========================================================================
  UNUSED TRUTH
  by A.W. Tozer
========================================================================

Summary: Unused truth in the Christian life can lead to a lack of
balance and even heresy, emphasizing the importance of confessing our
sins.

Topics: "Confession of Sin", "Balance in Scripture"
Scripture References: Psalm 32:5, Proverbs 28:13, Matthew 4:4, John 8:32, Romans 6:1-2, Galatians 6:7, 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Hebrews 10:26-27, James 5:16, 1 John 1:9

------------------------------------------------------------------------
DESCRIPTION
------------------------------------------------------------------------

A.W. Tozer emphasizes the danger of neglecting certain biblical truths
while overemphasizing others, leading to an imbalanced Christian life.
He warns that unused truth can become as ineffective as an unused
muscle, and that holding a truth theoretically while failing to practice
it renders it void. Tozer critiques the belief that since Christ died
for all sins, confession is unnecessary, arguing that while it is true
that Christ's sacrifice covers all sins, it does not negate the need for
personal confession. This misunderstanding can lead to a form of heresy
that lacks the opposition of traditional theologians. Ultimately, Tozer
calls for a balanced approach to Scripture, recognizing the importance
of both the truths we embrace and those we neglect.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
CONTENT
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lack of balance in the Christian life is often the direct consequence of
overemphasis on certain favorite texts, with a corresponding
underemphasis on other related ones. For it is not denial only that
makes a truth void; failure to emphasize it will in the long run be
equally damaging. And this puts us in the odd position of holding a
truth theoretically while we make it of no effect by neglecting it in
practice. Unused truth becomes as useless as an unused muscle. Sometimes
our dogmatic insistence upon "It is written" and our refusal to hear
"Again it is written" makes heretics of us, our heresy being the
noncreedal variety which does not rouse the opposition of the
theologians.

One example of this is the teaching that crops up now and again having
to do with confession of sin.

It goes like this: Christ died for our sins, not only for all we have
committed but for all we may yet commit for the remainder of our lives.
When we accept Christ we receive the benefit of everything He did for us
in His dying and rising again. In Christ all our current sins are
forgiven beforehand. It is therefore unnecessary for us to confess our
sins. In Christ they are already forgiven. Now, this is completely
wrong, and it is all the more wrong because it is half right. It is true
that Christ died for all our sins, but it is not true that because
Christ died for all our sins we need not confess that we have sinned
when we have. This conclusion does not follow from that premise.

========================================================================
Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/aw-tozer/unused-truth/
========================================================================