What is essential to spiritual vitality? What is a priority when it comes to the closeness of our walk with our heavenly Father? One of the main and often neglected facets of a healthy Christian life is confession. As a believer, one may contest, “Aren’t my sins no longer a concern, no longer a burden to carry?” It is true, by God’s grace, that once one has trusted in Christ and has come into the blessing of the forgiveness of sins, there is “no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom 8:1).1 But now, without fear of punishment and condemnation, a believer must be very conscious of the necessity for the confession of sins. Yet what does it really mean to confess our sins?
The word “confess” is used in different contexts within the New Testament. The Greek word used is homologeō, which carries numerous applications, but the root idea means “to acknowledge.” It draws from the application in the legal system, signifying that to confess means to agree with the charge brought against oneself. It is to acknowledge guilt before the court. We understand the importance of confession with regards to relationships amongst friends and family. If we have offended them, we need to tell them and seek forgiveness so that the relationship can be restored. How much greater is the importance of confessing our sin to the Most High God in order to restore the closeness of that spiritual relationship. The daily confession of our sins to God is important for a number of reasons.
Confession Reveals
One of the reasons we find confession to be so difficult and why it is often lacking on a regular basis in the life of a believer is that it requires us to acknowledge that we are still sinners. For anyone to ever claim they have no need of confession to God is to declare, “I no longer sin!” That would go directly against what Scripture declares of the believer. First John 1:8 says, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” We are called liars if we say we have no need of confession. In fact, the charge is even greater than that, as we not only are found to be liars ourselves, but are also calling God a liar. “If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us” (v10). Therefore, Scripture makes it clear that confession of sins is not just for the weak, the immature or the new believer, but rather applies to every believer. The apostle Paul understood that as long as he was on this earth he would be in a body that would continue to be prone to sin. “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Rom 7:24).
Confession Restores
Because confession is so revealing, we often put it off. We trudge on with past sins unconfessed. Sometimes it may feel like dark clouds have set in, that we are in a spiritual fog. We may feel we are walking with a limp in our spiritual life and our relationship with God. We are often quick to note earthly relationships that are suffering and do all that we can to remedy those issues. But often in our relationship with the Lord, we are content to continue on as if all is well.
Once we recognize the sin that is still present in our lives as believers, there is a tremendous promise for each child of God if we confess that sin. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1Jn 1:9). Charles Spurgeon said, “A stone in your shoe, though almost invisible, will spoil a day’s journey. It is not a great rock to grind you to powder. It is only a little stone, but your foot will blister before you have walked many miles. How great the pain of a single unconfessed sin! The best thing you can do is to take off your shoe at once and remove the stone before you again put down your foot. So it is with every little sin: If it is only a thought, if it is only a look the wrong way, go to your Father and get rid of it.”
What any earthly father would want from a wayward child is for a confession of a fault so that restoration can take place. The prodigal’s father was waiting with open arms for the wayward son who came home confessing his sins. How much more does our heavenly Father await with open arms for us to confess our sins to Him and have that relationship and intimacy restored.
Confession Refocuses
When we, as believers, are quick to confess our sin, we are consistently reminded of the reason for which God no longer needs to punish us or hold us accountable for that sin. But as a loving Father, He wants us to simply confess it and forsake it. The reason is that God is satisfied with the payment that was made for that sin on Calvary. “If anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins” (1Jn 2:1-2). Jesus Christ, the righteous One, is our Advocate and He has satisfied God fully with regards to the penalty of our sins. And so, by daily confessing our sins to our heavenly Father, we are reminded of the finished work of Calvary and the tremendous price that was paid to set us free. And as we are reminded of this daily, we can refocus on the purpose of the redeemed life: “Do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God” (Rom 6:13).
1 Bible quotations in this article are from the NKJV.
