Luke 8:17 – For nothing is hidden that shall not become evident, nor anything secret that shall not be known and come to light.
A Christian should never have anything that needs to be hidden in their lives, nothing. There should be no regular or even periodic activity in the believers life that they would be ashamed of if it was immediately brought into the light and made manifest before all. There should be no particular sinful behavior that a believer habitually “stumbles” into, even in moments of weakness or of stress. If there is, it must be seriously dealt with, rooted out and forsaken by the power of the Holy Spirit working in us. If a believer continues to return to specific sins, even if it’s only periodically, it simply means that they have not yet seriously dealt with it and forsaken it.
Prov 28:13 – He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth *and forsaketh them* shall have mercy.
It is not enough to just confess our sins, they must also be forsaken in order for repentance to be genuine and in order to obtain mercy and forgiveness from the Lord. To the best of our knowledge and determination, we must be completely committed to eradicating all known areas of repetitive iniquity and bad behavior from our lives with nothing held back. We accomplish this by cooperating with, and yielding to, the power of the Holy Spirit working in us, and we will succeed to the degree that we are committed to it.
It is the lack of this kind of commitment that is our undoing. If we shrug our shoulders and say things like “oh well, nobody is perfect…” we leave the door open to, and we make provision for the flesh to have its way with us and to wreak havoc in our lives. This is exactly what we are told NOT to do: Rom 13:14 – But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make NO provision for the flesh, to fulfill the lusts thereof.
It says in 2 Cor 7:1 – Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from ALL filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. It doesn’t say “some” filthiness it says ALL filthiness. It is our failure to take these admonishments seriously enough that is the source of all of our problems relationally with God and with others in our lives. What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is it not your own lusts that wage war in your members? (Jam 4:1).
It is often wondered why there is such disunity and infighting within the Church and why so many Christian families have the same quarrels and conflicts as worldly families. The answer is pretty simple, it is the failure of each individual person to seriously deal with their own sin, fleshly lusts and selfishness and to “put on” the Lord Jesus Christ. The “individual” is key here, we must look to ourselves and not to others. Our problem is not “other” people’s sin and misbehavior, but our own. If we find ourselves getting frustrated and irritated with others in our lives it simply means we are being self-centered and are ignoring the Holy Spirit’s promptings and desire to put the focus on ourselves and to refine us. Those who are walking closely with the Lord in humility and submitting to the Holy Spirits inward work will not be focused on what others in their orbit are doing wrong, they will be focused on *their own* refinement.
To be clear, these “hidden things” are not referring to something in your life prior to coming to Christ. When we come to Christ, He wipes the slate clean! As far as the east is from the west He removes our sins from us. These hidden things refer to any ongoing or repetitive sinful behavior in our lives as Christians currently or that we periodically return to. They must be rooted out, and you’ll know when they are. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but *IF* ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. (Rom 8:13-14)