The Good Of The Father (For The Sinners) # 1933

 

In Whom we are having the deliverance through His blood, the forgiveness of offenses in accord with the riches of His grace

Paul to the Ephesians 1: 7, Concordant New Testament 

The other night I watched a short video as Franklin Graham, son of the late preacher, encouraged people to seek out Jesus and to pray the "Sinners prayer" that they would be forgiven.  I now know that I should have turned off that video after it started, but I see it as a lesson on just how the mainstream church has indoctrinated so many believers through its teachings.  Now, this is nothing against Franklin Graham, for he is simply speaking to the message of the traditional church.  The message that mankind is inherently sinful, and that we must continue to pray and seek the Lords forgiveness for our iniquities.  To this mantra I have but one question.  What about Jesus?  What about the Jesus who gave Himself for us {Paul to the Corinthians (2) 5:21}?  What about the Jesus Whom the Father dispatched to do just that {Johns Account 3:16-17}?  What of the love and forgiveness of God Who loved us enough to forgive those sins {Paul to the Ephesians 1:7}?  I'm reasonably sure that Franklin Graham knows all about the answers to these questions.  Yet he continues to speak to the failed theology of the mainstream church because that is where his training and experience are centered.  Of course, I can't place the entire blame upon Franklin Graham, as he is just the latest to shovel out the teachings of the church.  His own father, the late reverend Billy Graham, made a career out of crusades where he encouraged millions to pray that very prayer which his son would later encourage.  My mother used to love to watch these crusades on television, and each time the altar call would come, she would be on her knees praying 'The prayer."  So, what is it which makes us believe that we must continually ask the Lord for forgiveness?  The fact is, I already know the answer to that question.  I've sat through too many church sermons to not be aware of the church insistence on continually praying for that forgiveness which the Father has already provided for us.  

Yet if we should be walking in the light as He is in the light, we are having fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, is cleansing us from every sin

First Epistle of John 1: 7, Concordant New Testament 

Let's get real here, just about every church I have ever attended has stood on the principle that Christ Jesus, the Son of God, has died for the forgiveness of our sins.  Yet, knowing this, it is the church that continues to speak to our offering up prayers for the forgiveness of sin.  Did Jesus somehow miss a few of those sins when He died on the cross?  I find that unlikely AND not biblical.  I have a friend who is steeped deeply in the Eastern Orthodox religion who continues to adamantly tell me that we need to always pray for the forgiveness of our sin.  When I mention to him the fact that Jesus has died for our sins already, he argues that He died for the sin of our past, but that we should continue to focus our prayers to Him for forgiveness of what we do today.  Really?  The apostle Paul speaks to the truth that Christ has already died "Once for all time" {Paul to the Romans 6:10}.  That is, when Jesus declared on the cross that "It is accomplished," He meant it {Johns Account 19:30}.  I believe that the biggest obstacle which believers carry with them is that they do not know their own identity in Christ.  Jesus has proclaimed that our life is in He and the Father {Johns Account 14:20}.  If we adhere to the narrative of the church, how can sinful man ever be in the presence of a holy God?  Unless, of course, God has already dealt with that issue of sin, which He has through the sacrifice of His Son.  So, with apologies to Franklin Graham, I'm not buying his spin on sin.  

~Scott~