‘If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness’

The well-known verse found in 1 John 1:9 is worth memorising. It forms part of a wider exploration of the ongoing reality of sin in the life of the believer, along with a statement concerning the absolute provision of forgiveness found in Jesus Christ. That being said, Christians still suffer confusion over what Jesus actually did on the cross to forgive sin, how to appropriate that forgiveness, and most importantly what that forgiveness unlocks.

It is unknown whether, in the days that the first disciples waited in the upper room, and prior to the coming of the Holy Spirit, it was usual for individuals to stand up and preach. There certainly was a great deal of prayer (Acts 1:14) and an earnest searching of the scriptures during this time (Acts 1:20); only once is it recorded that ‘Peter stood up among the believers’ (Acts 1:15). However, after the Holy Spirit comes, the text of the Acts of the Apostles reports that, ‘Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd’ (Acts 2:14).

Whilst the Parable of the Persistent Widow frames prayer in the setting of a courtroom, elsewhere in the New Testament prayer is spoken of as something happening in a throne room. Both places are intimidating, and a throne room, in the ancient world, was not a place to be entered lightly, or without invitation. The writer of the book of Hebrews, however, casts a vision of approaching God’s throne in a way that is, to say the least, surprising.

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,

“Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you.”’

The second half of the Hebrews 13:5 is one of those verses worth looking at in the original Greek.

It is a word we use as Christians, probably everyday,אָמֵן (amen). It is first used in Numbers 5:22, and appears in duplicate, 'Amen, Amen'. Amen is also the last word of the Bible found in Revelation 22:21(NIV); 'The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's people. Amen' (Ἀμήν) as well as a title for Christ! In its earliest uses in the Old Testament it is used as a declaration of agreement and support; famously at Mount Ebal.