Shorted by 'short accounts'

Thankfully, I was never raised to believe I had to “confess my sins,” as much as I do remember praying as a kid that God would forgive me for some sin I’d committed.

When I first started attending Shorewood (in 1991 at the age of 27) and heard how Believers were no longer to “keep short accounts with God,” I had no idea what was meant by that. It was years later before I knew the definition of the term.

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A definition I found on a preacher’s blog site today reads:

“To keep your accounts payable on a ‘short basis’ simply means to keep them ‘paid up,’ or rather, not to let them become extended. An example of this would be to pay off your credit card balance every month.

“In the spiritual sense, when looking at the theology that prescribes this practice, it always refers to confession of sin(s) (the equivalent of a liability or debt in accounting terms), and requesting to be forgiven of sins on a daily basis.1 When you hear believers say that they are ‘prayed up’ this invariably means that they’ve got all their sins ‘confessed up.’ ”

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I am often reminded how so many Christians never get on to any kind of mature, adult relationship with their Savior because preachers, etc., keep them stuck in child-mode thinking that says they have to constantly “get right” again with God after screwing up.

Any kind of peripheral examination of the writings/sermons of famous theologians through the ages reveals this is precisely what's taught, causing untold damage to the Body of Christ by its alliance to Satan’s Lie program.

Look at this passage from a book by internationally-renowned preacher A. B. Simpson, a hugely prolific author (70-plus books) and hymn-writer from the 1800s who founded the Christian and Missionary Alliance:

“It is a good thing to keep short accounts with God. I was very much struck some years ago with an interpretation of the verse: So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God (Romans 14:12). The thought it conveys is that of accounting to God daily. For us judgment is passed as we lay down on our pillows each night. This is surely the true way to live. It is the secret of great peace. It will be a delightful comfort when life is closing or at the Master’s coming, to know that our account is settled and our judgment over. For us, then, there is only the waiting to hear the glad Well done, good and faithful servant; . . . enter thou into the joy of thy Lord (Matthew 25:21).”

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To see what a “modern man of God” like ultra-famous mega-church preacher Rick Warren, author of the “Purpose-Driven Life,” wants us to believe, look at this written passage of his:

“ ‘Clean hands’ simply means a clear conscious. Does that mean we’re perfect? No. None of us is perfect. But we can keep short accounts with God. 1 John 1:9 (TLB) says, ‘But if we confess our sins to him, he can be depended on to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong.’ So when we sin, we just say, ‘God, I was wrong. I confess it.’ There is no power without a clear conscience.”

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In another preacher’s blog site, he writes, “When we confess, when we keep short accounts with God, we can rest assured in his forgiveness and then rejoice in his great love for us. In Psalm 32 David talks about the relief there is in keeping short accounts with God.

“First he tells us there is blessing in forgiveness and a burden in keeping from confessing. In Psalm 32, David is confessing his sin with Bathsheba and declares that those who are forgiven are blessed or happy.

“David knew this all too well, but it wasn’t because he hadn’t kept this from God or others who could point him to God’s forgiveness. In fact, David admits that he had kept this secret and that in so doing, there was not joy, but rather sadness and weariness, even to his bones (Psalm 32:3). As we read this Psalm, actually see the freedom that is realized in confession, because we are forgiven.”

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In a study from John 13 and its famous passage on the washing of the disciples’ feet by Jesus, Jordan explains where people get the idea of having to keep “short accounts” for a right walk with God:

“The idea is the disciples are clean but now Jesus Christ is going to wash their feet. That’s that experiential, continual kind of cleansing.

“The Word is what’s going to cleanse them and it’s the Word that gives them the total permanent cleansing, and they take that cleansing that is theirs in totality and bring it into their experience. That’s why He says, ‘Abide in me.’

“Abiding is, ‘You’re in me, now remain in that position, identity, fellowship, understanding and truth. Don’t go out here and try to do it yourself.’

"He’ll tell then in a minute that, ‘Without me you can do nothing.’

“Again, the Old Covenant is ‘you do it,’ and New Covenant is ‘I’ll do it for you.’ It is the Word that cleanses us.

“In Psalm 119:9, David says, ‘Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.’ "