Confess to One Another

Let’s begin the message this morning by reviewing our theme verse.

Romans 12:10 CSB

10 Love one another deeply as brothers and sisters. Outdo one another in showing honor.

This is the last message in this series “One Another”. We have been focusing on how we are to relate to one another. We are to love one another. We are to be kind to one another. We are to submit to one another. We are to watch out for one another.

In this message, we are going to look at a passage from the book of James which is a call to humble ourselves. You won’t be able to do this if you are full of pride. If you came from a Catholic background, you have probably heard this talked about, but only in the context of the priesthood. If we are going to have healthy relationships with one another, this is something we are going to need to learn to do.

Have you ever hurt somebody? Maybe you said something or did something and it hurt someone. Have you ever been hurt by someone? Did the person even know you were hurt? Sometimes, we hold onto hurts like we gain power over people if we hold onto it. If we are going to have healthy relationships with one another, we are going to have to learn to confess to one another.

Confess to one another.

James 5:16 CSB

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.

This verse has two different relational instructions for us. James tells us to confess your sins to one another and to pray for one another. I think we understand the pray for one another. Most of us do that to some degree. We hear of a need someone has, and we commit them to prayer. Someone is sick or is struggling and we pray for them. I think most of us at least understand the necessity of praying for one another. Hopefully, you are committed to praying for other believers. Often times, we pray for physical needs people have, like being healed from a sickness or a health issue.

Before I leave this subject, we should recognize that doctors, medicines, and therapies are tools God uses to heal us. Healing comes from God. God uses doctors, nurses, medicines, vaccines, and other methods to heal us, but ultimately God is the one who heals us. We should never forget to give credit where credit is due. Never give glory that belongs to God to someone or something else.

Notice the key statement in this passage. “The prayer of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect.” “The power possessed by prayer is not limited to ‘super saints’; the righteous man simply designates one who is wholeheartedly committed to God and sincerely seeking to do his will.”

In this message, we are going to focus our attention on the first “one another” in James 5:16. Confess your sins to one another. Again, this might sound strange to you. What does this look like? Does this mean, each week, we should stand in front of the congregation and declare all our sins publicly? Should we have a video playing at the beginning of our worship gathering where every member of the church confesses their sins? Does this mean we need to have a confessional booth setup in the back, like they do in Catholic churches?

Let’s start by understanding what it means to “confess”.

ἐξομολογεῖσθε - confess, to openly agree

Confession means to openly agree about a matter. The police interrogate a person accused of a crime. The suspect confesses to the crime. The person agrees with the police about what they did. The person signs a confession. As believers, we have a confession of faith. We openly agree with one another about certain essential biblical doctrines, such as the authority of God’s Word, salvation, Jesus Christ, Baptism, among others. We confess these things are true and we accept them as our personal beliefs. We take our stand on biblical sound essential doctrines. Also, I want to let you know, next month, in our Sunday Bible Study, we will be beginning a series on the great doctrines of our faith. Make plans to join us for the study. More details will be coming about it.

What does it mean to confess your sin? To confess your sin is to openly agree that you have done wrong before God. Confessing your sin is to view your behavior the way God views your behavior. No sugar coating. No excuses for what you did. You agree with God that you have sinned and fallen short of his expectations for how you should conduct yourself.

We all have sinned.

Romans 3:23 CSB

23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Isaiah 53:6 CSB

6 We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and the Lord has punished him for the iniquity of us all.

We all fall short of God’s standard of holiness. Holiness is perfection. Are any of us perfect? Well, yes and no. If you believe Jesus paid the penalty for your sin with his own blood, before God, you are made perfect. You are made righteous and holy. Not because of what you have done, but according to the grace of God. You will still fail and do things which are sin, but your sins are paid for with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. In God’s eyes, you are made perfect, even though your perfection is not yet realized.

If you do not believe that Jesus’ sacrifice paid for your sins, then you are still dead in your trespasses and sins. You are responsible to pay for your own sins. The way you will pay for your sins is through eternal separation from God in a Lake of Fire. You don’t have to pay for your own sins. You can accept Jesus’ gift of eternal life. You can accept his payment for your sin by confessing Jesus as Lord.

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.

Let’s take a moment to do this now. Confess Jesus by praying this prayer with me,

“Heavenly Father, forgive me for my sins, make me clean. I ask Jesus to be my Savior and to be the Lord of my life, first in every way. My life is not my own, I give it to you. Thank you for new life. In Jesus’ name, I pray.” Heads are bowed and eyes are closed, if you just prayed that prayer for the first time, would you slip up your hand. At the end of this message, I will be standing down front, please come up and talk to me or Pastor Felipe. We want to celebrate the new life you have in Jesus.

If you are listening online, you can contact us through the live chat on the side or you can email me.

Dr. Benjamin Karner - [e-mail]

Pastor Felipe Arias - [e-mail]

Let’s go back to our text for the morning.

James 5:16 CSB

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.

Confess your sins to one another. I want to give you a principle for confession this morning. This is very important. Don’t miss this.

Confession should be as public as the sin.

There are some sins which are more sins of the heart and they need to be confessed to God. There are some sins which are against another person and they should be confessed to the person. There are even some sins which are public and need to be confessed publicly. Confession should be as public as the sin.

