How to Confess Our Sins

What kinds of things does the topic of confession bring to mind. It is certainly the center point of several television or movie plots. If you are seasoned enough to remember an old show like Perry Mason, then you know that the courtroom drama would reach its moment of tension right when Perry Mason find a way to get the real criminal to admit to the crime and confess it all. The 1992 film, A Few Good Men, features the courtroom scene in which Jack Nicholson’s character confesses with the iconic line “you can’t handle the truth!” It wasn’t always courtroom confession. Peter Falk’s character, Detective Columbo, had a knack for badgering and nagging suspects until he finally got a confession. Perhaps my favorite is the gang of kids who seemed to nomadically travel around in the Mystery Machine and somehow always stumble into spooky shenanigans which always ended with the same confession: “I would’ve gotten away with it if it wasn’t for those meddling kids and their dog.” Or if you like a good William Shatner cameo, try binging a few episodes of Psyche —same thing; a whodunit mystery which always ends in the apprehension and confession of the criminal.

It always makes for good television and movies because something inside of us loves it when we are able to reach and uncover the truth. And that is what confession provides; it is an uncovering of the truth. But a little more, confession is an uncovering of the truth which reveals and admits a fault or mistake or wrongdoing. It is a pattern that is nearly as old as the creation. The very first sin by Adam and Eve in the garden which we see in Genesis 3 involves a confession. Adam and Eve realize they have done something wrong; they try to cover up and hide; but when God comes and confronts them, they confess.

Let’s look today at this age-old pattern on confession and see why the Bible tells us it is so very important to who we are together as God’s people. I am opening two passages for this today; one from the Old Testament written by David, and one from the New Testament told by Jesus.

Psalm 32:1–11 NIV

1 Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. 2 Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit. 3 When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. 5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.” And you forgave the guilt of my sin. 6 Therefore let all the faithful pray to you while you may be found; surely the rising of the mighty waters will not reach them. 7 You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. 8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you. 9 Do not be like the horse or the mule, which have no understanding but must be controlled by bit and bridle or they will not come to you. 10 Many are the woes of the wicked, but the Lord’s unfailing love surrounds the one who trusts in him. 11 Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart!

Luke 18:9–14 NIV

9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: 10 “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ 13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ 14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Alice was often one of the first people to greet others on the way into church on a Sunday morning. It seemed like Alice knew a lot of people throughout Denver, even though she was not from Denver. Alice was born and raised in Patterson New Jersey—part of the de Waal-Malefyt family from New Jersey, a family with extensive connections all throughout the country, including right here in Grandville. Besides Alice knowing a lot of people, she also had a characteristic that I would refer to as New Jersey blunt. She wouldn’t be afraid to tell you what she really thought. I think what so many people appreciated about Alice is that you never had to question where you stood with her. If I ever wanted to know how my sermon was, I would ask Alice because I know she would always give me an honest answer.

But Alice was not blunt as in rude; not like the opposite of what we call around here Mid-West nice or Minnesota nice. You know how that works; people being cordial and polite even though what they are really thinking or saying to other people may be the exact opposite. Alice was always honest with others right to their face, but never in a way that was mean or rude or judgmental. I think that is the reason why everybody liked Alice. Alice would not pretend to be nice to people, she was honestly, genuinely, authentically nice to people; you could sense that her delight in other people was real—not fake. It seemed she had nothing to hide and nothing to prove. And so, if Alice made a mistake, she owned up to it. She would admit it. She wasn’t afraid to confess the truth of her own faults.

Alice had a quality that so many people admired. But at the same time, it was a quality that so many people struggle to emulate and embrace in our own lives. Perhaps spending some time today looking at the regular habit of confession which we do as a pattern in our worship can help take a step in that direction. The practice of confession is so good for us, but it is also something we tend to avoid; let’s talk today about why that is, and what it is that makes confession such an important part of our worship habit.

both Psalm 32 and the parable Jesus give a good glimpse at the two sides of confession

Both Psalm 32 from the Old Testament, and the parable Jesus tells in the New Testament give us a pretty good glimpse at the two sides of confession. In both of these passages there is a description not only of the posture and benefits of confession, but both of these passages also describe a picture of non-confession. We can learn something from both of pictures we see in both of these passages. Let’s start with the non-confession. What does life look like for the person who avoids confession of sin, fails to confess sin, denies need or opportunity to confess sin?

