Orange Moon "Conformity and Confession" Conclusion

    

The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…

   "Conformity and Confession"

Conclusion

    

    

   A final thought.  Conformity to God's will is eternal.  Confession of sin, however, will one day be left behind forevermore.

   "We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is" (I John 3:2).

     We cannot presently imagine the wonder of peace - the peace of perfect conformity to God's will - that will arise within us when we will no more sin.  First, we will know that God alone achieved such a redemption for us through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.  The glorification of believers will fulfill the promised "hope of glory," namely the reality of the Lord Jesus Christ as the perfectly indwelling Life of our lives (Colossians 1:27).  God made us for this sublime purpose of the Lord Jesus shining forth in our countenance, demeanor, attitudes, words, and deeds.  Presently, our awareness of such grace is limited, as is our expression.  When we are fully like Him, the joy of complete devotion to the will of God will grace our being with a fulfillment only God can provide.  We presently "delight in the law of God after the inward man."  Our flesh, however, "lusteth against the spirit" (Romans 7:22; Galatians 5:17).   One day, spirit and flesh will both share the same perfect devotion to God's will.  Again, we cannot imagine the tranquility that will arise within us through such spiritual and moral perfection in Christ.   We will share His complete devotion to the Father's will: "I do always those things that please Him… I delight to do Thy will, O My God: yea, Thy law is within My heart" (John 8:29; Psalm 40:8).

     The blessed truth will also assure us that never again will we need to confess a sin.  Many ways exist to consider this.  Most importantly, we will know that never again will we think, speak, act, or relate in a manner that made necessary the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus.  Indeed, when confessing a sin in our present lifetime, we do well to frequently consider within our hearts, "This sin I confess is one for which my Savior died in agony and forsakenness.  I can expect full forgiveness and cleansing because God the Father exacted full payment in blood, and far more than blood, to make possible my pardon."  To know in our eternal state that such repentance will never again be required, and that we will forever please the Lord who so loved us, will matter far more to us than we can presently conceive.

    A heart of peace always best ensues through conformity to God's will.  Confession of sin presently cleanses our conscience through the person and work of Christ when we fail to trust and obey God.  He has provided a complete salvation for the present lifetime whereby we may live our lives with a clear conscience.  The life to come, however, will far more bless our hearts with the peace for which they were made.  Let us look forward to such a day as we presently devote our hearts to conformity, and direct our hearts to confession when necessary.

"To obey is better than sacrifice."

(I Samuel 15:22)

"Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of Thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.  Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.  For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me."

(Psalm 51:1-3)

Weekly Memory Verse

   But there is forgiveness with Thee, that Thou mayest be feared.

 (Psalm 130:4)

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Orange Moon Monday, November 10, 2025. “Conformity and Confession” Conclusion - Love and Wrath

 The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…

   "Conformity and Confession"

Conclusion - Love and Wrath

    

    We conclude our consideration of conformity to God's will and confession of our sins with one of the more intriguing statements of Scripture.    

   "But there is forgiveness with Thee, that Thou mayest be feared" (Psalm 130:4).

    We might not suspect that God's forgiveness would elicit fear (the Hebrew root word "yare" denotes a particularly intense form of fright).  To the contrary, proper responses such as joy, peace, and wonder might seem to be what the Psalmist would express regarding the marvel of mercy in the heart of the God who loves to forgive (Psalm 130:4).  Our Heavenly Father would have us rejoice in His pardon and cleansing through Christ, and beckons us to believe that mercy ever awaits at the throne of grace as we make our approach through the Lord Jesus (Hebrews 4:16).

    Why then does the Psalmist couple fear and forgiveness?  The answer lies in how seriously God takes the matter.  His character would not allow Him to pardon sin based on mere fiat or feeling.  He rather forgives based on fury, that is, His execution of wrath against the beloved Son "made to be sin for us" on the cross of Calvary (II Corinthians 5:21).  Every sin God has ever forgiven, or ever will forgive, results from the sorrow, pain, forsakenness, and death of the Lord Jesus.  "Without shedding of blood is no remission" (Hebrews 9:22).  Saints of old looked forward to a promised sacrifice for sins (Isaiah 53).  Saints since the cross look back on a fulfilled promise of "one sacrifice for sins forever" (Hebrews 10:12).  God sees the matter from His eternal perspective, having purposed the slaughter of the Lamb from everlasting, determining to turn away no one was seeks forgiveness through Christ (Revelation 13:8; John 6:37).  

