22:8; Ex 12:5-13; Isa 53:7), the one carrying away the avonot HaOlam Hazeh (sins of this world i.e., as the sa'ir l'Azazel kapporah, Isa 53:6 7,12; Lv 16:22). (Yochanan 1:29 OJB)

 

"As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. (Luke 23:26 NIV) Jesus was led away to the wilderness Golgotha by the Roman soldiers with the sins of the world on his head, just as the Azazel goat symbolized by being led away into the wilderness.

"After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him." (Matthew 27:31 NIV). The live Azazel goat represented the leading of Jesus to Golgotha to be crucified. The goat that was killed represented the death of Christ on the cross. Therefore, the Day of Atonement represented events that took place at the crucifixion of Jesus, not a future event. Both the two goats represented the atonement work of Christ, both in his life and death.

Azazel points to Jesus' atonement work. It means "the one who God strengthened"' or "the strong one for God". Jesus is the one who God strengthened as he was led away to Golgotha carrying that heavy cross. He is the Azazel! He is the scapegoat for our sins. Amen!

Why is Good Friday called Good Friday?

Have you ever wondered why Good Friday is called Good Friday? For me, every Friday is Good Friday. Judging by Facebook and Twitter on Friday mornings, for most people all Fridays are Good Friday. So why is this "Good"?

It is not clear why this day is called Good Friday. It is primarily in English speaking countries that this day is called Good Friday. Others call it Holy Friday, Great Friday, or Suffering Friday. There is no consensus why it is called Good Friday in the English language. 

My view is that it should actually be called Good News Friday, or Gospel Friday. Gospel is an old archaic word, so I prefer Good. It is a Friday that kicks off the conclusion of the Gospel story, the Good News story. Gospel means Good News. But what is this good news?

Well the story goes like this....Thousands of years ago, God, who is Father Son and Spirit decided to create humans in his image. So, in the image of the Son, he created humans. His objective was to adopt humans into the triune life of the Father Son and Holy Spirit. This life between Father, Son and Spirit is characterized by love, sharing, glorifying one another and mutual sharing of all that they have. "Jesus said "what is yours is mine, and what is mine is yours"

After being created, humans were given a paradise to live in. A garden which was full of food. However, God wanted humans to be free moral agents. You see, love cannot be coerced. It cannot be demanded.  So God did not want to tell humans to love him by force. So he placed the symbolic tree of knowledge of good and evil, which if eaten, is like a drug or a poison. It kills whoever eats it eventually. So the first two humans, a husband and wife, called Adam and Eve (not Steve) ate the forbidden fruit, and introduced death amongst humans. Death is absence of life. Life is found in God. His essence is life. Apart from him there is no life.

With humans having sinned and become corrupted, diseased, and started decaying, what was God to do? It would not be in his nature to simply say, "Well, I tried, let them perish." No, that would be unlike God, and God cannot be untrue to himself. He is also truth in his essence. What do you do when something that you made out of love and is highly prized gets damaged? Do you through it in the dustbin? Of course, not! You do everything in your power to fix it and return it to its original condition. That is what God did. For he loved the world so much, that he gave his only son, Jesus, so that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life. Jesus in whose image humans were made became a human. So, in his becoming a son of man, he was making sons of man sons of God. He needed to become flesh and blood like us, in our death prone condition, so that he could heal us of death.

Jesus was then born of a Virgin Mary by the power of the Spirit. He lived and grew to be a man. He was arrested, tried for treason and blasphemy even though he was God. He was executed like a criminal with two other criminals. Good Friday is the day many Christians celebrate and remember that execution.

He was executed together with two criminals. One on his right, and one on his left. The two criminals represented two types of humans. One that believes that Jesus is indeed the Son of God, and the other that does not believe he is the son of God. Which one are you? Do you believe, or don't you believe? This Good Friday you can join the one criminal who believed, and you too can join Christ in paradise.

God bless you!

Christians, Medicine, and Faith Healing

Should Christians take medicine, or simply rely on faith healing?

Many Christians have died throughout the ages because they were waiting for their faith healing. They refused to receive medical help. Recently, many have died, and are indeed dying of HIV/AIDS because they were told that they must just believe, and God will heal them of their HIV.

What do you believe? Is it okay for Christians to receive medical help? Is it lack of faith to take medication when you are sick? Is it lack of trust in God as our healer?

Let me start by saying that the idea that because we are children of God, God will heal us, is a demonic idea! It is the devil's idea. It is the trick that the devil has always used. When the son of God himself, Jesus Christ, was being tempted by the devil, the devil used this very idea. He said to Jesus "If you are the Son of God...." Many Christians are being sold the same old devilish idea that "If you are the son of God, God will heal you of whatever disease you have". Nothing can be further from the truth. To decide not to take antiretrovirals (ARVs) because God will heal us is testing God. Testing God is something that Jesus said we must not do.

“... ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ” (Matthew 4:7 NIV)

We should never be tempted to think we are righteous to the point that God owes us healing, wealth, happiness or whatever it is we desire, or that we have enough faith to receive all these things.

One of the wisest men who ever lived, at least according to the Bible, was Solomon. Even in his day, there were men who destroyed themselves because they believed this demonic lie. See what he says:

"Do not be overrighteous, neither be overwise— why destroy yourself? Do not be overwicked, and do not be a fool— why die before your time? It is good to grasp the one and not let go of the other. Whoever fears God will avoid all extremes." (Ecclesiastes 7:16-18 NIV)

There are many who are dying before their time whilst they are waiting for their healing. Take Dineo (not her real name). She was diagnosed with cancer. She went to her doctor, and he decided to start her on chemotherapy treatment. She was admitted into hospital. I went to visit her whilst she was in hospital. She was doing well with the treatment. But a friend of hers came to visit her. She told Dineo that she knows a place where they can pray for her and she will be healed of her cancer.

