The Spiritual Rhythm of Confession and Repentance

The Obligatory “Sorry”

As children we’ve been told to say or as parents we have made our kids say sorry, even if they don’t mean it. Part of it is to teach, yet we know kids don’t always mean that sorry when they give it. Neither do adults many times if we are honest. So, we give an obligatory sorry in the moment. Why?

OFten it is so that we don’t have to face the consequences of our actions. We hope that the sorry will get us out of the punishment. Yet, that is not what truly being sorry is about.

How do we know when someone truly means it? First they expres their sorrow verbally; usually agreeing they did wrong or brought hurt. Perhaps it can take a few times, but if we can see a work at change of thinking, behavior, and attitude is when sorrow truly takes root.

Biblically we call this confession and repentance.

Confession and Repentance for Salvation

Romans 10:9–10 CSB

9 If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation.

Tells us that in order for salvation through Jesus Christ to take effect, there must be an event a moment of initial confession and repentance for salvation that results from faith and belief.

Belief in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection covers our sin, the punishment of our sin, and grants to us new life in Him.

Confession that our current way of living in sin is not lined up with the way God intended by His standard of holiness.

Repentance in that Jesus is now Lord- He is the King, the Master, the Boss. His way is now our way.

Confession and Repentance Post Salvation

So, why do we need a discipline of confession and repentance after salvation?

1 John 1:8–10 CSB

8 If we say, “We have no sin,” we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say, “We have not sinned,” we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Sin’s battle with God’s Holy Spirit indwelling in us after salvation will rage until we die. Though, it should lessen over time as we grow more and more like Christ. To believe otherwise is to deceive ourselves and to make God a liar as John says.

We as Christians cannot be cavalier about our sin. We have a call here to fight it. 1 John says we confess knowing Jesus is faithful and righteous to forgive us (Redemption accomplished/justification) and that He will cleanse us from all unrighteousness (Redemption applied/sanctification).

Thus, believers need to discipline their hearts and lives of confession and repentance in the cleansing process. To repent is to change one’s mind that results in change of action. This begins by the prompting of the Holy Spirit, but we are left with a choice to respond to His prompting.

Our purpose as believers in confession and repentance is not earning salvation, but to maintain a close, intimate relationship with God.

Ps. 32 presents to us the power of confession and repentance as well as the weight of unconfessed and unrepented sin.

Read Psalm 32

True joy is found in confession and repentance (v.1-2)

The Psalmist sets the stage for confession and repentance. It brings joy. He uses various terms denoting sin that bear similarity, but variance as well. Ultimately this shows the full dimension of our depravity. How does confession and joy bring repentance?

Our sin is forgiven- The debt owed to God is canceled to us and paid by Jesus Christ.

Our sin is covered- The grace of God in salvation from the shed blood of Jesus on the cross now covers our sin. The penalty is paid.

The charge is not presented to us. This is a legal term. No longer can the Lord place the guilty charge on us in Christ. Jesus was our Defender, our Sacrifice for the penalty, and our Resurrection life for a new life in Him.

This is now our standing in Jesus. Why would we not find joy in our confession and repentance?

I am convinced one of the top reasons we have many joyless Christians today is they walk with unconfessed and unrepentant sin. For this joy to be found we must recognize the breadth, depth, and height of our sin compared to the breadth, depth, and height of God’s love for us through Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 3:16–19 CSB

16 I pray that he may grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power in your inner being through his Spirit, 17 and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love, 19 and to know Christ’s love that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Early in my student ministry years I had a pretty small youth group. On one of our Wednesday nights I was teaching and a young lady, who was also young in her faith, in our group felt conviction to what I was speaking about and immediately confessed before everyone. The weight on her was palpable, yet she boldly approached the throne of grace with confidence. In her confession and repentance I had her look at me and I simply said, “you are forgiven.” I didn’t have power to absolve sin, only Christ can do that. I simply relayed to her the truth that the height, depth, width, breadth of the grace of God covered her. She stands forgiven in her confession. The joy that came across her face to simply hear those words and to gain greater understanding of the grace of Jesus in the salvation she claimed was the lesson that night.

We can only understand the joy of confession and repentance when we understand the depth of our sin and the greater depth of the grace of God through Jesus.

Unconfessed and unrepentant sin bears a weight on the body, mind, soul, and heart. (v.3-4)

The Psalmist gives us a word picture of unconfessed/unrepentant sin.

