Confession of Sin

November 21 (I John 1:8-10)
“If we say we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteousness to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Mark tell us Jesus’ words in 2:17 of his gospel, " . . . It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners." I suppose it’s possible some think He actually believed the Pharisees were righteous but what He was doing is what we in the English speaking nations call biting wit or being facetious. In other words, he was being cleverly insulting to these self-righteous bigots who thought they were better than the common man. Two aspects of confession are absolutely crucial to the concept of confessing sin, and they are seldom taught regarding their connection to both salvation and sanctification. Of course they are contingent on the premise that we believe God’s word when it declares we were all depraved sinners prior to salvation (Rom. 3:10-18), and that once we have Christ in us we deal moment by moment with our personal sin as it is revealed to us by the indwelling Spirit of God (Psalm 32:1-5; 66:18; and Is. 59:1-3).

When one is effectually called into fellowship with Christ, he recognizes he is, in very general terms, a hopelessly lost sinner, bound for eternity in hell, unless he gets covered with Christ’s sacrificial, propitiational (substitutionary) death on the cross for his sinful state. It’s also called being covered with the blood of Jesus. That, however does not completely fix the problem and it is this point that causes most so-called born-again experiences to fall short. First, allow me to assure any of my readers, I do not mean by the following comments one is not saved if he doesn’t take this step immediately, but the problem is one’s maturation is greatly diminished until he takes this step. Confession of sin involves first and foremost for us to realize we have committed specific sin that needs to be corrected biblically. Zaccheus was an excellent prototype for us to understand this concept. In Luke 19:8, 9 Jesus has come into the house of a tax collector. Zaccheus makes a profound discovery while listening to Jesus speak. He stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house. . .’”

Lest anyone conclude Zaccheus received salvation for his deeds, let us properly conclude that Zaccheus’ response was the effect of the cause. It was the evidence that Zaccheus’ soul had been regenerated, that he was one of the predestined, who was elected, effectually called, given the faith necessary to repent, was definitively sanctified, adopted, and on his way to being progressively sanctified. His response to Jesus saving grace to repay those he had defrauded was the confession of his specific sin and the specific steps he knew had to follow to demonstrate he was going to correct his problem.

In his case, money had been his god. Giving half of his possessions to the poor immediately demonstrated he no longer worshiped the mighty dollar. The new testament church in Jerusalem right after Pentecost, demonstrated that same kind of repentance when they all sold the things they did not need, which included lands and homes in which they did not live, and gave all the proceeds to the apostles to distribute to those in need. For now, I’m not going to address the issue about whether or not they sold their primary residences, for the sake of brevity. I will only point out it would have been counter-productive and utter idiocy to sell their primary residences because that would have made them all homeless and destitute.

Finally, I’m not suggesting one need confess ever sin he ever committed before being regenerated and called into the kingdom of God. What one must do, if he is to be a powerful witness to the majesty of our Lord is to confess any sin that is an immediate and obvious hindrance to his relationship with God. And then, what one must continue to do is to determine any sin in his life that can be corrected. For example, I did many things to others in my life about which I am not proud. When I got saved I had a friend coming from a town in Texas to California where I was at the time. Upon his arrival, I had to tell him about my newfound faith and ask his forgiveness for several lies and half truths I had told him to get him to come to California. There were many people whom I mistreated badly before I got saved I tried unsuccessfully to locate so I could ask their forgiveness. Since that day in July of 1972 when Jesus took me into His sheepfold, I have renewed many old acquaintances that necessitated me asking forgiveness from many whom I did not treat kindly many years before.

That kind of continual repentance and confession of sin is essential if one is to be a powerful witness to the grace and majesty of our Lord. It is essential if one is to demonstrate daily that the God of Creation has indeed elected, predestined, regenerated, effectually called, granted faith and repentance, justified, definitively sanctified, adopted, and is progressively sanctifying him. It is essential if one expects to be glorified on that day when Jesus Himself calls us to Himself. Whether it is by physical death or when He physically returns to establish His millennial reign, all of those who belong to Him wait anxiously to hear that, “Well done, good and faithful servant; enter into the joy of your master.” And that’s God’s word for us today.