The Posture of Non-Confession

In Psalm 32 David gives a pretty visceral description of it. Look at what he says about it in verses 3-4.

Psalm 32:3–4 NIV

3 When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.

Look at how Eugene Peterson paraphrases these verses in The Message translation of this passage.

Psalm 32:3–4 The Message

3 When I kept it all inside, my bones turned to powder, my words became daylong groans. 4 The pressure never let up; all the juices of my life dried up.

when we refuse to confess, it means we have live in a way which tries to convince God and everyone else that we have it all together, that we haven’t messed up, that we do not ever falter, that we are not struggling with sin

Can we simply consider this for a few moments, what the Bible says that a failure or reluctance or avoiding confession does to a person? When any one of us takes on life in a manner which avoids confession, that means we set ourselves up to face constant continual pressure to project the opposite of confession. Confession an admission before God and others that we have sinned, that we have faults, that we sometimes fail. When we refuse to confess, it means we have live in a way which tries to convince God and everyone else that we have it all together, that we haven’t messed up, that we do not ever falter, that we are not struggling with sin. That’s putting an incredible amount of pressure on yourself. There is unbelievable pressure that goes along with having to live day-in and day-out as though we somehow have it all together and rarely-if-ever make mistakes. There is an endless juggling act that goes along with having to make excuses and cover up all the faults and wrongs that we do if we refuse to confess our own sins.

Psalm 32 — David says that failure to confess means our faults and mistakes and sins end up eating away at us from the inside

In Psalm 32 David is telling us that failure to confess only means that our faults and mistakes and sins end up eating away at us from the inside. David writes poetry here in this psalm which gives the picture that the pressure of having to continually live with covering up his own misdeeds was unrelenting both day and night. It became more than he could bear; the load was too heavy. David displays for us a soul that could no longer go on pretending to be something it was not; he could no longer go on living pretending to be somebody he wasn’t; he had to stop going about day after day trying to pretend for everyone else that he was perfect, that he never slipped up, that he was never at fault.

we all know the urge to say we’re fine and everything is good when we know deep down inside that it is not fine and we are not good because we’re hanging onto a struggle of our own making

You and I know something about this. Maybe we don’t necessarily feel pressure to that extent all the time every day, but we do all know something of the urge to say we’re fine and everything is good when we know deep down inside that it is not fine and we are not good because we’re hanging onto a struggle of our own making. I know for an almost absolute certainty that most of us has faced days when arguments or fights have happened even on a Sunday morning while getting ourselves to church; and then we feel this pressure to flip a switch and put on a smile when we walk into this place as though life is just fine.

Luke 18 — Jesus says failure to confess results in self-righteousness which puts others down so we can be on top

Sometimes we learn to live so long under that pressure to be perfect that we might actually start to believe it. We start to somehow believe that we are not the one who are ever wrong or ever make mistakes. This is the picture that Jesus gives us of the Pharisee in the parable we see in Luke 18. Here is a person who had become so hardened by the pressure to be perfect all the time that the only way he can keep up those appearances is by putting others down so that he can remain on top. The example of the Pharisee in this parable is a person who has become so blinded by his self-righteousness that he no longer is able to see his own faults and mistakes and sinful condition. And so the only way he can keep that charade going is by centering his life around whatever it takes to keep himself and everyone else convinced of his own goodness. He has to make a show of his own hypocrisy in front of everyone else.

The Posture of Confession

But both David and Jesus offer an alternative in these stories: a posture of confession. David says this in Psalm 32.

Psalm 32:5 NIV

5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.” And you forgave the guilt of my sin.

In Luke 18 Jesus offers the picture of the tax collector who confesses.

Luke 18:13–14 NIV

13 “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ 14 “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

confession is the key to genuine authenticity and humility before God

In both of these passages confession is the one pattern that makes all the difference. Confession is the key to genuine authenticity and humility before God. You see, God already knows that we are sinful broken people who can do nothing to redeem and save ourselves. Confession is what frames our lives in a posture before God in which we come clean and honestly admit to God what he already knows. So, if God already knows it, then why do I need to confess it? Confession places me humbly before God in a way which no longer tries to hide and cover up what can never be hidden and covered up before him anyway. The difference is this; I am ready to receive his mercy and forgiveness. It may sound rather simple; in order to be forgiven I first need to embrace the truth that forgiveness is what I need.

