Unto the Praise of His Grace in the Churches

The Christian may desire that there were no more sin to confess. There is great grief of mind and soul when our corruption is brought to our mind. One thought that the Christian cherishes is that one day he will have no more sin. Presently, however, all know by experience the truth of James’s statement, “For in many things we offend all” (James 3:2). The one who denies his sins in this life is considered a liar, “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). Each day gives new cause for confessing our sins, for each day witnesses our own transgressions of God’s law.

The shameful frequency with which we sin may provide us a temptation to relax our approach to confession. Though we may daily confess our sins, we may quickly find that we have done so without much thought as to what confession is and why we are to do it. Additionally, some may wonder whether confession ought to be secret and unto the Lord only, privately to an individual, or publicly to a larger group. To confess publicly what ought to be confessed secretly would certainly introduce problems. To confess secretly what ought to be confessed publicly would be to neglect a duty. These questions and concerns may be made the more difficult when set against the backdrop of the false Roman Catholic sacrament of penance or confession, as well as the number of false teachings that fill many protestant churches, such as antinomianism.

Christians of all generations have engaged in this spiritual warfare of confessing sin. While we have good reason to consider the 1600s, particularly the 1640s as an era of great attainments in Scotland, yet it was not free from the need to confess sin. A great blessing poured in upon the British Isles, beginning with the Glasgow Assembly of 1638. The Solemn League and Covenant of 1643 ushered in a series of years to which we now look back with much gratitude to God. The Westminster Assembly and the documents it produced are very much a part of our heritage, and the doctrine confessed at that assembly is confessed here today.

Yet the very writings of that age will demonstrate that it was far from golden. The blood spilled during the English Civil War, the frequent pamphlet wars between Christians, the rise of various heretical sects, the division between the Resolutioners and Protestors, all combine for a fairly conclusive picture that there was much sin.

While we rightly gravitate to the doctrinal symbols produced by the Westminster Assembly and embraced by the Church of Scotland, we give little attention to a rather neglected document tucked away in the back of many editions of the Westminster Standards.¹ After the Confession of Faith and Catechisms, after the Sum of Saving Knowledge, and after the National Covenant and Solemn League and Covenant, there exists a document that is most likely the least read of all the documents provided in the volume: A Solemn Acknowledgment of Public Sins and Breaches of the Covenant.²

In 1648, the Church of Scotland publicly owned various sins of church and state. In the Solemn Acknowledgment, they provided a transparent confession of many sins. This acknowledgement of sin is set against the earlier Solemn League and Covenant of 1643, in which they publicly swore, “That we shall sincerely, really, and constantly, through the grace of God, endeavor, in our several places and callings, the preservation of the reformed religion in the Church of Scotland, in doctrine, worship, discipline, and government, against our common enemies…”³

Thus, in 1648, after a handful of years, the evidence of insincerity and sin broke forth. This then led the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland to renew the Solemn League and Covenant with an acknowledgement of sin. Consider then the words:

…most of us have not endeavoured, with that reality, sincerity, and constancy that did become us, to preserve the work of reformation in the kirk of Scotland: many have satisfied themselves with the purity of ordinances, neglecting the power thereof; yea, some have turned aside to crooked ways, destructive to both.

It hath been our way to trust in the means, and to rely upon the arm of flesh for success, albeit the Lord hath many times made us meet with disappointment therein, and stained the pride of all our glory…we have followed for the most part the counsels of flesh and blood, and walked more by the rules of policy than piety, and have hearkened more unto men than to God.⁴

The document concludes with a most instructive appeal, “…professing our own weakness, we do earnestly pray to God, who is the Father of mercies, through his Son Jesus Christ, to be merciful unto us, and to enable us, by the power of his might, that we may do our duty, unto the praise of his grace in the churches.”⁵

Beyond the historical interest such a document supplies, it begs of us a searching question: Do we desire that this would be to “the praise of his grace in the churches?”

The Scriptural Teaching of Confession

While historical documents may give us examples of godly practice, the Bible presents us authoritative instruction. Did space allow, a full study of each word used and primary examples held forth in the scriptures would provide tremendous insight to the practice of confessing our sins. However, we can gain much by focusing on a few clear passages.

