We have established the centrality of confession as a key to our Christian walk. Since confession is so important, we must make sure that we have the full picture of what confession is and how it works.
There is a tendency for us to rationalize our own behavior, to excuse our own mistakes, and to justify our own actions. Sometimes we want to wrap ourselves in a cloak of self-righteousness and convince ourselves and others that we are really okay, and that we deserve God’s favor and blessings. But we are mistaken if we think that we are not sinful, or that somehow we can manage our own cleansing.
Jer. 2:22 confirms the futility of self-cleansing, saying, “’Although you wash yourself with soda and use an abundance of soap, the stain of your guilt is still before me,’ declares the Sovereign Lord.” David understood the correct process for cleansing, and expressed it in Ps. 32:5: “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.” David knew to do the following: 1) confess directly to God, and 2) be aware that God is the only one who cleanses. We confess only to God...the only forgiver.
Identifying specific sins directly before God is the primary method for confessing our sins, but we want to isolate and briefly describe several alternative forms of confession that Scripture indicates are acceptable for forgiveness. We see these in the following:
The main point we want to establish in this section is that confession, and real change, take place first on the inside. As we learn about God’s techniques and promises...and mature...we will refine confession, and see more clearly the connection between self-disclosure and heart attitudes that reflect God’s view of sin. The objective of confession is to align our assessment of our own sins with God’s assessment. That is the heart-view that God wants to see in us.
There is a tendency for us to rationalize our own behavior, to excuse our own mistakes, and to justify our own actions. Sometimes we want to wrap ourselves in a cloak of self-righteousness and convince ourselves and others that we are really okay, and that we deserve God’s favor and blessings. But we are mistaken if we think that we are not sinful, or that somehow we can manage our own cleansing.
Jer. 2:22 confirms the futility of self-cleansing, saying, “’Although you wash yourself with soda and use an abundance of soap, the stain of your guilt is still before me,’ declares the Sovereign Lord.” David understood the correct process for cleansing, and expressed it in Ps. 32:5: “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.” David knew to do the following: 1) confess directly to God, and 2) be aware that God is the only one who cleanses. We confess only to God...the only forgiver.
Identifying specific sins directly before God is the primary method for confessing our sins, but we want to isolate and briefly describe several alternative forms of confession that Scripture indicates are acceptable for forgiveness. We see these in the following:
- Asking for Forgiveness. If we can’t remember all our sins, or if we are in the heat of battle on the job, or driving in heavy traffic, or fighting through some health crisis, or experiencing relationships that are strained, and so on...we may have to resort to a streamlined version of confession, seen as a simple request for God to forgive us for our sins. Jesus used the phrase “forgive us our sins” in a prayer that He taught to His disciples (see Lk. 11:4). And David used confessional shorthand occasionally, as seen in Ps. 51:2, in which David pleaded: “Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.” God sees our hearts, so He is well aware when a shorter version of confession is actually an “honest” confession...or, conversely, when it is an effort to keep our sins under wraps. Forgiveness will never occur unless the heart is involved in the confession.
- Pleas for Forgiveness. The key component in confession is a true spirit of humility toward God, and an admission that we have failed. A “plea” for forgiveness is an intensified form of “asking for forgiveness”. In Ps. 25:17-18, David was looking for forgiveness and relief, when he prayed, “The troubles of my heart have multiplied; free me from my anguish. Look upon my affliction and my distress and take away all my sins.” In verse 11 of this same passage, he pleaded, “For the sake of your name, O Lord, forgive my iniquity, though it is great.” A sincere plea for forgiveness will be heard.
- Daniel’s Prayer of Confession. Daniel 9 presents a great prayer of confession, in which Daniel uses some “bulk” terms for sins. Sins are often “lumped” or “bundled” together in confessions, seen with such labels as “my sins”, “my weakness”, “my not obeying”, “my rebelliousness”, “my turning away”, and so on. Sometimes, as in Daniel 9, these bulk terms are mixed with specific sins. When we approach the “throne of grace”, God looks first at our motives and the condition of our hearts. Words can help us relate to the process, but God does not want specific words, unless the heart is genuinely behind them. We will quote Daniel 9: 18-19 here, to show the heart-felt nature of Daniel’s prayer of confession: "Give ear, O God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O lord, hear and act! For your sake, O my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name."
- Additional Forms of Confession. Daniel’s prayer was answered following his confession, which meant that the confession worked, but there are still other forms of confession that God honors. We will compact these into the following, for the sake of brevity:
- Being Sorry for Sins. In Ps. 38:18, David showed regret over his sin, saying, “I confess my iniquity; I am troubled by my sin.” Paul also suggested that sorrow for sins can play a part in confession, saying, “...yet now I am happy, not because your were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance….Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation [of the temporal kind, meaning “deliverance through restoration”] and leaves no regret….” (2 Cor. 7:9-10, in part; cf, James 4:8-10)
- “Turning Away From” or “Forsaking” Evil. The idea of “turning away” from and “forsaking” sin is seen in Is. 55:7, which says, “Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.” The process of turning away is first and foremost an internal event in the heart...tantamount to confession.
- Lifting up Our Souls to God. This is wordless submission to God’s mercy and grace, as expressed in Ps. 86:3-5a, which says, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I call to you all day long. Bring joy to your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. You are forgiving and good, O Lord….”
- Showing Humility. This is expressed very well in Lk. 18:13-14: “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.’ I tell you that this man rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Humility is always a key component in the confession process.
- Repentance. 1 Ki. 8:46a, 47a, 48a, and 49, quoted together, says, “When they sin against you…if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead with you...and say ‘We have sinned’...and if they turn back to you...then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause….And forgive your people.” “Repentance” is a form of confession, meaning to “change our attitude” toward our sins to match God’s view of them.
- “Generic” Naming of Sins. Sometimes we can have a specific sin in mind, but name it only as a generic sin, without articulating it categorically or semantically. An example of this is seen in 2 Sam. 12:13, which says, “Then David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the Lord.’” He actually had more than one sin in mind, involving adultery and murder...but he handled them generically and in bulk.
The main point we want to establish in this section is that confession, and real change, take place first on the inside. As we learn about God’s techniques and promises...and mature...we will refine confession, and see more clearly the connection between self-disclosure and heart attitudes that reflect God’s view of sin. The objective of confession is to align our assessment of our own sins with God’s assessment. That is the heart-view that God wants to see in us.
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