Do We Practice Confession?

We have all heard the saying, “Confession Is Good For the Soul,” which is more true than we realize. There are a lot of things we say we believe in but I wonder if we fully believe or just kind of believe?  The idea of confession may sound like a biblical idea, yet I think few really practice it much. Believers confess a lot of things but often don’t produce fruit to back those ideas up. Maybe we just “Dabble” with confession. In other words, we confess things either when we are backed into a corner or we get caught doing something we know is wrong. I have to wonder how much faith we have in actually practicing confession.

Confession is not just a religious term or phrase. It is something people do in all walks of life. The phrase I started this topic out with, “Confession is good for the Soul,” implies that we should embrace its practice because it clears our conscience of guilt and enables others to react in forgiveness towards our mistakes. This goes for God as well as ordinary people.

Here is a decent definition of confession:

Confession, also called reconciliation or penance, in the Judeo-Christian tradition is the acknowledgment of sinfulness in public or private activities. It is also regarded as necessary to obtain divine forgiveness.

If you look at the tradition of the church since the time of Jesus, the church was taught about the importance and practice of confession. In fact, if you look back to the birth of Israel, Moses taught the Jews that God required confession to not only forgive sin but also in order for God to release blessings on their lands, crops and livestock.

2 Chronicles 7:14

If My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 

King David, who was acknowledged by God as a man who understood the heart or motives of God, said that he not only believed in confession but also practiced confession. He understood that when we acknowledge our mistakes and sin before God he moves graciously and forgives us.

Psalms 32:5

I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I did not hide; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”; and  You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah.

David also said that instead of hiding or running from his sins he faced them because his soul experienced anxiety until he did confess. Anxiety comes upon us when we are seeing or feeling overwhelmed by either real or imagined issues. For David, he knew that sin separates him from God and that, until he confessed his sin, his relationship with God was in danger.

 Psalms 38:18

For I confess my iniquity; I am full of anxiety because of my sin.

After the reformation around the 1500’s, protestant Christians began throwing out of their lives all kinds of teaching they had learned, including the practice of confession, because they felt the traditional church, meaning the Catholic church, had gotten corrupt. Many reformers even taught that whatever the Catholic church had taught was altogether bad. You can understand why there is such animosity between Catholics and Protestants to this day.

The apostle John, who was the longest living apostle that walked with Jesus, understood the danger of not practicing regular confession. John made it very clear that for believers to experience forgiveness they had to practice regular confession. Believers are accountable to God and others when they sin and confession is the beginning place for reconciliation.

1 John 1:9-10

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.

James, the half brother of Jesus, who was the main leader of the Jerusalem church after the resurrection, instructed believers to confess their sin to each other. Why? Because until confession takes place relationships aren’t really reconciled. Secondly, James said our healing is linked to our sin confession. The power of God is not released until we get honest with ourselves first, and with each other, through confession and acknowledgment of our sin.

James 5:16

Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. 

Lastly, the apostle Paul said that we become saved when confession takes place with our mouths. Being verbal is so important not only for our salvation but for true freedom from our sins and mistakes. My fear is the church is so “NOT” used to practicing regular confession that the average Christian soul is somewhat twisted inside, never able to fully enjoy our relationship with God nor with one another.

Romans 10:9

If you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;

Jesus used the idea of confession concerning himself. He made it very clear that if we don’t confess that we love and are loyal to him and the kingdom of God then he would not confess us before the Father. The implication is that if we don’t honestly confess our belief in Christ it puts the breaks on our redemption.

Matthew 10:32-33

“Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.”

The first 300 years of the church were defined by tremendous persecution.  Many people were brought before the Romans to either confess that Caesar is god or Jesus is. If they confessed Caesar, the church rejected them but if they rejected Cesar they were put to death. In Muslim countries, even today, Christians will be put to death if they don’t recant their faith in Jesus and embrace Islam.

The bottom line is we all are faced with the same choice of practicing confession or practicing denial. Do we openly confess Jesus before a lost world?  Do we practice confession with our fellow man? Or do we keep silent and demonstrate our lack of belief?

May the Holy Spirit give us courage to incorporate confession in our daily lives as believers.

Questions:

1) Do you believe and practice regular confession with God and others? Your answer either proves your faith in the word of God and Jesus or it does not.

2) Do you need to practice more confession than you have before? God always loves when his children embrace the truth of his word and practice it.

1 Timothy 6:12

Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

I practice daily confession, how about you?

Pastor Dale