Often confession brings up ideas of going to a confessional to be heard by a priest. Confession is also often thought of as asking for forgiveness. While it is biblical to confess our sins to one another (James 5:16) and it is normal to ask forgiveness in our confession (1 Jn. 1:9); confession is much more.
Confession is possible because of grace. God loves to forgive and he has ALREADY forgiven those who follow Jesus (Rom. 8:1). Confession is our awareness of not just our specific sins, but our perpetual brokenness. Both public and private confession requires truth, authenticity, vulnerability and above all, humility. These are vital to following Jesus well and confession invites us to experience these.
Ancient Christian leaders instructed those following Jesus to include three aspects in confession:
1. Examine your heart. Good confession is born out of honest self-awareness. Good confession is very specific and avoids confessing just a general sense of sin.
2. Experience sorrow for your sin and brokenness. This is deeper than just “feeling bad” about our sin, it is an experience of the soul that is truly in anguish over the stubbornness of our wrong doing. Sorrow is the experience of deep regret and comes as we take confession seriously.
3. Determine to sin no more. Confession is also a statement or desire to end the sin and wrong doing. It is not a promise not to sin (Who can guarantee that?), but a stated desire not to sin.
Confession can be a private matter between the follower of Jesus and God. But confession should also be done with others. Choose those you can “reasonably” trust. If you hear a confession, respond in grace and commit yourself to sharing the confession to others.
