OUTLINE:

Pr 3:26
For the LORD will be your confidence
And will keep your foot from being caught.

Revolutionary Thinking
We are to examine ourselves, compile all of our street credibility into one big heap of creature-credit, and light a match to it! This is precisely what Paul did (Php 3:7-9). He was blessed for it.

“but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith”
Contrary to self-righteousness is Christ- righteousness, the mainstay of the “new creature” (2Co 5:17). This righteousness bears good fruit, by grace through faith, such as confidence (aka, having faith that you are right before God).

Why Confession Is So Important
The primary reason for confession isn’t persistent condemnation; rather, it is the first step towards deliverance (e.g., salvation, proper, is our grandest example of this, ala repentance).

“Remember...remembers... recall”
Lam 3:19-21 is a wonderful reminder of our access to God’s grace. We haven’t been called to bondage, but rather “to freedom” (Gal 5:13). The temptation is to allow the flesh to dominate us with guilt/ condemnation. God is opposed to this (1Co 10:13)!

Why Confession Is So Important
The primary reason for confession isn’t persistent condemnation; rather, it is the first step towards deliverance (e.g., salvation, proper, is our grandest example of this, ala repentance).

“to live is Christ and to die is gain”
We are sojourners here on Earth. Our citizenship is in Heaven (Php 3:20). We never “make it” until we die (or are raptured first) and are ultimately sanctified (made perfect in Christ). So, do NOT become depressed about failing.

Jas 5:11
We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.

We are not allowed to fail so that Satan can take advantage of us.

Grace Is Always Victorious
With believers, sin never has the final say!

Getting Mercy Right
Mercy isn’t a pre-sinning form of encouragement, it is a post-sinning ointment. If our viewpoint of God’s mercy somehow leads us to sin, we have it wrong in our soul. It is merciful of God that we die eventually so that we can be fully sanctified in Heaven.

“How shall we who died to sin still live in it?”
God’s good intention isn’t that we fail for the purpose of injuring ourselves, though He allows us to reap what we sow. When we fail, God’s grace is put on full display, and it’s glorious. His faithfulness ought to engender confidence in us!

Failure Is a Crossroad
Every time we confess our sin, we stand at a crossroad. To one side there is condemnation (“stay down!”); to the other is salvation (“get up!”). The righteous person gets up every time, glorifying God in the process. (Pr 24:10-16)

Pr 24:16
For a righteous man falls seven times, and rises again,
But the wicked stumble in time of calamity.

We are not allowed to fail so that Satan can take advantage of us.

“reaching forward to what lies ahead”
Mercy is a “pull” mechanism. It pulls us out of failure mode, keeping us from becoming depressed. It isn’t meant to pull us into the ditch, only out of it (aka, mercy isn’t a license to sin).

Pr 3:26
For the LORD will be your confidence
And will keep your foot from being caught.

Confessing Sin
The “final frontier” for most of us is our lifestyles. (e.g., 1Jn 3:18)

1Jn 3:18 [Amplified]
Little children (believers, dear ones), let us not love [merely in theory] with word or with tongue [giving lip service to compassion], but in action and in truth [in practice and in sincerity, because practical acts of love are more than words].