   Such solemn truth casts the matter of sin in the most somber light. It also casts the matter of sin forgiven in the same seriousness.  How righteous and holy is a God who loves to forgive, but who cannot violate His character in doing so, to the degree He poured out His wrath on His eternally beloved Son, "made… to be sin for us?" (II Corinthians 5:21).  Certainly, He would have us rejoice with "joy unspeakable and full of glory" when He pardons our iniquities (I Peter 1:8).  However, just as certainly, we must plant deeply within our hearts the horrors experienced by the Lord Jesus on the cross of Calvary.  A loving Father made such mercy available.  A righteous Judge did so by decreeing and implementing a sentence starkly expressed by the hymnwriter…

    "But none of the ransomed ever knew how deep were the waters crossed, nor how dark was the night the Lord passed through e're He found His sheep that was lost" ("The Ninety and Nine," - Elizabeth Clephane).

    The price paid for our forgiveness allows - and necessitates - a proper place for fear in our understanding of God's forgiveness.  Just as the Psalmist declared, and just as the trusting saint acknowledges when seeking pardon in the light of the love and the wrath that made it possible.  We seek conformity to God's will in the light of such truth.  We confess our sins in the same light, which both illuminates and blinds in the wonder of grace, and the sacrifice that made it possible.

"We did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted… He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied: by His knowledge shall My righteous servant justify many; for He shall bear their iniquities."

(Isaiah 53:4; 11)

Weekly Memory Verse

   But there is forgiveness with Thee, that Thou mayest be feared.

 (Psalm 130:4)

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Orange Moon Saturday, November 8, 2025 “Conformity and Confession” Part 5 - To See the Lamb - As God Sees Him

    

The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…

   "Conformity and Confession"

Part 5 - To See the Lamb - As God Sees Him

    God loves to forgive sins and sinners.

     "He delighteth in mercy" (Micah 7:18).

     He also must remain true to His nature when offering and bestowing pardon.

    "The Lord is righteous in all His ways, and holy in all His works" (Psalm 145:17).

   Our "righteous" and "holy" Heavenly Father cannot act in any manner that conflicts with His character and nature.  Thus, to pardon sin, He purposed a way to act as both "just and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus" (Romans 3:26).  He accomplished this "according to the eternal purpose which He purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Ephesians 3:11).  Before Adam and his race sinned, God determined a "Lamb slain from the foundation of the world" as a sacrifice that would make possible our salvation (Revelation 13:8).  Blood would flow from Christ, that forgiveness might flow through Christ unto all who receive God's grace and mercy.   Pardon from sin begins in the freely given establishment of relationship with God as His born again sons and daughters.  It continues in this present life for the maintenance of fellowship with our Heavenly Father in faith and faithfulness.  "If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin" (I John 1:17).  

   This most solemn and wondrous truth constitutes confession of sin in the most serious terms.  To "say the same thing" about our sins - the meaning of the word "confess" - leads us to see the Lamb as our Father sees Him.  Or, to see the Lamb bearing our sins, and even more wondrously, to see Him as "made to be sin for us" (I Peter 2:24; II Corinthians 5:21).  The most heinous distrust and disobedience, odious as it is, flies away as far as the east is from the west when a sinner or saint avails Himself of the forgiveness in the blood of the Lord Jesus (Psalm 103:12).  God sees sin through His Son, that is, in the light of who Christ is to Him, and what Christ has done to make possible the Father's merciful actions.  "The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all… yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him… by His knowledge shall My righteous Servant justify many" (Isaiah 53:6; 10; 11).

   Do we join our Father, seeing the Lord Jesus in these most holy terms?  Especially when we sin?  Do we agree with God regarding the glorious efficacy of His Son that makes forgiveness and cleansing available?  We must.  Too much was suffered and sacrificed to leave restoration on the table.  Too much hinges in our sphere of influence to fail to avail ourselves of the mercy that awaits us at the throne of grace.  Too many steps of walking with God will be missed if we wallow in unconfessed sin.  Too much disagreement with our Father - any disagreement - scandalizes our fellowship with Him if we fail to see the Lamb as He sees Him.  We do God, others, and ourselves no favors when we wallow in failure.  We honor Him, bless others, and arise to walk with Him when we agree with Him - when we confess our sins in the light of Christ the Lamb.

"For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.  And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement."

(Romans 5:10-11)

Monday: A Truer, Deeper Repentance

Weekly Memory Verse

   "Make me to go in the path of Thy commandments; for therein do I delight."

 (Psalm 119:35).  

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