One such key passage is I John 1:9. John writes, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Here is a passage that cuts to the core: confession and forgiveness. What does this word, “confess,” mean? The word here is quite simple and instructive. In the Greek, it is a form of ὁμολογέω. While context will determine nuance and exact meaning, at its most basic level, the word means, “to say the same thing.” Noting that the primary one to whom we confess is God; it has the idea of saying the same thing as God does about something. When it comes to our sin, it means to say the same thing about our sin as God says about it.

David expresses this idea in Psalm 51:3-4, “For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.” He was brought to the conviction that what he did was contrary to God’s word, such that when God judged him, he found God righteous in doing so.

This idea is true, whether we confess our sins to God, as in First John 1:9, or to one another, as in James 5:16, “Confess your faults one to another…” The word used in James (ἐξομολογέω) is a compound form of the word John uses. Thus, to confess to our neighbor means that we acknowledge to them the faults we have committed. In other words, we do not try to excuse or lessen what we have done. We speak and think of our sins as God thinks of them.

If we confess our sins, we engage in an agreement with God that our actions, thoughts, or desires have been contrary to that “holy, and just, and good” law of God (Rom. 7:12). This means we own that we have done evil, that we have desired wickedness, and that we have thought impurity. When we have sinned and neglect to confess it, we open ourselves to the reproof of Malachi 2:17, “Ye have wearied the LORD with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the LORD, and he delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of judgment?”

God’s people behaved as if sin was not sinful in God’s sight. Their actions and posture defied God’s revealed will. They engaged in all manner of ceremonial and pious actions, but they rejected a true conformity to God’s law, and what’s more, they thought differently about sin than God did. They failed to confess and own their transgressions as transgressions. Israel’s thoughts and assessments were directly opposite of God’s. That is, instead of saying the same thing in the same way, they were saying the opposite to God. This, as the text notes, “wearied the LORD.” It should come as no surprise then, that the Lord pleads with his people to think the same thing as he does about their sins, so that, instead of wearying him, they would enjoy his blessing. Notice Jeremiah 3:12-13:

Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the LORD, and I will not keep anger for ever. Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the LORD thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the LORD.

Only acknowledge thine iniquity. Only think the same thing that I have said. Only confess your sin. To say the same thing certainly goes beyond mere words, for words are to be sincere expressions of one’s mind and affections. Whereas we are able to parrot any group of words, this is far short of biblical confession. This is why confession is often joined with other expressions of penitence, for if we truly say the same thing regarding our sin that God does, we will despise it and detest it.

Confession is founded upon an understanding of what God loves and what God hates. In order to express the same thoughts, we need to know how God considers our sin. Take but two examples that show God’s assessment of sin. In Proverbs 8:13, we read, “The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate.” Similarly, we read in Deuteronomy 25:16, “For all that do such things, and all that do unrighteously, are an abomination unto the LORD thy God.” Though examples can be easily multiplied, both examples show that God detests sin. Hate is applied to “pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the forward mouth.” Those that do “unrighteously are an abomination unto the LORD.” The words “hate” and “abomination” express detestation and disgust. Sin is something contrary to God, his goodness and holiness, his sovereignty and wisdom. To confess rightly demands something of this understanding in our expression. Ezra’s confession in Ezra 9:5-7 gives an illustration:

And at the evening sacrifice I arose up from my heaviness; and having rent my garment and my mantle, I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands unto the LORD my God, And said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens. Since the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass unto this day; and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to a spoil, and to confusion of face, as it is this day.

Or consider a more concise illustration from Paul, in Romans 7:24, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?”

All of this relates confession to its larger context, repentance. Question 76 of the Westminster Larger Catechism asks, “What is repentance unto life?” Though the act of confession is not stated, the necessary posture of heart is explained:

Repentance unto life is a saving grace, wrought in the heart of a sinner by the Spirit and word of God, whereby, out of the sight and sense, not only of the danger, but also of the filthiness and odiousness of his sins, and upon the apprehension of God’s mercy in Christ to such as are penitent, he so grieves for and hates his sins, as that he turns from them all to God, purposing and endeavouring constantly to walk with him in all the ways of new obedience.⁶

It is not just the sight, but the sense of the “filthiness and odiousness of his sins.” He does not just understand that he has sinned, but he “grieves for and hates his sins.” When this is coupled with discerning and embracing God’s mercy in Christ, it constitutes evangelical confession. It is the heart being brought to terms with its sin in light of God’s law, it is turning from it and confessing it, while looking unto Christ for pardon and acceptance. It is not confession that provides the ground of pardon. Christ’s atoning sacrifice is the only ground of our pardon. Nor does confession provide the positive righteousness in God’s sight that we may be declared righteous. That is provided only by the righteousness of Christ imputed to us and received by faith alone. True confession is the expression of a humbled heart growing in conformity to God as it acknowledges its sin.

