Confess your Sins
Introduction
Our church is blessed to have good deacons steward our church building and clean up after us. Steve Adams is our church facilities manager. He and Steve Adams clean up most of the rooms and Ronnie Douglas cleans up the sanctuary.
Confessing our sins is a lot like having a cleaning service. God does the cleaning; you do the confessing. When we confess, it’s like putting the clutter, garbage, and mess into the trash can. We can’t get rid of our sin, but Jesus can.
The Passage
If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:8–9
Explaining the Passage
Throughout this letter he deals with the basics of the faith. Last week, we began almost a three week mini-series on three sets of what if statements from chapter 1 verse 6 through chapter 2 verse 2. John asked the question “can a Christian live in sin?” and gave the answer, “nope.” Today, John asks the question “what about Christians who say they aren’t that bad?” and his answer is “well, the gospel isn’t for them.” Jesus came to save bad people (Luke 5:32).
In verse 8, John gives the hypothetical question, “what if I say I don’t have any sin?”. Most people today don’t talk this way. Instead, we say things like, “I’m a good person,” or “I’m not that bad.” So, whether in John’s day or ours, he’s talking about the person who decides for himself how good he is.
That’s why John ends verse 8 saying that anyone who believes they are good deceives themselves and the truth isn’t in them. Notice, John isn’t talking about non-Christians. He’s talking about people who proclaim to be Christian. He says, “we.” He’s talking about people baptized into the church, whose name is on the church membership roll. He’s saying “some of us are deceiving ourselves. We aren’t truly following Jesus.” Those in the church who deny their sinfulness also deny their salvation.
In verse 9, John describes how true believers in the church act: they confess. If we admit our sinfulness, God declares us righteous and forgives our sin. He cleans our slate.
The Cross Welcomes Confession and Brings Cleansing
Sin separates us from God and its part of our nature (Romans 3:23).). What can supersede this natural state of sin is God’s supernatural gospel (Romans 1:16). The confessor of sin is cleansed of his sin. The one who owns his sin before God actually looses his sin in front of God. How? Because God is faithful and just to forgive sins.
God proves his faithfulness to forgive sins by keeping His promise in the new covenant. In Jeremiah 31, where God speaks of the glory of the New Covenant, He says, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more (Jeremiah 31:34).” So, when God forgives our sins, He keeps His covenant and proves Himself to be faithful. But how is He just?
We see a judge let a criminal off Scott free and we call that judge unjust. We know God isn’t like that. Scripture tells us God will not leave the guilty unpunished (Exodus 34:7). So, how can God remain just and simultaneously forgive our sins? Paul said in Romans 3 that Jesus:
whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Romans 3:25–26
We will discuss more what propitiation means next week. It’s a glorious word all Christians should know. It means all the wrath you accumulate in your life for your sin was absorbed by Jesus on the cross and died with Jesus on the cross. There is literally no more wrath for you (Romans 8:1). God proved His righteousness on the cross. You want to see how seriously God takes sin? Look at the cross. You want to see how faithful God is? Look at the cross. You want to see how righteous God is? Look at the cross.
When God saves you, He makes you into a clean person. He makes you into a clean person. And do you know what clean people do a lot of? Try to stay clean! So, when you repent of your sins and trust in Christ, from that moment on God cleans your record of sin. But since you’re still a sinner—but a sinner who wants to be clean—you keep on confessing.
We confess our sins during the service because God reminds us that sinners are welcome. We can come into His presence only because of Jesus. If we never confess our sins in worship, we begin thinking we deserve worship, then we begin thinking we can worship God on our own terms. So, if you’re a little uncomfortable with us confessing our sins to God during worship, it only reveals how unbiblical you’ve been.
How to Confess
Confessing your sins sounds easy enough. Here’s 5 things to remember about confession.
1. Go to God with your Sin.
How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered! Psalm 32:1
But how do you cover your sin? David explains in verse 5 how one’s sin is covered. You uncover it to God.
I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I did not hide; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord”; And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Psalm 32:5
God covers the sins of those who uncover their sins to Him.
He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, But he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion. Proverbs 28:13
Jesus came to the world to save sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). Sinners do not welcome God. Sinners don’t ask God to come into their heart. Instead, God welcomes sinners. Saved sinners accept God’s invitation. We will see this in chapter 4, verse 19, but we didn’t love God first, He loved us first.
You go to God with your sin because all sin is ultimately against God (Psalm 51:4). If you sinned against someone else, then confess it to them after confessing it to God.
2. Be Specific about your Sin.
A good practice is to name each sin by how its mentioned in the Bible. Look back at verse 9. It says, “if we confess our sins.” Notice, sin is in the plural. John isn’t talking about confessing “I’m a sinner.” If you desire your neighbor’s sports car, “Lord, forgive me for coveting.” If you gawked at the woman in her underwear working out at the gym, “Lord, forgive me for lusting.”
