Digress, Regress, Confess and Progress

The Christian maturation process either digresses, regresses or progresses. The life of a Christian can be compared to a stream of water. If it flows freely and has a continual inflow source it continues as a life-giving source to the plant life and marine life in and around it. If there is no source of inflow or refill the stream becomes stagnant, full of scum and bacteria, eventually dries up and cannot sustain life. Whatever blocks the inflow or refill needs to be removed for the free flow of the stream. A Christian needs the continual flow of the life-giving water of the Holy Spirit and the Word of Christ.

The admonition to the new Christian found in 1Peter 2:2 says, “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby. . .” God’s purposes for each newborn Christian is to “grow” or mature in Christ. There should be a continual growth throughout the Christian life. To move away from the things of Christ or to think one has “arrived” and there is no more growth is to digress or regress. Second Peter chapter one gives a challenge to Christians by encouraging them to add virtues to what God has already given (all things that pertain unto life and godliness) to us.

Digressing is to deviate or stray. All that is needed to grow is found in Christ, His Word and the power of the Holy Spirit. Some folks in the Galatian church were being led to digress by being taught that Christ plus certain ordinances and rites observed and practiced in the Old Testament were necessary for salvation along with believing in Christ. Paul’s cry to them is, “My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you. . . “ Gal. 4:19 They had digressed from the pure salvation that is only in Christ and were being strongly influenced by teachers who insisted that circumcision was necessary for salvation.

Regress is to go back. The writer of Hebrews challenges, “For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat” Heb. 5:12 The writer of Hebrews addresses those who were looking and going back to the ordinances, sacrifices, in brief, to the system that God ordered under the leadership of Moses. That system was ordained for that time but a new covenant had been established by Christ. The writer assured them that “Jesus [is] the author and finisher of our faith. . .”12:2 and the writer also assured them “by so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. .”(Heb. 7:22) Respect for the past movements of God and Christian heritage is commendable but becoming entangled in past methods, past customs, biblically unsound interpretations and past irrelevant, lacking systems for this day and time are not the answer for today’s ministry.

As humans we fail. We fail to devote ourselves to worship, prayer, Bible reading and study, etc. We fail to stay focused on Christ and His relevancy for today. We become like Peter who saw Christ as the Messiah in one instance and later began rebuking Him and saying, "You're not going to be crucified." We are like him in some ways when he walked out on the water. We walk steadily for a while with Christ then see and fear the raging tempest and storms of life and begin to sink. We want to stay in past comfort zones that will not work now. There are times we desire to do good and the ability to perform the good is lacking as Paul said of himself. Blaise Pascal wrote of man’s nature, “Does he exalt himself? I lay him low; does he humble himself? I exalt him, and continue to contradict him until he comprehends that he is an incomprehensible monstrosity (Pensees, Concerning True Religion no. 13). Without Christ man is hopelessly lost and without salvation. No system of man, no custom, no past tradition, no method will save anyone. Salvation comes to those whose hearts are broken over their sin, their lack of seeking God and their lack of being involved in what He is doing in their present world and confessing their need of the Savior.

We come to the need of confession. Some have suggested that approaching God could be done with the ACTS acronym (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication). This is certainly a good way. Further, Jesus taught to pray, “Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name (divine recognition and adoration), thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven (petition and submission), give us this day our daily bread (simple petition for daily needs), and forgive us our debts (confession), as we forgive our debtors (restitution), lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil (providence/sovereignty) for thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory for ever (worship) Amen.

Confession is often overlooked in our praying. There are areas of weakness, failure and sin that we do not even see that God desires for us to seek forgiveness. Moses sought God to deliver him from hidden or secret sins (Psalm. 90:8). Confession is needed to be drawn into the presence of God to pray in His will as one should. The Psalmist also was aware that if he regarded iniquity (wickedness, vanity, sin) in his heart, God would not hear him (Psalm. 66:18). The admonition from 1 John is, 1:8 “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” Some would say, "I confessed when I first got saved some time ago." The question is, “Has that person sinned or failed God in any way since that time?” The answer is obvious. The Bible says Job was a righteous man - one who feared God and shunned evil. Yet his final words to God near the end of his devil inflicted debacle were, " I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes" (Job 42:6). He did not come with any of his righteousness to God but approached the awesome, holy, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent God with repentance and self-abhorrence. Do we live a life of purposeful sinfulness so that God's grace will automatically cleanse us, no! But there is need of confession.

To progress with Christ is see how far one is from being like Christ and how utterly abhorring one is in comparison to Christ and to continue reaching toward Him who is perfect and complete in every aspect and part of that progression is confession. . .The Holy Spirit will do his work of convicting and reproving. . .confession comes from a broken, contrite spirit knowing that Christ is the only victory over any sin. . . then the grace of God flows, refills and cleanses by the Power of the Holy Spirit. . .Christ the only victory in our daily lives. . .Milton Gordon