Confession is Fundamental

There’s an old adage attributed to a Scottish proverb that says, “Confession is good for the soul.”

While this exact expression is not found in the Bible, the concept of confession is one of the fundamentals of our faith.

The English word “confession” means an acknowledgment, admission, or avowal. The Greek word “confess” is a compound word of homos, same, and lego, speak. Thayer says it literally means “to say the same thing as another, i.e. to agree.”

There are two fundamental commands in the Bible regarding confession.

#1 When one becomes a Christian he confesses Christ as Lord.

“If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Rom. 10:9-10).

Jesus made this clear when He said, “Everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven” (Matthew 10:32,33).

Peter acknowledged Jesus’ Deity when He asked, “Who do you say that I am?” To which Peter responded, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16).

When the Ethiopian treasurer requested to be baptized, Philip asked if he believed. The Treasurer replied, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God” (Ax. 8:37).

While we traditionally ask a penitent believer to confess Christ prior to baptism, this confession is not a one time event. It’s just the beginning of a life that acknowledges the Lordship Jesus over his life. C. D. Hamilton observed that “One must confess throughout his life that Jesus is Lord.”

Paul said that Timothy had made “the good confession in the presence of many witnesses” (1 Tim. 6:12). Timothy’s life was one of standing with Christ. Of selfless service in the Kingdom. And of a willingness to suffer with Paul for Jesus’ sake. This confession is daily witnessed in our faith, hope, and love for the Lord. To that end, the Hebrew writer exhorted, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works” (Heb. 10:23-24).

#2 Confession of our sins is also fundamental to maintaining our walk with God.

The apostle John reminds us that we all have sinned. Even after becoming a Christian. To deny such is to deceive ourselves and disavow the truth. However, we have this promise. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn 1:9).

In a healthy Church Family, brothers and sisters correct their wrongs and follow the Biblical injunction to “Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another’ (Jas. 5:16). Wordpoints author Gary Henry was right when he wrote, “Every time we’re faced with the need to make a ‘confession,’ we find out two things: how much we value Truth and how much courage we have.”

Confession of our sins also demonstrates our humility, transparency, our desire to be right with God, and our fellowman, especially our brothers and sisters in Christ. It also signals our willingness to accept personal accountability and responsibility. While there are certainly occasions where a public confession is required to right a wrong, too many times a generic confession by “going forward” is abused. If the sin involves a private trespass against someone, we ought to go to them and confess it

“Going forward” during the invitation song and whispering in the preacher’s ear may ease the conscience, but it may not correct the sin that needs to be confessed. Furthermore, true confession is not saying, “IF I have sinned…” It says like David of old, “I have sinned against the Lord.”

The real issue for most of us, is how do we handle the truth about ourselves? How do we face our faults? How do we deal with our sins? And are we willing to change our ways? Confession of sin ought to be preceded by a penitent heart and followed by a change of life.

Confession is indeed fundamental to our faith. And when we have truly confessed our allegiance to Christ, we will also be disposed to confess our sins to Him and one another.

–KenWeliever, The Preacherman