Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs
Psalm 32:3-7 (ESV)
32:3
For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.
32:4
For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the
heat of summer.
Selah
32:5
I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, "I will
confess my
transgressions to the LORD," and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah
32:6
Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be
found; surely in
the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him.
32:7
You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with
shouts of deliverance. Selah
12Step.org Comments:
This is a powerful passage that speaks about the cleansing power of confession to God. David writes in the Psalms that when he kept silence his bones grew old, but when he confessed his sins the Lord forgave his iniquity. David then calls the Lord his hiding place. This is the truth we often find in our confession. When we try to hide our addictive behaviors then it happens so often that our sins become known to others and we find shame and disgrace. But when we confess our sins to God, then in His grace we find a place of hiding, a place of safety from our shame and guilt. We can begin to sing songs of deliverance.
Proverbs 28:13 (ESV)
28:13
Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper,
but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.
12Step.org Comments:
A very simple and straightforward proverb that shows the value of bringing our sins out into the open. It is through confession and forsaking our sins that we find mercy and grace in the eyes of God and other men and women. To continue covering them only creates deceit in our souls and in our relationship with others, including God.
Matthew 3:5-6 (ESV)
3:5
Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to
him,
3:6
and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
12Step.org Comments:
Here we see the response to the preaching of John the Baptist and his calls for repentance. This was before Jesus had been introduced as the Messiah, the Chosen One. Nevertheless, we still find that people instinctively confessed their sins as they went through the process of baptism, repentance and cleansing. The truth circulated in 12 step circles that "we are as sick as our secrets" must have been written on the human heart for a long, long time. For here, approximately 2000 years ago, when people sought wholeness and healing, then confession was a part of that process.
Acts 19:18-20 (ESV)
19:18
Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their
practices.
19:19
And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and
burned them in
the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty
thousand pieces of
silver.
19:20
So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.
12Step.org Comments:
This passage comes from the time when the apostle Paul was in Ephesus. After many demonstartions of the power of the Gospel, many began to believe in the Lord and confessed their deeds. Confession again seems to be part of the act of true repentance. Reflective of that time and place, there was also apparently quite a bit of magic being practiced, which often goes along with idolatry. Part of their repentance in this case was to burn the books that they had used for magic. In a parallel for our lives, we need to get rid of our sources of temptation as far as is possible (given the constraints of our living a godly life) so that they will no longer be a source of idolatry for us. In this way, the word of God can also prevail in our lives and give us the true freedom that is found in Christ.
James 5:16 (ESV)
5:16
Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may
be healed. The
prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
12Step.org Comments:
James tells us that we should confess our faults to each other, and in so doing we may find healing. This is a powerful means that God has given us to find healing through an honest, trusting fellowship with each other, and finding healing through confession.
1 John 1:9 (ESV)
1:9
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to
cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.
12Step.org Comments:
Here we have the principle of confession put in a very clear and straightforward way. We are to confess our sins, and God will be faithful to forgive our sins. To whom do we confess our sins? This verse does not say explicitly, but we can surmise that it is at least to the Lord, since He is the one doing the cleansing because of this. This does not preclude confession to others, either. As we see from the passage in James 5:16, confession is also pleasing when we confess to one another.