Scriptural Motives for Confession

Proper motives encourage us to approach confession for the appropriate reason. In the Bible we find multiple encouragements. Two are provided below.

I. The Honor of God

This is frequently set before us in Scripture, both explicitly and implicitly as a simple survey of passages already mentioned demonstrates. This is explicitly mentioned in Joshua 7:19, “And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the LORD God of Israel, and make confession unto him.”

Additionally, consider three other examples. David, in Psalm 51:4, gives honor to God, “Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.” We read in Ezra 9:13 of a confession that gives glory to God, “And after all that is come upon us for our evil deeds, and for our great trespass, seeing that thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve, and hast given us such deliverance as this…” And in Daniel 9:7, Daniel confesses his and Israel’s sins to the honor of God, “O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee.”

Robert Shaw picks up on this theme:

To cover our sins is to dishonor God, as if he either did not see, or could not punish them; whereas, to confess our sins is to honour God’s holy law, which we have violated—to honour his omniscience, which beheld all our transgressions—to honour his justice, which might have taken vengeance upon them—and to honour his patience and long-suffering, which have forborne to execute the merited punishment.⁷

In the Solemn Acknowledgment, this is the very point concluding their confession of sin; “All which we desire to acknowledge and to be humbled for, that the world may bear witness with us, that righteousness belongeth unto God, and shame and confusion of face unto us, as appears this day.”⁸

II. The Mercy of God

Additionally, when the Christian confesses sin, there is a strong encouragement because of God’s mercy. This is illustrated in Nehemiah 1:4-7, where the appeal is made to the “LORD God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him…” His covenant and mercy are invoked as encouragement to confess and find forgiveness.

Proverbs 28:13 cultivates this as an explicit motive: “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.” There is mercy for the one who confesses sin.

The practical implication from this is that confession is not simply about clearing our consciences. It is about seeking the Lord, seeking to honor him, seeking him because he is merciful. True confession is about glorifying God as much as it is about unburdening our hearts.

Effects of Confession

We might note, that the very motives work within the penitent confessor and cultivate certain parallel effects in the soul.

I. Deepening Humility

As one motive is the honor of God, so one effect is humility. If we are truly seeking to honor God, we will only do so as we humble ourselves. Consider the example of Nebuchadnezzar. Before he is afflicted and brought to confess his sin, he is proud and arrogant. “At the end of twelve months he walked in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?” (Dan. 4:29-30). However, after brought to confess his sin, he is quite changed. He acknowledges “the most High,” and exalts God’s name, kingdom, and power (Dan. 4:34-37).

It is true that Nebuchadnezzar was humbled by a significant trial. Yet this is what is to be expected. The heart is first brought low, then confession is made and lowliness is further cultivated. David’s experience mirrors this in Psalm 51 and his sin with Bathsheba.

II. Increasing Delight in Christ and Grace

Psalm 51 also illustrates a second effect. It may be impossible to read this Psalm and not be struck with both the humility David evidences and the thirst for grace he manifests.

David was brought low in his own esteem. He was brought to see God as lofty and glorious. Yet it was not such a view as eclipsed the beauty of his grace. Instead, he saw that the high and lofty God, the very God against whom he had sinned, was a gracious God. He wanted to know him more.

As an example of how it is that confession keeps the soul prizing Christ, consider a few excerpts from Andrew Bonar’s diary: “Shallowness, hardness of heart, self-regard, darkness in the understanding, are most obvious in my case. It is the simple element of the truth, ‘Christ gave Himself for our sins,’ that keeps me up daily.”⁹ Elsewhere, he writes, “I have discovered that I do not sufficiently think of them individually and pray for them; nor do I feel sufficiently interested in the cases that occur: Lord, give a larger heart and a holier to me.”¹⁰ At age 59, he wrote:

I got a very awful view of my long life’s sinfulness in the evening. … The Spirit has been, since my conversion forty years ago, nearly continually putting to my lips full cups of blessing, and I have done little else than just take a few drops and then set the cup by! … but scarcely ever have I done more than merely take a sip. O what I have lost! O what I have lost! My heart sinks within me. I can only once again put my hand upon the head of the slain Lamb, and look up…¹¹

Far from evangelical confession leading to mere self-loathing, it cultivates a deeper and stronger desire for communion with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Different Audiences for Confession

Whereas sin is chiefly committed against God, and is always to be confessed unto him, often there are others against whom we sin, and we are called to acknowledge our sin within their presence as well. Just as there is secret prayer, private prayer in families, and public prayer in the church, there are similar categories for confession. Secret confession unto God alone, private confession unto the one against whom one offended, and public confession to a larger body.

