True Christians must be lifelong fighters.
Proverbs 28:13-14 (NIV)
13 Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper,
but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.
14 Blessed is the man (ʾā·ḏām) who always trembles before God,
but whoever hardens their heart falls into trouble.
Listen to passage & devotional:
Belgic Confession of Faith, Article 29: The Marks of the True Church
The true church can be recognized
if it has the following marks:
The church engages in the pure preaching
of the gospel;
it makes use of the pure administration of the sacraments
as Christ instituted them;
it practices church discipline
for correcting faults.
As for those who can belong to the church,
we can recognize them by the distinguishing marks of Christians:
namely by faith,
and by their fleeing from sin and pursuing righteousness,
once they have received the one and only Savior,
Jesus Christ.
They love the true God and their neighbors,
without turning to the right or left,
and they crucify the flesh and its works.
Though great weakness remains in them,
they fight against it
by the Spirit
all the days of their lives,
appealing constantly
to the blood, suffering, death, and obedience of the Lord Jesus,
in whom they have forgiveness of their sins,
through faith in him.
Summary
Most people aren't proud of their sins. Sure, in our day and age, it certainly seems like so many people revel in their sin, but in a sense these folks who seem the wickedest have become so blind to the truth (remember, our primary urge as sinners is to suppress the truth) that they don't even realize that their actions are wrong. Shame is a powerful motivation in us, and so for most of us, especially us church goers, our instinct is to conceal sin to escape the corresponding shame.
But Solomon points out here the counterproductive nature of our instinct to keep sin covered up. "Whoever conceals sin," Solomon writes, "does not prosper." In other words, when you keep sin hidden, you end up making things worse, not better. You end up missing out on experiencing God's blessings in your life.
But to truly prosper, a Christian must do more than just make his sins evident. Solomon gives two steps to do what Paul would later describe as "putting to death" your old sinful self (Colossians 3:5). First, you must confess your sin, which is a remorseful admission of guilt. This confession must be followed with a renunciation. The Hebrew word Solomon uses here literally means to leave something behind. To renounce your sin means that you commit to completely changing direction in this area of your life.
But Solomon, inspired by the Holy Spirit, holds out great promise for you when you confess and renounce your sins: you will find mercy. Literally translated, you will experience God's blessing and forgiving love. This in turn leads to the prosperity God intends for your life.
Dig Deeper
Our Confession helps explain that a true Christian is not marked by a life of perfect holiness. Such a goal is unattainable on this side of glory. Rather, a true Christian is one who fights against their weakness every day of their life. Or, as Solomon puts it in v15, a true Christian is one who "trembles before God."
It's only as you realize the perfect holiness and righteousness of your creator that you come to recognize the sin and weakness in your life, and it's only then that you can, trembling before God, come to confess and renounce the sin you've recognized. That's the problem with the unashamed sinners in the world: they've suppressed the truth so much that rather than tremble before God, they simply continue to "harden their heart" all the more.
Solomon uses a key word to describe true Christians who tremble before God as they confess and renounce their sin: He says they are blessed, which is of course the same word that Jesus, the new ʾā·ḏām uses to describe those who fully trust in Him.
We often push back against propagators of the 'Prosperity Gospel,' who pedal following God's commands as simply a tool for gaining worldly riches, and rightfully so. But don't miss the true prosperity gospel that Solomon here calls you to: a life of prosperous blessedness, marked not by fleeting riches, but rather by full inclusion in the Kingdom of God through our Savior, Jesus Christ.
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who gives prosperity and blessedness to those who tremble before Him;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Confess and renounce your sins, so that you will find God's abundant mercy;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
Read the New Testament in a year! Today: 1 John 2
