October 28, 2007

 

Cawson St. Church of Christ

Hopewell, Virginia

Mural Worthey

 

When Not to Confess Sins

 

References: Why I Am Afraid to Tell You Who I Am, 1969, John Powell; “When Not to Confess,” by Dan Anders, Twentieth Century Christian, March 1979, 7-11; “Public Confession,” Ross W. Dye, Gospel Advocate, July 1979, 431.)

 

Introduction: This is the second in our series on “When Not To. . .” There is a time to speak and a time to be silent; there is likewise a time to confess and a time not to confess. I am speaking here concerning the confession of sins, not about confessing our faith in Jesus Christ. There is never a time not to confess Him. But the subject of confession of sins in religions has been fraught with controversy and misunderstanding. The Bible teaches that we should confess our sins to God and to one another. Here are some references.

 

Biblical References about Confession

 

“Then went out to him [John the Baptist] Jerusalem, and all Judae, and all the region round about Jordan, and were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins.” (Matt. 3:5-6.)

 

“Confess your faults one to another and pray one for another that you may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” (James 5:16.) Note the context—verses 13-20.

 

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9.)

 

“And it shall be, when he shall be guilty in one of these things, that he shall confess that he hath sinned in that thing and he shall bring a trespass offering unto the Lord for his sin which he hath sinned, a female from the flock, a lamb or kid of the goats, for a sin offering; and the priest shall make an atonement for him concerning his sin.” (Lev. 5:5-6.)

 

“I acknowledge my sin unto thee and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin.” (Psalm 32:5.)

 

Most Bible students are aware of David’s sins with Bathsheba and against Uriah. God sent Nathan to rebuke David. After telling the king the story of the rich man killing a poor man’s ewe lamb to provide a meal for his guests, David came face to face with his own sins. He replied to Nathan by saying, “I have sinned against the Lord.” (2 Samuel 12:13.) Unfortunately, this is a rare thing in the Bible. There are not many times when sinful men confessed so readily their transgressions. Psalm 51 is believed to have been written after this episode, making a full confession of his sins before God. He wrote, “I acknowledge my transgressions; my sin is ever before me. Against thee and thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight.” (Psalm 51:4-5.)

 

Confession of sins to God should always be done

 

There is never a time not to confess our sins before God. When we are aware of our transgressions, we should not linger in sin. If we are confronted by someone like Nathan who said, Thou art the man, we ought not to deny it.

 

Unfortunately, there are many people who do not count ungodly things as sinful. Homosexuality is not regarded by many as wrong. Adultery is not sinful any more in the eyes of the world. Even pedophilia is gaining acceptability. We live in a world of sin, yet we have become desensitized and no longer feel guilt. Our political leaders are failing us by living openly sinful lives and justifying them. Even religious leaders are not good examples. Christians have little commitment to God anymore.

 

The failure to confess one’s sins to God is due to a failure to have godly sorrow. Repentance always precedes confession. (2 Cor. 7:10.) If one refuses to confess, that one has not repented and probably justifies his wrong doing.  Isaiah wrote, “Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil; that put darkness for light and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes and prudent in their own sight!” (Isa. 5:20-21.)

 

We should confess our sins to one another. The “one another” practice is very different from Auricular Confession (confession in the ears privately) to a priest. We should regularly pray for one another.

 

However, there are two major problems associated with confessing sins before the church.

 

1—It Destroys the Assurance of Christians. Some erroneously believe that if a Christians sins during the week that he cannot be forgiven until he responds to the invitation on Sunday. Does that not put every Christian in jeopardy of his salvation? This tradition and process of sin-lost-repent-confess to the church-saved-and lost again is based upon a misunderstanding of the Christian’s standing before God.

 

Here is the whole story. Those who practice that process base it upon a false view of atonement. They do not believe that Jesus bore our sins on the cross; neither do they believe that the righteousness of Jesus Christ is imputed to the believer. They falsely believe that their own righteousness is the foundation for their salvation. Upon being baptized, God forgives the person of his past sins. However, the Bible does not say that baptism just washes away past sins. Every text says simply sins, not past sins. Ananias told Saul: “And now why tarriest thou, arise and be baptized and wash away thy sins, calling upon the name of the Lord.” (Acts 22:16.) Peter preached: “Repent and be baptized . . . for the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38.) Baptism puts the believer into Christ. (Gal. 3:26-27.) In Christ, we have continual forgiveness of sins. In Christ, this blessed man does not have sins imputed to him. “Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute sin.” (Rom. 4:8, Psalm 32:2.)

