"I Gotta Confess Something"

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." I John 1:9

I can still hear that verse in my mind being screamed from the pulpit by a fire breathing, manipulating evangelist back in the early '70's. It was a verse that I heard so many times that I memorized it, not out of desire, but by the repetition of its use. It was always used in the same context of bringing people to the point of conversion. Although it certainly contains truth regarding confession and salvation, that is not what the verse was or is referring to.

We have to remember that John was writing against heresies in the embryonic church. One sect in particular taught that Christ's death on the cross had no impact on salvation. John is saying that it is exactly the blood of Christ that "purifies us from all sin" (vs. 7). Since he is writing to the Christian community, we can see that confession of sin should be more than just a one-time act that puts us on our journey of faith with the Lord.

John uses the plural word 'sins' in verse 9 as a reminder that we have been forgiven of the sin that is inherent in our human nature, as well as the sins that we continue to commit because we are either weak, rebellious, or indifferent to God's will. We are called upon in this verse to continually confess our sins to the Lord.

Confession is a discipline that was not modeled for me in my young Christian experience. I heard about it and people made jokes about confessing sin, but I did not see it lived out in life. Yes, every once in a while there would be some big emotional display at the front of the altar which would get the rumor mill churning, but that was rare. The continual confession of sins just did not seem that important. The argument was always, "O God knows that I am sorry" meaning that there was no need to really do anything.

It does not take much research to find that, in the early church, confession of sins was a continual discipline. There are clear instructions from the second century onward as to how and why a Christian should continue to confess their sins to the Lord and to others. Even in the earliest writings regarding the act of confessing sin, repentance was always called for. I see repentance as what I feel inside regarding the ugliness and offensiveness of my sin, and confession as the verbal expression of what is in my heart.

The word 'confess' in 1 John 1:9 means to speak with the lips. In other words, true confession is not an inward dialogue you have with yourself or even with the Lord; it is a verbal statement of what you have done wrong against a Holy God. It is more than just saying, "Lord forgive me of the sins I have committed today". It is allowing the Holy Spirit to bring to light those things that should not be a part of our lives. As we stop and meditate on our awful thoughts, attitudes, and actions, we feel remorse and sadness that we have acted so contrary to the will of our Father. This in turn causes us to repent, to turn aside from those things, and to confess with our mouths the sins we have committed.

Personally, I see the lack of this discipline of meditation, reflection, conviction, repentance, and finally confession as one of the greatest weaknesses in the American church today. No one is telling us that our un-confessed sins matter. We are made to think that only the most visible sins like murder or adultery should be confessed. John tells us that all sins need to be confessed as the Holy Spirit brings them to our attention. Now whether we can hear the Holy Spirit's voice telling us of our sin is another topic altogether.

This past week one of my idols from the tennis world confessed his sin publicly. Andre Agassi shocked the tennis world by confessing that he had taken drugs for a short period of time during his professional career. Agassi's need for confession was not because he took the drugs, but because he lied about it to the ATP when confronted with it. There is something in us that tells us we need to confess. We need to tell others of the things we have done wrong because confession brings healing.

I was a Psychology major in college. We studied both secular and Christian schools of psychology. I remember studying the works of William James who was not overtly Christian, but one who understood the need for confession. He wrote, "For him who confesses, shams are over and realities have begun." He understood the healing power of confession even if he did not understand the need to confess to God.

Confession starts with our awareness of God’s holy nature and what He and He alone determines as sinful. This brings us back to the discipline of silence, of reflection, and of meditation on God’s word. These the Lord will use to convict for the purpose of cleansing, and we in turn will confess, which will bring healing. With this I challenge you for one week to confess your sins at the end of each day and see what spiritual energy you will gain and what peace will fill your soul.

Peace to you,

Dan

Copyright 2009 Eternity Minded Ministries