What is “Confession”?

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness”.
1 John 1:9

Introduction

In scripture, we are told that if we “confess of our sins”, we will be forgiven by God. Confession is directly related to “repentance“, and essentially just means “admitting your sin to God”.

In some churches or denominations, however, the congregation may practice “confessionals”, that is that Christians are taught that “to be forgiven by God and avoid excommunication, they must confess their sins to an Elder, Pastor or Priest”.

The idea of this practice is taken from scriptures such as:

• “Is any one of you sick? Let him call the elders of the congregation to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick. The Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail.…”. – James 5:14-16
• “When He had said this, He breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you withhold forgiveness from anyone, it is withheld“. – John 20:22-23
• “Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep”. – Acts 7:60
• “If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he should ask God, who will give life to those who commit this kind of sin“. – 1 John 5:16

We see in the scriptures, Christians can certainly pray over others in order to request forgiveness from God and make them spiritually well and aid said person to come to a state of repentance. However, is the doctrine of what is today known as “confession” as practised by some churches really biblical? Does the Bible teach that we cannot be forgiven without confession to men?

Confessionals

As I mentioned in my article on disfellowshipping, in some churches, Christians claim that if they do not confess to the Elders of their church, they have not been fully forgiven, and some even expel or punish members of their congregations merely because they did not “openly confess before others”, even if that person did indeed repent before God in private and has ceased their sinful conduct.

However, Yah says when we repent, He blots out our sin from the record as if it never happened (Isaiah 43:25).

Therefore, to disfellowship or otherwise punish a repentant Christian because they “didn’t confess to men” would mean that Elder or congregation is not following our God and Father Yah, because they are not “blotting out the repented sin”. Instead, they are saying “forgiveness is attained through paying a price of confession, works and punishments” as opposed to free repentance through faith in the Anointed Saviour Yeshua (Jesus) alone (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Forced confessionals and Elders taking upon the role of judge and jury, takes away the sacrifice of Yeshua and reverts us back to the Old Law Covenant where sinners had to approach the priest to confess and make a sacrifice on the altar (Leviticus 4:1-5:13; 6:24-30), but that law was nailed on the torture tree with Yeshua’s death (Colossians 2:14).

• “Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Yeshua the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses“. – Acts 13:38-39

Thus, “confessional” based forgiveness (that is, confession before men), and punishing or Christians for sins they committed previously but have since repented of before God, merely because they did not admit it to men, spits in the face of the Father, his Son Yeshua, and his sacrifice.

There is only but one time we are required to “confess before men”, and that is a confession of our faith in Yeshua and the acceptance that we make declaration of repentance of our sins through his blood during baptism (Romans 10:9).

The scriptures inform us that ultimately, when we fall to sin in life, we approach God through Yeshua for our forgiveness above all. It is from their hands in which we truly attain forgiveness, and this does not require us to approach men of the Congregation to act as our mediators or intercessors to God and his Son.

• For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man, [the] Anointed Yeshua”. – 1 Timothy 2:5
• “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Yeshua [the] Anointed, the righteous” – 1 John 2:1
• “And now why are you delaying? Rise, get baptized and wash your sins away by your calling upon his name”. – Acts 22:16
• “…I was speaking, praying, confessing my sin and that of my people Israel, and presenting my petition before YHWH my God…”. – Daniel 9:20
• “I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I did not hide; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to YHWH”; And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah”. – Psalm 32:5

Conclusion

In conclusion. The Bible does teach that Christians can confess their sins to one another and pray for one another, and to ask God to forgive the sins of others, and to give them spiritual strength, which may help them become righteous in their conduct and able to pray for their own forgiveness, given that they are not willingly being unrepentant in their sins, in which we are told ‘not’ to pray for the forgiveness of these people (1 John 5:16).

However, the scriptures do not teach that this is a ‘requirement’ for Christians, but rather it is an act of love and brotherhood. Praying to God through Yeshua to confess and asking personally for forgiveness, is the primary way of repenting of our sins.