In the Christian realm, there are three major categories of confession, with each one having specific significance.  There is the confession of faith that i a part of the salvation process (Matt. 16: 16).  There is the confession of post (after) salvation sin that takes place throughout one’s post salvation spiritual life, here on Earth (1 John 1: 9). There is confession associated with the proper celebration of the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor. 11: 28-30).  In this study, we will examine all three.
The most well-known form of confession is an acknowledgement of one’s sin/and or guilt.
In the secular realm, it is an admission of culpability regarding a criminal offense or breach of some rule or regulation of Man.
In the “religious realm” it is the acknowledgment of culpability in that one has violated a precept of one’s chosen religion (Psalms 96). As odd as it may sound, sometimes complying with the precepts and practices of Man-made religious traditions can amount to sin when doing so runs contrary to the Word of God.
 “And He (the Lord Jesus Christ) said to them (the ultra-religious crowd of His day),”You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God (Luke 16: 18 NASB/parenthesis mine).”
“…And all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment (Isa. 64: 6 NASB).”
In the spiritual realm, confession is an acknowledgement that a sin, as God determines sin to be, has been committed (1 John 1: 9). Scripture (Rom.14: 20-23) also teach that doing what one THINKS is a sin, can even make an otherwise legitimate action and/or inaction a sin because one believed in our heart (at the time) he/she was doing wrong.
On the positive side a confession may also refer to an affirmation of faith (Matt. 16: 16) that is the gateway to the spiritual life!
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One can NEVER be any more or any less “saved” than what  he/she becomes if and when he/she is born again (John 3: 3).  One is born again IF and when he/she chooses to make a confession of faith (Matt. 16: 16), having placied his/her trust in the Person and the Work of the Lord Jesus Christ.  This Matt. 16:16 confession of faith is a ONE time event and must not be confused with the 1 John 1: 9 confession(s) that (should) take(s) place whenever one is or becomes aware that he/she has sinned.
The 1 John 1: 9 confession takes place over and over again throughout the course of one’s post salvation spiritual life. The 1 John 1: 9 type of confession is a POST (after) salvation activity, and is NOT for the purpose of obtaining or retaining salvation.  The resulting forgiveness of sin referenced in 1John 1: 9 is for the restoration of fellowship with God and to move forward, once again, in the execution of the TRUE post salvation spiritual life.
Accordingly, the 1 John 1: 9 type of confession plays a critical part in the quality of one’s post salvation life here on Earth.  The significance of the 1 John 1: 9 type of confession will be explained in greater detail further along in this study.
Before we can benefit from the type of confession spoken of in 1 John 1: 9, or any other POST (after) salvation function, we must first make sure that we have first made a confession of faith, as only in doing so do we enter the spiritual life.
Since the Fall of Man, we come into this world physically and mentally alive, but spiritually dead.  A spiritually dead person can do no more in the spiritual realm than a naturally dead man can do in the natural realm (John 15: 5).
Note here that this explains why the sinless humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ HAD to come into the world in manner in which it did (Luke  1: 31, 35).  It also explains why our Lord had to, in His humanity, remain free from sin. If not, the Lord Jesus Christ would have not qualified or have remained qualified as an acceptable sacrifice as the Lamb of God. See the Doctrine of the Hypostatic Union for more details on this important principle of Scripture. 
Spiritual death is passed down at the moment of conception (Psalms 51: 5) through our biological fathers to what becomes our humanity when the fetus is conceived. God (John 3: 6) (not our parents) creates the soul and places it in the body at physical birth (Gen. 2: 7). It is also at physical birth that we receive our first breath of natural life independent of the biological life support that our humanity received in the womb. It is at birth when the fetus comes forth that the soul is placed inside and becomes a human being.
The post salvation spiritual life, here on Earth begins, IF and when one is “born again.” Until one is born again (John 3: 5, 7), he/she remains in the same spiritually DEAD condition into which we ALL come into this world at physicial birth.
Being born again (John 3: 5, 7) is a process that begins with the soul acknowledging his spiritually dead status and the one and only means (being born again) to address it.  Being born again involves the regeneration of the DEAD human spirit (Titus 3: 5).  This regeneration is the Work of God the Holy Spirit and NOT human clergy.  This regeneration automatically takes place when one chooses to believe in a presentation of the TRUE Gospel Message.
Traditionally, human clergy has baptized infants and adults, identifying them with a particular body of believers, but this form of baptism must be distinguished from the baptism performed by God the Holy Spirit at the moment of conversion. See the Doctrine of Baptism.
Merely believing that a “man” named Jesus lived in the Middle East in the first century AD falls short of believing in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ as He is identified in a presentation of the TRUE Gospel Message.
Believing in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ requires that He is acknowledged as the Second and equal member of the Triune Godhead, who took on human form at the First Advent, to announce the Gospel and eventually atone for the world’s sin (1 John 2: 2) on the cross.
Secular historians will confirm and not dispute that a “man” named Jesus lived and died in the First Century AD claiming to be the Son of God.  Many “religious” organizations will concur that “Jesus” spoke for God, and others will go as far as acknowledging that He performed miracles, but stop short of acknowledging His deity or His co-equal status (in His deity) with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. 
Other religions perceive Jesus to be one of many paths to God.
Some religions perceive Jesus to be a false prophet and an obstruction to the path that leads to who they perceive to be “god”, in complete contradiction to the  teaching of such passages as (John 14: 6). Religion promotes its own solutions and means to make and keep oneself "right" with one God/god or another. The danger in such things is that  they DO appeal to the fallen nature in Man in that they appear to provide Man with means to save himself.
A positive response to a presentation of the TRUE Gospel Message will cause one to acknowledge one’s inability to save oneself; the need to acknowledge the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ; to place one’s faith in the atoning Work that He performed on the cross. It was the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ that paid in full the sin debt of the whole world (1 John 2: 2). 
Only those who touch all of these bases can claim to “know” the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith is the wrong thing(s) saves no one.  Faith in the Person and the Work of the Lord Jesus Christ is what saves the soul.
Scripture is clear that a person can go as far as serving the Lord in the Temple, and still not “know” the Lord (1 Sam. 3: 1, 7).
“Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord before Eli.  And word from the Lord was rare in those days, visions were infrequent (1Sam 3: 1)”…”Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, nor had the word of the Lord yet been revealed to him (1Sam. 3: 77)”.
Here in the Church Age, in which we live, “knowing” the Lord means to have a knowledge of the Person and the Work of the Lord Jesus Christ, as He is revealed in the TRUE Gospel Message. Knowing that there is “a” god, and knowing God are two very different things.  One can ONLY be saved by knowing and believing (placing one full trust and confidence) in the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Saved from what? Saved from what the Bible (Rev. 20: 13, 15 calls the lake of fire awaiting the devil, his allies, and all human souls who leave this world having rejected the Gospel Message!
Merely believing that there is "a" god, even in the existence in  the one true God, does NOT in itself fulfill the requirements of the Gospel (James 2: 19). If merely believing in the existence of the one true God was what generated a ticket into heaven, then the devil and fallen angels would have a front row seat.  No species of God’s creation knows better of the identity and existence of the one true God than Satan and the fallen angels who lived in the presence of God before the angelic revolt.
