They stood in their places and confessed their sins and the sins of their ancestors. (Nehemiah 9: 2b)
From the Israelites point of view, it made sense to confess their sins before the Lord. They had not experienced the forgiveness that is available to us today because of the atoning work of Jesus on the Cross. It was custom for them to confess their sin, and to follow that up with an animal sacrifice depending on the occasion, or the context of the sin. Perhaps the greatest example of confession can be found in psalm 51. David confesses his sin to the Lord after committing murder and adultery. The word of the Lord is brought to David through the Prophet Nathan, and David’s sin is realized. Listen to his confession:
Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge. Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb you taught me wisdom in that secret place. Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. (Psalm 51: 1-12)
What we see here is not only a beautiful example of a pure and authentic confession, but we also get insight into the mindset of God’s people before the Cross. David has a great desire to have the heart of God; pure and righteous. And he makes his request for that in his confession. But, there is more. David confesses his sin before the Lord because there is a legitimate fear that the Lord could remove his spirit from David. If this were to happen, David would never again experience life in the presence of his God. This is something David had grown accustomed to in his life. He could not imagine life outside of the presence of God. He had watched this happen with Saul, the king who preceded him. After God rejected Saul as King, God then proceeds to remove his Spirit from Saul (1 Samuel 16:14). David wants to avoid this at all cost. He has learned that this will not only lead to his demise as King, but it could ultimately lead to the collapse of the kingdom, and quite possibly the nation of which he is responsible for.
But what about those of us that are living on this side of the cross? We know that our sins have been forgiven once and for all. Christ died not only for our past sins, but also for those sins that we have not yet committed. We also do not need to live in fear of God removing his Spirit from us. So, is confession even necessary today? And, if so, why should we do it?
John writes, if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1: 9)
Confession displays the attitude of our hearts. It is our hearts that the Lord is most concerned with. Confession reveals a desire to live a life of holiness. It creates a “clean heart” and a “right spirit” within us. It is an act of humility that allows room for the Spirit of God to remove the sinful desires that dwell within us. This is the process of sanctification. The removal of our old sinful self, replaced with a filling of God’s Spirit. In this process, God brings a spiritual cleansing and a spiritual healing to us.
Like David, we too know that a life left uncorrected, given over to specific sins, will lead to our downfall. For those of us with a spouse, or children under our care, we know that this is a price that is too steep for us to pay. For those of us in positions of leadership, be it a small group, a board member, a teacher, a care taker, or a discipler of others, we want our lives to be above reproach; A life that leads by example. For all of us in the body of Christ, we know that our greatest calling is to become more like our savior. Confession is a movement towards the finishing work of Christ in us.
Pastor Jonathan Goble
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1 comment:
This can be where we find out if we are in a love relationship with Christ, or are just trying to check the box for salvation and book our flight to the promised land.
And that is a phase that most/all of us probably go in and out of.
I think of the example of my Bride. (seems like it might work as a metephor) If I only do what I "have to" in relation to her, are we in biblical "Love" or is she just like the IRS, and I do whats necessary to stay out of prison or avoid fines?
Confession may not be required to continually renew our Salvation subscription, but how close do I want to be to Christ?, The one who did the unimaginable for me?
He already knows what I've done, but when I voice that to another human before God, We both get a tangible reminder of how much He Loves, and how much He forgave.
I don't want to file an annual return with Jesus, I want Him to manage all my assets.
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