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Calling All Contenders - Mike Muzzerall

Confess Or Don't Confess: What Does The Bible Say?alling All Contenders

Nov 2014

THERE’S AN INCREASE OF preachers proclaiming that Christians need not ask God for forgiveness of sins. They say, “The confession of sin is for unbelievers. Confessing in order to be forgiven is a work of the flesh. Whether you confess to a priest or directly to God makes no difference.” This seems to contradict traditional doctrine. Confess or don’t confess? What does the Bible say?

ONE SACRIFICE One of their go-to verses is Hebrews 10:12: “But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God.” They say that the “one sacrifice … forever” means we no longer have to confess our sins. Does it really? The book of Hebrews boldly proclaims the superiority of Jesus Christ over angels, the Levitical priesthood, and the sacrificial system. Verses 1 through 4 proclaim that the blood of bulls and goats could not permanently remove sin. Verse 12 completes the thought by showing that the sacrifice of Jesus Christ fulfilled the sacrificial requirements once and for all. This is self-evident. Jesus said, “It is finished” meaning paid in full. It is in the perfect tense meaning that Jesus paid the price with the ongoing result that no further payments are required. The issue, therefore, is not the need for further payments.

PAYMENT MADE BUT NOT APPLIED

Universalism believes that since Jesus Christ died as payment for all sin every person is automatically saved. That’s not much different than those in the Do Not Confess camp who say, “After all, the Christian’s sins have already been paid for.” That’s true, but payment was not applied to my account until I came by faith to the old rugged Cross, confessed my sins, and asked Jesus Christ to be my Lord and Saviour. Then I received forgiveness from God’s treasury of grace.

IF WE CONFESS OUR SINS HE IS FAITHFUL

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (I Jn. 1:9). This verse should end the argument, but no. They say the lost need to confess their sins and saints need to confess that they are already forgiven. That’s not what this verse says. It doesn’t say to confess our forgiveness, but to “confess our sins.” This is a third class present active subjunctive. If the first part of the conditional clause is met (the confessing of sins) the second part will always come true (“He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”).

IS CONFESSION A WORK OF THE FLESH?

The Greek word for confession (homologeo) is a compound Greek word. Homo means “of the same” and logeo means “to speak.” Confession is therefore “saying the same thing” about your action that God’s Word says. Kenneth Weust had this great observation about homologeo. He said, “Confession of sin on the part of the saint means therefore to say the same thing that God does about that sin, to agree with God as to all the implication of that sin as it relates to the Christian who commits it and to a holy God against whom it is committed.”

WE DARE NOT TRIVIALIZE SIN

Brother Swaggart’s commentary on I John 1:9 sums it up best: “While we dare not minimize the cleansing of the precious blood of Christ and all its effect, at the same time we must not trivialize or minimize sin as well … Let not the Christian take sin lightly … God is faithful to forgive us our confessed sins, because of what Jesus did for us at the Cross.”
Amen.

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