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Interesting.....

Peter himself says we are purified and that we have been born again.

Imagine that.

I Peter 1:21-23

Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God. Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

You know, it sure seems like we hash out every difference we have between Catholics and non-Catholics once we lose sight of the subject of the thread and it appears that for years now the same arguments get repeated every time. This verse kept going over in my mind tonight while I was showering, it is:

Hebrews 12:1-3

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

I don't believe that God intended us to belabor over our every little sin constantly but to "throw it off" and not let it entangle (beset) us over and over again in the race or course he has set out for us. We should strive to always keep our eyes on Jesus who is the author, pioneer and perfecter of our faith so that we will not ever grow weary and lose heart no matter how bad we mess up. This is not saying sin doesn't matter to our Father, it does because it trips us up and entangles us rather than us smoothly running our race. It causes guilt and self-condemnation as well as hurting others. But he DOES forgive us - he is FAITHFUL to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Just as a marathon runner lays aside anything that would weigh him down or cause him to trip up, we should recognize that through Christ we can have victory over sin. Not just the eternal consequences, but in the day to day walk and life as children of God. If we fall, we can get right back up. We should acknowledge that we HAVE been justified and declared righteous in Christ by grace through faith in him but we also, through the indwelling Holy Spirit, can be victorious right now in the nasty here and now. That, to me, is the whole purpose of confession whether to a priest, to friends or just to God alone, it is part of the process of moving forward in living victoriously in Jesus Christ.