Sin whether by direct physical consequence or through the psychological/spiritual toll it takes affects the body.

Your sin can lead to sickness. Now, this is not always the case. The scene with the man born blind whom Jesus heals is accused of sin of himself or his parents being the cause of his blindness. Jesus assures them that is not the case.

James does relate sickness to unconfessed sin.

James 5:13–16 CSB

13 Is anyone among you suffering? He should pray. Is anyone cheerful? He should sing praises. 14 Is anyone among you sick? He should call for the elders of the church, and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 The prayer of faith will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up; if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect.

c. Paul relates in 1 Corinthians 11 that many who were sick and ill and some have died because they were partaking of the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner.

2. Spiritually the weight of unconfessed sin is heavy.

I cannot express to you the number of times I have unconfessed sin against my wife in perhaps a way I spoke to her, with my kids, or with others that weighed heavy on me.

There was one time early in my ministry that I was in worship and I had to leave from the sanctuary to confess to the Lord. I was so burdened and weighed down I couldn’t even worship.

Another example of this was a time I was teaching a young adult Sunday School class and I can’t remember the subject but a young mom in the class was so burdened with her attitude and words towards her husband and kids she unloaded right there. Through tears and sorrow, she confessed and repented before the class. I simply stopped teaching, had the ladies go into a separate room and pray for this woman. The men prayed for the husband. It wasn’t anything that was (in my mind) of great sin, but the weight on her was palpable spiritually. After that day, the weight was so clearly lifted from her and she walked in a new joy.

We cannot be cavalier and trifle with sin. It does damage. It wreaks havoc on us when we allow it. We must as John Piper once said make war with our sin. The battle is started through confession and repentance.

Far too often we believe we can battle the sin alone. Scripture is clear, what we believe we master will master us. It is foolish to believe otherwise.

In confession and repentance we are learning to be mastered by the Lord instead of sin.

Confession is acknowledging our sin to the Lord.

Confession is more that the mental assent to recognize sin, but to actually speak to the Lord or to another that we are not living in the manner the Lord calls us to.

Repentance is the by product of confession to live according to God’s standard. But, we cannot conceal this unto ourselves. We must confess our sin to the Lord. This results in forgiveness.

The key question to me is this:

Why do we not confess and repent if this kind of joy in verse 1-2 is available?

We are ashamed- We are ashamed of our sin, sense the guilt, and then remain in that guilt.

We are too concerned about what others might think.

Cheap grace- We cheapen the cost of grace believing that the prayer we made covers it all.

We feel like we can earn our sanctification- Instead of turning to the the One who is able to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, we believe our good works of our own power will someone counterbalance the sin or earn us some sanctification points.

Question: Are you willing to trade the joy of forgiveness spoken of in Psalm 32 and the depth of knowing God’s love described in Ephesians 3 for these lesser reasons?

Not even the man after God’s own heart could do so. In the story with David and Bathsheba, David is an adulterer, murderer, deceiver, full of guilt. When Nathan the prophet comes to him and uses a parable to reveal David’s sin; David’s immediate response to his guilt is “I have sinned against the Lord.” There was no justification for it. There was no caught up in shame to not confess. He didn’t claim his good ability as king to counter his sin. He wasn’t even concerned what others might think. He agreed that his actions were not consistent with the Lord’s holy standard.

One scholar said this,

“Confession of sin must be said to God. Secret remorse, counseling with the self, or intimations of guilt are not confession. The silence must be broken in the presence of the other….Confession is the knocking to which the door opens, the seeking finds, the asking that receives. Confession of sin to God is confession of faith in God.”

Our Response (v.6)

Once we understand the reality of confession and repentance what is our response?

The Psalmist says in verse 6 let everyone who is faithful pray to you immediately. When verses 3-4 are felt in the lives of those in Jesus, we must pray in confession and repentance immediately.

Why? Because the window of opportunity may not last. The Lord is willing to let you choose to deny His prompting to confess and repent and He may either relent His prompting or the let the coldness of your heart take over.

When Jonathan Edwards preached his famous sermon Sinner’s In the Hands of An Angry God he prompted them to act immediately.