These categories are seen in Scripture. Frequently the scriptures illustrate secret confession. Notice Psalm 32:5: “I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin.” This is seen in Psalm: 41:4, “I said, LORD, be merciful unto me: heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee.” Little more can be noted about this than that this is the primary expression of confession. Even when there is need for private and public confession, since sin is primarily against God, confession should be made to him always.

In addition to secret confession, there are occasions when we must confess our sin to one another. We see this in James 5:16: “Confess your faults one to another…” Again, the Lord exhorts us to this in Matthew 5:23-24, “Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.” The primary idea in this is that when we have sinned against another in such a way that demands reconciliation, we are to confess to that individual, in addition to the Lord. Our sin against the individual has introduced a hindrance to fellowship, and confession acknowledges this hindrance was introduced by one’s sin. This, coupled with the request for forgiveness and restitution, if required, allows for fellowship to be restored.

There are also occasions when sin has been committed such that it is of public knowledge or of public consequence. When it is, public confession is required. As the first example below indicates, this does not mean that another person witnessed the sin. It may have been a secret sin, but it is such a sin as risks public judgment. Thus, Joshua’s reproof to Achan in Joshua 7:19-20, “…My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the LORD God of Israel, and make confession unto him; and tell me now what thou hast done; hide it not from me. And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the LORD God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done…”

On other occasions, public confession will be necessary because a large number of people are guilty of the sin, as is evident in Nehemiah 9:1-3. The principle underlying these different audiences is acknowledged in the Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter 15:6:

As every man is bound to make private confession of his sins to God, praying for the pardon thereof; upon which, and the forsaking of them, he shall find mercy: so, he that scandalizeth his brother, or the Church of Christ, ought to be willing, by a private or public confession, and sorrow for his sin, to declare his repentance to those that are offended, who are thereupon to be reconciled to him, and in love to receive him. ¹²

On occasion, the audience may be difficult to determine. While we should always confess to the Lord, we may need assistance in determining whether to confess something privately or publicly. In such circumstances, we ought to seek the Lord in prayer. We ought also to search the Scriptures for guidance, while availing ourselves of the spiritual guides provided to us by Christ in our elders.

There are many obstacles to confessing our sins. The single greatest is our pride and self-love. It will require the Lord’s grace to humble our hearts that we may confess sincerely. Yet it will be to the praise of the Lord’s grace when we do.

Footnotes

1
Refers to the book, Westminster Confession of Faith (Glasgow: Free Presbyterian Publications, 2001). ↩︎
2
There are other instructive examples of public confessions. Two very searching documents are: The Causes of the LORD’s Wrath (1651), and A Humble Acknowledgement of Sins of the Ministry of Scotland (1653). ↩︎
3
Solemn League and Covenant, in Westminster Confession of Faith (Glasgow: Free Presbyterian Publications, 2001). ↩︎
4
A Solemn Acknowledgment of Publick Sins, and Breaches of the Covenant, in Westminster Confession of Faith (Glasgow: Free Presbyterian Publications, 2001). ↩︎
5
Ibid., 366. ↩︎
6
Westminster Larger Catechism, in Westminster Confession of Faith (Glasgow: Free Presbyterian Publications, 2001). ↩︎
7
Robert Shaw, The Reformed Faith: An Exposition of the Westminster Confession of Faith (Inverness: Christian Focus Publications, 1974 [1845]), 160. ↩︎
8
Solemn Acknowledgement, 367. ↩︎
9
Andrew Bonar, Diary and Life (Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1984 (1893)), 146. ↩︎
10
Ibid. ↩︎
11
Ibid. 271. ↩︎
12
Westminster Confession of Faith, in Westminster Confession of Faith (Glasgow: Free Presbyterian Publications, 2001). ↩︎

confession sin