Putting on Christ: Confession and Betrayal
Communication || Real Talk: We “real talk” because we desire real relationships built on trust. We have 100% of our conversations, choosing to be authentic, honest, and open with one another. Awkward today, stronger tomorrow.
Here at East Gate we celebrate real talk, we celebrate confession, we celebrate repentance and I believe today the Holy Spirit wants to give you strategy for when you are on the receiving end of confession. I believe Holy Spirit wants to teach us how we can put on Christ when someone confesses sins to us and even further when the confession exposes betrayal against.
Disclaimer: Who is this sermon for? Follows of Jesus Christ who are repentant and want to be restored to Jesus. This is to be applied for brothers and sisters in Christ that you have committed to doing life with. Though principles here can be applied to other circumstances, the bible prescribes steps that are to be used when someone is unrepentant or putting your life at risk or in danger. Seek godly counsel and wisdom here. (Matthew 18:15-20)
Today, Holy Spirit wants to give you strategy for that. So that even when you are being confessed to and you are hearing heavy things or the confession sheds light on betrayal you can remain in Christ.
You can respond like Jesus. You can forgive like Jesus. You can heal with Jesus. You can rest in Jesus. You can continue to pursue health in Christ Jesus.
The Armor of God. Now I am not going to re-preach my sermon on this, but I have linked it in the notes and I encourage you to go back through it. The armor of God represents the benefits and privileges of the gospel. When we say we are putting on the armor of God what we are actually saying is that we are putting on everything that Jesus paid for in his death and resurrection. We are putting on the truth that is Jesus Christ, we are putting on His righteousness (not mine, but his), we are putting on His peace that surpasses all understanding, we are putting on faith that comes through Jesus Christ alone, we are putting on the salvation that Jesus Christ paid for and we fight every battle that comes our way with our only offensive weapon: the sword of the Spirit, the word of God.
Now the armor of God is a gift we have been given and it not only benefits us, but can benefit those we interact with. When I put on the armor of God and I am walking in what Christ paid for, so when people experience me, they should not experience Raquel, but they should experience Christ in me. The very essence of who Christ is, how he thinks, speaks and behaves should be reflected through me! Any time I act otherwise, I forfeit Christ in me and I behave anti-Christ. (against Christ, not like Him).
Therefore, I am to remain armored up at all times because I am Christ’s ambassador bearing His image wherever I go-bearing the benefits and the privilege of the gospel wherever I go. Now this is key to our walk because as a human living in this world we will face hardships, trials, challenges and betrayals, but if we remain in Christ we do not bear these things alone, but we bear them with Christ!
Many of us have borne confession and betrayal apart from Christ. We have been betrayed and have taken off the armor. We have mourned, grieved and lamented alone, but Christ wants us to bear it all with Him, not apart from Him. He wants us to process the confession not through our own strength and abilities, but He wants us to process the confession and betrayal through the benefits and privileges of the gospel. He has given us all we need to process this with Him and not apart from Him. He is with us in our mourning, in our grief, in our lament and in our pain.
So how? Let’s look at how Jesus processed confession and betrayal
The woman caught in adultery:
Often when we read this story, we imagine ourselves as the woman receiving the mercy of Christ. As we read this today, we will be looking at Jesus and how he responded to the sin of this woman coming to light.
Jesus hears the sin of this woman from her accusers. Remember this is Jesus, fully God and man, but has emptied himself of His divine privileges to show us what it would look like to be fully man with the empowerment of Holy Spirit.
As fully God, His heart was grieved over the woman’s sin. This life was not God’s intended design for her and His heart longed to see her restored.
This is where we need to begin, if we are going to choose to put on Christ in the face of confession and betrayal we must choose this posture:
Sin should grieve our hearts
We should long for our brothers and sisters to be reconciled to the Father.
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:[a] The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin[b] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Cor 5:17-21
This means that once we were apart from God, but because of Jesus we can now enter into right relationship with God. It doesn’t end there, we have now been given the ministry of reconciliation so that others can also experience right relationship with the Father! Like Jesus, we preach the message of reconciliation; you aren’t in right relationship with God, but today you can be in right relationship with Him! This should be the heart beat in the face of confession and betrayal.
When we are on the receiving end of confession and betrayal, we must remember we are ministers of reconciliation.
