Confession

Confession

7/31/21

What concept comes to mind when we hear this word being used?  Usually, it has reference to having to do with someone telling the truth about what occurred or what was being planned.  For the most part, this word means to tell or to share with others a specific event or happening that we did sometime in the past.  But what we forget or do not realize is that it is a word that represents so much more, a good thing and testament one that can actually bring about eternal life.  It should be taken into consideration that this word means astonishingly more and in this context taken more seriously.  In this sense, God confesses to us every day His faithfulness and mercies which is a part of His definition.  So when we use this word, we need to look at its meaning in this context, Covenant for it is this expression that brings us together with God.  So, weekly or even daily comings to God with meaningless confessions are just that, meaningless, and is a waste of time because our heart has no intention of changing, a state which shall cost us eternity.

For those who have been associated with the church, the word confession is one that prominently comes into the forefront of our lives so much that it has the everyday opportunity of becoming an idol within our spiritual definition.  Yet, this word has been taken out of its true meaning, the one that we should be willing to surrender our lives to and to live under no matter what comes our way.  Instead, we have cheapened its covering and how it lives inside our hearts; furthermore, we have no intentions of studying this word's meaning and turn it into a vital and life-sustaining part of our existence.  We have watered this word down into a "telling things" to someone else with no remorse needed or wanted, a short sad prayer and lyrical verse a couple of times, and "bam" all is okay until the next hour or day when our confessed sin returns without any hesitation.  

One may think that these words only apply to one or two denominations but God says we need to think again for this type of mentality that forgiveness is a revolving door and can be applied each time we have a guilty thought or execution of sin.  One does not have to be a member of a certain denomination to practice such antics, look at yourself and take a close examination of what lies within your heart, and what you shall see is a darkened or blackened heart that has not true blood supply left.  Telling someone that is in a position of pastoral care does not make that person any more worthy of providing sound salvation for what you have done over the past few weeks or months.  Telling is totally different from confession, for telling someone just allows your mind to ease and to relax with something you know is wrong; you know, it is the identical setting of showing the public that you are the dutiful religious type who wants everyone to believe you are living correctly and what you are doing is sanctioned by God.  Through this superficial lying state, the livelihood of the word confession has become an abomination before God, because we have no intentions of living according to its Ways.

The verses for this article tell another story about the deepness of the meaning of the word confession, the True and biblical meaning of such an important word.  Confession should be taken as a holy word, one that when spoken, comes strictly from the depths of the sinful heart for help in receiving restoration into holiness.  When we study these two passages, we will find that each one contains a specific and unique setting that God uses to grab our attention about the distinct importance of this word in our lives.  There are two passages for this article, one in the Old Testament and the other in the New Testament, and are as follows:

Genesis 15:17-18

"And it came to pass, that, when the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp passed between those pieces.  In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:"

1 John 1:9

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

It is well known that the outline for Covenant is written here in this passage of Scripture, and while it is a familiar passage, it is not really taken very seriously because few ministers teach on this subject.  Why is this?  Why would the most important item and definition of God be misaligned and ignored, I believe that the answer to that question lies within what Satan has done to establish enough deep interest in this subject in our hearts long enough that we have deemed it a minor topic and not really worthy of our time.  The New Testament passage also deals with this word but since Greek is a very specific language we should know that what this verse states are of vital importance and that it deals with the exact same topic and subject as our Old Testament passage does.

In Genesis, God makes it clear that He is establishing a covenant between Him and mankind.  How can God do such a thing and it be long-lasting enough and endure all tests?  God does not just tell Abram about this covenant, or try to explain it with words alone; no, He demonstrates His seriousness with specific instructions about a few certain animals a few verses previously.  It should be understood that when God says something and speaks it into existence it cannot be undone or changed from its original definition.  The word "covenant" that is used in Genesis comes from the Hebrew word "berit" and means covenant, alliance, pledge, constitution, ordinance, and league.  All of these descriptions of the word "berit" are defining terms and can be used in order to allow for understanding about how God works when it comes to His commitment to humans.  God is giving Abram a verbal and descriptive definition of Himself, one that will set into motion a partnership that cannot be broken.  We all know that God cannot change so through this truth concerning the originator of the covenant this agreement can only be violated by the other party involved; remember, if one party cannot move then any agreement cannot be actually broken.  

