Can You Keep a Secret? You No Longer Have to!

When I first read the following passage from the Sermon on the Mount, I got really scared:

"And he said unto them, Is a candle brought to be put under a bushel, or under a bed? and not to be set on a candlestick?

"For there is nothing hid, which shall not be manifested; neither was any thing kept secret, but that it should come abroad." (Mark 4: 21-22)

I used to think that this passage meant that all the terrible things that I have done in secret would be exposed for the world to see.


Another Gospel writer granted greater context to this passage:


"Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.

"What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.

"And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

"Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.

"But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

"Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows." (Matthew 10: 26-31)

Here, Matthew makes the point that Jesus told us that all would be revealed, yet that we have nothing to be afraid of?

What's going on?

The Blood of Jesus Christ wipes away all of our sin, all of our shame, no matter what we have done.

We when trust in the sacrifice that Jesus made for us at the Cross, God Himself does not remember our sins anymore:

"For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:

"And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.

"For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more." (Hebrews 8: 10-12)

By the grace of God, through the Finished Work of Jesus Christ at the Cross, we are made the righteousness of God in Christ (cf 2 Corinthians 5:21), He empowers us to keep His commandments through the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, and He makes no further record of our sins, or our wrongdoings:

No wonder Paul declared with such joy:

"There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." (Romans 8:1)

Unfortunately, many people think that only the sins that they committed before they salvation have been wiped away. Post-salvation, we are responsible for working away or sins.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

John in his First General Epistle explains why:

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9)

"Cleanse" in the King James Version does not capture the eternal power of Christ's propitiation for our sins.

The Amplified Bible present this verse in its great, full, and powerful entirety:

"If we [freely] admit that we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just (true to His own nature and promises) and will forgive our sins [dismiss our lawlessness] and [continuously] cleanse us from all unrighteousness [everything not in conformity to His will in purpose, thought, and action].

"Cleanses" in the Original Greek text reads as "katharisē καθαρίσῃ", which implies a progressive, ongoing cleansing.

The blood of Jesus never stops cleaning us! Every sin that we have committed, are committing now, and will commit, has all been washed away, once and for all, at the Cross:

"By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." (Hebrews 10:10)

"Once for all" is an adverb signifying consummate completion: "ἐφάπαξ ephapax once, once for all; at once."

So, any record of sins that we have committed, we do not have to worry about anyone finding out about what we have done.

We have the highest standing with God the Father through our Lord Jesus Christ:

"What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

"He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

"Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.

"Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?" (Romans 8: 31-35)

Paul answers the previous line of questions with a resounding "NO!"

"Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us

"For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

"Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8: 37-39)

Are you ashamed of something that you have done in the past? If you are a believer, than you have nothing to be ashamed of -- for Jesus Christ has died the death and taken the shame for every bad deed that we have done!

What if other people press you with your past? Remember whose you are now, you are hid in Christ, and therefore have nothing to be ashamed of?

Is someone guilt-tripping you with the past mistakes you have made? Christ took all of your guilt, and therefore you owe no one anything!

Is someone blackmailing you with some terrible wrong that you have done?

Do what Jesus did!

"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." (Hebrews 12:2)

Jesus endured the greatest shame imaginable for us -- God becoming man, dwelling in a broken world, enduring taunts and persecution for preaching the deliverance that comes through grace. He was put to open shame before the world, stripped to nothing, beaten, ripped open, spat upon, then hung disdainfully between heaven and earth, taunted by his persecutors until His last breath.

Yet for all that, the joy of realizing the promise of Redemption, laid down before the foundation of the world, was more than enough for Jesus to overcome the inexpressible depravity of His creation against Him. Following His resurrection, Jesus Christ sat at the right hand of the Father, receiving full honor, forever interceding for us to the Father, who now no longer bears any record of wrongdoing against us.

Perhaps the secret that you are trying to keep, if exposed, would lead you to you lose your standing in a community, perhaps you may lose you job, you may have to face legal troubles. But He who more than recompenses for all of our sin, for all the shame, is more than able to equip us with glory and honor, that you need no longer fear the reproach of men:

"He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" (Romans 8: 32)

Can you keep a secret? Afraid that someone else will not? You no longer have to worry about it! Whatever shame you may have endured in your life, all is past, all is wiped away by the blood of Jesus Christ. As the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, you need no longer fear the reproachful fallout of failure.