The perceived need to do (or have done) a-n-y-t-h-i-n-g else to either obtain or retain salvation, including participation and practicing the Man-made religious rituals engineered to serve that purpose is evidence that one has not come to a full understanding of the “finished (John 19: 30)” Work of the Lord Jesus Christ.  It is also evidence that one does not have a clear understanding of the permanent benefits that one receives as a result of the Work of God the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5/Ephesians 4: 30) that takes place at the moment of salvation.
Those who know the truth have been set free from uncertainty that comes from entertaining human viewpoint and Man-made religion (John 8: 32).  Only those wo have been born again have the assurance of arriving and having a home in Heaven (Romans 14: 4) upon departing this Earth.
Ask a religious person if they are Heaven bound and the standard reply will be, “I hope so”.  Ask a spiritually and edified person the same question, and the reply will be, “I know so”.  Such confidence is unwavering because they know that their salvation is NOT based on ANYTHING that they did (or had done), but on their faith in what God has done, is doing, and will do for them!
Discipleship (not salvation) requires that a born again believer gathers together (Heb. 10: 25) for the teaching of the Word of God and to celebrate the Lord’s Supper.  Gathering together and celebrating the Lord’s Supper in the manner in which it was ordained to be, can be accomplished physically in the traditional manner, or via means of remote communication and technology.  The “religious” need for holy buildings, altars, and officiating priests to engage in such activity is not Scriptural.  Worshiping God via developing discipleship and the celebration of the Lord’s Supper was taking place the Church Age for hundreds of years before such products of religion were erroneously re-introduced and made a part of the “Christian” worship services.  Failing to discern what was (past tense)a part of worship during the Old Testament Dispensation (period of time), and what is (present tense) to be a part of the worship services of the Church Age opens the door for the alternative products and practices of religion to take root.
The celebrating of the Lord’s Supper is for the (1 Cor. 11: 24, 25) STATED purpose of bringing into remembrance (not to reproduce) the Person and the Work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The teaching of the Word of God is for purpose of building and maintaining an edified soul structure (Matt, 7: 24-27), which is one’s base of operations for executing the TRUE post salvation life of discipleship.  It is the teaching (for application)of the Word of God that was and remains to be the internal mission that God gave to His Church.  The teaching of the Word of God is one of the two primary functions that are to take place when the Church that God designed gathers together. The accurate teaching of the Word of God does not take place in the alternative "Churches" that Man has designed. If it did, their promoters would not be able to explain the difference between what is practiced or taught there does not line up with the Word of God. 
​If every tangible thing and practice that cannot be Biblically substantiated were to be removed from many of the  "gathering places" of worship, what would remain would be barely recognizable.  Among the tangible things that would have to go is the confessionals and the "religious" activity that is associated with it.   More on this point to follow.
It is when ANY local assembly celebrates the Lord’s Supper as it was intended to be celebrated, and when those gathered together hear the kind of teaching of Word of God that develops discipleship that God is being worshiped as He desires (John 4: 23).  It is by doing so that the Church fulfills the internal half of the Great Commission. It is by proclaiming the Gospel to unbelievers that the Church fulfills the external half of the Great Commission (Matt. 28: 19, 20).
The more “religious” any given local assembly or denomination becomes, the less it will be involved in the Great Commission.  The devil applauds when sectors of “the Church” that have replaced the primary mission that it was given with activities that are more focused on making the devil’s world (Luke 4: 6) a better place to live.
Don’t get me wrong. I had a law enforcement career of 30 years, doing my part protecting natural life and  tangible property.  There is a place for both public service (Romans 13) and humanitarian deeds (James 2: 15, 16), but such earthly benefits will prove to be of no eternal if we contribute nothing to address the spiritual needs of the same persons we otherwise serve.  “For what does it profit a man to gain (or to be given) the whole world and forfeit his soul (Mark 8: 36 NASB/parenthesis mine)?”
The desire to establish a prosperous kingdom (independent of God) is an objective that the devil has in mind before the creation of the human race (Isa. 14: 13).
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The ONE and only pre-salvation thing that “going to Church” has to offer is that it is (or should be) one of many places that God the Holy Spirit can arrange for a spiritually dead soul to hear the TRUE Gospel being presented.  This of course is based on the assumption that the TRUE Gospel IS being preached and practiced, and NOT being quenched and/or replaced by the products of religion.  There are people who "go to Church" on a regular basis who have NEVER heard an accurate presentation of the true Gospel Message, let alone much of the post salvation doctrine for the development of discipleship.
The Matt. 16:16 confession of faith can take place at any time and in any place that God the Holy Spirit desires.  Spirit-filled, Church Age believers are God’s chosen vessels and means of communication.  Never-the-less, without the pre-salvation ministry of God the Holy Spirit making the information being communicated understandable, the unsaved soul is incapable (Romans 8: 7) of comprehending it. God makes the message understandable, but it is up to the receiving soul to choose to believe or to reject it.  One can become "religious" or "irreligious" any time he/she chooses, but one can ONLY be "born again - John 3: 5, 7" in response to the pre-salvation call of God the Holy Spirit.
The Matt. 16: 16/John 3: 18 confession of faith is a one-time event.  In Peter’s confession of faith, “Thou are the Christ, the Son of the living God (Matt. 16: 16 NASB), he correctly identified who and what the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ was/is.
Referring to Him as “Lord” (acknowledges His Deity). Referring to Him as as “Jesus” acknowledges His Humanity; and “Christ” acknowledges His role as the anointed One to complete the atoning work on the cross).   This IS the essence of the Gospel Message. This was what the Lord was affirming in Peter’s confession of faith.  The Church was NOT to be built on the person of Peter and/or any of his alleged successors.  The Church was and continues to be built on the same type of confession of faith (trust/confidence) as was uttered by Peter.
Later, after Peter (Matt. 16: 22) heard of the horrific details (the cross) involved with completing the Work, he tried to dissuade the Lord from going to Jerusalem to complete the very Work that He came to accomplish. As a result he received one of the harshest rebukes to come out of the mouth of the Lord Jesus Christ (Matt. 16: 23). 
“But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me Satan!  You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests. But man’s (Matthew 16: 18 NASB).”
The Matthew 16: 18 foundational “rock” that the Church was/is to be built on calls for the acknowledgement of BOTH the Person and the Work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
This Matt. 16: 16 confession of faith required to secure salvation must be differentiated from the post salvation type of confession referenced in 1 John 1: 9.  Each one serves two distinct and separate purposes.  One takes place ONLY one time, whereas the other (should) takes place daily for most of us.
The confession (acknowledgement) of the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ is for the ONE time purpose of securing salvation and the forgiveness of all past, present, and future sin, as far as salvation is concerned.
The 1 John 1:9 type of confession is a POST (after) salvation activity that is an ongoing process called for following the commission of any post salvation sin. The 1 John 1: 9 is for the forgiveness of ongoing sin for restoration of fellowship (2 Cor. 14: 13) with and the filling of the Spirit.  A believer who is not in fellowship with God, is not going to be executing the post salvation spiritual life.
The “confessional” of 1 John 1:9 is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  There is NO clergyman (1 Tim. 2: 5) present. 