Dineo was now bed ridden. At this point, she would do anything to get healed. The pain, the side effects of the chemotherapy, the fear of death, she wanted it all to stop. So she decided she will try this prayer thing. She asked the doctor to discharge her. Her mother went to the hospital and they signed the papers that she be discharged even though it was against the doctor's advice. They carried her into the car as she could not walk.

From the hospital, her friend took them straight to the "Healing House". She spent two weeks there. I don't know what they do in that two weeks. At the end of the two weeks, it was time for healing. They prayed for her. And then the "miracle" happened! She jumped up from her bed and ran around the hall. She was "healed", or so they thought. From the "Healing House"' they went straight to her sister to show her the miracle. It was all joy. Dineo and her mother slept at her sister's place that day.

The following morning Dineo was sick again. She asked her mother to take her to the hospital. They washed her and put her in the car. She could not walk again. She was admitted again into hospital. A day later she passed away from the cancer that she was supposedly healed of. Her mother was devastated when I went to see her. The healing pastor was not there at the funeral to bury her. Whatever happened at the "Healing House" was not healing.

Dineo did not need to die. I believe this confusion also comes from ignorance about what medicine is. Let me explain. Naturally, when we eat food, our bodies extract all the nutrients the body needs to be healthy, that is the vitamins, proteins, iron, etc. However, because our bodies are no longer in the state that God created them in, sometimes the body cannot absorb these nutrients. After a while, the body becomes sick because it is not getting the nutrients. Or the body gets infected with a virus, and the body cannot destroy the virus because it does not have the vitamins it requires to kill the virus.

It is at this point when the body can no longer naturally get its vitamins and proteins from food that the medicine becomes necessary. Medicine is simply highly concentrated nutrients which are extracted from plants. So when the sick person takes a tablet for flu, they are actually supplementing their diet with what the body needs at that time, in this case vitamin C. This is one of the reasons the doctor will advise that you take your medication with meals. There are other reasons. Therefore, medicine is nothing else but food with a high concentration of a specific nutrient.

The same way we eat food to stay healthy, we "eat" medication to stay healthy or get healthy. We don't say, "Because I am the child of God, and I have faith, I will not eat food because God will sustain me. After all, Jesus said man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God." That would be ludicrous. Those that believe christians should not take medication are using the same erroneous logic. In some cases when you have flu, and it is not so serious, the doctor may advise you to eat oranges because they have vitamin C. In that case, the oranges are medication. The truth, though, is that all food we eat IS medication. It is what makes us well and keep us well.

When Jesus' disciples asked him to teach them how to pray, he said they must pray to God to "Give us today our daily bread." (Matthew 6:11 NIV). Why? Because we need food to stay healthy. "Bread" here means that which sustains us, whether bread, rice, pap, potatoes, tomatoes, bananas, etc. It is food. And in this food, God has hidden all the nutrients your body needs.

Paul, one of the greatest apostles of the church, the one whose shadow healed people who touched it, did not pray for Timothy to be healed of his illnesses. Instead, this is the advice he gave Timothy: "Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses."  (1 Timothy 5:23 NIV) In another incident, he actually left his friend sick without getting him healed with prayer. "Say hello to Priscilla and Aquila; also, the family of Onesiphorus. Erastus stayed behind in Corinth. I had to leave Trophimus sick in Miletus." (2 Timothy 4:19, 20 MSG). What? Paul leaves somebody sick without praying for their healing? What is going on? Well, what is going on is that God has purposed that we eat our broccoli and veggies. They keep us healthy. And if we fall sick, we must eat our veggies, failing which we must take our medication, which is a concentrated form of veggies.

Does it mean God does not intervene in a supernatural, miraculous way to give healing? No, it doesn't mean that. He does intervene supernaturally, but he prefers the natural way. The natural way is also a miracle of God. For a heart to keep pumping from the day the baby is still in the womb until 100 years later non-stop is a miracle we cannot explain. I know sometimes good diet is not enough. If your parents died of cancer, chances are high that you will have it too, despite eating your veggies. But the good news of the gospel is that Jesus became a man like us, to take our body of flesh and blood, so that he could heal it. When he returns, we will get a body like his, with no more pain and sorrow, no more cancer, HIV, diabetes, or any other disease that afflicts us. However, in this body we share in his suffering, even suffering that leads to death.

In expressing this hope of the future without disease, John gave this encouraging imagery in the book of Revelation:

"Then the angel showed me a river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb.  It flowed down the center of the main street. On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit,  with a fresh crop each month. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations. No longer will there be a curse upon anything. For the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and his servants will worship him." (Revelation 22:1-3 NLT)

We look forward to that day when "there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain.” (Revelation 21:4 NLT) Today when we pray for food, we are praying for healing, when we pray for forgiveness, we are praying for healing, when we pray for his kingdom to come, we are praying for healing, when we pray for his will to be done on earth, we are praying for healing, when we pray to be kept from temptation, we are praying for healing.

Whatever you may be sick of today, I pray that God the Father, by the grace of Jesus Christ, in the power of the Spirit, may give you the healing, whether naturally or supernaturally! Amen.