What Kind of People Confess Their Sins?
by Steve Klein
via Biblical Insights, Vol. 15 No. 2, February 2015
“Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much” (James 5:16).
There used to be a site on the Internet called DailyConfession that advertised itself as “the only place in the world that you can go to truly confess your sin (or sins), your transgressions, your humanity, in complete anonymity.” The site was extremely popular. Apparently, it was comforting for many folks to think that they could confess their sins without actually having to let it be known to anyone who knew them that they had committed the sins!
There is a reluctance within us when it comes to confessing our faults. We think that it will cause others to perceive us as weak, sinful, or hypocritical. We may imagine that we are alone in having committed the embarrassing deeds, spoken the foolish words, or thought the shameful thoughts that haunt our consciences. Such anonymous arrangements (cf. the Catholic Church confessional) have been devised to circumvent the problem of being stigmatized as a result of admitting to sin, but fail to alleviate the real problem - the problem of sin sickness! We need to readjust our thinking. In Psalms 32:1-6, David recognizes that the great blessing of forgiveness, which releases a sinner from the guilty anguish of body and soul, can only be attained through confession. Healing comes through confession. He writes, “I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,’ and You forgave the iniquity of my sin.”
What does confessing sin really indicate about a person - a sinful life or a godly life? Hypocrisy or sincerity? What do we think of David the Confessor? Do we conclude that he is weak, sinful, and hypocritical because he confessed? No. He was those things before he confessed. His confession lays claim to his forgiveness and marks him as a man after God’s own heart.
You see, the terrible things that we fear others may discover about us if we confess are, in fact, the things they pretty much already know about us. Our temptations and our sins are “common to man” (I Corinthians 10:13; I John 1:8-10; Romans 3:10, 23). Our failings are not unique. Hiding sins only makes our hypocrisy more obvious to others!
The Bible teaches that confessing sins results in joy and in the ability to lead others to the Lord so that their sins might be forgiven as well. That’s what King David anticipated upon confessing the sin that he had committed with Bathsheba. After acknowledging it, he prays, “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners shall be converted to You” (Psalms 51:12-13).
It reminds me of a story I read about a professed Christian who had been stealing from his employer. His conscience began to bother him, and he realized that the only way he would find relief was to confess his actions and offer to make amends. But he was reluctant. His boss was very worldly, and he worried that confessing would ruin any chance of ever bringing the man to Christ. But finally, he worked up enough courage to tell his boss everything. His employer’s reaction was unexpected. The man looked at his thieving employee strangely, and then said something like this, “I always did think you were just a hypocrite, but now I begin to feel there’s something in this Christianity after all. Any religion that would make a dishonest workman come back and confess that he had been stealing, and offer to settle things, must be worth having.” So, what kind of people confess their sins? The answer is simple. Godly people seeking forgiveness are the ones who confess their sins. And it’s the admitted sinners who actually make the greatest evangelists! Just ask the apostle Paul (I Timothy 1:12-16).
I have read that Prussian king Frederick the Great was once touring a Berlin prison. The prisoners fell on their knees before him to proclaim their innocence, all hoping to be set free - except for one man, who remained silent.
Frederick called to him, “Why are you here?”
“Armed robbery, Your Majesty,” was the reply.
“And are you guilty?”
“Yes indeed, Your Majesty, I deserve my punishment.”
Frederick then summoned the jailer and ordered him, “Release this guilty wretch at once. I will not have him kept in this prison where he will corrupt all the fine, innocent people who occupy it.”
Jesus can free you, but only if you can admit that you’re guilty. Jesus can heal you, but only if you can admit that you’re sick. Jesus said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick... For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance” (Matthew 9:12-13).
“He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy” (Proverbs 28:13).