The role of the pastor teacher is teach what the Bible has to say about the need, means, and mechanics of confession. The teaching function of the pastor teacher will help the individual souls to identify the 300+ commandments of the New Testament so that the need for ongoing  confession will be recognized.   It is as frequently necessary as frequently as we sin. As soon as we sin by what we think, say, do or via what we fail to think, say, or do we are out of fellowship with God. How long we remain out of fellowship with God is a choice that WE make.  These periods of time out of fellowship with God can be as brief as the  few seconds that it takes to confess it, or for as long as the rest of one's post salvation spiritual life here on Earth.  This principle is what makes one's choice to maintain and make a lifestyle of sin, be it of the mind or body (James 2: 10), so detrimental to the execution of one's post salvation spiritual life.  Being out of fellowship with God is no big deal to one who is under the influence of the fallen nature (Rom. 8: 7, but is like being a fish out of water for an advancing disciple.
Post salvation sins are confessed in order to secure the blessings of on-going forgiveness, restored fellowship, and the filling of the Spirit. These blessings are what enables the born again believer to return to and execute the true post salvation spiritual life.  "...part from Me, you can do nothing (John 15: 5)."
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There is an examination and accompanying confession of sin(s) that is in order just prior to celebrating the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor. 11: 28). 
Neglecting to take part in celebrating the Lord's Supper is a willful (sin) act of disobedience to the "do this" commands of 1 Cor. 11: 24, 25.  Taking part in an "unworthy manner (1 Cor. 11: 27 NASB)", e.g. without first conducting a self-examination and accompanying confession, is a willful (sin) act of disobedience.  Confession without forsaking will not get one very far along in the post salvation spiritual life.  If one is not progressing, he/she is regressing.  One can regress so far that his/her impact on the spiritual battlefield has been eliminated, having been taken captive by the Eph. 6: 12 forces of evil.  One is taken captive when his/her thoughts are under the influence of ANY kind that is contrary to the mind (thinking) of Christ.  To whomever or whatever we submit to, we become its servant (Romans 6: 16).
Such a believer remains saved, but spends much of his/her post salvation spiritual life in a revolving doorway, going in and out of fellowship with God, and failing to ever go forward in the plan that God has for him/her.  If one is not progressing, the duration of the periods of time he spends out of fellowship usually increases to the point that one spends more time out of fellowship that in fellowship with God.   Being out of fellowship becomes the "norm" for such a believer with only an occasional passing thought of God or the things of God coming to mind.  This is NOT the 24-7 consciousness of God that accompanies the true post salvation spiritual life.
Such regression  is one of the reasons one can come to the point that he/she is getting nothing out of doing such things as going to Church. 
It is by engaging in a pre-Communion examination and confession that one avoids taking part in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper in an “unworthy manner”. By bypassing this examination and confession, one can incur the dire consequences of participating in the Lord’s Supper (Communion) in an unworthy manner, that according to (1Cor. 11: 30) can result in physical illness and/or death.
If anyone, during a pre-celebration examination, does not think he/she has any sin(s) to confess, it’s time for a stronger prescription in his/her spiritual reading glasses being used in the examination. Some of us can’t even drive to or sit in Church without committing mental attitude sin(s), or dragging along a load of unconfessed or unforsaken sins of thought and/or behaviors of one's past.
2Cor. 13: 5 calls for self-examinations on a regular basis to determine if we are living “in the faith”, and to make whatever adjustments there may be.  The first step in these adjustments would be to confess our known sins to the Lord, then develop a better strategy to address the circumstances that will otherwise lead to the same sin in the future. 
​Making a similar examination and confession our  last conscious act before going o sleep each night, will set the stage to get out of bed on the right side in the morning. Again, the confessional that God designed is open 24-7.
The need to make use of the 1 John 1: 9 intangible confessional is in view as soon as we engage in sin.  The sin has taken us out of fellowship with God.  Time out of fellowship with God can be as brief as the seconds it takes to confess the sin, or for as long as the rest of one’s post (after) salvation spiritual life here on Earth.  This principle highlights the damage that can take place to one's post salvation spiritual life by entertaining, and worse, maintaining a mental attitude sin.  One will NOT be motivated to continue on with his post-salvation spiritual life when out of fellowship with God, reaping a host of negative consequences.
Once one becomes aware of all the 300+ ways in which we can sin, one will perceive the daily and sometimes even the moment to moment need for confession in his/her walk with the Lord. Putting off a confession can lead to chain-sinning in which one sin leads to another, then to another, etc..
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The physical bodies of born again believers here on Earth are indwelled by God the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 3: 16) as of the moment of salvation.  This remains to be the case until the soul and spirit of the person leaves the body  at the moment of physical death of the body. There is no soul in any corpse, grave, urn, or cemetery. 
One cannot say good-bye or otherwise converse with a soul that has departed.  If circumstances do not allow for saying good-bye, keep in mind that the separation caused by physical death among believers is only temporary, and that there is a grand union in store for all members of the Church (1 Thess. 4: 15-18). 
​Although the presence of God the Holy Spirit remains within our bodies throughout our entire post salvation spiritual life here on Earth, we can lose fellowship with Him.  Like to strangers sitting side by side on bus, they are both headed for the same destination, but there may be not necessarily be any interaction between them.
All born again believers start their POST salvation spiritual life in fellowship with God and filled (filled = submitted to the leadership) with God the Holy Spirit. 
However, when we inevitably sin, we remain indwelled, but lose the 2 Cor. 13:14/Habakkuk 1: 13) fellowship with had with God (2 Cor. 13: 14).  When out of fellowship we are not filled (under the control of) with God the Holy Spirit (Eph. 5: 18). 
"And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled (submitted to the control) with the Spirit (Eph. 5: 18 NASB italics mine.)"
In the Eph. 5: 18 passage, God uses excessive use of alcohol (wine), as it is a commonly understood source of powerful influence. In principle, we can choose to be negatively influenced by many powerful sources that would encourage us to think and act contrary to the principles of the mind of Christ (1Cor. 2: 16).   One cannot sin until he first chooses to be ignorant of, or chooses to reject the mind of Christ at the point of application.  When we choose to do so, we loose the filling (controlling influence) of God the Holy Spirit and surrender the control of our thoughts and actions to the fallen nature within us (Romans 7) and usually entertain some form of sin which is the "natural" thing to do (1Cor. 2: 14).  Apart from God (e.g. out of fellowship) we can do NOTHING in the spiritual realm (John 15: 5), let alone something as difficult as executing the true post salvation spiritual life.
In this we see the difference between being Spirit indwelled, which is ALWAYS true of born again believers, and being Spirit filled which means to be submitted to His thinking and leadership.  The filling of Spirit is surrendered when we choose to sin, and is regained when we return to fellowship with God via the 1 John 1: 9 confession.
While out of fellowship, we inevitably will do what comes “natural” to us, handing over the wheel to the fallen nature within us (Romans 7) that is hostile (Romans 8:7) towards God and the things of God.  We may hold a high opinion of ourselves, but God sees us from a totally different viewpoint.  "...the whole head is sick, and the whole heart is faint. From the sole of the foot even to the head there is NOTHING sound in it....(Isa.1: 5, 6 NASB).   New Testament scripture speaks of the pitfall (Eph. 4: 27) of having a greater estimation of self that what we ought (Romans 12: 3).
​The soul out of fellowship with God is not only "disinterested" in God and the things of God, he is actually hostile (Romans 8:7) towards Him/them.  This hostility can become overt when one is presented with a Biblical principle that he/she does not want to hear (Matt. 7: 6).
