I Sinned...Now What? Part 3: Confession

I Sinned...Now What?
Part 3: Confession

The theological term for the process of becoming more like Christ is called sanctification, and it is a concept that seems to be experiencing somewhat of a revival among Christians. A quick look around your local Christian bookstore or online will reveal thousands of books, sermons, and teachings resources that give techniques and strategies about avoiding, hating, and eliminating sin in the Christian life. I have access to plenty of information and techniques to avoid sin as I live my new life in Christ. But what if I sin anyway?

Christians have historically been very bad at answering this question. In the early church, a book called the Shepherd of Hermas heretically seems to imply that believers can only be forgiven for continued sin once after they’re baptized. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, believed that Christians could actually obtain perfection and never sin again. There is staggeringly little honest teaching throughout Christendom on the personal continual battle with indwelling sin, especially in regards to failure. However, the Bible does address this issue and it is good to sort through it and be reminded of the truth. The Apostle Peter says, “Therefore I intend always to remind you of these qualities, though you know them and are established in the truth that you have. I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder” (2 Peter 1:12-13). So let us be stirred up by way of reminder to continue our fight with sin both during and following failure.
Now What?
So what is the biblical response for Christians who struggle with sin? It can be outlined as the following: feeling the conviction of the Holy Spirit, repenting, confessing, accepting forgiveness, and resolving to continue the fight. In our first two blogs we explored conviction and repentance. We will now discuss confession.
Confessing
“Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.” (Proverbs 28:13)

Whether we’ve sinned in public or in private, against God, family, friends or whoever else, the last thing the prideful, unregenerate heart wants to do is humbly confess guilt. Yet for those who have been reborn into the image of Christ, even within the struggles of confessing, the Holy Spirit emboldens our hearts to confess our sin by rooting our identity in Christ as we agree with God so that we can walk honestly and humbly with others as the Church.
Biblical Confession
From the early Protestant Reformation in the 15th century to post modernity of the 21st century, confession has undergone a massive change from its medieval Catholic form, both in theology and practice. Modern Protestants are appalled at the theology of saying 10 Hail Mary’s to atone for sin, but in an effort to reclaim the biblical understanding of confession, the American evangelical church has thrown the baby out with the bath water. While trying to stay away from formulaic traditions and to keep faith fresh, personal biblical confession is largely ignored. I believe that this neglect hinders the spiritual maturity of modern Christians and leads to the loss of meaningful relationships within the church. We must recover and practice the mandate to confess.
Biblical confession is (1) agreeing with God; (2) finding our identity in Christ; (3) being honest with God, ourselves, and other people; and (4) reassuring our hearts.
“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working” (James 5:16).
Agreeing with God
Confession is our way of agreeing with God, agreeing with what He calls righteous and what he calls wicked. We can confess to God and to those who we’ve wronged because we agree with God that we have truly sinned. When we confess our sin, we name it what God calls it; i.e. pornography is called adultery, hate is actually called murder, and rebellion to authority is called disobedience, discord or even witchcraft. In naming our sins biblically we’re agreeing with God’s standard and law.

Then Joshua said to Achan, "My son, give glory to the LORD God of Israel and give praise to him. And tell me now what you have done; do not hide it from me." And Achan answered Joshua, "Truly I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and this is what I did: when I saw among the spoil a beautiful cloak from Shinar, and 200 shekels of silver, and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels, then I coveted them and took them. And see, they are hidden in the earth inside my tent, with the silver underneath." (Joshua 7:19-21)

Confession functions like putting a spiritual label on our actions by agreeing with what God says about anger, lust, greed, selfishness, etc, and not seeking to justify or excuse ourselves in an attempt to re-label our sin into something we can manage. As Christians we confess sin by the power of the Holy Spirit (Who causes us to even care) through the cross of Christ (allowing the Father to justly forgive us) to the Glory of God the Father.
Identity in Christ
“For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” (Colossians 3:3)
We can confess our sin because we’re dead to our former need to have everything we do meet the approval of others, dead to being justified in front of God by our worthless works alone, and dead to constant condemnation of our spiritual enemy. Finding our identity in Christ is the constant task of a Christian and confession is the mark of humbled maturity in Christ.
Fellowship with God and Man
I’ve heard a statistic that cross-culturally all of humanity’s greatest fear is to be known fully. This is freighting because we’re all deeply sinful and during true moments of honesty, like after sinning, we’re profoundly aware of it. After we’ve sinned we must realize that the sin we just committed separates us from God and from others. After sinning, it seems like it would be safer to cut others off and stay a safe distance away from everyone where we can still keep the illusion of control and where we can avoid the need to ever admit we’re wrong. If we’ve just sinned and refuse to confess it to others by either keeping it secret and hidden or refusing to admit the obvious, we will quickly become sick with a spiritual malignancy that will slowly eat away at our relationships with others and our own hearts. The Apostles teach us that confession brings us into true fellowship with other flawed and struggling Saints. “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). Especially after we’ve sinned confessing is a painful and difficult practice much like a doctor setting a broken bone back into place so the natural healing process can begin. We have to acknowledge our sin against God and others before the healing process can even begin. This act of confession is the painful daily duty of all Christians: “Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself” (Galatians 6:2-3).
Assurance
“Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure.”
(2 Peter 1:10)
How can we be sure we know that we really know God? After sinning grievously against God our enemy would love for us to doubt our salvation and have us blaspheme God’s Word by altering what is written for the sake of our ever changing feelings. If we embrace Satan’s condemnation after we sin and doubt our salvation, this is actually a false humility. It’s really demonic pride that is attempting to overrule what God has already decreed: “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). Don’t allow Satan to tempt you to doubt Christ’s atoning salvation. Our sanctification is now a fight for holiness to reflect more of Jesus in this world, not to gain God’s approval. If you begin to doubt Christ’s work on the cross because you haven’t stopped sinning, then you’re missing the fact that you’re now recognizing it as sin and confessing it as sin. Recognizing and confessing are the first step in killing habitual sin in your life.

Confession is essential in building an assurance that we know God. In truly repentant confession, we’re verbally agreeing with God over our pride and arrogance. In truly repentant confession, we’re pursing deep, rich, gospel friendships instead of shallow acquaintances built on hobbies. In truly repentant confession we’re seeking forgiveness, which we will discuss in our next blog.
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)