If you have done something which is a public matter, then you will need to address it publicly. If you have done something against another brother or sister, then you will need to address it directly to them. If your sin is a private matter against God, then you will need to address it to him. I believe this is what Jesus taught us in Matthew 18.

Matthew 18:15–17 CSB

15 “If your brother sins against you, go and rebuke him in private. If he listens to you, you have won your brother. 16 But if he won’t listen, take one or two others with you, so that by the testimony of two or three witnesses every fact may be established. 17 If he doesn’t pay attention to them, tell the church. If he doesn’t pay attention even to the church, let him be like a Gentile and a tax collector to you.

Notice the progression in Jesus’ teachings. Also, notice who is to go to the brother or sister in Christ. It is not the one who is in the wrong who goes, it is the one who has been wronged. Why? Well, perhaps the one who did the wrong doesn’t even know they hurt you. Maybe they are unaware that their actions caused you harm. We can’t assume that everyone is aware or as sensitive as we are. If someone hurts me, it is my responsibility to go to that person to seek reconciliation. If you are hurt, you need to go to the person who hurt you to address the matter.

If the hurt is genuine and the person will not confess their sin, then the situation may need to be elevated. The idea is that many things are not a big deal and you will need to get 2 or 3 spiritually discerning people to agree with you that it is a big deal which needs to be addressed. If the person still won’t confess, then you may elevate it by bringing it before the pastoral leadership. The point is, confession should be as public as the sin because the point is to bring healing and reconciliation between brothers and sisters in Christ. “Confession must be made to the person against whom we have sinned, and from whom we need and desire to receive forgiveness.”

The point of confession is to bring relational healing.

Confession makes relational healing possible.

Confession and prayer are necessary for healing to take place in the Christian community. I have been in churches where people have hung onto hurts and wounds for years. The church was not a place of healing, but rather it was a place of hurt and suffering. Have you ever heard the saying, “Hurt people hurt people?” It is true. Churches, instead of being a place of peace and healing, can become a place of hurt and drama.

There are two things I want us to consider. Two things I think are vital to our spiritual health as a body of believers. These are two things, especially in our multicultural context, which are going to be vital to our forward progress.

First, embrace the power of forgiveness.

Embrace the power of forgiveness.

Embrace of the power of forgiveness. You have been forgiven your great sin debt by God; therefore, you ought to forgive your brothers and sisters in Christ. You might say, “But you don’t know how deeply that person hurt me.” You might think, “But I don’t want to let them get away with it.” You might think, “But it’s not fair they aren’t held accountable for what they did to me.”

Let me give you the words of Jesus.

Matthew 5:38–42 CSB

38 “You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. 39 But I tell you, don’t resist an evildoer. On the contrary, if anyone slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. 40 As for the one who wants to sue you and take away your shirt, let him have your coat as well. 41 And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two. 42 Give to the one who asks you, and don’t turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

If we are to treat someone outside of our congregation in this way, how much more should we be forgiving of those inside our body of believers. I can tell you of a time where I held onto hurts. I am not going to go into details, but I was hurt by a previous church pretty badly. It beat me up more than I even understood. Every once and a while, when the subject came up, I would feel the anger rising inside of me for how I was treated. I believe if I would have continued to hold onto the hurt, it would have destroyed me and my effectiveness in ministry. Eventually and I can say, not quick enough, I called a person who I was holding things against. It was hard and it was awkward. He didn’t even know I was struggling with the hurt. However, after talking with him and working through the issues, we were able to find healing. Embrace the power of forgiveness.

Second, our church will be a place of healing.

We are committed to be a place of healing.

So many people, believers and non-believers, have told me that they have been hurt by another church. Usually when that happens, there are grievances within the congregation that have been ignored – creating division and dissension and generating a great deal of ‘hurt.’ Often, these painful stories are filled with controversy, and problems that may or may not have been generated by the individual who was so deeply wounded. Do you agree with me? Will you say, “Amen?”

Let’s agree right now – we are going to work as a body of believers here at First Baptist Laredo to keep that from happening here. Let’s agree right now that we are going to be a place of healing. We are going to be a place of healing.

What does it look like to be a place of healing? A place of healing is a place of truth. A place of healing is a gospel-centered place. A place of healing seeks inward change rather than outward conformity. A place of healing is a place full of grace and peace. Our church needs to be known as a place of healing. Confession is an element of a place of healing. Let us be known for bringing healing to hearts of people. Let us be known for seeing families healed. Let us be known for being gospel-centered.

I think being authentic is attractive. We shouldn’t want to be an Instagram church. Do you know what I am talking about? A church that looks like a place you want to be, but then when you get there it is the Fyre Festival. It looks good in pictures, but it is full of deadness and spiritual decay. Concerning fake religious people, Jesus said,

Matthew 23:27–28 CSB

27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of the bones of the dead and every kind of impurity. 28 In the same way, on the outside you seem righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

We don’t want to be that way. We need to be authentic. We need to be a place of confession and prayer. Through confession and prayer, healing takes place.

James 5:16 CSB

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.

Pray.