The Power of Confession

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1John 1:5-10

As we go about our daily lives, it is inevitable that we end up doing things that we regret, we make mistakes and makes some bad choices. These negative actions and unresolved issues on our part whether intentional or not, end up causing offences, creating disagreements, arguments and in some cases even end friendships and sometimes produce bitter splits among family members, church brethren, neighbors and colleagues who were dear to us.

In light of these conflicts and the destruction that they open us up to, what does Jesus want us to know about the power of confession?

And how does He want us to apply it in our personal life for us to return to a place of peace with Him and with others?

The burden of hidden conflicts

According to 1 John 1:5-10 the hidden conflicts, whether it be with our neighbor, church brethren or coworker, allows darkness inside our hearts as long as we choose not to deal with them.

If we are walking in darkness this means we are not walking in right relationship with God and others.
If we refuse to deal with issues and we don’t pursue peace with our neighbor yet we attempt to carry on with business as  usual with our routine acts of worship and service to God, or we carry on as usual in our relationships without having any intention or desire to resolve the offence, Jesus calls this behavior hypocrisy and it is despised in the eyes of God.

Definition of hypocrisy
5273 hypokritḗs (a masculine noun derived from 5259 /hypó, “under” and 2919 /krínō, “judge”) – properly, a judging under, like
a performer acting under a mask
(i.e. a theater-actor); (figuratively) a two-faced person; a “hypocrite,” whose profession does not match their practice– i.e. someone who “says one thing but does another.”

1John 4:20
Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.

Am I my brother’s keeper

We may say, I don’t hate anyone. I just love them from a distance or I just choose not to deal with them. By God’s definition we commit murder when we deal with anyone as if we preferred that they did not exist or as if they no longer existed or we behave like they are not necessary to us. We no longer consider ourselves as responsible for their well-being.
In our heart we respond as Cain did regarding Abel “Am I responsible for the well being of ….(fill in the blanks)

Matthew 5:21-26
You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire. So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison.

Proverbs 28:13
Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.

Psalm 32:51

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

Acts:19:18
Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices.

James 4:17
So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

When we dismiss anyone and disregard their existence because they have done us wrong, we commit murder and when we do wrong against anyone in God’s eyes we first do wrong against Him for all sin is first committed against God’s law as He is the Creator judge and rightful ruler of our lives and over all the Earth.

Psalm 51:1-5
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.

But thank God that He is merciful and ready to cleanse and forgive us the moment we humble ourselves before Him confessing our wrong.

2Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

Acts 17:30
The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.

Acts 2:38
And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Leviticus 20:40-42
“But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers in their treachery that they committed against me, and also in walking contrary to me, so that I walked contrary to them and brought them into the land of their enemies—if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and they make amends for their iniquity, then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and I will remember my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.

 

So how do we repent and come to the point of genuine confession?

Get alone with the Lord, and spend genuine quiet time asking the Lord to show you if there are any unconfessed issues or offences in our heart against God first and against anyone.

Be ready to accept any wrongs which the Lord may reveal and resist the urge to down play it or to justify or defend it in your mind.
During those quiet moments with the Lord you may come to realize how far you have drifted from the intimacy you once knew in the Lord.

If we allow Him the time to speak to us through His word and by His Spirit, we may even begin to see our issues and the people who we are in conflict with from His perspective and begin to have His heart of love and compassion once again.

If you have been hurt, or mistreated only God can heal and restore and give justice. If we have offended, only God can give us mercy and pardon our offence.

 

Romans 12:19 
Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”

Psalm 32:2-5
Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah 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

As the Lord begins to reveal any existing issues begin to confess to the Lord and express your desire to humbly repent. Ask the Lord for opportunity to make reconciliation wherever needed.

As hard as it may be, it is not worth losing our relationship with Christ and your salvation over.
One sign of genuine confession and repentance from offences is when we can pray,  blessing and releasing the person we were in conflict with from a heart of compassion and genuine love that now flows freely from within us for them.

We become filled with peace and love and receive a clean conscience without having to make any effort to justify ourselves.

We receive the peace that passes all understanding. The peace that comes only from the Father’s forgiveness of our confessed sins.

Mark 11:25
And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.”
James 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.

Return to your first love

Jesus spoke in Revelation 2:4 saying “But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first.”
Many of us who have been exposed to church life or who have confessed our faith in Christ and made a decision to follow him are living and experiencing the words of this verse. We have left our first love.
We may even feel discouraged and frustrated by our many attempts to return to our first love by attending more special church conferences, listening to more inspiring sermons, singing the most anointed worship songs and after all this seeing no lasting results.
More often than not, Jesus is just waiting on the other side of our open hearted humble confession and repentance.

He is standing in the light where everything gets exposed and He is knocking on the door of our heart asking us to let the Him.

1John 1:5-10
This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

On the other side of humility, brokenness and genuine confession, we find fellowship with Jesus, and peace with men. We find restoration of broken relationship and the rivers of living water begin to flow through us again filling us again with the joy and power of the Holy Spirit and restoring our first Love.
Walking in the Light means walking with Jesus. Not only relying on the initial confession and repentance we expressed at the start of our walk with Him but continuous confession of our sins and continuously walking with a heart of repentance from sin.

I pray that as you read this you are already choosing to return to this place of genuine repentance and confession and as you do so may you truly return to a walk of peace with your neighbor and your brother/sister and may you return to your first love, Jesus Christ.

If you have never surrendered your life to Jesus but you recongnise your need of Him I invite you to contact me at laurna@jesushelp.me.

You may also like to read my post Can Jesus Help Me.