The Discipline of Confession

Bienhome Muivah *

The confession of evil works is the first beginning of good works
- Augustine of Hippo

At the heart of God is the desire to give and to forgive. Because of this, He set into motion the entire redemptive process that culminated in the cross and was confirmed in the resurrection. The usual notion of what Jesus did on the cross runs something like this: people were so bad and so mean and God was so angry with them that He could not forgive them unless somebody big enough took the rap for the whole lot of them.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Love, not anger, brought Jesus to the cross. Golgotha came as a result of God's great desire to forgive, not His reluctance. Jesus knew that by His vicarious suffering He could actually absorb all the evil of humanity and so heal it, forgive it, redeem it.

In a deep and mysterious way He was preparing to take on the collective sin of the human race. Since Jesus lives in the eternal now, this work was not just for those around Him, but He took in all the violence, all the fear, all the sin of all the past, all the present and all the future. This was His highest and most holy work, the work that makes confession and the forgiveness of sins possible.

Some seem to think that when Jesus shouted 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?' It was a moment of weakness (Mk. 15:34). 'Not at all'. This was a moment of greatest triumph. Jesus, who had walk in constant communion with the father, now became so totally identified with humankind that He was the actual embodiment of sin. As Paul writes, 'He made him to be sin who knew no sin' (2 Cor. 5:21). Jesus succeeded in taking into Himself all the dark powers of this present evil age and defeated every one of them by the light of his presence. He accomplished such a total identification with the sin of the race that He experienced the abandonment of God. Only in that way could He redeem sin. It was indeed his moment of greatest triumph.

Having accomplished this greatest of all his works, Jesus then took refreshment. 'It is finished', He announced. That is, this great work of redemption was completed. He could feel the last dregs of the misery of humankind flow through Him and into the care of the Father. The last twinges of evil, hostility, anger and fear drained out of Him, and He was able to turn again into the light of God's presence.

'It is finished'. Soon after, he was free to give up his spirit to the Father. This redemptive process is a great mystery hidden in the heart of God. But I know that it is true. I know this not only because the Bible says it is true, but because I have seen its effects in the lives of many people, including myself.

It is the ground upon which we can know that confession and forgiveness are realities that transform us. Without the cross the discipline of confession would be only psychologically therapeutic. But it is so much more. It involves an objective change in us. It is a means of healing and transforming the inner spirit.

'But I thought that Christ on the cross and redemption deals with salvation, you may say. It does. But salvation as the Bible speaks of it refers to far more than who comes to faith in Christ or who gets to heaven. The Bible views salvation as both an event and a process. To converted people Paul says, 'Work out your salvation with fear and trembling' (Phil.2:12). In a sermon titled, 'The necessity of Christians coming into more of the forgiving grace of God. The discipline of confession helps the believer to grow into 'mature, attaining the whole measure of the fullness of Christ' (Eph. 4:13).

'But isn't confession a grace instead of a discipline'? It is both. Unless God gives the grace, no genuine confession can be made. But it is also a discipline because there are things we must do. It is a consciously chosen course of action that brings us under the shadow of the Almighty.

How is it that confession is listed under the corporate discipline? I thought this was a private matter between the individual and God. 'For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus' (ITim. 2:5). We are also grateful for the biblical teachings, newly appreciated in our day, 'confess your sins to each other and pray for each other …' (James 5:16). Both are found in scripture and neither need exclude the other.

Confession is a difficult discipline for us because we all too often view the believing community as a fellowship of saints before we see it as a fellowship of sinners. We feel that everyone else has advanced so far into holiness that we are isolated and alone in our sin. We cannot bear to reveal our failures and shortcomings to others. We imagine that we are the only ones who have not stepped on to the high road to heaven. Therefore, we hide ourselves from one another and live in veiled lies and hypocrisy.

But if we know that the people of God are first a fellowship of sinners, we are freed to hear the unconditional call of God's love and to confess our needs openly before our brothers and sisters. We know we are not alone in our sin. In acts of mutual confession we release the power that heals. Our humanity is no longer denied, but transformed.

Authority To Forgive

The followers of Jesus Christ have been given the authority to receive the confession of sin and to forgive it in his name. 'If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven' (John 20:23). What a wonderful privilege! Why do we shy away from such a life-giving ministry? If we, not out of merit but sheer grace, have been given the authority to set others free, how dare we withhold this great gift! Such authority in no way threatens the value or efficacy of private confession. It is a wonderful truth that the individual can break through into new life in the cross without the aid of any human mediator.

The person who has known forgiveness and release from persistent, nagging habits of sin through private confession should rejoice greatly in this evidence of God's mercy. But there are others for whom this has not happened. Let's describe what it is like. We have prayed, even begged, for forgiveness, and though we hope we have been forgiven, we sense no release. We doubt our forgiveness and despair at our confession. We fear that perhaps we have made confession only to ourselves and not to God.

The haunting sorrows and hurts of the past have not been healed. We try to convince ourselves that God forgives only the sin; he does not heal the memory. But deep within our being we know there must be something more. People have told us to take our forgiveness by faith and not to call God a liar. Not wanting to call God a liar, we do our best to take it by faith. But because misery and bitterness remain in our lives, we again despair. Eventually we begin to believe either that forgiveness is only a ticket to heaven and not meant to affect our lives now, or that we are not worthy of the forgiving grace of God.

Those who in some small way identify with these words can rejoice. We have not exhausted our resources nor God's grace when we have tried private confession. God has given our brothers and sisters to stand in Christ's stead and make God's presence and forgiveness real to us. The scripture teaches us that all believers, priests before God: 'You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood' (I Peter 2:9). At the time of the reformation this was called "the universal priesthood of all believers'. One of the functions of the Old Testament priest was to bring the forgiveness of sins through the holy sacrifice.

The book of Hebrew, of course makes clear that Jesus Christ is the final and sufficient sacrifice. And Jesus has given to us his priesthood: the ministry of making that sacrifice real in the hearts and lives of other human beings. It is through the voice of our brothers and sisters that the word of forgiveness is heard and takes root in our lives.

First, the formalized form of the printed confession does not allow for any excuses or extenuating circumstances. We must confess that we have sinned by our own fault, our own most grievous fault. Our sins cannot be called errors in judgment, nor is there any room to blame them on upbringing or family or mean neighbours. This is a realistic therapy of the best sort since we are so prone to blame our sins on everybody and everything instead of taking personal responsibility for them.

A second advantage of the confessional is that the word of forgiveness is expected and given in the absolution. The word of scripture, or some similar word, is actually spoken out loud. 'If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness' (I John 1:9). The penitent is then told in clear, authoritative words that He is totally forgiven and set free of his sin. The assurance of forgiveness is sealed in the spirit when it is spoken by our brothers or sisters in the name of Christ.

True confession and forgiveness brings joy and healing to the parties involved. Most wonderful of all it spells reconciliation with God the Father, for as the beloved apostle said so long ago, 'If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness' (I John 1:9).

Live A Blessed Life!