“1 And coming together on the Lord’s day of the Lord, break bread and give thanks, confessing beforehand your sins so that your sacrifice may be pure. 2 And everyone having a quarrel with his fellow members, do not let them gather with you until they have reconciled so that your sacrifice may not be defiled. 3 For this is what was said by the Lord:”In every place and time, offer me a pure sacrifice because I am a great king says the Lord, and my name is great among the nations.”
– (Didache, 14.1)
Confession can be formed in both the negative and positive connotations of our spirits. It marks out where we have been within ourselves and sets the precedent to how we enter and leave relationship with the Lord and others. Confession is of the people of God and is found within them. Precursor to all reconciliation and posture, it claims the areas in which we run away in our hearts. For myself, it has always brought me to a place of great freedom and joy and particularly on the race, it has fostered relationship in the Body of Christ.
Before really diving deep into the question of confession and what it looks like for the Christian, I could only see the dread that I thought it drags along. It was the last resort as conviction pounded my heart and soul about the sin that was either hidden or had been committed. It metaphorically was the step out of the bushes I thought the Lord could not see or find me in. However, the Lord intends for confession to be the opposite of an incitement, but more of an exclamation. As Jeff B. Pool wrote in “The Heart of Christian Confession,” “God’s declaration or confession of love to the beloved creation addresses each of us in our needs for healing and forgiveness, for justice and triumph over victimization, long before our perception of that divine declaration and offer, and long before we have discerned the width, depth, and breadth of our need for God’s love.” When we can understand that confession is to a God that pulled us, rather wooed us, out of the bushes when we were naked and caught in sin, we might admit to it. Knowing our savior in the process of confession is the most crucial aspect I now believe.
In the case of feeling dread when going to confess of sin, it indicates there to be punishment, wrath even, on the gavel of the Judge. This is not true or consistent of character of the Lord. He is the God of Justice and Foregiveness. For example, in Daniel 9:1-23, we see the plea of Daniel. He exclaims that his confession is for the rebellion of the people and in verse five “we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aide from your commandments and rules.” Daniel is clearly aware of the treachery of the people and “seeks Him by prayer and pleas of mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes (verse 3).” Daniel admits to wrong and calls to God in the acknowledgment of His character. Consequently, in verses 20 to 23, God uses Gabriel to bring Daniel the answer that He is “…grealtly loved (verse 23).” Everything wasn’t brought to a close in the answer and the book of Daniel still continues, but God reminded Daniel of who he is. God established Daniel’s identity after His confession. When we confess, we are not at the center, God is. Jesus humbly poured out His blood, The Holy Spirit graciously brought the conviction, and God only sees us as the justified, co-airs Jesus made us to be.
Similarly, confession can not only allow us to see what the Lord has called us, but it also frees us. This is a major way that the Lord is currently forming me on the race. Particularly in Proverbs 28: 13-14, it clear that the one who confesses their sin is the one who has softened their heart. The opposite to confess is to conceal. There is no possible to walk in the freedom of Christ when their is sin in our lives that is hidden beneath a hardened heart. For most of my life, this was true and the Lord is walking me through that now. Bringing me to a place of confession, I can now be pointed back to what the Lord says about me and the growth He has brought me through for the specific purpose of vision. Walking in the freedom of foregiveness, it riles confidence and a desire to see others. Knowing who I am will only allow me to hold the hand of my brothers and sister who don’t. Confession graces our soul with the freedom to be and freedom to see. So in the church, we have an obligation to restore our brothers and sisters to their rightful position before God.
When another brother or sister does come to confess their sin, we have the ability to walk with them through it. As in Galatians 6:1, we are to restore our brother and keep a watch over ourselves. I believe in that restoration is confession for the sake of freedom and change in their life. Also in James 5:15 -16, there is clear indication we walk through it together as brothers and sister. For, “the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed signs, he will be forgiven.” There is a such a togetherness in “the prayer of faith” we get to have for our struggling brother or sister. There is such a wonderful opportunity to give it to the Lord for He raises them up and forgives. That is why we have the ability to confess our sins to one another and pray and be healed because the work has already been done. The Lord has now invited us into that as brothers and sister in the church.
Lastly, there is another confession the Lord has for His divine creation and that is the confession of faith. The word “confession” in Latin comes out to be (con) “with” and (fession) “to speak.” Simply put, a confession is a conversation or dialogue with another person. What greater conversation to have with another person than one that is intimate and personal. That is what our confession is with the Lord. It is an intimate expression of “I LOVE YOU.” It is the greatest love story I can ever experience and tell and that is what I am striving for on the race. When it comes to changes, love for the Lord is an area I am being shifted and morphed. Confession has allowed me to find the Lord in dually my adoration and abandonment of Him at times.
What I have found with confession is that both forms, one that extolls relationship and the other that builds upon it, is that each coalesce to appropriate the other. When I do find myself confessing before another brother or the Lord, I am marveled at not only the softening of my heart He has brought, but the work He has already done. The sweetness of freedom I taste when finding counsel and direction from a brother when in sin, reminds me of the Lord’s hand in giving me a companion and His willingness to give out mercy for the one He loves. Confession stands as a way to magnify the Lord for His inexhaustible love for the heart of humility in the exclamation of our sin and His greatness.
