CONFESSING YOUR SIN ALONE DOESN’T CUT IT!

Oh, what joy for those
    whose disobedience is forgiven,
    whose sin is put out of sight!
² Yes, what joy for those
    whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt,^[b]
    whose lives are lived in complete honesty!
³ When I refused to confess my sin,
    my body wasted away,
    and I groaned all day long.
⁴ Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me.
    My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat. Interlude

⁵ Finally, I confessed all my sins to you
    and stopped trying to hide my guilt.
I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.”
    And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone. Interlude

⁶ Therefore, let all the godly pray to you while there is still time,
    that they may not drown in the floodwaters of judgment.
⁷ For you are my hiding place;
    you protect me from trouble.
    You surround me with songs of victory. Interlude

⁸ The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.
    I will advise you and watch over you.
⁹ Do not be like a senseless horse or mule
    that needs a bit and bridle to keep it under control.”

¹⁰ Many sorrows come to the wicked,
    but unfailing love surrounds those who trust the Lord.
¹¹ So rejoice in the Lord and be glad, all you who obey him!
    Shout for joy, all you whose hearts are pure!
Psalm 32 (NLT)

Confession is necessary in order to be forgiven, but without repentance, your confession means nothing. Confession means telling God, or anyone else, all the wrongs you’ve committed, and repentance means turning away from those things you confessed to. Repentance is you basically saying, “I’m no longer returning to my old ways of doing things. I’m turning a new leaf”.

It is an insult to God for you to claim that you’re sorry for wronging Him, only for you to go back to doing that same thing that you were sorry for. That isn’t true repentance. Imagine as a father, your child wrongs you, and you forgive that child because he confessed what he did, but then he goes on to commit that same offense for the umpteenth time, wouldn’t you think that that child isn’t genuinely remorseful? So it is with God anytime we offend Him. We can’t continue to sin and expect the grace of God to abound for us. (Romans 6:1) One day, God will say to us, “enough is enough.” I pray that doesn’t happen to any of us. But in order for that not to happen, we must genuinely turn from our wicked ways.

There is absolutely nothing wrong in confessing your sins to your fellow brethren. In fact, the Bible encourages it in (James 5:16), that we should confess our sins to one another so that we can be healed. It actually takes great courage to open up to a fellow human regarding whatever sin you’re struggling with, but then it takes a tender and a willing heart to truly repent. Take, for example, the story of the prodigal son Jesus told us of in Luke 15.

In that parable, we were taught that it is usually not sin in itself that derails us, but the stubborn heart that is unwilling to repent. As we saw in the story, the lost son came home to the father with a contrite heart, saying, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son” Luke 15:21 (NLT). But for the older brother, though, the story made no mention of him offending his father at any point, he was resentful and jealous of his brother when he returned. While the younger brother repented, the older brother did not, even after the father begged him to come and celebrate his brothers’ return. Without genuine repentance, we continue in sin, and as we know, the wages of sin is…death! (Romans 6:23)

Not at all! And you will perish, too, unless you repent of your sins and turn to God.
Luke 13:3 (NLT)

Many people in this world believe that, because nobody sees what they are doing “in the dark,” their behaviors won’t have any negative consequence on them in the future, but little do they know that God sees EVERYTHING. There is no hiding it. He even knows what we are thinking about doing before we even do it! But, we are very fortunate that we do not have to stay living in the darkness. Thankfully, Jesus gave us all a way to come out of the dark and into the light. His ultimate sacrifice allows each one of us to have our sins forgiven because the price for our sin was paid for on the cross.

If we are able to acknowledge our sin and repent, we will be forgiven. However, we have to remember that we cannot just confess alone. We have to actively participate in the process of repentance, and turn away from the sinful behaviors that we are confessing, so that we can receive the forgiveness we desire. This is a work in progress, and a daily decision we must make. But we should not be discouraged by this! Instead, we should view it as spiritual growth and development. Let’s remember that the victory was won on the cross for every believer – but change will need to take place in our hearts and behaviors in order for God’s plan to work in our lives.

God rejoices in his heart and smiles when you repent of your sins. He desires to see you healed and set free from temptation, unclean spirits & demonic oppression, depression, addiction, bitterness, unforgiveness and all other things that distance you from God. Keep in mind that sin is spiritual in nature. So when you commit an act of sin, it attacks you first spiritually, then manifests in the natural realm. Sin invites unclean spirits into your life. It is God’s will for you to live sin free. I hope you will view this as an opportunity to be an even better version of you with each passing day! 

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