In the 1 John 1:9 verse, we see the word "confess" being used.  The Greek definition of this word comes from "homologomen" which is the first-person plural in nature and it means to assent, Covenant, and acknowledge.  When one assents to something it means they agree to it or to the principles to which the agreement contains.  Another part of its definition is the word for Covenant, and we all know what that word means and how specific its meaning is.  It is this directive that God wants us to understand, that when we confess anything it comes from our heart and is a statement of application, an application that has eternal meanings to it.  See, ever since God physically made Covenant with mankind He has not violated such pact, it has been mankind that has been the one to test the limitations of God's mercy and grace.  God confessed His grace and mercy to us through His Covenant with us and even though He knows we are sinners He expects the same level of confession to Him on a continual basis.

It is a known fact that God already knows we are sinners and that our hearts are eternally evil, but this is where Covenant begins its extension, not its ending.  It is here that God wants us to confess to Him our sins so that He can forgive them and wash them away like they had never been an issue before.  Confession is a choice, a decision that means we shall not ever do that particular sin again and that it is our will to please God in every way concerning such iniquity.  Unfortunately, we have watered-down this confession of faith into a telling of our events so that we may have no guilt or corrective action besides a few words in prayer in order to be forgiven; or at least that is what we have been taught to believe and do.  Believe God folks when He says there is a huge difference between a telling of sins and confession of sins, one is lovingly and voluntarily done and the other is done at the time of judgment.  Ironically, all you are doing when you tell of your sins is just preparing yourself for those words to come back to you again some time down the road.

If a confession becomes continual telling there is no confession present or meant at all.  Nor should this tactic or procedure be used in such a manner to be thought of as a replacement for the confession itself.  When the practice of confession becomes a ritual, it automatically becomes part of a physical or human institutional procession that only can claim bells and whistles in a church service; in other words, just noise.  God is an alive God and One who wants a total relationship with on a minute-by-minute basis.  This can only be achieved by having our lives raised up to His level, not having God lower Himself to ours.  Confession amounts to being completely open and honest when it comes to allowing God to intervene in places where we need correction.  This is where confession becomes the centerpiece of Covenant for it remarkably and wholly extends itself over our lives to cover us in our sinful ugliness.

It is this process that begins to grow within our lives and our desires change to please God, not disappoint Him.  The desire to become a mature servant for Christ becomes our objective and we continually look to how we can improve on this measure and draw closer to God during this process.  It is not a popular move where the world is concerned, the world shall fight you on many levels and try to make you return back to your telling of ways.  Furthermore, it is this defined status of this word that places us in a separate category from the world, for confession cannot align itself with the world which means it cannot be broken only violated; once again, Covenant.

Confession should be taught in every church building and in every heart of the Church.  It is an eternal word and it needs to be understood properly.  It is not a whimsical word that can be used to rid of our guilt in the world, but one that should draw us closer to God every day that we walk this planet.  It should also serve as the foundation of the mission that we must follow when we witness to those who do not know God or have any type of relationship with Christ.  Confession is not a simple two or three-minute conversation with someone in secret, but it is a public change of life that should be recognized by all who come into contact with us.  Repentance comes not through any simple or superficial prayer either, but it comes from the heart and it should be meant when said.  Yes, the words of the prayer can be simple and easy to come up with, but its meaning must come from the heart, and a complete stoppage and about-face must accompany it or it means nothing but for show.  For the season that is about to be upon us shall expose the superficial chaff of religion and it shall be blown away with the spiritual wind of God according to His Word.  None shall escape such a storm and if we are not truly grounding in Covenant our lives shall be so shaken we may never recover.

Church it is time we stop skimming the surface of the Word of God and begin to study its true meaning, we have played around with the Bible for centuries and look at where it has gotten us.  We have no spiritual strength, nor do we even know how to draw spiritual food from this eternal source of eternal life.  This word in 1 John follows the same pattern as in Genesis 15, nothing has changed from the Scripture in Genesis until 1 John in the seriousness of confession and covenant.  Also, we cannot forget the remaining chapters and verses that fall outside of our text confinement, for the entire Bible is the definition of God and it is our responsibility to witness to the dying world through His Word.  We have had plenty of time to prepare our lives for the witnessing of the world, it is time now to face it with the Covenant we have and go forward and be an eternal confession of Truth.

DLB