The devil will not overlook or fail to take advantage of the periods of time spent out of fellowship with God. Rather than confess and forsake the sin, our wounded, rebellious,  insensitive, hardened, conscience will often self-justify our actions with human viewpoint, as the fallen nature in Man is always in agreement with it.
Fellowship with God can be likened to fellowship that we have in Christian marriage.  
When married Christian partners are having a conflict, they remain married but there is hard or hurt feelings that needs to be addressed if harmonious intimacy is going to be restored.  When a child of God entertains sin, salvation is not lost, but there is an issue(s) that need to be confessed (1 John 1: 9) and forsaken (John 8: 11) if an intimate walk with the Lord is going to be re-established. God cannot look (with favor) on ANY sin (Hab. 1: 13); let alone have fellowship with it.  As long as an unconfessed sin is a part of our life, God cannot have intimate fellowship with us.  When out of fellowship, the integrity of the relationship has not been altered, but the flame of intimacy has turned to ashes and needs to be rekindled.
When out of fellowship, one will “get nothing” out of many of the things of God.  Many of the things one once enjoyed will soon become a burden.  It will be as satisfying as doing something good for someone with whom we have unresolved issues.  We may go through the motions to prevent further damage, but if the unresolved issue involves the forgiving the sin(s) of other people, WE need to address our own sin of refusing to forgive. Putting an issue(s) with have with other people on the back burner only to bring it forward again is NOT forgiveness.   If we do not truly forgive the sins that others have committed that have hurt us, don't expect the 1John 1: 9 form of forgiveness from God (Matt. 6: 15).  No sin, be it of our own or of others, is worth losing the intimate fellowship that we can have with God here on Earth.  Where there is no forgiveness, there can be no intimacy in either a human-human relationship nor can there be intimacy or fellowship in a human-divine one.   Confession (1John 1: 9) of our sin is the mechanism that God ordained to re-establish intimate fellowship with Him.
The advancing disciple knows that the production of divine good is what the POST salvation spiritual life is all about. Divine good, here in the dispensation of the Church Age is primarily associated with the fulfillment of the Great Commission.  Getting involved with one’s part in the Great Commission is the end result of entertaining the life of discipleship.
We all sin daily. If we choose NOT to confess daily, we are NOT going to be in the right frame of mind to entertain true discipleship.
IF what we do on a DAILY basis does not draw others to God and/or the things of God, it is likely that we are contributing to pushing them further away. There is NO neutrality in the spiritual realm.  At the end of the day, we have either lived for God, self, or the devil.
When out of fellowship, God and the things of God are of little (if any) interest to the wandering soul.  Suggesting that a wandering soul might want to consider his/her walk with God can often times invoke a hostile (Romans 8: 7) response, as one makes the mistake of trying to share “pearls” with a dog or pig (Matt. 7: 6).
“Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, less they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces (Matt. 7:6 NASB).” 
Scripture tells us that are times to speak and there are times to keep silent (Eccl. 3: 7).  Being able to discern the difference is an ability that has to be developed.
Trying to evangelize (share the Gospel) or edify (share principles of doctrine) with a soul that God the Holy Spirit has not prepared to receive the information will prove to be an act of futility.  If and when you are executing the TRUE post salvation spiritual life, you will not have to go around looking for souls to save or to edify; God will arrange the opportunities and bring the opportunities and/or the inquirers to you.
For a variety of reasons, out of fellowship believers, at least at the beginning,  feel “obligated” and therefore continue to engage in the things of God, but his/her heart is not in it, evidenced by the fact that there is no genuine desire or interest to do so, and such things become more of a burden than something desired.  
The advancing disciple looks forward to the next opportunity to worship God like a deer in the natural realm seeks water (Psalms 42: 1, 2). Not only is water satisfying, it is necessary for one’s very survival in the spiritual battlefield (Eph. 6) of the TRUE post salvation spiritual life. 
“As the deer pants for water brooks, So my soul pants for Thee, O God. My soul thirsts for God, the living God; When shall I come and appear before God (Psalms 41: 1, 2 NASB).”
Is this how you look at you next opportunity to gather together (physically or via means of modern day technology) to hear the teaching of the Word of God? 
The type of worship that God desires (John 4: 23, 24) includes the study and application of His Word.  Just as the absence or loss of appetite in the natural realm is an indication that something is amiss, the same can be said for the loss of appetite in the soul for the spiritual nutrition that comes from the Word of God.
For a back-sliding believer out of fellowship with God, participating in the things of God become more of a burden than a blessing, and what is seen and heard seems only to upset the fragile peace that the world has to offer (John 14: 27). 
It is a whole lot easier to be religious and to produce human good for self and others than it is to pick up the sword (Matt. 10: 34) of discipleship and engage in the spiritual combat (Eph. 6) of the true post salvation spiritual life. This explains why so many “Christians” attend and engage in “religious” activities a regular basis, but have nothing or little to do with the fulfillment of the Great Commission.
One who is out of fellowship with God is not Spirit filled and therefore is not motivated to entertain the TRUE post salvation spiritual life. 
The religious "Christian" can check in, touch all the bases, and leave feeling content and unchallenged. The devil knows he can do nothing to undo the fact that they are saved, and such “Christians” pose no threat to his agenda out in the trenches of spiritual combat. Religious Christians and the devil are both equally content with this scenario. 
Our POST (after) salvation spiritual life BEGINS at the moment we choose to make a Matt. 16:16 confession of faith in response to being presented with the TRUE Gospel Message.
If we choose to BELIEVE in the presentation of the TRUE Gospel, we are at that moment sealed (baptized), being marked for identification (Eph. 4: 30) as a child of God, receive a regenerated (Titus 3: 5) spirit, and eternal (John 3: 16) life.  All of this is Work of God the Holy Spirit (involving no human clergy) and takes place immediately at the moment of salvation.
ALL the water baptisms of believers in the Bible involved consenting ADULT believers who had already been born again. Being baptized by God the Holy Spirit (Titus 3: 5) is one of the results of having received salvation, but it not to means to obtain it.
The water baptisms documented in Scripture signify i-d-e-n-t-i-f-i-c-a-t-i-o-n with one thing or another.
The water baptism of John the Baptist was for the purpose of identifying individuals that accepted John’s message relating to the “coming” Messiah.  Once the Lord was publicly acknowledged, the mission of John and his ministry was completed (John 3: 30). 
The water baptism of the Lord Jesus Christ’s i-d-e-n-t-i-f-i-e-d Him with the Work that he came to do (Matt. 3: 15, 16). 
The water baptism of many of the first century believers involved ADULTS who were ALREADY born again and i-d-e-n-t-i-f-i-e-d them as members of the local body of believers.  It was NOT for the purpose of “finishing the “incomplete” Work God the Holy Spirit that ALREADY took place at salvation.
Scripture clearly documents the differing types of baptisms and the independent purpose for each one.
The ONE baptism (Eph. 4: 5) that relates to salvation is the ONE performed by God the Holy Spirit at the moment any soul chooses to respond to a presentation of the TRUE Gospel Message.
Virtually everyone who considers himself a Christian was or is a “member” of some denomination, local assembly, or ministry at some time or period in his lifetime.  In most cases, this initial choice was that of his/her parent(s), usually continuing on with family or cultural traditions. Within that environment, the person usually complies with the time schedule, participating in the required rituals of the religion being practiced.
"Membership" of this kind, however, does not mean that one has been born again. As I have said many times, if the Rapture were to take place during worship services throughout the “Christian” Community, there would be those left behind in the pews and behind the pulpits because they were never born again.
