Sin 17: Confession

Posted by Worldview Warriors On Friday, July 8, 2022 0 comments


by Charlie Wolcott

Confession is a proclamation of what you believe, but it goes deeper than that. It is demonstrated by a lifestyle, and Biblically speaking, it is agreeing with and submitting to what God has said. When dealing with sin, there are two aspects to confession: 1) agreeing with God and proclaiming that sin is what God says it is, and 2) proclaiming and living in such a way that Jesus dealt with your sin on the cross. And as with everything else, for every statement God makes, Satan produces a counterfeit. As I continue my series on sin, I will examine the part of confession about how we properly deal with sin.

Over the last few weeks, I wrote about how sin will expose us as being naked before God which should make us ashamed that we have done wrong. The proper response to that shame is to be broken before God and break down in dust and ashes, knowing that we are made from the dust and to dust we shall return. Confession is all part of that.

There are two ways to approach the confession of sin; one is worldly, and the other is godly. One is simply, “I was wrong.” This is the typical type of apology we see someone make in front of a camera, be it a politician or a sports media figure or even a pastor. But this type of confession is only a confession of “I was caught, and I want to save face.” Look at King Saul when he came back with spoils from the Amalekites and was busted for not completely obliterating them. He did say he sinned, but only after he was told that his kingdom was now permanently lost. Immediately after he confessed his sin to Samuel, he pleaded with Samuel to pray with him publicly so he would not feel this shame in front of his audience. This is not the kind of confession that God accepts.

The other way to approach the confession of sin is how David confessed his sin regarding Bathsheba and Uriah. He didn’t merely say, “I have sinned.” He said, “I have sinned against God.” In Psalm 51, David takes that even further to acknowledge that he sinned against God alone. Did David violate Bathsheba? Yes. Did he betray one of his closest friends, one of his mighty men? Yes. Did he murder one of his mighty men just to cover up his adultery? Yes. But why did any of that happen? Answer: because he despised the commandment of the Lord from the start. When Nathan confronted him and singled him out, David, a year after doing this dastardly deed, realized just how gross, evil, dark, and wicked he was in doing that. He was exposed in public. He broke down and bore his heart before God in great grief and weeping, knowing his greatest sin was against the One whose heart he desired the most. David committed an even greater sin than his sins against other people. He committed treason against his Master.

When we confess our sin before God, this is not merely an intellectual agreement with God on what sin is. That is absolutely necessary; however, Godly confession needs to be coupled with brokenness. David was appalled with “How could I have done this?” Yet the reality was this is what David had inside him all along. He had a moment of weakness, and his sin came out. David also realized this truth, which is why he declared he was born in iniquity. We must confess our sins before God, however there is a counterfeit gospel that has corrupted true confession.

A very popular one is “I was born that way.” Instead of being ashamed of your sin, you are proud of it. This is what the LGBTQ+ groups have done to the sins of sexual immorality. Instead of confessing their sin as being sin before God, they boast and flaunt it. But what is interesting is when I hear their testimonies, they actually say they struggled with it until they fully embraced it. They KNEW it was wrong. Then some evil false teacher, whether a counselor, a teacher, the media, a peer etc., told them that this was natural, and they should embrace it. They often say it was freeing for them. But they really didn’t get free; they just dismissed the guilt that came with it. But they can’t keep it away forever. The suicide rate of this population is exceedingly high, and it is not because Christians are calling their actions sin. It’s because they know in their hearts that this is a sinful and destructive lifestyle. They are never satisfied. Some of the stats I have heard indicate that many homosexuals will have had 1000+ partners in their life. And all those who have come out of it, having been freed by the Gospel of salvation in Jesus Christ, know it, too. They know it does not satisfy, and some are now supporting preachers who are calling this out and pleading with people to get out of such lifestyles.

Another false version of this that I will address is the “positive confession” claims of the Word of Faith teachings. If you are sick, declare that you are healthy. Why? Because they actually believe that you can speak your dreams and desires into reality. They will tell you to not say, “I am getting sick,” but to say, “I am healthy.” This is not confession. This is insanity and denying reality. Yet MANY people have fallen for this line of thinking. And where it is most devastating is when people are told to “confess the name of Christ” and you are born again. While salvation does require such confession, that is far from all of it. That confession must be coupled with brokenness over your sin, and it must bear fruit of repentance.

The last thing I’ll address here goes back to the proper definition of sin. Earlier in this series, I described how a false understanding of sin describes it as “mistakes” or “imperfections.” This lightens the sting of sin and makes us feel better so that we can go “oh, well” and move on in life. However, there is a severe problem with this mindset. Jesus didn’t die for mistakes or imperfections. He died for sin. He died for treasonous sedition and defiance against God. If we refuse to confess sin as sin, then is Jesus going to defend us on Judgment Day? Confession means we agree with what God says about any topic. If God says something is a sin and we try to dismiss it, sugarcoat it, or lighten the sting of it, then we are not confessing sin, we are excusing sin, and that is not covered by the blood of Jesus.

But to just confess the name of Christ will not save anyone. The sons of Sceva did that in an attempt to drive out some demons, and the demon possessed man easily kicked their tails. And many who profess the name of Christ are still going to go to Hell because Jesus never knew them, never had that intimate relation in which His seed was implanted in them. Isaiah warns of seven virgins who’d take hold of one man to arrange a marriage of convenience so they could get his name but have no commitment to it. Jesus won’t be part of that kind of deal. It’s all in or all out.

James tells us that if we confess our sins to one another (this is not talking about having a “let’s celebrate our sin” party) in the intimacy of friendships or elders, there is freedom. Not everything should be aired out in public, but when we confess our sin in front of genuine brothers and sisters, we may feel the condemnation coming, but what you will receive instead is genuine grace and forgiveness and comfort. They will cover that sin and not expose it to any who need not hear it (note, I am talking about genuine believers, not those who tend to be gossipers). And that leads to the next part of the dealing with sin – the covering of sin, which we’ll look at next week.

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