Confession

Proverbs 28:13

“He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.”

As a parent, grandparent, or school teacher. You see some things. You might even catch some things on camera.

The kids stick their hands in places they should not place them… in my cookie jar, for example. They go somewhere they should go. They do some things they should not do… And you see them...

And then you have that talk and you ask those questions: “Son, child… you… come here. Did you take my cookie? Did you touch that? Did you go there? Did you do that?”

And they look at you with those beautiful eyes and say,”No daddy.”

And then you start again with a “don’t lie to me...” And they say, “nooooo daddy.”

And then you tell them, “I saw you do it; why are you lying about it.” And they say, “I love you. Please don’t spank me...”

And because they lied about it… We are more upset. And they end up experiencing some pain… because they lied out it.

What are we looking for? A confession.

We are looking for our children to take responsibility… and to own up to the fact, to acknowledge the truth, to admit it… to Confess to us with a broken and contrite spirit.

But no.... They want to do it the hard way… and experience more and more pain by lying about it...

Just confess… That’s what I want you to do. Confess it and don’t do it again.

This word has been with me: “Confess.” Confession.”

It means to acknowledge something; to own up to something; to declare a belief in something; to declare something to be true, or to admit.

And all throughout the Bible, you will see this word or implications of it, over and over again.

There is a command to confess throughout Scripture. Why? Because we need to acknowledge some things… out loud. We need to own up to some things… out loud. We need to declare to God and to others... some things...

Not that God needs to hear them...

But that we need to hear them… Someone in our lives needs to hear them...

God is looking for His children to take responsibility for actions, thoughts, and feelings, and to confess the truth...

Confess what? Confess God is right and we are wrong.

God is looking for His kids to take responsibility, to humble themselves before God and to acknowledge the truth.

He has seen it. He knows. It is in the books. And the Holy Spirit creates the conviction, from the truth, to lead us to confession and repentance… And until we do… We experience pain, and greater pains...

“No Father… I didn’t do… I didn’t say… I didn’t think… But, they did it first… But they deserve… But I am justified by my… But...”

Psalm 32 captures this reality of the joy and blessing of confession: “When I kept silent… my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long… for day and night Your hand was heavy upon me… I was dried up… I acknowledged my sin to you and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.”

Our relationship with the Lord started out this way, right. I am going the wrong way. You are the Right Way. I am wrong. You are right. You are God. I am not. I agree, I cannot save myself; only you can save me. You are the Savior, and I am not.

Romans 10:9-11 ESV

Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”

This is where our relationship starts: With confession and belief. Not that God needed to hear it, but when we confess it… something happens within us… that helps us in some very real way.

Now, there is the public confession of Christ… and we are to confess Christ wherever we are… We are to declare what we believe to others… Publicly confess...

But lets go back to this acknowledgement of sin, and the confession that serves us and frees us from pain.

And lets be clear: Confession is not a “one and done.”

Confession of sin is a normal and necessary part of the Christian life. There is biblical teaching that confession of sin marks the beginning of the Christian life, but there is other biblical teaching which shows us that confession of sin is an ongoing and required component of the Christian life.

Mark 1:5 “And all the country of Judea and all Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.”

Matthew 3:6: “… and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.”

Luke 11; Matthew 6: The Lord’s Model Prayer: “Father forgive us our sins...”

James 5:16: “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that... you may be healed.

1 John 1:9: “If… we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Acts 19:18: “Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices (or confessing their deeds.”)

But, maybe someone told you to stop confessing. This teaching is out there and in churches today… That we should not confess our sins any more since Christ has died for them once and for all...

Yes, He has.

We do not confess our sins to add to Christ’s finish work. We confess our sin, acknowledge His truth, and admit our wrong to bring healing to our souls and relationships.

We are hindering/grieving/quenching the Holy Spirit.

And He is not going to allow you to just go on, while He is at work to make you more holy, to make you more like Christ.

He wants you to know the truth and confess it and turn from your sins.

If you do not learn from the Holy Spirit, you are not growing. If you are not confessing, you are not progressing in your Christian Walk.

He sees you. And HE knows what you have done and are doing. He wants you to admit it. Learn from it. And move on from it...

He wants you glorifying Him and enjoying Him.

You cannot do that with unconfessed sin.

You are going to remain miserable.

You are kicking against the goads. You are fighting with the Holy Spirit… You are only hurting yourself.

But there is healing to be found with confession:

1 John 1:9 - If we will confess to God… He will cleanse us, forgive us… He will remove that junk that we are carrying and feeling.

So, with our confession to God… Our relationship with God can be unhindered. We will receive healing, comfort, and the blessing of not grieving the Spirit.

What about others?

James 5:16 - If we will confess our sins to one another… To our family members… to our friends… to our church family members… If we would just admit, acknowledge, own up to some stuff… and just say… “I was wrong… I am wrong… I did wrong… This is what I did, and it was wrong… I am so sorry...

What would happen to relationships? What would happen to families? What would happen to churches?

Just to confess it...

They know you did wrong. You know you did wrong. But we remain silent and never confess it… and the pain between people grows...

Oh, what would happen… if we would just confess…?

We would experience healing. Not just individual healing but family healing, relationship healing, church healing… community healing...

If we would just break… If that pride would just break...

If we would quit lying to ourselves, to others, quit justifying, and just confessed the truth...

You/we would experience great healing.

I have heard Jessica tell the story of being a missionary in Venezuela and seeing people physically healed when they confessed and forgave someone.

But more recently, there was a dear sister who had not spoken to a dear friend for 13 years… Who had all this stuff, this load for 13 years… this tension, stress, anger… all of that for 13 years...

Until just the other day… she was counseled to go talk to her long lost friend...

And they had lunch for the first time in 13 years and they talked and confessed some things… and the load was lifted… and now they are talking again.

There are so many people walking around today who need healing… and a pill or a drink won’t touch it.

There are so many who are weary and heavy ladden… carrying so much stuff/baggage… So much history and misery...

There are so many couples who pass each other in the hallway… and they are just roommates that no longer connect and have real intimacy...

“He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.”

“When I kept silent… my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long… for day and night Your hand was heavy upon me… I was dried up… I acknowledged my sin to you and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.”

Confess your sin to one another, so that you may be healed.

Confession may be what your soul needs today.

Lets pray.