In His day, the Pharisees were the ultra-religious crowd among the Jews.  As a result, would have taken part in ALL of the Biblical requirements for good standing in that Community in the unfolding plan of God.  In addition to this, they would have also complied with many other traditions of men that had been added to what Scripture required (Mark 7: 8).
Never the less, as the Lord taught Nicodemus, one must be born again (John 3; 1, 5, 7), and reiterated this principle to crowd, “…unless you believe that I am He, you shall die in your sins (John 8:24).” In BOTH scenarios, we see the need for one to make a Matt. 16: 16 PERSONAL confession of faith in the Person and the Work of the Lord Jesus Christ, in order to be SAVED!
Following the practice of the early Church, many local assemblies and denominations require water baptism for “membership”, and make use of use various forms, clergy, laymen, and apparatus to facilitate it.  What has changed since then, is that the water baptisms of the early Church were applied to ADULT believers who had already been BORN AGAIN, having made either a private or a public confession of faith.  The purpose of this form of water baptism was to identify believers as members of a given body of believers and NOT for the purpose of receiving salvation. The issue of salvation and the Titus 3: 5 baptism by God the Holy Spirit had already taken place.
There is no record of the repentant thief on the cross next to our Lord on the cross of ever being baptized (in or by water) following his confession of faith, but his salvation was never the less assured by the Highest of authority (Luke 23: 43).
The dying man of Luke 23: 43 was not in need of identifying himself as a member of a local assembly, as death bed confessions do not provide the time for developing post salvation discipleship.  The development of discipleship is the internal function of the local assembly. Consider how many thousands of future disciples have been edified via this rather brief conversation that took place between the Lord and this man.  There are many answers to doctrinal questions that can be learned from this event. I am not speaking against one being baptized in water for the purpose of identifying him/herself as a member of a local assembly, providing it is understood that this is NOT for purpose of receiving salvation, and it is not confused with the baptism provided by God the Holy Spirit. Being baptized in water before one is baptized by God the Holy Spirit following a confession of faith is putting the cart ahead of the horse. Infants are not in a position to even know where they are, let alone being developed enough to make decision for or against God.
Believers are commanded to gather together (Heb. 10: 25) at a local assembly to benefit by the teaching Being ‘baptized” in water may make one a member of a denomination or local assembly, but that does not, in itself, mean that the same one has been baptized by God the Holy Spirit (Titus 3: 5) or has become a member of the intangible Church that God designed for the Church Age.
If the Rapture takes place during worship services, there will be some soul’s left behind in the pews and behind the pulpits, even though they had been “baptized” in accordance with the requirements of their chosen religion, but were never born again.
Being “baptized” in order to be identify oneself with a particular local assembly of denomination of believers will be of no eternal value if one is not baptized by God the Holy Spirt.  The baptism for salvation, performed by God the Holy Spirit, is the exclusive Work of God that automatically takes place at the moment of salvation.
Man places a high value with association with specific local assemblies or denominations, but God classifies all human souls as either being spiritually alive or spiritually dead.  Here in the Church Age, this distinction is based on one’s belief or disbelief in a presentation of the true Gospel.  Those who believe are automatically baptized by God the Holy Spirit.
The Church  that God designed does not consist of denominations.  Denominations are the result of differing interpretations and application of Scripture.  As "religious" traditions are repeated by one generation after another, they  tend to eventually become accepted as equivalent to what can be actually be Biblically substantiated. 
The  Church that God designed always has and will continue to consist of the collective body of souls who have chosen to believe in the TRUE Gospel Message.  Accordingly, the TRUE Church can be found in the midst of virtually every group of souls that gather together. The majority of the Church has already gone on to Heaven, with only a few generations of its members here on Earth at any given time.  There is a coming day when the last generation(s) of the Church here on Earth will be raptured away and forever united with members who have already passed away (1Thess. 4: 13-17).  From that moment on, the whole Church will be with the Lord forever (1Thess. 4: 17). 
​One becomes  and forever remains to be a "member" of the Church that God designed  IF and when he/she chooses to believe (place His full trust and confidence) in a presentation of the true Gospel Message.  As noted earlier, this is what it means to make a confession (acknowledgement) of faith.
The Church that God designed consists of those who attend and those who do not attend what many perceive “Church” to be.  Choosing not to attend (physically or via remote means of modern day technology) is a willful act of disobedience (Heb. 10: 28) to one of the 300+ commandments of the New Testament.  Like all sin(s), it has its consequences, but the loss of salvation is not one of them.
For the advancing disciple, attending (physically or via remote means of communication) is NOT an option, as this is a critical part in the execution of the true POST (after) salvation spiritual life. Some will contend that they can pray and read their Bibles (etc.) at home instead of attending worship services. 
They can, but unless one has been given the SPIRITUAL GIFT and function as an ordained pastor teacher, such a do-it-yourselfer will not have the spiritual ability to properly interpret the Word of God.  If we want God’s best, we must learn to do it His way.  His way of edification during the Church Age is to submit to the teaching authority of a Biblically-qualified and ordained pastor teacher. If one has been given the gift and function of being a pastor-teacher, he must use it for the edification of others.
One can be presented with the true Gospel ANYWHERE and at ANYTIME that God the Holy Spirit chooses. But if one desires to develop his/her post salvation spiritual life, he/she must then choose to do it God’s way.  I can confirm this from my own walk with the Lord. I was brought up in a Bible teaching local Church.  I continued to grow in the knowledge of the Lord via private study of the Bible, books, and some pastors on television and radio for decades.  But NONE of this compared to the leaps and bounds I experienced when I finally decided to do it God's way.  God's way is under the teaching authority of a Biblically qualified pastor teacher. 
Success in Post salvation discipleship does NOT improve the integrity of one’s salvation, and failure in POST salvation discipleship does not diminish it.  What is on the line is God’s glory and the how any given born again believer will experience eternity (with or without reward). One does NOT serve God in order to be rewarded, but God has chosen to reveal to us that His plan includes the receiving of rewards in Heaven (in addition to eternal life that all believers receive) based on how one executes his/her post salvation spiritual life here on Earth (1Cor. 3: 12-15).
There are NO group plans for salvation.  Salvation is offered to individuals, and must be individually obtained by choosing to believe in a presentation of the TRUE Gospel. Salvation is NOT a reward. It is a gift.
​Heaven will NOT prove to be a place of experiential equality.  The environment in Heaven will be based on the equal opportunity that each believer has to execute the post salvation spiritual life here on Earth, but the outcome will vary from one believer to another.  In addition to eternal life that ALL believers will forever experience in Heaven, there are rewards and privileges that some will receive that others will forfeit (1Cor. 3: 12-15).
It was and remains to be on the basis of a confession of faith in the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ that an individual is born again, and upon becoming so, becomes and forever remains to be a member the TRUE intangible Church.  This is true rather or not he/she later becomes a member of a denomination, local assembly, or ministry.

Note that is was on Peter’s confession of faith  of Peter and NOT on the person of Peter that the Church was and is to be built.  By, “to the extent that he had been aware” I am pointing out that Peter’s confession of faith was regarding the identity of the Lord Jesus Christ as being the Christ, the Son of God.  In this confession of faith, Peter was acknowledging Who (the Son of God) and What (The Christ) the Lord Jesus Christ was/is.  At that moment, however, Peter had no idea what the Work that He came to fulfil would entail.
