CALEB CUNNINGHAM: CONFESSION OF SIN

Confession of Sin

One time Sheree said to me, “You never admit when you’re wrong.” (It’s true! She actually said that to me). It was then and there that I had to make that necessary confession. I didn’t want to say it, but I had to. I said, “That’s because I’m never wrong.”

It is hard to confess wrong doing isn’t it? Usually we find ourselves making excuses or trying to justify our actions or inactiveness. If we don’t do that, then we may find ourselves magnifying our supposed goodness and down playing our sins. “I may have done this but you did…”

Confession has been a difficulty since the beginning:
· Adam and Eve had to be hunted down, then they both blamed others (Gen 3)
· Cain denied responsibility for his brother Abel rather than confess murder (Gen 4).
· Lamach confessed sin but tried to justify his actions based upon what Cain did (Gen 4:19-24).

Though men have had a problem owning up to what they have done, God requires a confession of wrong doing. It’s an essential practice of Christianity. In fact, you cannot be saved if you don’t confess your sins to God.

When John the Baptist was preaching to prepare the way for Jesus, “all the country of Judea was going out to him, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, confessing their sins” (Mark 1:5).

1. What is a biblical confession of sin?

A) The word "confession" in the New Testament is taken from the Greek word (homologeo—same word), meaning "to cite", "to name", "to classify in the same manner", "to agree with", "to say the same thing as". We might say that it is a specific naming and claiming of sin.

Biblical confession of sin is more than just a generic confession. Someone may say, “I have sinned.” Well of course you’ve sinned; the Bible says so. Confession needs to be a specific naming and claiming of your sin before God. In this way you’re showing ownership and responsibility for what you’ve done or didn’t do. A specific confession of sin will also cause us to be more reluctant to commit that same sin again. This was the practice of some of the early Christians:
Acts 19:18 - Many also of those who had believed kept coming, confessing and disclosing their practices.
Some of these confessors were magicians. They practiced the dark arts and were guilty of sorcery and other forbidden practices. When they were converted to the Lord, they publicly confessed their sins and burned their magic books in fire.

To help understand what biblical confession is, it is helpful to see…

B) What biblical confession is NOT:
Informing a human priest in the confession booth. Jesus is our only mediator
1 Tim 2:5 – For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.
Giving God information. "God, You won't believe what I've done."
Isaiah 59:12 – for our transgressions are multiplied before You, and our sins testify against us;…
Speculating. "IF...I have sinned..." "I have...."
Plea-bargaining for a lesser charge. "Yes...but...."
1 Samuel 15:24-25 – Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned; I have indeed transgressed the command of the Lord and our words, because I feared the people and listened to their voice.. Now therefore, please pardon y sin and return with me, that I may worship the Lord.”
Emotional groveling; mental contortions.
Superficial or flippant incantation. (Sin was reason for Jesus' death).
Tattling: “I confess, he did it!” (Luke 18:9-14)
"Confessionalism" - (Excessive sin-consciousness; wallowing in weakness; Pride of sinfulness; revel in relating sinfulness in testimony; Who was the worst?)

In preparing for this lesson I came across a web site on the Internet designed for confessions. You can log on and confess your sin in complete anonymity (www.dailyconfession.com). The site actually encourages you to “let it go! Tell the whole world what you did (or didn’t do.)” I don’t believe that this would be a biblical method of confession.

C) Biblical Confession is…
Ceasing to deceive ourselves
I John 1:8 – If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.
Getting rid of our defense mechanisms: denial, avoidance, cover-up.Calling sin "sin."
To recognize, admit, acknowledge, and declare our guilt of sin.
Psalm 51:3-4 – For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, I have sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You are justified when You speak and blameless when you judge.
Part of repentance. A change of mental attitude leading to changed behavioral action.
Luke 19:8 – Zaccheus and stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.
Inclusive of asking forgiveness for wronging another person.
If you sin against a person, God can forgive you but it’s also good that you seek confess your sin to the person you wronged.
Christian man guilty of stealing from non-Christian employee wanted to confess his sin but didn’t want to lose his Christian influence. Decided to confess sin and try to make restitution. To the man’s surprise the boss was so impressed by his honesty and willingness to come forward and make things right he ended up going to church with him.
Inclusive of restitution:
Numbers 5:5-7 - Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 6“Speak to the sons of Israel, ‘When a man or woman commits any of the sins of mankind, acting unfaithfully against the LORD, and that person is guilty, 7then he shall confess his sins which he has committed, and he shall make restitution in full for his wrong and add to it one-fifth of it, and give it to him whom he has wronged.
An acknowledgment of sins to God:
Ezra 9:6 – O my God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift up my face to You, my God, for our iniquities have risen above our heads and our guilt has grown even to the heavens.

2. Confession of sin takes place between the perpetrator and the involved people.

All sinners must confess their sin to God.
Psalm 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.
Those who’ve sinned publicly need to confess their sin publicly (Acts 19:18).
Those who’ve sinned against another person need to confess to the person they wronged.
Matthew 5:23-24 – Therefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave yor offering there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.

3. Reasons to Confess Sin

A) For forgiveness:

Proverbs 28:13 – He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion.
This is true in regards to both God and man. People don’t sympathize with a person who won’t confess their wrong.
A good illustration of this principle is seen in the life of David after he committed adultery.

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.
Not only for cleansing but to avoid lying.
It is a sin to deny that we are sinners.

B) To obey the command of God in regards to healing and forgiveness:

James 5:16 – Confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so tat you may be healed.

C) For Physical & Mental reasons (part of the healing):

To “get it off your chest”. Overcoming denial in A.A. meetings.

“When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer.” (Psalm 32:3-4)

D) To encourage other sinners.

The saying misery loves company is very true in many regards. It’s nice to know that you’re not alone in your temptations and struggles. We can find strength and comfort in teaming together to fight our battles against temptation.

It reminds me of a time in my sophomore year in high school. We’d just finished our warm-up in football practice and were walking to the main practice field for another grueling couple of hours of practice. I overheard two seniors joking about how much they hated practice and wanted to quit. I was comforted to find out that I wasn’t the only one.

E) To remove the charge of hypocrisy.

If you try to give the impression to people that you’re perfect, they’ll nail you to the wall with every sin they can possibly find in you. It’s much better to admit weaknesses.

It’s like the politician who’d made a terrible decision about building bicycle side walks through a certain part of New York City. It was a huge waste of money and more cars drove on the sidewalks than bikes. When he was scheduled to do an interview with several reporters, he was asked immediately about this poor decision and he confessed all. The reporters didn’t have anything left to ask because they’d planned to hammer this politician for an hour on the mistake that he admitted.

Conclusion

Confession of sin alone is not enough to be forgiven: Achan confessed his sin after he was caught and shortly before he was stoned to death. Pharaoh confessed his sin after the plagues but it wasn’t lasting. Judas confessed his sin before he hanged himself. Confession must be followed by change.

True confession also involves a commitment not to continue in sin. We wouldn’t be genuinely confessing our sins to God if we planned to commit them again and just wanted temporary forgiveness. We should also pray for strength to defeat temptation the next time we face it.