Unfortunately
that is the nature of sin. When you have sinned, and people know about it, you
feel naked. You just want to hide away. That is exactly what Adam and Eve did
after they sinned. They felt naked, and they hid away in the bushes. In order
to cover their nakedness, "they
sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves." (Genesis
3:7 NIV)
Many
Christians still think they can hide their sins from God. Jesus told a story of
the Pharisee and tax collector who went to pray. The Pharisee did not know how
to confess his sins. He told God about all his good works. The tax collector on
the other hand confessed his sinfulness.
Confession
of sins is hardly understood. Why should we confess our sins? Doesn't God know
everything? If I committed a sin, he already knows about it, right? Why do I
have to confess it? When Adam and Eve sinned, God knew what they did before
they told him. One of the most puzzling verses in scripture is 1 John 1:9. It
says "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 NIV).
This verse
seems to suggest that if we don't confess, God will not forgive us. The
question that arises is: IF we are forgiven IF and only IF we confess our sins,
why did Jesus have to die? Surely if we just confess our sins, God would
forgive us? Was Jesus' sacrifice necessary? To answer those questions, we need
to understand what is happening when we confess our sins.
The classic
illustration of confession of sins is found in the Old Testament. God gave the
people of Israel this ritual to perform every day, and once a year, on a
special day. This Special Day was called the Day of Atonement. The Jews call it
Yom Kippur. In 2013, the Day of Atonement will come early on 14 September. The
14th of September is the earliest that the Day of Atonement can be on our
calendar. The last time this day came so early was 114 years ago in 1899. So
this year is somewhat special when it comes to the Day of
Atonement. What does this Day have to do with Confession, though? Well,
everything!
The first
kind of confession happened everyday. Every time a person sinned, they were
supposed to confess their sin and bring a lamb or goat to the priest to offer
it as a sacrifice. If you could not afford a lamb or goat, you were allowed to
bring two doves or young pigeons. If you could not afford two doves, you were
allowed to bring 3.6 litres of fine flour. All these sacrifices were preceded
by confession. Once this was done, "they
will be forgiven.” (Leviticus 5:13 NIV) See also Leviticus 5 as a whole.
On the Day
of Atonement, there was a more elaborate ritual, which was performed by the
High Priest. This is described in more detail in Leviticus 16. For the purposes
of this article see what it says about confession of sins:
"He is to lay both hands on the head of the
live goat and confess over it all
the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites—all their sins—and put them on
the goat’s head. He shall send the goat away into the wilderness in the care of
someone appointed for the task. The goat
will carry on itself all their sins to a remote place; and the man shall
release it in the wilderness." Leviticus 16:21, 22 NIV)
This ritual
foreshadowed the sacrifice of Jesus Christ who is the ultimate sacrifice,
offered by Himself as the High Priest. "...When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already
here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made
with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. He did not
enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy
Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption." (Hebrews
9:11, 12 NIV)
The ritual in
Leviticus 16 on the Day of Atonement foreshadowed Jesus, who was represented by both the live goat on whose head the
sins of ALL the people were confessed, and was led to Golgotha, and was
crucified there in the wilderness, outside the city, and the goat that was killed as a scarifice. That means that when Jesus was
crucified, all the sins of humanity were on his head. But how did they get onto
his head? They were confessed onto his head. Who confessed them onto his head?
Christ himself as the High Priest. You do not have to confess them yourself.
Jesus did that for you 2000 years ago. When you confess you share in his confession.
However, as
you read in Leviticus 5 above, there was another daily ritual of confession of
sin and sacrifice which happened everyday as people sinned. This confession was
done by the priest. The priests foreshadowed all Christians, all believers. As
Peter puts it, we are "a royal
priesthood" which serves under the High Priest, Jesus Christ. (1Pet.
2:9). Each day as we commit sin, we are to confess our sins onto the head
of our perfect sacrifice, Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God. However, this confession is
also a participation in the perfect confession of Jesus Christ, our High
Priest. It is the Christ in us who leads us to this confession. By ourselves,
we would rather hide in the bushes like Adam and Eve did, instead of
confessing.
If we do
not confess, we choose to continue carrying our sins ourselves. Therefore, to
confess is a way of saying "I have sinned. I deserve to die. I am naked. I
need to be covered up." In response, God the Father says you do not need
to carry those sins anymore. "God
made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the
righteousness of God."(2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV). You do not need to die
for your sins, "For God so loved the
world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not
perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to
condemn the world, but to save the world through him. (John 3:16, 17 NIV).
You don't
need to feel naked, Jesus has been stripped naked on your behalf at Golgotha,
but he covers you with his righteousness. You do not need to walk around with the load
of sin. Jesus calls on all who are burdened by the weight of sin to come to
him, so that he can take it away as symbolized by the Azazel goat on the Day of
Atonement.
Confession
is a means of receiving grace, just like Holy Communion and baptism. They are a
way of sharing in Jesus' death, thereby receiving the grace of God. To confess
is to put down your load of sins at the foot of the cross. If you do not
confess your sins, you are refusing to put them on the head of Jesus the Lamb
of God. You are effectively saying I will carry my own sins, I will die for my
own sins. God cannot forgive you in that case. Forgiveness is in and through
Jesus Christ only. As you confess your sins each day, each week, each month,
each year, you declare the sufficiency of Jesus' sacrifice over your sins. When
you confess your sins, you accept the sacrifice of Jesus. When you do that, God
"...is faithful and just and will
forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (1 John
1:9 NIV)
"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to
heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ “I
tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God....” (Luke
18:13, 14 NIV)
Please
note that John says that not only will God forgive us when we confess our sins,
but he will also purify us from all unrighteousness. The Greek word for purify is katharizo, from which we get the English word catharsis. Catharsis
is a psychological term used for emotional healing that comes from talking
about one's painful secrets. For example, if you have murdered somebody, and
the guilt is killing you, a Psychologist will help you talk about the murder,
and most people find healing from that. Even victims of rape and incest find
healing from talking about their experiences. Confession, however, is about
accepting and acknowledging your sin, your guilt, and by so doing passing it on
to the head of one who can take it away from you and make things right.
Confession
is like a coupon of grace. Christians have limitless supply of these coupons.
Each day they can hand them in for God's grace, freely given, to be freely
received. It is unthinkable that anybody will starve, when they have a bag full
of coupons, which they can hand in at their local supermarket to receive
groceries for free. By not practicing this discipline of confession, many
Christians are living lives starved of God's grace.
Some may
ask: are you saying we must just keep sinning and confessing so that grace may
abound? Well of course not! John seems to have anticipated this question. See
what he says next as he continues in chapter 2 "My dear children, I write this to
you SO THAT YOU WILL NOT SIN. BUT IF ANYBODY DOES SIN, WE HAVE an
advocate with the Father—JESUS CHRIST, the Righteous One. He is the atoning
sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the
whole world." (1 John 2:1, 2 NIV). John is saying that when
you confess, it is like pleading guilty in a court of law. The good news is
that you will not be condemned, because you have an advocate in Jesus Christ,
who has already atoned for your sins. That's great news! That's the gospel.
As you
start practicing this discipline of Confession of Sins, may you "...grow
in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory
both now and forever! Amen." (2 Peter 3:18 NIV). Confession need
not be a four-letter word!