When Peter later was informed of what the Lord was about to do in order to fulfill His Work, Peter tried to dissuade Him (Matt. 16: 22), revealing that he (Peter) still did not comprehend all that was involved in the Gospel Message. The result of Peter’s well-intended by erroneous behavior was to receive of the sharpest rebukes to come out of the Lord’s mouth (Matt. 16: 23). Peter had the “Person” part correct, but was short of the mark of understanding what the Work part entailed.  Even when the Lord was arrested, Peter offered violent resistance (Matt. 26: 51) to those taking the Lord into custody, even though His arrest part of thy plan of God unfolding right before his eyes.
Many believers to this day have serious issues when it comes to understanding the Work​ that the Lord Jesus Christ completely accomplished  ON the cross.  This is evidenced by the fact that they perceive the need to add the products and practices of religion to it in order to be or remain saved.
Now that the full Gospel is made available, recipients (those to whom it is presented) are accountable for acknowledging both the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ in  a confession of faith in order to be saved.  This type of “confession” is a ONE time event and is required of UNBELIEVERS.  We ALL come into this world as spiritually dead, without the knowledge of the Gospel.  It is IF and when choose to believe in a presentation of the Gospel that a spiritually dead unbeliever becomes a spiritually alive, regenerated (Titus 3: 5), believer.
1 John 1: 9 was a part of an epistle that was written to and for BELIEVERS, who had already made a confession of faith in the Person and Works of the Lord Jesus Christ. The 1 John1:9 type of confession is a POST (after) salvation function of born again believers and must be distinguished from the confession of faith made by unbelievers.
To recover the fellowship lost from committing post salvation sin, born again believers must engage in the 1John 1:9 type of confession whenever a post salvation sin is committed.  For most of us, this is an ongoing process repeating itself during the course of any given day in light of the 300+ Commandments of the New Testament.  Time spent out of fellowship each day is a non-recoverable loss.  By putting off making an immediate confession to God, we take what could have been a momentary period of time and prolong it into hours, days, weeks, months, years, decades, or scores of our post salvation spiritual life OUT of fellowship with God.
A violation of any ONE of the 300+ commandments of God that apply to Church Age believers places us in the same stinking, sinking boat as the one(s) who has broken them all (James 2: 10).
​The confessional that God designed for the Church Age is open 24-7. This confessional is for the believer and God to conduct business and there is NO room inside or function for a clergyman.
The only role that a pastor teacher plays in the confession process, is via his ongoing teaching, he teaches what God sees as sin and the need to for a born again believer to confess post salvation sin to God, via the 1 John 1 : 9 process.
The confessional that was established by God is open 24 -7 and ONLY requires that one acknowledges that fact that what he/she did (or failed to do) was sin, and that he/she committed it. No excuses; no rationalization; no promises not to do it again.  Forsaking the sin (John 8: 11) follows, but is NOT a requirement to receive the immediate forgiveness that God promises in the same 1Jphn 1: 9 verse. 
The desire to be in fellowship with God is all the motivation that an advancing disciples needs to forsake past sin.
God’s plan for confessing post (after) salvation sin (1 John 1: 9) does NOT involve ANY human clergy (1 Tim. 2: 5), nor that any penance be entertained.  The forgiveness cited in 1John 1: 9 is  granted on the Work of the Lord Jesus Christ that has already atoned for the sin being confessed.  To require penance  on the part of the confessor would be to say that faith in the atoning Work of the Lord Jesus Christ was not enough. The desire, if possible, to do good for the ones who were hurt by our sin can be a part of the forsaking process, but again, is not a requirement of God to receive forgiveness for past sin(s).
It is because the Work of the Lord Jesus Christ has ALREADY PAID IN FULL the penalty for the sins of the whole world (1John 2: 2) that there is unlimited forgiveness available.
Is promoting or granting a license to sin?  Of course not.  Although salvation cannot be lost, post salvation sin opens the door for divine discipline (Heb. 12: 26). Divine discipline is NOT for the purpose of punishing an offender, but for the purpose of motivating the wandering believer to return to and to continue on with the execution of the true post salvation spiritual life.  Divine discipline takes place here on Earth, and can range in anything from living with a guilty conscience, up to and including physical death (Acts 5/1 Cor. 11: 3, etc.).
The ONE and ONLY sin that will cause a sinner to find himself in the Torments of Hades and/or what the Bible calls the lake of fire is the ONE sin of disbelief in the Gospel Message (John 3: 18).  "He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God (Jon 3: 18 NASB)."  This does mean, however, that there are other negative consequences to be endured here on Earth (Heb. 12: 6) and in Heaven (1Cor. 3: 12-15) for the post (after) salvation sins we choose to commit on a daily basis.
The John 8: 11 forsaking of sin does not mean that one cannot be forgiven of future sin of the same kind, but it does teach that one is to make whatever adjustments in his/her life necessary to head in the corrected direction.  Some find immediate and complete deliverance from past sin.  Others find that that certain sin(s) has become so much a part of one’s regular lifestyle that it may take several “falls off the wagon” before the type of sin is totally forsaken.
The warning of John 5: 14 teach that future violations can invite more intense and/or severe divine discipline (Heb. 12: 6). 
Most of us have at least one major area of sin that seems to so easily entangle us (Hebrews 12: 1) that we find ourselves easily entertaining, even though we are well aware of the earthly and heavenly consequences.  God has accepted us just as we are, but will continue to discipline us (Heb. 12: 6) in order to encourage us to become all that He wants us to become.  Whatever rewards and privileges that a born again believer forfeits at the 1Cor. 3: 12-15 event are gone for all of eternity.

“If we confess our sin, HE is faithful and righteous to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1: 9 NASB).   “When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away, Through my groaning all day long. For day and night Thy hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer... “I acknowledged my sin to Thee, And my iniquity I did not hide; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord”; And Thou didst forgive the guilt of my sin (Psalms 32: 3-5 NASB).”
To the extent that the Church (as a whole) remained true to the Word of God, it has and will continue to have success in completing its assigned mission, articulated in the Great Commission.  To the extent that the Church (as a whole) has added to and taken from the Word of God, it has and continues to drift away from its assigned mission, assuming internal and external activity that it was NEVER designed or authorized to engage.
The TRUE mission given to the Church has an internal and an external component. The external mission was and remains to be the preservation and the proclamation of the TRUE Gospel.  The internal mission was and remains to be the making of disciples.  Making disciples is accomplished by the teaching of the Word of God, initially for the individuals own spiritual edification, and eventually for the evangelization and edification of others.
Productive faith not only involves the action of believing, but is dependent on what it is that one believes.  Misplaced faith will accomplish nothing, but can do much harm.   Many followers of all the false "religions (Psalms 96 NASB)" of the world "believe", that is put their trust and confidence, in the false deities they choose to acknowledge just as intensely (if not more) than many who identify themselves as Christians.
​The Bible makes it clear that there is only ONE true God, manifested in the three persons of the Trinity; God the Father, God the Son (the Lord Jesus Christ), and God the Holy Spirit). The Bible makes it clear that there is only ONE way to establish a permanent and eternal relationship with Him. If (and it is) this IS the truth, it excludes all others gods and all other means of salvation. If this is lie, that would mean that the God of the Bible is liar, and we may just as well live any way we want for it makes no difference at all.  The devil works hard day and night to see to it that this will be case with as many souls as he can deceive.
