I agree with "Lettuce" that the "teach us HOW to pray" request from the apostles, came during the time of the OLD covenant.
Don't know about that.
Jeremiah prophesied that God would make a new covenant with his people - because the old one had been broken, by them, so often.
That New Covenant was brought in by Jesus. As soon as God himself was walking around on earth, everything was different; - a new era had begun. Jesus SEALED that covenant; the one that he had already brought in, taught and demonstrated, with his blood. If you are saying that this new covenant was not operating until it had been sealed; the more I think about it, I think not.
Because, like I said, that would make almost all of Jesus' teaching pointless and ineffective.
Don't like that Jesus said "forgive your enemies"? - don't worry, that was under the old covenant.
Bit uncomfortable with Jesus asking us to take up our cross, our give to the poor? Don't worry, that was all under the old covenant.
And when you consider that we are not under the old covenant; it doesn't make sense.
So for me to believe that 'I have to go back and confess a second time for the finished work of Christ' 2000 years ago', would be the equivalent of spitting on his finished work IMO.
What do you mean by "confess again the finished work of Christ?
I'm talking about confessing, and saying sorry to God, when we sin - for which there is Scriptural teaching.
IMO, NOT saying sorry for our sin - taking it for granted as that God will forgive there is no need to ask him; is treating his grace lightly and disrespectfully.
I think that point is summed up with the scriptural misunderstanding of those who use Hebrews 6 to wrongly prove you can lose your initial salvation, when scripture says.
Hebrews 6:6 if they then commit apostasy, since they crucify the Son of God on their own account and hold him up to contempt.
You realise that Hebrews was written to Jewish Christians who were being tempted to escape the persecution of Christians by returning to the synagogues as Jews?
For them to be accepted by the synagogues, they would have had to deny that Jesus was the Messiah - completely renounce their faith and repent of their views. It seems that some were planning to do this, but turn back and become Christians again once the threat of persecution was over.
The writer of "Hebrews" is saying that this is not possible - they can't confess Christ as Messiah and Lord, publicly deny him as both, and then turn back again and change their mind afterwards. He is urging them to stand firm in their new faith.
Jesus himself said that if someone is ashamed of Christ, he will be ashamed of them. He also taught about not starting to do something and then turning back, giving up or not seeing it through.
My Lord was crucified once for my sins....past, present, future. And any confession of sin that I make now, is not for the purpose of 'BEING forgiven eternally'.
So if you deliberately disobeyed God and refused to confess, you believe that it's ok because God has forgiven you already?
Do I sin less than when I first believed?????.....OOOOOH YES!!!
Yes, but you still sin - as we all do.
The whole point is that WHEN we sin - even if it's only a little and is getting less each time - we say "sorry" to God and ask for forgiveness.
The idea that we DON'T need to confess our sin, is wrong. Even though Jesus knew we would sin before we did it, even though he has made provision, paid the price and reconciled us to God, and all this is from him and not what we deserve - when we sin, we still need to say "Lord, I'm sorry, I failed you; please forgive me and make me clean."
And I don't believe He 'temporally' judges, chastens, scourges me, unless I willingly refuse to rightly judge and repent when convicted of sin.
That's all that I'm saying; we repent when we're convicted of sin.
It is not "spitting on the finished work of Christ" to do this - it is necessary.