Confession IS Good for the Soul

   

Most women are talkers – it’s a fact.  Most men – not so much.  One of the things women talk about is men who don’t talk.  Women seem to think that the best way to get past a problem is to talk about it – preferably to them.  Men, on the other hand, seem to think the best way to get past a problem is to think about something else.  This can lead to women talking to other women about their problems with their men.  

Recently I was on the receiving end of one of those conversations.  A woman had been wronged by a man, not her husband.  She went to this man to discuss the issue.  He acknowledged that he had not handled the situation as well as he could have.  I think he used the word “regrettable” with regard to his response to the lady.  The lady thought he should have used the words  “sin”  and “sorry” as his response, from her perspective, was unkind and unloving.   

I wasn’t there for the conversation so I am not sure whether the man committed sin or just did not see the circumstances as critically as the woman did.   

What it did do is get me thinking about “regret” versus “repentance”.  Often a person is convicted of sin from reading their Bibles, listening to a sermon, or hearing someone else talk about the same thing.  They recognize the wrong they have done and they feel badly about it.  That’s it.  In their own hearts they have acknowledged the sin.  However, they have failed to repent of it.  They may apologize to a person they have hurt but they fail to take the next step.  

From a Biblical perspective the next step is to confess the sin to God and then to repent of it. We look at a verse like, 1 John 1: 9 which says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” and we want to stop at the confession.  However, God also requires repentance.  (Matthew 3:2, Acts 3:19, Revelation 2:5)  The definition of repent is to turn from – to head in the other direction.  We must confess the sin and then turn away from it and to God.  It is an act of humility before Him, recognizing our need for His forgiveness before we are right with Him.    

Cleansing us from all unrighteousness is one of God’s great acts of grace.  It is not just that He forgives but he makes us clean before him.  He removes the sin.   The requirement to receive this cleansing is confession – not regret, not acknowledgement – but repentance.  We must turn away from the sin and ask God for forgiveness.  

Often in these situations where I hear about one person wronging another the saddest part is that if someone is challenged to look at their own sin and they refuse – the challenger, the one who already feels they have been wronged,   will respond sinfully.  They talk to others in gossip about it, they get angry and say sinful things in response, they retaliate rather than waiting on the Lord, or they refuse to forgive the other person.  For the Christian refusing to forgive is not an option.   

Jesus warns us in Matthew 6:14 -15, “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”  

This is a really tough standard.  Would you and I want God to forgive us for our sins against Him as we have forgiven others who have sinned against us?   

I love David’s prayer in Psalm 51.  He is crying out to God to forgive him for taking Bathsheba to bed and killing her husband Uriah.  He asks to be washed of his iniquity and cleansed from his sin.  He teaches us that what God wants from His people is a broken spirit and a contrite heart.  He wants people who will humble themselves, admitting they have sinned and grieved God and then to confess, seeking His forgiveness.  Just for the record, God answered David’s prayer, he was forgiven.  

David gives us a great prayer to pray when we have sinned and want to repent.  Still in Psalm 51 verses 10 – 12, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.  Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.”  A clean heart and a right spirit before God are good for the soul.