And now you have an extraordinary opportunity, a day wherein Christ has thrown the door of mercy wide open, and stands in calling and crying with a loud voice to poor sinners; a day wherein many are flocking to Him, and pressing into the kingdom of God. Many are daily coming from the east, west, north, and south; many that were very lately in the same miserable condition that you are in, are now a happy state, with their hearts filled with love to Him who has loved them, and washed them from their sins in his own blood, and rejoicing in hope of the glory of God. How awful is it to be left behind at such a day! To see so many others feasting while you are pining and perishing! To see so many rejoicing and singing for joy of heart, while you have cause to mourn for sorrow of heart, and howl for vexation of spirit! How can you rest one moment in such a condition?

God’s Response (v.7-11)

The Psalmist provides to us the Lord’s response to our confession and repentance in Him.

We are hidden in Jesus (v.7)

In our confession and repentance we find protection from sin. Our acknowledgement of sin leads to protection from sin. We accept that God’s way is so much better than our own.

He protects what He saves (v.7)

1 Peter 1:3–5 CSB

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead 4 and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. 5 You are being guarded by God’s power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

The salvation of the Lord is guarded by God’s power. Our sin cannot take that away after we follow Jesus; but at the same time the Lord is preparing us for what is to come. He will seek to protect the heart and life of the willing follower.

He instructs the repentant (v.8)

a. After we acknowledge our woeful ways the Lord doesn’t just leave us without wisdom and understanding. He instructs on where to go and gives counsel the next battle that arises with sin.

b. Even more, the Psalmist compares us to a horse or mule that needs to be bridled. So it is with the Lord.

Psalm 119:9–11 CSB

9 How can a young man keep his way pure? By keeping your word. 10 I have sought you with all my heart; don’t let me wander from your commands. 11 I have treasured your word in my heart so that I may not sin against you.

The Lord bridles us by the work of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God.

Love and joy marks the life of the repentant. (v.10-11)

The Psalmist reminds us once again that joy comes to those who repent.

How do we cultivate this life of confession and repentance?

Be quick to confess before you have time to justify.

Be willing to confess to others and to hear the words “You are forgiven”.

Know the will of God through the Word of God in order to live in His standard.

Conclusion

There is a wonderful song written by a group called Beautiful Eulogy. It is an expression of Ps. 32. I want to read you the lyrics as you think about your own relationship with Jesus today. Is the Lord calling you to a place of confession and repentance today? If so, come and seek Him.

I acknowledged my sin to You and I did not cover my iniquity There's nowhere to hide from Your all-seeing eyes You know everything; I can't tell you a lie You know my own own heart much better than I You know when I sleep and You know when I rise You know all the thoughts that go through my mind From morning to night, every moment of pride Hey! I acknowledged my sin to You and I did not cover my iniquity You know what I've done. You know what I do So I open my mouth and confess it to You And You're making me new with Your Spirit at work To convict me of sin so I know where to turn And I know where to run, run to Your arms To be cleansed of my sin by the blood of Your son Hey! I acknowledged my sin; I know I can't kill it with a knife or a gun It must be crucified on the cross with Your Son Then I can know that it's finished and done Then I can know that I'm truly forgiven And get to the business of living for You And it's not for my glory but only for You And it speaks of Your mercy, Your love, and Your truth Give me the faith to believe what You say And to trust in Your word when I'm tempted to stray And to patiently wait for the day You return I hate my sin; it burns! But

The old will pass away, while I'm still here You hear my prayer Please, wash my sins away, oh Lord release me from this snare

Oh God, my sin is great, there's no escaping it I hate my sin but I still partake in it I've become numb to the touch from feeling it I've learned the art and skill of concealing it I might pretend to keep my composure Hoping never to disclose the truth that it exposes And even though nobody around me knows it God, You notice when I'm alone and chose it I do a good job doing good deeds Look the right part 'cause I say the right things Trusting Your word, and what's best for me But it seems that I still live in disbelief I begin to better understand confession When I understand the weight of my sin and its effect And how it's a direct reflection of my selfishness And recognize Your correct assessment I don't have to hide behind my own pride Tear myself up from the guilt inside 'Cause I've been given everything I've ever needed To stand clean and forgiven when I received Jesus, so

The old will pass away, while I'm still here You hear my prayer Please, wash my sins away, oh Lord release me from this snare

Are you ensnared? Have you been practicing the art and skill of concealing sin? Even if no one else knows it, God does. He is calling on you to call on Him to be released today!