If you are a mother, reconciliation is part of your ministry. If you are a father, reconciliation is a part of your ministry. If you are a businessman, reconciliation is a part of your ministry. If you are a teacher, reconciliation is part of your ministry. If you are a husband or a wife, reconciliation is part of your ministry.
***Having this understanding is critical because it doesn’t allow us to make confession about ourselves. It’s not about making sure they know how badly they hurt you or making them pay for what they have done. Confession is about seeing people set free and being reconciled with Christ.
God wants to correct our heart posture today to say in the face of confession, in the face of betrayal: How can I be a minister of reconciliation when someone confesses to me? How can I be a minister of reconciliation when I’ve been betrayed? What role do I play in seeing my brother or sister reconciled to the Father?
Putting on Christ in the midst of Confession and Betrayal
5 signs you are operating as a armed minister of reconciliation:
1.Mourn the sin, but don’t allow grief to paralyze you.
Let’s go back to the story of the woman caught in adultery. Though the sin grieved the heart of Jesus, he did not allow His grief to paralyze Him! He was able to set His mind on things above and the plan of salvation and reconciliation of this woman. It broke His heart, but He understood that for this wrong to be made right, He had to operate as a minister of reconciliation. Therefore, He longed for her to be reconciled to God!
Practical Application: When someone confesses or betrays us ask the Lord: What is your plan of reconciliation here for this person Lord? Don’t allow grief to keep you from moving forward to this. Ask God to show you His heart for them. Ask: What role do I play as a minister of reconciliation? (when we think like this, we keep our helmet on…we keep His plan of salvation at the forefront of our minds)
*Note: Your role is found in simple obedience. Don’t over complicate it or commit to something God has not called you to. Use wisdom and discernment and seek godly counsel if you are uncertain.
2. We operate in peace, not disorder.
Jesus operates in peace, not disorder! There is no hurry to respond, no fear leading Him, but faith in God at work even in the presence of her enemies, in the presence of her accusers.
Practical Application: We operate in peace (shoes) and faith (shield). We do not allow fear to dictate our response, but we can release peace and partner in faith that God is at work even in the midst of this trial. We can go slow in our response! We can take time to allow Him to lead us and direct our words. (when we think like this we keep our shoes on and our shields up)
3.We allow God to lead our response to confession and betrayals.
He wrote in the sand before He responded. Because Jesus was aware of God’s heart for the situation (He only said what the Father said and did what the Father did-John 12:49) He was able to respond according to heaven’s righteousness. “He without sin cast the first stone.”
Practical Application: Take a moment to ask the Lord how would you have me respond here Lord? Ask Him to guide your tongue. (when we think like this we keep the breastplate of righteousness on. I operate in the righteousness of Christ, not what the world deems righteous. This guards our heart from allowing bitterness and offense to creep in)
From the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. When we keep our breastplates on we guard our heart so that what comes out of our mouths is pure and in line with Heaven’s righteousness!
4.We silence the voice of the accuser.
With this statement, Jesus was left alone with the woman. He silenced every voice of her accusers. This is one of the most important steps in the ministry of reconciliation. Identifying the voice of the accuser and silencing it!
Note: The voice of the accuser comes against the confessor and the one on the receiving end of confession.
What does the accuser sound like?
He is never going to change.
He just confessed to this last week and here he goes again.
You won’t be able to take much of this.
We must identify the accuser's voice and fight back with the sword of the spirit for ourselves and shield those around us with the shield of faith.
All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
You will forgive my sins, as I forgive my debtors
The same measure I use against him, will be used against me
He who began the good work, will finish what He has started
What the enemy intended to harm me, will work out for my good
Greater is He that is in me, than is in the world
5. We don’t shy away from having real talk. (truth in love)
Lastly, Jesus had a real talk. He forgave the woman, did not condemn her, but did not condone the act. “Go and sin no more”. This statement makes it clear that what she did was sin and she must forsake it. (when we do this we keep our belt on. We operate with the belt of truth)
What that has looked like for me and Joshua:
When Joshua confesses to me I remember all the times I have betrayed and sin against God in often the same or similar ways.
I extend the grace that I want to receive.
We move forward with a plan of accountability and check-in
How would it look like to come alongside him in this
What would it look like to forsake this sin?
Time of prayer and repentance and then time of prayer over him
I don’t make it about me! (Silence the voice of the accuser against me…you must not be, etc.)
Ministry Moment