3. Repent of your Sin.
Simply being sorry that you’ve sinned isn’t enough to truly confess (2 Corinthians 7:10). You want to confess your sin to God as someone planning to kill your sin, not as someone planning to be killed by your sin. God doesn’t accept the confession of someone who prays before he looks at that website, “Lord forgive me for this.” He accepts the confession of someone who wants to kill their sin.
4. Be Thankful for Forgiveness.
The only reason you can pray to God is because of Christ. You pray in Christ, your sin is nailed on Christ, your sin dies with Christ, you are forgiven by Christ. All of confession is all about Christ. Essentially, a confession has two clauses. The first clause is I sinned against Christ. The second clause is thank you for forgiving me in Christ.
5. Be Done with it.
Some people don’t know how to end a text conversation or a phone call. One thing I loved about our late James Godwin was how he knew when a conversation was over. He called to tell you something, he told you, then he said goodbye. Our confessions should be that way.
Don’t Play Games with Confession[1]
1. Don’t Play Dumb
When you fly off the handle and punch a hole in the wall. Sometimes we avoid true confession by confessing part of the sin, “Lord, forgive me for cussing.” Although it’s great that you confessed for not taming your tongue, there’s also a hole in the wall that didn’t get there with four letter words. So, confess what you know is sin. Don’t play dumb.
2. Don’t Play the Hero
You lie to yourself that you’re doing the right thing. You make a sleazy deal at work and tell yourself that you’re doing it for your family. You slander someone at church and tell yourself that you’re only being honest. Stop it! There’s only one hero to the story and He didn’t have to sin to do good. Stop playing the hero and just confess your sins as sins.
3. Don’t Play the Blame Game
Usually, any time there’s family or relational trouble, someone is guilty of this. Adam did this in the garden, “It wasn’t me God; it was this woman you gave me (Genesis 3:12).” You like Adam easily see your husband or wife’s sins. You can list all your children or parent’s sins. But God didn’t command you to confess other people’s sin, He commanded you to confess your sins. Here’s a good rule to live by. Before you ever blame anyone else, first look at yourself. Jesus told us to get the log out of our eye before getting sawdust out of our neighbor’s (Matthew 7:5).
4. Don’t Play Word Games
One reason our confessions don’t get anywhere is we don’t really confess anything. If you yelled at your kids after work, you didn’t “struggle with anger.” You flew off the handle. Some of you have been Christians for decades but still have immaturity in your faith because you don’t specifically and accurately portray your sins.
5. Don’t Play Time Out
When you post pone confessing, you’re disobeying. This shows that you’re comfortable enough with your sin to not make it right with God. You would never think to postpone throwing the poisonous spider off your hand. Sin is poison. Confess it when you see it.
6. Don’t Play Hide and No Seek
Sometimes we’re so ashamed or guilty from our sin, we don’t want to confess it to God. Instead, we want to hide it. But remember, God says our sin can’t be hidden. It will come to light (Numbers 32:23). God knows you’ve sinned. You don’t surprise Him with confession. Rather, you show him that you trust him.
7. Don’t Play Who Done it
In this scenario, you don’t confess because you know you can’t remember all the things you need to confess. But that’s just an excuse. Confess what you know. As you grow in obedience and faith, God will reveal other sins you need to confess and kill.
8. Don’t Play the Pointing Game
Sometimes we justify our sins by pointing to the next guy and saying, “Hey, I’m not as bad as him.” Well God doesn’t give you extra credit for not sinning as much as the next guy. Other times we simply say, “hey, nobody’s perfect” and just let the sin pile up. Sooner or later though, that unconfessed sin will ruin, and corrode something in your life. God knows you’re not perfect, that’s why he’s given you confession as a gift. Use it.
9. Don’t Play the Martyr
You worry yourself into a frantic mess thinking was I 100% sincere when I was 8-years-old? Did I confess how angry I was last week? What if I don’t get to confess my sin to God before I die? STOP IT! God didn’t say, if you confess your sins, then your sincerity will save you. He said, He saves you. There is no such thing as perfect confession. There’s only a perfect savior. Stop looking at yourself and look to Him. So, the entire point of confession is God.
10. Don’t Play with Fire
Finally, sometimes we refuse to confess because someone else sinned against us. We hold bitterness against someone else for their sin. We’re afraid that if we confess our bitterness to God and forgive the person, then the other person will be off the hook. Instead, you need to remember that bitterness is a sin just like any other. It can kill a soul. Don’t allow the other person’s sin to dominate you more by submitting to bitterness. Confess it. Let go of it. And trust in Christ.
Conclusion
Our gospel message is “repent of your sins and trust in Christ.” For the recent past, Christians have been too afraid to tell non-Christians to repent because the non-Christian says its unloving. “Why are you judging me?” they say. I’m not judging; I’m loving. I fear one reason they do not see this message as love is because they do not see us confessing and repenting. We’re like kids sharing a bag of sour candy, “you do it first.”
If this sinful world ever learns to repent of their sins and trust in Jesus, they will learn it from us. You’re a sinner. Don’t flaunt it and don’t hide it. Freely give over your sin to God.
[1] I got the idea for these categories from a Doug Wilson video, Confession of Sin