Religious seminaries, colleges, and schools produce future promoters of the “religion” that ordains them for that purpose.  While such organizations and the clergyman they produce are held in high esteem by Man, they are not approved by God (Luke 16: 15) if what they ultimately promote runs contrary to what He has documented in His Word. 
There is one (the devil) who applauds ANY contribution, intentional or unwitting, that promote his agenda! A bullet fired in ignorance can be just as lethal as one fired with malicious intent.
Accordingly, “You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, by God knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God (Luke 16: 15 NASB).”
Both secular and Church history reveals that when the Church that Man designed has chosen to involve itself in politics, social engineering, and other unauthorized internal and external activity, such efforts have often backfired. In some cases, such efforts and activity has brought the Church, as a whole, into some of its darkest periods of history.  The Church that God designed and the alternative Churches that Man has designed can appear to be one in the same, but are very different in the eyes of God and in the eyes of those who have developed the discernment that accompanies spiritual maturity.
After the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, Peters personal mission was to strengthen the faith of his fellow apostles (Luke 22: 32). Peter’s personal failure (Luke 22: 56-60) and restoration (John 21: 15-17) made him the perfect candidate for this role.  This individual task given to Peter in Luke 22: 32, must not be confused with what the Lord meant in response to Peter’s confession of faith of Matt. 16: 16, and/ or the great Commission that all of the Apostles eventually received, regarding the proclaiming of the Gospel and the making of disciples. 
Mixing these principles has brought many to the erroneous conclusion that Peter was divinely appointed as “the” leader, as opposed to being “one” of many leaders that were involved in the development of the early Church. 
Peter’s well known involvement at the Feast of Pentecost must be kept in balance with the fact that it was not he (Peter), but James who assumed the role of administrative leadership in the local church in Jerusalem where most of the Apostles gathered.  Paul, who was at odds with Peter over doctrinal and application issues from time to time, was the Apostle that God chose to be His primary spokesperson to the Gentile (non-Jewish) peoples.
Paul made it clear that if anyone (human or spiritual being) were to come and announce or promote a “different” Gospel, that such things are to be totaled rejected.  Such things include ALL the products and practices of “religion” that have become a part of the alternative Churches and have grown deep roots within the Christian Community over the course of its history. 
​There is the intangible "confessional" and process for confession that God designed for the Church Age, and there are tangible confessionals and practices that are a part of the Church that Man has designed.
​What BOTH camps agree on is that confession IS a major part in the spiritual life of a Christian.
The failure of many sectors of the Church to preserve the TRUE Gospel and to teach accurate doctrine is what has set the stage for the period of great apostasy that was prophesied to take place just before the Rapture is to take place (1 Timothy 4: 1).
Each and every soul has the responsibility to develop the spiritual discernment of an edified soul structure (Matt. 7: 24-27) that can separate truth from error, as did the ancient believers in Berea (Acts 17: 10, 11).
"And the brethren sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea; and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews.  Now these were more noble-minded that those is Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scripture daily, to see whether these things (being taught) were so (Acts. 17: 10, 11 NASB/parenthesis mine).” 
​The "Scripture" being examined by the believers in Berea was primarily that of the Old Testament, as much of what would become the Scripture of the New Testament was, at that time, still a work in progress.  In the day and age in which we are living, many of us have access to the complete Canon of Scripture, and/or a Biblically qualified pastor teacher who can teach us.  Such believers are therefore MORE accountable for what we choose to place our faith in when it comes to spiritual issues (Luke 12: 48).
If the teaching of the Apostle Paul was to be so scrutinized, should we not do the same with the messages being communicated to us from the pulpit of our choosing?
Any pastor teacher can tell you that all one as to do to build a larger ministry is to tell supporters and potential supporters what they want to hear, and provide the services they want to receive.  When doing so ends up in the spiritual starvation (John 21: 15-17) of the souls of the congregation, there is a great evil taking place. 
True discipleship is a daily battle, and was intended to be so (Matt. 10: 34).  The job of the pastor teacher is to train the souls that God sends him for spiritual combat (Eph. 6: 12). This training includes the use of ALL the spiritual armor (Eph. 6).  Interesting enough is that of all the pieces of spiritual armor, there is only ONE to be used offensively.  This training includes the identification and strategy of the enemy, as well as how to handle his own sword (the Word of God) in the daily battles of the TRUE post salvation spiritual life.
In pursuit of physical health concerns, many of us are all but obsessed with the quality and the quantity of the food we feed our bodies with, even though our bodies are ultimately headed for dust.  Yet at the same time, many of us take a “good enough” attitude concerning the quality and the quantity of the food (information) that we feed our souls that are going to live forever in ONE environment or another.  Life after death is NOT a question of “IF”, but of WHERE and HOW it IS going to be experienced.
The collective body of scrolls that we now refer to as the Bible, took 1500+ years to compose, with the final scroll being composed around 96 AD.
Note that the Pharisees read and could recite the same Scriptures as the Bereans, but failed to comprehend what the bottom line messages were (John 5: 39). There are many “religious” leaders and “religious” groups, and “religious” individuals who do the same today.
Thanks to those who risked life and limb (some making the ultimate sacrifice), believers in most of the free world have access to the completed Canon of Scripture, as well as access to the local assemblies and/or ministries of Biblically-qualified pastor teachers who can accurately teach the Bible to them.
Such ministries will become a harder and harder find as we go through the final years of the Church Age. Never the less, we have the assurance that anyone who searches for God and the things of God will find Him/them, as long as we search with our whole heart (Jer. 29: 13/ Deut. 4: 29).
Sad to say, but many of the Bibles in the “Christian” homes of our day do little more than collect dust.  Having a closed Bible in the home will do one as much good as having a bottle of prescribed medication on the shelf that is never opened.
If you have chosen to take the position that you are not going to listen to the teaching of the Word of God until you find a Church or ministry that you can agree with 100%, I can save you time and effort by telling you that you will not fine one. There has never been a pastor teacher yet who had it all together all the time. If there had been, God the Holy Spirit could have taken a vacation. As one spiritually matures, he/she will develop the spiritual discernment to perceive the quality and the quantity of accurate doctrine that any given pulpit has to offer on an ongoing basis.
There IS a pastor teacher that God has in mind for each and every believer in each phase of his/her stage of discipleship.  If you had the privilege of being raised a local assembly where the true Gospel was promoted, and accurate post salvation doctrine was taught and practiced, then thank God for it.
For many, the net of religion often times limits the options that children have when it comes to making choices as long as they are under the parent’s roof, but in God’s timing there comes a time when most of us have the freedom and the responsibility to make our own choices of where and how we worship, and with what we are to build and maintain our own edified soul structures (Matt. 7: 24-27).  In many such cases, it will be the “child” that brings the Gospel and accurate post salvation doctrine to the parent!
For others, the rejection of Luke 14: 26 will be a painful hurdle for him/her to overcome. Being a disciple in some familial and cultural environments will place the advancing disciple is harm’s way.
“If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate (love less) his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, even his own life, he cannot be My disciple (Luke 14: 26 NASB).”

