Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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   Confession: Sacrament of Reconciliation With God and Human


    1 Corinthians 6:1-11

V.11: “And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”
 

Ultimately Paul wants us to be the people of peace which is what the Church should be represented as. Paul ends off by listing various sins, and how those people wouldn’t inherit the kingdom of God. The biggest consequence of doing those sins (drinkers, adulterers, idolaters) is that they will be separated from God. Although it may seem as though one sin may be worse than the other, it’s important to understand that at the end of the day we are all sinners, unworthy of God’s mercy. However as sinners, God has given us the opportunity to repent our sins and turn to Christ. Confession is a very important aspect of Christian churches, and our own spiritual lives. We must be willing to come before the Lord and repent for our wrongdoings. This is where Paul says “you were washed” “you were sanctified”, in which he reveals how we are cleansed through our confession.
 
Paul goes on to shaming the people by explaining how they didn’t have Christian wisdom. He also demonstrates how the people with faith go to unbelievers to ask advice, when rather the unbelievers should be exposed to the Word of God. Paul says that we defeat ourselves when we ask the world for answers. When there are disputes between church members and it is taken outside to the real world, ultimately no one really wins the debate, rather the Church loses in general. It illustrates to the world that us believers in Christ cannot be at peace with one another. The behaviors expressed by Paul shouldn’t be tolerated in the Christian faith/church.
 
Paul opens up by prohibiting Christians from going to court for matters that should be resolved in the church. He is not saying that we should never go to court, because he himself has gone to court, but rather says that disputes between believers must be handled carefully. Paul believes that issues that are occurring between members of the same church should be resolved in the church itself, specifically by the authority of the church. When the people of God are not at peace with one another it may cause negative communications. Specifically it reveals that we cannot agree with each other and we also cannot handle the disputes ourselves. Basically Paul is trying to illustrate that we have no peacemakers in our world. 
 

Prayer
Lord, Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to experience your great love and mercy on a day by day basis. Please give us strength and courage to confess to you Lord for we are all sinners. We are not worthy of anything you provide or your mercy in general, Lord. But we thank you and praise you for your everlasting love. In Jesus name, Amen.

 
Thought for the Day
“Confession is an act of honesty and courage - an act of entrusting ourselves, beyond sin, to the mercy of a loving and forgiving God.” - Pope John Paul II


Jason Mathew
Epiphany MTC, NY

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