 

Christians are not saved, lost, saved and lost every time they commit sins. We have greater security and hope than that false system gives.

 

Back in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, when evangelism was emphasized heavily, preachers could be heard to say to their audiences, “If you have had one ungodly thought, you should respond to the invitation.” Invitations went on for thirty minutes to an hour. I have been told about such an occasion here at Cawson Street some years ago when the visiting preacher kept the congregation singing the invitation song until 1:30 PM. This practice did more to destroy the Christians’ assurance more than anything else. It played upon the conscience and produced guilt unnecessarily. It promoted the false concept: “Once saved always in doubt.”

 

Even the practice of using of the invitation song is of recent origin. Its use began back in the days of evangelizing the western frontier. There is no such thing mentioned in Scripture. Our over-use of it has caused great harm.

 

2—Denies the Priesthood of the Believer

 

One of the major problems in required church confessions is the destruction that it does to the role of individual believer as priest. Confessions that must go through human intercessors rob the individual of his privilege to approach God’s throne of grace. Many churches practice a clergy-laity distinction making the common Christian dependent upon other Christians to stand between him and God. The Old Testament has a priesthood system made of one tribe of Israel, the Levites.

 

But the priesthood of Jesus Christ is not based upon the Levitical system; it is after the order of Melchisedec. (Heb. 7:1.) “If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law), what further need was there that another priest should arise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron? For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.” (Heb. 7:11-12.)

 

Peter added: “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that you should show forth praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” (1 Peter 2:9.) As a holy priesthood, you can offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 2:5.)

 

“Morever I call God for a record upon my soul, that to spare you I came not as yet unto Corinth; not that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy; for by faith you stand.” (2 Cor. 1:24.) This is an important truth: the individual believer stands by his own faith before God. It is not dependent upon anyone else. There is not a priesthood system today in the Church that stands between an individual Christian and his God. Jesus is our High Priest; all Christians are priests of God! All Christians have equal access to the throne of God. Paul, as an apostle, did not exalt himself over the Corinthian Christians. Even the apostles did not have dominion over them. If the apostles did not have dominion over others, then no one does.

 

Times When One Should Not Confess Sins

 

1—When the practice is psychologically harmful. The Cross Roads Movement of the 1970s implemented prayer partners for every member of the local church. Older Christians were paired off with younger ones to monitor their behavior, to encourage Bible Talks and confession of sins. The younger members especially were told to confess their weaknesses of both thought and action to an older Christian. This was done on a daily basis. This practice caused great harm to individual Christians because the practice of it violated biblical principles that we have named above, especially the priesthood of the believer. Those in this movement have had to have professional counseling to overcome the harm done to them.

 

2—When genuine repentance is absent. There is little virtue in confessing one’s sins alone without godly sorrow and repentance. We should not just report our sins, we ought to repent of them. What good does it do to go to the confessional booth wherein sits a priest and the same sins are reported over and over again? Peter told Simon the sorcerer to repent and pray that the thought of his might be forgiven. (Acts 8:22.) Simon pleaded with Peter to pray for him. Note that Peter told him to pray to God, not to wait until Sunday and confess the sin before the whole church.

 

3—When it is done for the wrong reasons. Responses can be done on Sunday just to draw attention to one’s self; in order to garner sympathy. Responses are often a cry for help; we should be on alert to deeper needs. Responders should beware of false motives and false humility.

 

4—Don’t confess private sins. Some mistakenly believe that a Christian should be transparent and tell all. One preacher wrote that before he preaches on Sunday, he feels the need to confess all his weaknesses and evil thoughts to the church. I do not want to hear all that a preacher or anyone else has done or thought over the past week! We are here to worship God, not to draw attention to ourselves. Christians are in Christ where there is continual forgiveness. We are priests of God.

 

Often there is little difference between the Catholics’ practice of Auricular Confession and what Protestants (including us) practice. We don’t sit in a confessional booth, but we demand confessions of others nonetheless.