Affliction Confession Discipline

Discovering God’s Purposes by Relating with Him through the Lord’s Atonement

TRUTH AND PURPOSE

The Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) was prescribed to afflict one’s soul by fasting, confessing sins, and repenting before God.  This provides for making amends with God, and reconciling one’s standing before God.

Messiah Jesus became our atonement. We have opportunity to receive His love and the grace of His redemption by appropriating His atonement, the forgiveness of our sins. 

In the same way, consider yourselves to be dead to sin but alive for God, by your union with the Messiah Yeshua. 12 Therefore, do not let sin rule in your mortal bodies, so that it makes you obey its desires; 13 and do not offer any part of yourselves to sin as an instrument for wickedness. On the contrary, offer yourselves to God as people alive from the dead, and your various parts to God as instruments for righteousness. 14 For sin will not have authority over you; because you are not under legalism but under grace. (Romans 6:11-14 JNT) 

The LORD’s atonement is settled forever! He has discharged us from the debts and penalties of sin and wiped away all the spiritual requirements for righteousness that were—and could ever be—set against us. In union with Him, we are set free from all traces of guilt and condemnation!

In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. (Colossians 2:11-15 NKJV)

As we confess to the LORD revealed sins or ways we have fallen short of God’s best, we receive the LORD’s atonement and reconciliation. We then have the opportunity to adopt new measures of discipline to help us walk in the new light we have received. That’s where God holds us responsible.

God expects us to learn from our mistakes and implement discipline and walk in a deliberate way to avoid things that distract and defile us; and keep us distanced from God. In such a way we allow the LORD to keep us in the grace of His grip; keeping us from bad decisions and harmful practices that perpetuate negative fallout and destructive cycles.

We also can’t forget that God allows trials and suffering to test or prove our faith to develop patience (James 1:3 and 1 Peter 1:6), discipline and strengthen us (Hebrews 12:1-17), cultivate perseverance, character and hope (Romans 5:1-5 and 2 Corinthians 4:7-12) and demonstrate Christ’s strength through us (2 Corinthians 12:7-10).

REFLECTION, REALITY AND RESPONSE

How do you appropriate the LORD’s atonement in your life?

Do you know in your heart that the LORD has performed total atonement for you, exchanging His life for your death to sin?

Are there some areas where you still condemn yourself?

Have you allowed the Holy Spirit to wholly set you free, and receive the LORD’s work and word discharging you from the debts and penalties of sin?

What measures of discipline do you think you can apply and implement in your life to help you walk in the new light you have received?

REFERENCES

Psalm 119:57-176; Romans 1-6

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Unless otherwise specified, all Scripture references are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982, by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scriptures marked JNT taken from the Jewish New Testament. Copyright © 1979 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. Scriptures marked NLT are taken from New Living Translation Holy Bible, copyright © 1996, 2004 by Tyndale Charitable Trust.