The role of confession in Christian renewal.

by Denise Kohlmeyer

From an early age, confession was encouraged as part of my religious upbringing. I often felt embarrassed to go to confession, though, thinking I was a horrible person for needing to do this. And I had to do confession publicly by walking through the church’s full sanctuary to a small closet-like room. Everyone, I believed, was watching my progress. They knew where I was going, what I was doing. I felt humiliated. But I did it because I was told it was a good thing to do.

It wasn’t until later in life when I began to take my faith more seriously, more personally, that I questioned this practice (and many others). I dove into the Scriptures to look for answers.

God enlightened me on the need of and reasoning for confession. He showed me that confession, as I had first experienced, is not meant to be an act of humiliation but of humility. It is not to embarrass but to emancipate. It is not meant to be regimented or ritualistic but be a regular, private examination of one’s soul.

Confession, I wonderfully discovered, is a gift — a gracious gift that restores our broken relationship with God and refreshes our sin-weighted souls.

Steps toward salvation

This was the first question I asked: Why do I even need to confess my sins? The answer lies in the opening chapters of Scripture. After God created the first two humans in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 1-3), He gave them the edict to avoid eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Did they listen? No. They ate and were instantaneously awakened to their nakedness. This one mutinous act ushered in sin, which the Bible calls lawlessness (1 John 3:4). Sin is disobedience, a breaking of God’s law.

Because Adam and Eve broke that very first law, they were banished from the garden, becoming physically and spiritually separated from God. And every human born since that pivotal event now bears this original sin in their spiritual DNA. No human can live perfectly or purely. They cannot keep the commandments of God. We break them daily, whether in thought, word, or deed.

Because of this, we need confession, which means we agree with a holy, righteous God about our spiritual condition: depraved and deserving condemnation. Confession, therefore, is the gift God gave us by which we escape His just wrath and find mercy, grace, forgiveness, and restoration.

One of our first acts of confession, then, is agreeing that God is holy and we are not — that as helpless sinners we need to be saved, that only through faith in Jesus Christ and His atonement is salvation possible. We agree that through Jesus’ shed blood are we cleansed from all unrighteousness and made spiritually pure again, and thus acceptable to God.

Another step involves confessing (declaring) that Jesus is Lord and is the resurrected Son of God (Romans 10:9, 10). This verbal declaration announces to others that Jesus is Lord of our lives, that no other person — no ruler, politician, or celebrity — has a claim on our hearts, and that our allegiance belongs to Jesus alone.

Without confession, we are left in our natural, sinful state of depravity, bound for eternal destruction forever separated from God. And while confession is painful, requiring us to lay aside our self-assurance, self-will, and self-righteousness, it is the gift that restores us to an intimate familial relationship with our Father.

Rest for our souls

Are you in need of rest? “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden,” says Jesus, “and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:28, 29).

Confession emancipates us from all the burdensome sins that weigh us down in shame and guilt. Come to Jesus, who listens without judgment or censure, where others might. In fact, come only to Jesus. We don’t need to confess to another person, for they cannot give us the supernatural, spiritual rest our souls yearn for and so desperately need. Like the Pharisees of old, some will burden us with more works, such as prescribing prayers or recommending service as a means of assuaging guilt.

No, the wondrous rest and refreshment Jesus provides requires nothing but a humble, voluntary acquiescence. And the reward is manifold: We find unfathomable peace, a grace that we don’t deserve, and unfailing forgiveness every time.

Continual renewal

While we find a once-and-for-all salvific rest through faith in Jesus Christ, we will still fall into occasional sin. We are still weak and vulnerable on this side of heaven and miserably prone to wander wrongfully. It is inevitable that we will succumb to the temptations of our own flesh, giving in to anger or impatience, telling a lie, or perhaps committing a more egregious sin.

Then there is Satan, that “thief who comes to steal and kill and destroy” in any way he can (John 10:10). His favorite prey is God’s children, from time immemorial. Think of Noah, who got drunk and lay naked within his tent (Genesis 9:20-27). Think of Abraham, a serial liar (12:10-20; 20:1-18). Think of Moses, who killed an Egyptian taskmaster (Exodus 2:11-12). Or Peter, who was often rash and suffered from foot-in-mouth syndrome (Matthew 16:21-23; Luke 22:54-60).

If the greatest of God’s saints fell, most certainly we will too. Hence the need for the continual practice of confession, to receive continual spiritual renewal.

Wonderfully, when 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). God’s forgiveness is always available to the humble, sincere confessor.

Relational remedy

While most confessing is done privately, between saint and Savior, in at least two instances confession is a public matter: when seeking accountability for a certain sin and when we have wronged another person.

Says James 5:16, “Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.” Also, Galatians 6:2 says we are to “Bear one another’s burdens.” Burdens translates in Greek as “troubles.” This could be any manner of trouble, including sin.

God means for us to be in community with other believers. One aspect of being in community is mutual accountability for maintaining individual purity and holiness, which also helps to preserve the unity of the body.

Additionally, maintaining unity means asking for the forgiveness of and reconciliation (if possible) with those we’ve wronged. While we cannot force forgiveness, we must do all we can to live in peace with others as far as it is possible (Romans 12:18). If the other person refuses to forgive, they then bear the guilt.

God desires that no one should perish but that all should come to salvation (2 Peter 3:9). This requires that every tongue confess His Son as Lord and yield their lives to Him in complete surrender (Philippians 2:11). God also desires a continual, unhindered relationship with His redeemed ones and among each other. All of this is possible through the gracious gift of confession. May it be an abiding, humble practice among God’s people, for the sake of salvific restoration and rest, continual renewal and spiritual refreshment, and harmonious familial relations.