God grants the freedom and the responsibility of making choices to every soul He creates.  Man-made religion, on the other hand, make unauthorized promises of Heaven and eternal life to its followers while threatening parents and nonconformists with the fire of hell with total disregard of the True Gospel Message.  Scripture is clear that one is either saved or condemned by his/her chosen response to a presentation of the TRUE Gospel Message (John 3: 18). NOTHING more and NOTHING less.
God did not call us to a denomination, but has commanded us to “grow in His grace and knowledge (2 Pet. 3: 18)”.  If one’s present choice of pastor teacher does NOT provide one with this opportunity, it is time to move on if one desires to be all that God wants him/her to be.
If all one wants to be assured that he/she is Heaven bound, the only Scripture that he/she needs to understand is John 3: 5, 7, 16, and 18.  This can be accomplished without ever casting one’s shadow on the door of what many perceive a “Church” to be.  Once one is saved, there will THEN be a genuine desire to connect with a local assembly or ministry where he/she can "abide (John 8: 32)"  and to grow in God's grace and knowledge (2Pet. 3: 18).
ANY perceived need to DO (or have done) anything beyond making a confession of faith in the Person and the Work of the Lord Jesus Christ in order to  obtain or retain salvation is a clear indication that such a person does not understand the scope of the TRUE Gospel Message.
At the same time, if the born again believer wants to learn of and to execute the TRUE post salvation spiritual life, there is a life time of discipleship that involves learning and applying the Word of God.  This, and the celebration of the Lord’s Supper on a regular basis as it was designed to be celebrated, is what the internal part of the Great Commission is all about. Celebrating the Lord's Supper, as it was intended to be celebrated, is what keeps us focused and post salvation discipleship is what provides us with what we need to know and be reminded of as engage in the daily spiritual combat with the Eph. 6: 12 forces of evil.
​A one-time confession of faith is the means by which we enter the spiritual realm, and  the moment to moment, daily confession of post salvation sin is how one recovers fellowship with God along the straight and narrow way.
A local assembly or ministry is only ONE of many locations where God the Holy Spirit might choose to present any given soul with the TRUE Gospel Message.  Outside of being one of many places where one might be presented with the Gospel, “going to Church” will profit one nothing.  Without God, we can do nothing (John 15: 5) of value in the "spiritual" realm. The  “gathering together " of Heb. 10: 25 NASB is a POST (after) salvation activity.
If what “I” am to get out of worshiping God is all that “I” am concerned with, then “I” am still greatly influenced by the SELF centered fallen nature within me.  Outside of what's in it for me, the sin nature is NOT only disinterested in the true post salvation spiritual life, it is actually hostile (Romans 8: 7) towards it. Although it was Peter who had the guts to ask, the others were just as interested in hearing the Lord's response when Peter asked him what was in it for them (Matt. 19: 27).
Believers are not all at the same level of spiritual maturity.  If one is not moving forward, then he/she is in a state of decline.  Accordingly, our individual edificational needs vary.  Many believers NEVER get past the “milk” stage, and some of them even had a hard time digesting (truly understanding the Gospel Message) the milk. 
"For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk (the True Gospel) and not solid food (advanced doctrine). For everyone who partakes only of milk (focused on salvation) is not accustomed to the (advanced) word of righteousness, for he is a babe (unable to hold it down). But solid food is for the (spiritually) mature (disciple), who because of practice (lifestyle) have their senses trained to discern good (accurate doctrine) and evil (false doctrine).  (Heb. 5: 12-14 NASB parenthesis mine).”
During the apostate period during the final phase of the Church Age (1 Tim. 4: 1), it is more important now than ever to be able to discern the good from the evil that comes from the pulpit, let alone the bombardment that comes from the devil’s world.
“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge (Hosea 4: 6 NASB).”
Spiritual ignorance is a choice we make.
Neither a pastor teacher, a parent, nor can anyone else can be used of God to bring another believer to a level of spiritual maturity greater than where one is himself along the road to spiritual maturity.  Just as one would not take financial guidance from someone huddled around a fire in a barrel under a bridge, the advancing disciple will be wise enough to take a look at where ANY teacher is in his/her own walk with the Lord.
Why does one’s choice of pastor teacher so important?
“A pupil is not above his teacher; but everyone after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher (Luke 6: 40 NASB).”
The keys to the kingdom (Matt. 16: 19) is the Gospel Message. The binding and loosening of (Matt. 16: 19) refers to eternal consequences or blessings that is the result of choices that the recipients of the Gospel make here on Earth. 
One can go through (or be put through) all the “religious” rituals that we or others want, but we remain spiritually dead until we are born again.  This was the bottom-line message given to Nicodemus, a VERY religious man of his day (John 3: 1, 5, 7). The message has not changed.
Those who choose to leave this world in the same spiritually dead status in which we all entered it, will find themselves in the Torment of Hades with nothing to look forward to but Judgment Day for unbelievers and an eternity in what the Bible calls the lake of fire (Rev. 20: 13, 15).
The ONE and ONLY way to elude this fate of all unbelievers is to be “born again”.  This warning did not originate with Pastor Doug.  It came from the mouth of the Lord Jesus Christ.  I, and other evangelists or pastor-teachers are merely the communicators of the message.  What anyone does or doesn’t do with the message is not an issue between you and I, but is an issue between you and the Lord with an eternity is either Heaven or Hell hanging in the balance.
The Biblical phrase, “born again” has been widely used and abused by friends and foes of the Christian Community.
For some being born again means that one has a license to sin and can sin with impunity.  While it is TRUE that salvation of a born again believer cannot be lost, it is not true that there aren’t other temporal (Heb. 12: 6) and eternal (1 Cor. 3: 12-15) consequences for post salvation sin.
For others, born again people are perceived to be religious fanatics and a source of annoyance.
Never-the- less, the Biblical use and application of the phrase is not something that one can afford to ignore.  The Lord Jesus Christ made it crystal clear that one, “MUST BE BORN AGAIN- John 3: 7 NASB).”
To be born again simply means to receive a Titus 3: 5 “regeneration” of what was a spiritually dead spirit.  This regeneration is the Work of God that takes place immediately when a soul chooses to believe in a presentation of the TRUE Gospel (John 3: 18).
Since the Fall of Man, with the one exception of the humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ, our bodies come into this world with a fallen nature that is spiritually dead and hostile (Romans 8: 7) towards God and the things of God.  This sin nature is passed down at conception (Psalms 51: 5) to what becomes our total being at birth.  Our biological parents r-e-p-r-o-d-u-c-e and provide for us a physical body, but it is God (John 3: 6b) that creates and places our intangible soul into the bodies when the body is brought forth at birth (Gen. 2: 7). 
Artificial insemination and genetic engineering has and may allow Man to have increased input into the BODY that is reproduced, but this does not alter the primary principles of John 3: 6, a & b.  We are born physically at our physical birth, and we are born again (spiritually) at the moment of salvation.
​In summary, the spiritual life begins with a one-time confession of faith in the PERSON (Who he is) and the atoning WORK of the Lord Jesus Christ, settling the issue of salvation ONCE and for all of eternity.  Throughout the course of our post salvation spiritual life, there is an ongoing need to confess our post (after) salvation sin via the 1 John 1: 9 process, in order to restore fellowship with God in order to move forward in our post salvation walk with God.  When in fellowship, we will be motivated to be all that God desires us to be.  In doing so, we will fulfill the purpose that God created each one of us for in the first place.
This concludes our study of the Doctrine of Confession.
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