There are not many reliable avenues to gain insight into the “real you” . . . but your words, like a mirror, reflect what is in your heart.
Luke 6:45, The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.
A confession, one aspect of verbal communication, is especially adept at revealing the orientation of one’s heart toward truthfulness or falsehood. One’s inclination toward truthfulness or falsehood will, in turn, indicate one’s tendency to be self- oriented or Christ-oriented. [See Words—The Thermometer of Your Heart ]
A confession is typically defined as an admittance of wrongdoing. It has that meaning, but its use has a wider scope than that singular application. A confession may also highlight God’s goodness, confirm one’s allegiance to a cause or person, or simply state provable facts. Examples of the subject variability of “confession” in the Bible are displayed in the following verses:
1 John 1:9, If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (Confession deals with an acknowledgment of personal sins.)
John 1:20, He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” (John the Baptist acknowledged the fact that he was not the Messiah.)
1 John 4:15, Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. (Believers acknowledge the truth that Jesus is God’s Son.)
2 John 1:7, For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. (Deceivers do not acknowledge the truth that God’s Son came to earth as a human.)
Romans 10:9-10, because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. (Salvation is realized by accurate belief in Jesus that is subsequently acknowledged verbally.)
Hebrews 4:14, Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. (Believers are urged to remain faithful to their acknowledged commitment to Christ.)
CONFESSION, SIN, AND TRUTH
As these verses demonstrate, a confession is applicable to different subjects. The primary aspect of a confession, however, should be its truthfulness.
A person who acknowledges personal sinfulness in an incomplete manner will often omit facts that may incriminate others or possibly increase personal consequences. When omissions occur, the confession is false. Additionally, if a person distorts or tries to hide facts related to sinful activity by minimizing, rationalizing, or blame shifting, then the result is, often, increasing sinfulness.
Deceitful distortion of a confession is not unexpected, but spiritual delusion related to an untruthful confession is often overlooked. Those not confessing “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth” might be purposefully deceitful, but they could also be so spiritually deluded that complete truthfulness is actually impossible for them to articulate. Never forget that when a person’s behavior is consistently self-centered, that person will not tell the truth (bring everything to light) . . . in fact, telling the truth for a self-centered person is naturally impossible. [See Telling the Truth is Naturally Impossible]
Whether truth is hidden out of deceit or delusion, such self-orientation hinders a confession of sin from realizing Christ-honoring results. Confessing sin(s) can bring glory to God by being truthful or can dishonor the Lord by “not bringing everything to light” which is, by definition, a lie. If you wonder why any statement is a lie when facts of a matter are deliberately or inadvertently omitted, then a review of truth’s definition would be helpful.
TRUTH MEANS BRINGING EVERYTHING TO LIGHT
Truth puts everything in the spotlight. While “spin” uses selective data to exalt one person or viewpoint over another, truth simply places all facts in the open. A person or a viewpoint is not the issue . . . being honest and telling the truth is the issue. [See Truth is Personal, Not Merely a Concept ]A truthful confession of sin(s) includes: (1) accuracy of facts that are mentioned, and (2) inclusion of all facts related to the confessed sin(s).
WHY CONFESS PERSONAL SIN(S)?
The first benefit of confessing personal sin(s) is to receive forgiveness from the Lord. Confessing personal sin(s) to those sinned against also provides a possibility of being forgiven by them. A believer’s confession of sin(s) to those sinned against also demonstrates the difference Jesus has made in one’s life and makes it possible for Christ-honoring relationships to prosper for the glory of God.
Those that confess shortcomings by stating “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth” are few and far between. As a result, the scarcity of truthful confessions allows an authentic confession to be a shining beacon of Christ’s love in a dark world that needs the light of His truth.
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[This article is excerpted from Confession—The Ultimate Test of Truthfulness]
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Confession—Insight Into the Real You © 2013 WordTruth, Inc—http://www.wordtruth.net
Verses from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, division of Good News Publishers