True Confession

TRUE CONFESSION

INTRODUCTION

A. The Scriptures exhort us to confess Christ as the Son of God and confess our sins.

B. The word “confess” comes from the Greek word “homologeo.” (homo—same; logeo—speak: literally “say the same thing”). To confess is to acknowledge someone or something as true.

C. In this sermon, the topic is sin. I was surprised to discover that there are only four references in the New Testament to confessing sin:

1. Those coming to John’s baptism confessed their sins (Matt 3:5-6 & Mark 1:5),

2. James exhorts us to confess our sins one to another (Jam 5:16).

3. John declares us liars if we refuse to confess sin (1 John 1:8-10)

D. We will explore three things:

1. What confession of sin is not.

2. What confession is.

3. To whom we must confess.

I. WHAT CONFESSION IS NOT

A. It is not shifting the blame:

1. God had commanded Saul to destroy the Amalekites and all their possessions (1 Sam 15:1-3).

2. Saul defeated them, but spared Agag the king and took the best of the spoils for himself (vv. 4-9).

3. God sent Samuel to confront Saul and tell him God was rejecting him as king (vv.10-12).

4. Saul went to meet Samuel and boasted: “Blessed be you to the Lord. I have performed the commandment of the Lord” (v.13).

5. Samuel confronted Saul: “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the oxen that I hear?” (v.14).

6. Like all narcissists, Saul immediately tried to shift the blame to the people—it wasn’t my fault (v.15).

7. Saul acknowledged what he could not deny, but he never confessed sin, for there was no contrition (vv.24-26).

B. It is not worldly sorrow

1. “For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death” (2 Cor 7:10).

2. Judas acknowledged his sin to his fellow conspirators but then went out and hanged himself (Matt 27:3-5).

C. It is not an analgesic:

1. God had sent a plague of hail on the Egyptians. Seeking relief, Pharoah acknowledged his and the people’s sin and asked Moses to stop the pain, and he would let the Israelites go (Ex 9:27-29).

2. However, as soon as the pain was gone, Pharoah changed his mind (Ex 9:34-35).

3. I recall an adulteress who had been found out and was in danger of destroying her family. She moaned, “I’m so sorry; I didn’t intend for this to happen.” However, when I told her she needed to cease all contact with her paramour, she raised up in her seat, looked me in the eye, and, through clenched teeth, said, “I will not stop seeing someone I have feelings for.”

II. WHAT TRUE CONFESSION IS

A. David had sinned by committing adultery with Bathsheba and then killing her husband to cover his sin.

1. He had some sleepless nights, but not enough to cause him to act.

2. Nathan came to him with a parable (2 Sam 12:1-4).

3. David immediately passed sentence on the offender (2 Sam 12:5-6).

4. Nathan pointed the finger at David: “You are the man” (2 Sam 12:7-15).

B. God, through Nathan, passed judgment (2 Sam 12:10-14).

C. I am reminded of the saying, “Sin will take you farther than you intended to go; it will keep longer than you intended to stay, and it will cost you more than you intended to pay.”

D. Psalms 32 and 51 tell of David’s struggle with sin and the true meaning of repentance and confession, concluding 51:16-17:

16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;

you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.

17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;

a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

III. TO WHOM WE CONFESS

A. Sin is always against God and must be confessed to him.

B. Sin is often against others. Six of the Ten Commandments relate to sins against other humans.

1. Jesus tells us to put first things first when sinning against another (Matt 5:23-24).

2. “Generic confessions are not confessions:

a. “I haven’t lived as I should” is not confessing anymore, and “I don’t feel good,” tells our physician our symptoms.

b. “I know I’m not perfect” simply acknowledges the undeniable.

c. “We are all sinners” is an attempt to dilute our own guilt.

C. There is not a clergy class to whom sinners confess, but mutual confession by mutual sinners (Jam 5:1316).

D. If I find it easier to confess to a holy God than a fellow sinner:

1. I may have been betrayed by one in whom I confided.

2. I may be like the Pharisee in Luke 18:11 who “prayed to himself” (NASB). If I pray to myself and forgive myself, then I’m my own god.

CONCLUSION

A. True confession is good for the soul and brings forgiveness.

B. Counterfeit confession is self-deception and will damn the soul.