I am ready to receive his mercy and forgiveness; in order to be forgiven I first need to embrace the truth that forgiveness is what I need

This posture of humility before God and others triggers a cascade of results. Some of these results are internal, some results are external, and some results are eternal.

Confession: internal results

confession places my life in frame by which I can completely accept and embrace the identity I have before God: a sinner who is forgiven, justified, redeemed

First, internal results of confession. David says that when we humble ourselves before God to confess our sins, that God is merciful and forgives our sin. Jesus says the penitent tax collector who confesses his sin before God receives mercy and is justified before God. Confession places my life in frame by which I can completely accept and embrace the identity I have before God: a sinner who is forgiven, justified, redeemed. The regular habit of confession that we do in worship is the reminder of that identity we each have; that we are sinners who have been forgiven, justified, and redeemed.

I am able to be honest to myself about my need for Jesus

Confession also gives me the internal result of being able to be honest to myself about my need for Jesus. Once I come to a realization that I cannot hide my sin from God, confession is the activity by which I say to God, “I am going to be completely honest, genuine, and authentic about who I am, a forgiven sinner in need of God’s mercy and grace.”

Confession: external results

the genuine authenticity we seek in honest confession is a genuine authenticity we embrace in our relationships to others

What about the external results of confession? David ends Psalm 32 with a call for everyone to worship. The confession which he honestly brings to God is something he no longer hides from others. The genuine authenticity he seeks in honest confession is a genuine authenticity he wants to embrace in his relationships to others as well.

Remember Alice? People loved and respected Alice because of her genuine authenticity. Confession places our lives in a position where we can be honest about ourselves with one another. Confession means that I have nothing to hide and nothing to pretend. Confession allows me to let go of all that pressure to live as though I never mess up and always have my life together.

once I allow myself to see my own need for mercy and forgiveness, I can begin living in a way which echoes that same mercy and forgiveness into the lives of others

But there’s more; it doesn’t stop there. Confession also allows me to see and accept others the same way I see and accept myself — sinners who are forgiven by God. Once I allow myself to see my own need for mercy and forgiveness, I can begin living in a way which echoes that same mercy and forgiveness into the lives of others. Confession allows you to be a person who is less judgmental and less condemning, and become a person who is more merciful and more forgiving.

Confession: eternal results

Finally, confession opens for us eternal results. Confession embraces a genuine authenticity before God which forever acknowledges that we need God’s grace. By confessing that the only way we can ever be made right with God is through the sacrifice of Jesus given to us by his grace, we surrender our lives completely upon the grace of God.

the grace of God is offered freely to all who come in repentance and faith to God no matter who they are or what we might judge or condemn them to be

Grace is one of those things we talk about all the time in church. We read about it constantly in the New Testament. We sing about grace all the time in our songs of worship in church. Yet I remain surprised by how often I come into contact with people who refuse to fully accept and receive the grace of God. Surely—they think—there must be a catch. There must be something I have to do in order to prove I am worthy. Jesus cannot possibly mean what he says in that parable about a tax collector being justified before God, and the moral, law-abiding Pharisee is not justified? Sometimes we refer to this as the offense of the gospel. The gospel of Jesus is not offensive because it makes claims such as the resurrection. The gospel is not offensive because it makes claims that Jesus is the only way. The gospel is offensive because the grace of God is offered freely to all who come in repentance and faith to God no matter who they are or what we might judge or condemn them to be. For those who think the standard of being a Christian is about rules and morals and good behavior, for those who think the Christian life is about showing a proving that I have it all together, this is offensive; grace is offensive; the gospel is offensive.

confession means I come before God and admit grace is the only thing which opens the door for me to come before God

Confession means I come before God and admit grace is the only thing which opens the door for me to come before God. It is a grace that can never be taken away; it can never be undone. This is eternal. Confession embraces the truth that God loves you, that Jesus died for you, that his righteousness now covers you, that your sin is forgiven, and that nothing can ever change that.