Simple. Sufficient? Supreme!

Here is an audio file of my teaching at Oasis Granger. I hope you enjoy it. I have provided the pictures I used during the teaching so that you can see my examples and understand what I am talking about.

Picture 1

Picture 2

Confession of Sins

1 John 1:9 - If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

This is a hard topic sometimes. It is really important to always read the Bible in context. If you read from the beginning of the chapter, you will see that John is writing partially to unbelievers. He says, "We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. We write to this to make our joy complete." 1 John 1:3-4

From their he basically gives a gospel presentation - We are all sinners. If we confess with our mouths and believe with our hearts we will be saved.
It is important to know the preceding verses to 1 John 1:9.

In 1 John 1:7 he says, "...the blood of Jesus, his Son purifies us from all (or every) sin."

In Hebrews 9:25-26 it says, "Nor did he enter to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself."

The key there is "once for all". If he has to forgive you every time you sin, he would have to make a new sacrifice every time.
If I have to confess every time I sin then it is no longer a free gift. I have to do something to earn it.

In Hebrews 10:10 it says, "By the will of God, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."

Again, it says, "Once for All". "We have been made holy". That means you are holy all the time. It is your nature to be holy.

This is why we say, "It is a finished work." Because Jesus finished all the work.
If you continually confess your sins, you will just remind yourself of how sinful you are and you will stay trapped in your sins. You will think that you cannot come before God.
But when you confess that God HAS made you righteous and holy, you will "boldly enter His throne room of Grace" (Hebrews 4:14-16). There you will find the grace to always overcome every obstacle.

Strong Men

Jesus makes everything practical.

In Mark 3:20-30 Jesus is accused of driving out demons by the power of another demon. He refutes this by using logic.

"How can satan drive out satan?"

"A kingdom divided cannot stand."

He then switches His focus to the gospel by using a parable, something practical to describe what will happen.

"In fact, no one can enter a strong man's house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can rob his house. I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin."

He said this because they were saying, "He has an evil spirit."

(This unforgivable sin is essentially this - Rejecting Jesus and the Holy Spirit)

But the focus of this parable is on the gospel. The devil has taken people captive and caused destruction. The devil is the strong man. What does it take to tie of a strong man?

A stronger man.

Jesus came to proclaim freedom for the prisoners (Luke 4). Jesus is the stronger man! When you see the forgiveness Jesus offers, your heart will be free and your conscience clear.

Jesus does not carry empty words. His words have power and authority and he shows this parable in action.

Mark 5:1-20 -There was a demon possessed man. No one could subdue him because he was too strong. He even broke chains that people tried to shackle him with. We was out of his mind and naked because of the demons .

But what happened when he saw Jesus? He ran and fell on his knees in front of Jesus!

What does it take to tie up a strong man? What does it take to make a strong man bow down?

A stronger man.

Jesus sent the demons out of the man and set him free. Once he was in his right mind he sat calmly at Jesus' feet clothed. Jesus told him, "Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you."

What does it take to empower someone to be strong?

A stronger man.

This newly freed man left and proclaimed what the Lord had done for him not just to his family, not just to his city, but to 10 surrounding cities.

That is the power of the stronger man. He is Jesus.