Word #2: Confess
To confess means to acknowledge or admit that you have done something wrong. To acknowledge or admit something, you have to be specific. Let’s say you commit a crime and go down to the police station to turn yourself in. If the officer comes to talk to you and all you say is, “I confess, I did it”, you are going to be met with another question right away. They are going to ask you, “Ok, what did you do?” It’s not just good enough to be general in our confession. Confession, by its very definition requires us to be direct and specific.
God designed this from the very beginning in 1 John 1:9. It says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” God’s way of forgiveness hinges on the condition of whether we will truly confess all of our wrongs. It goes back even farther than 1 John though. Think back to the tabernacle back in Moses’ time. Before you could enter in the holy part of the temple, you had a duty to do in the outer courts. You had to be washed and cleansed at the laver before you could enter into the holy place. But, before that could happen, you had to offer a sin offering at the altar. This was an admission before God that there was sin in your life. And, your offering differed according to the sin that was committed. So, the Israelites got specific about their sins and confessed them before the Lord by this public act in order to be cleansed so they could enter into the holy place of the temple.
What fascinates me most in all of this is the public confession that occurred. If I said to you in church one Sunday, “If you sinned this week, please raise your hand,” how many of you would do it? Many of you would raise your hand. But the real question would be how many of you are willing to tell me what sin you committed?
To confess means to acknowledge or admit that you have done something wrong. To acknowledge or admit something, you have to be specific. Let’s say you commit a crime and go down to the police station to turn yourself in. If the officer comes to talk to you and all you say is, “I confess, I did it”, you are going to be met with another question right away. They are going to ask you, “Ok, what did you do?” It’s not just good enough to be general in our confession. Confession, by its very definition requires us to be direct and specific.
God designed this from the very beginning in 1 John 1:9. It says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” God’s way of forgiveness hinges on the condition of whether we will truly confess all of our wrongs. It goes back even farther than 1 John though. Think back to the tabernacle back in Moses’ time. Before you could enter in the holy part of the temple, you had a duty to do in the outer courts. You had to be washed and cleansed at the laver before you could enter into the holy place. But, before that could happen, you had to offer a sin offering at the altar. This was an admission before God that there was sin in your life. And, your offering differed according to the sin that was committed. So, the Israelites got specific about their sins and confessed them before the Lord by this public act in order to be cleansed so they could enter into the holy place of the temple.
What fascinates me most in all of this is the public confession that occurred. If I said to you in church one Sunday, “If you sinned this week, please raise your hand,” how many of you would do it? Many of you would raise your hand. But the real question would be how many of you are willing to tell me what sin you committed?
That’s just getting downright personal, and most of us
would be uncomfortable doing that. After all, that is between you and God. But,
is it really? There is a Scripture in James that tells us otherwise. James 5:16
tells us, “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so
that you may be healed.” That
tells me that confession is to be more public than we make it out to be. I am
not saying that we broadcast all over the church what our every shortcoming and
fault is, but we need to find other brothers and sisters in Christ that we can
confide in and confess and pray with them about our trouble spots. It is only
then that true healing can come.
There are something’s we
need share to others and then there’s stuff that needs proper order. Here’s one
of the proper order things; if we have an offense with someone else, we must go to that person first. Matthew 18 says we go to that brother or sister and try and make things right. Offenses
between people are to be dealt with between the offending parties. If things
can’t be resolved then church leadership should be asked to intervene.
Sometimes I think we need to take a page out of the book
of the Israelites. As they stood in line to offer their sacrifice, they could
get a good idea of what the people around them had done just by looking at
their sacrifice. It was a confession to God that they had committed a certain
sin, but it also acted as a confession to those around them. And, to a certain
extent, I think it was very encouraging to the other Israelites. They could see
that others struggled with the same things they did, and they could find
comfort in the fact that they were not alone in their sins.
I know this is not an easy teaching. It is hard to get specific in our confession, and it is even harder to confess to each other. But, it is incredibly freeing when it happens, and the devil will do all that he can to keep you locked up in the prison of unconfessed sin. He knows the power of confession, and it is time we understand its importance. After all, every great revival starts with prayer, and the very next step is always public confession of sin. Revival will not come without confession – that’s how important this is. You are loved!
I know this is not an easy teaching. It is hard to get specific in our confession, and it is even harder to confess to each other. But, it is incredibly freeing when it happens, and the devil will do all that he can to keep you locked up in the prison of unconfessed sin. He knows the power of confession, and it is time we understand its importance. After all, every great revival starts with prayer, and the very next step is always public confession of sin. Revival will not come without confession – that’s how important this is. You are loved!
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