He Is Faithful and Just

An important aspect of the Christian life is to know what it means to confess our sin. This is important because our very forgiveness hinges on our understanding of the term. The Hebrew word for confess means to acknowledge. In the New Testament, confess could be translated as “to agree with someone or to say the same thing as another.” The Apostle John used this word when he said, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (emphasis mine). That word confess is essentially saying that if you will agree with God about your sin, if you will acknowledge it for what it is, not make excuses for it, and turn from it, God will forgive you.

The problem is that there are people today who think they have confessed their sin when they haven’t. Far too many people think that to confess their sin is merely to acknowledge their sin. Therefore, they will sin, they will get caught, and they will say, “I acknowledge what I did. I confess that sin. That was a bad thing.” Then they go out and do it again and say, “I did it again. I confess.” That’s not a true confession. They are simply recognizing what is obviously sin.

Confession means to see sin for what it is, to be sorry for it, and to turn from it. You have to take your sin to the cross and recognize it is offensive to the one and only true God. Are you willing to do that? If so, then God will forgive you and cleanse you from all your unrighteousness.