How to Deal with the Past Biblically Part One
October 13, 2009
Our pastor shared with us this Sunday that we should not be defined by our past, rather our identity in Christ should define us. Sitting in the pew, I wondered, how many people mentally agree with that statement, but have no idea how that can be a reality in their life. In fact, it may be the case that more of us think thoughts like:
"If I could somehow erase my past, it would be much easier to serve God."
"I thought I was following God's will for my life. How could He let this happen?"
"If my spouse had not sinned against me in the past, I would be able to honor God in my marriage."
"Things would be better if I could just go back to the way things were."
"If I had never suffered abuse in the past, my future would be brighter."
"If I had never sinned in that way, God would be able to use me."
The fact of the matter is that every one of these statements is false. So, my goal in this blog post and probably the next few is to provide helpful material on how to put off the lies concerning our past and put on the truth concerning our identity in Christ. I should say upfront, that much of my material including the basic outline is not original with me, rather it is material I was exposed to while I was blessed to be a member of Faith Baptist Church in Lafayette, IN.
Everyone has a past -no one denies that. The problems with our past often come when we forget who gave us our past. God himself, the One who created time, who gave us a linear existence, and who gave us a memory -He is the One who gave us all a past. We can become obsessed with our past to the point that it renders us useless in regards to the present or the future. In fact, many believers buy the lie that the best way to deal with todays struggles centers on analyzing our past to death. While I certainly don't endorse this type of man-centered navel-gazing, I do believe that all of us have problems in our past that we must deal with. I also believe that since God gave us a past, and since God loves us, He must have given us a proven and sure way to deal with our past. And indeed He has -in His Word.
Our past can't really be handled in one big lump. We can usually separate our past into four different categories:
1. Our Unconfessed Guilty Past
2. Our Confessed Guilty Past
3. Our Innocent Past (in which we have been directly sinned against)
4. Our Innocent Past (in which we have experienced trials due to living in a fallen world)
For the remainder of this post, let's focus on number one, our unconfessed guilty past.
If we had the choice, I'm sure that all of us would choose to never sin after we have come "out of darkness and into his marvelous light" (1 Pet. 2:9), but the reality is that we all have sin still dwelling in us. The Bible calls this "the flesh" (1 Pet. 2:11) or "the old self" (Col. 3:9). Although we are repeatedly told to put off these evil desires, we repeatedly fail and plunge headlong into sin. This sin becomes part of our past and the sooner we deal with it, the better off we'll be. Indeed, the lack of dealing with it will make us feel the heavy burden of our "bones wasting away" and "our strength drying up as by the summer heat" (Psalm 32:3-4) due to God's "heavy hand" of conviction upon us (Psalm 38). We may try to move forward in our Christian walk, but our Father will continually be pointing His finger back to the point when we sinned against Him -telling us to deal with that sin. So, how do we deal with it?
First, we must recognize that Christ has already dealt with it for you. Our Father does not expect us to make payment for our sin, because it has already been paid for. (My wife just wrote an excellent blog post on this topic that I urge you to read.) All He asks of us is for us to confess our sin and repent from it. Jesus urges the church in of Ephesus to remember their past and to repent (Rev. 2:5). Indeed, one of the greatest promises that we have in all of Scripture is the fact that "if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9) Confession of sin should not be a one-time thing for the Christian. The model prayer prescripts us to say, "forgive our debts as we also have forgiven our debtors" (Matt. 6:12). As Believers, we have been forgiven much! And the incredible thing is that our Father is ready to forgive EVEN MORE! This is the reason we must forgive our debtors. How can we, who have been forgiven so much refuse to forgive others that God stands ready to forgive (see the parable of the unforgiving servant in Matt. 18:23-35). The fact that we have been forgiven by God himself should also give us confidence to confess our sins to others as well (James 5:16).
Lastly, if there is restitution that should be made, we must make it. Sadly, this is an area of the Christian life not often talked about. If this were not the case, there would be far less division in the church and far fewer accusations of hypocrisy launched against the church. Because we are forgiven, does not mean restitution should not be made. If you have wronged someone and it is within your power to take steps to make it right, you are compelled by your love for Christ to do it. The Old Testament law gave many specific instructions on how to "make things right" with your neighbor (see Exodus 22:7-15; Numbers 5:5-10; 14:20-23). The New Testament also supports this type of thinking. If it were not so, the book of Philemon would not exist (see verse 19; also Luke 19:1-9). If we have sinned against our brother -even if we are thought to have sinned against our brother, it is incumbant upon us to go and make restitution.
Unconfessed sins from our past can cripple our future, but it doesn't have to be this way. If you deal with these areas in your past and make this type of thinking a regular part of your Christian walk you'll be amazed at the freedom in Christ you'll begin to experience!
(Next: How to deal with the confessed sin of our past that comes back to haunt us.)
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