He Does Far More

by Toby Sumpter

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn. 1:9).

This promise is staggering. It’s a business deal that makes no sense. We confess the sins we know about, and God forgives us and cleanses us from all unrighteousness.

This is like a little kid coming into the house having played in the mud, and he’s covered head to toe in it. And at some point, he looked down and suddenly noticed that his hands were looking pretty grimy. He trots into the house and sees his dad and says, dad, can you help me wash my hands? And the dad looks at him with a big grin and says, you bet, son. Let’s toss you in the bath.

The kid only sees his hands, but the dad sees all of the mud, all of the grime. The kid asks his father to help him get his hands clean, but his father is intent on getting him entirely clean. And so God is with us. “If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?”

If God made a complete list of the sins of any one of us, it would crush us. But God in His mercy takes our baby steps of sanctification and rewards them with far more than they deserve. When we humble ourselves and truly ask him to forgive, He does far more.

But this has massive ramifications for how we treat one another, for how we forgive one another. You serve the God who gives you far more than you ask. He forgives you far more than you know. He does not mark every iniquity. When we come to him with dirty hands, He doesn’t lecture us on exactly how filthy and ridiculous we look. He receives us with joy because we are beginning to notice our sin, because we are beginning to confess it. Because we beginning to learn to humble ourselves.

God has incredibly high standards. The standard is perfection and holiness. But God is also incredibly patient and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness and mercy. This is what we are aiming for in our community: high standards of excellence and faithfulness and piles of patience and mercy for those who fear Him.

As we prepare to confess our sins, please turn to p. 76-77, As the Hart, About to Falter

CONFESSION OF SIN

Minister: As you are able, please kneel as we confess our sins together.

You marched through the land in indignation; You trampled the nations in anger. . . . When I heard, my body trembled; My lips quivered at the voice; Rottenness entered my bones; And I trembled in myself, That I might rest in the day of trouble. Habakkuk 3:12,16

Father, we confess that we have sinned against you and others in how we have thought about and treated forgiveness, thinking that forgiveness is a lever we have to pull with you, meaning we begin to be proud for having asked for it, and therefore when someone sins against us we demand from others what we imagine you liked about our confession: certain degrees of awareness and sympathy and precision. But we know that you forgive gladly, generously, and you forgive more than we actually ask for. And you do not forgive us because we made you do it, because it is always all grace. Father, we confess that this exacting and suspicious disposition towards you and others takes away our joy, and we have often harbored bad attitudes and bitterness because we have not been free with our forgiveness. Please forgive us and wash us completely clean for these sins. We know it is way worse with us than we think. And so please give us grace for one another, remembering your kindness to us. Father, we know that we live in a world that lives under the bondage of pettiness and accusations and resentment, and we know this is in part due to our failure to preach and live your free grace in the blood of Christ. Set us free so we may share your freedom with our nation and our neighbors. And we know that if we mouth these words but do not actually humble ourselves before You, this prayer will be ineffectual, and so we confess our individual sins to you now. Selah.