Confession Isn’t Just Good for the Soul – It’s Crucial

One evening years ago, my children and I were playing some games in our den when the phone rang. I answered it and on the other end of the line was a man sobbing and saying repeatedly, “I need a friend.”

 

It was a man I’ll call Frederick, whom I’d met with in a discipling relationship some years before. He wouldn’t explain over the phone why he was so distraught, but we agreed to meet the next day. As we met, Fred poured out his heart, confessing that for years he had concealed being what he termed a “sex addict.” I’ll spare the details.

 

During the time we’d been meeting once a week, I neither knew nor suspected any of this. However, I had recognized and commented about how his job, which regularly took him out of town for weeks at a time, could be problematic for the health of his marriage.

 

Fred’s wife, he confided, had discovered his wrongdoings. His marriage was in shambles, and he’d become alienated from his children. I was the first person he’d told about his sinful lifestyle. “Why didn’t you ever say anything about this?” I asked. Fred responded he’d been too ashamed, preferring to put on a front as if everything in his life was fine.

 

I knew I couldn’t solve his plight. I did encourage him to turn to God in repentance, seeking His forgiveness, grace and mercy. But as Fred talked, he showed relief in having his secrets finally brought into the open. Until then, the only ones that knew the truth were himself, Satan, and God. And the tempter bombarded him with thoughts about how vile he was, as well as how despised he’d be if anyone were to find out about his hidden life.

 

I didn’t condone or excuse Fred’s behavior but didn’t judge him either. That wasn’t my job; God alone is our righteous Judge. I did offer suggestions for how he might move forward, but it’s been a long time since then and I’ve lost touch with him. I hope God enabled him to get his life back on track.

 

Thinking back on that time, I’ve wondered whether things could have turned out differently if Fred had decided to confide his “addiction” to someone much sooner. As long as they’re concealed, hidden sins can hold us captive, unable to resist their impulses. Confessing them – with an attitude of genuine repentance – is crucial. It can release us from their insidious grasp.

 

But this raises a question: To whom do we confess? Some Christian traditions encourage the confession of sins to clergy. This may be useful, but it’s not necessary to wait until we can meet with a pastor or priest to confess whatever our sins might be. As we read in 1 Timothy 2:5, “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.”

 

What this means is we don’t need a human “middleman” to intervene between us and God. There’s but one mediator, Jesus Christ, who as the next verse states, “gave Himself as a ransom for all men – the testimony given in its proper time.” As another verse assures us, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

 

When we sin, we can go directly to the Lord in repentance and receive His forgiveness, restoring us into a right relationship with Him. However, there are times when confiding in another human can be helpful, even essential. This was the case with Fred. I’m reminded of the frightened child who had called out to his mother. She urged him to take his fears to God in prayer, to which he responded, “I need someone with skin on.”

 

The Scriptures give us ‘permission’ to do this: “Therefore confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you may be healed. A prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective” (James 5:16).

 

We’re all sinners, daily in need of God’s forgiveness and cleansing. When Jesus died on the cross, He paid the price for our sins once and for all: Tetelestai – “paid in full.” However, even as forgiven believers, unconfessed sins can erect a barrier between us and the Lord, disrupting the perfect relationship with Him that He desires. This barrier is taken down through genuine confession and repentance.

 

Our purpose in confessing sins to one another isn’t to embarrass ourselves. Nor is it to seek absolution from one another. It’s to establish accountability with another trusted follower of Christ, one who not only can offer counsel but also will provide prayer support, calling on God to enable us through His power to overcome temptation and live in a way that pleases Him.

Moving sins from darkness and into the light through confession – even to one another – can enable us to experience the truth of Galatians 5:1, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” 

Bad Day, Good Day, Best Day

I think I’ve mentioned this before, but I’ll never forget the Good Friday I attended church with my mother when I was a boy and asked, “If Jesus was crucified on this day, why do we call it ‘Good Friday’? What’s good about it?”

Years later, I’ve learned there is a very good reason for calling the day we commemorate this week Good Friday, although when the events were unfolding, the only people who viewed it as good were the arrogant, self-righteous religious leaders. As they observed Jesus Christ hanging from the cross in excruciating pain, many of them probably were thinking – and saying – “Good riddance!”

For Jesus’ followers the day certainly didn’t seem good. Their leader was dying and they felt helpless to intervene. The cause they’d enlisted in seemed over. The day even turned into thick darkness from noon to 3 p.m. “Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land” (Matthew 27:45).

Then, shortly after uttering the sorrowful words, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me,” we’re told, “Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit” (Matthew 27:47-50). The cross and the nails had done their work, and the One the crowd had hailed just days before was dead.

But suddenly a bad day started turning into a good day. First, the thick veil that divided the Holy of Holies in the temple from the outer areas, restricting admittance only to the ordained priests, “was torn in two from top to bottom” (Matthew 27:51). This fact, often glossed over in discussions of the crucifixion, was truly a miracle. It’s said the veil was so strong teams of horses could not pull it apart. And yet, at the precise moment Jesus died, it split from the top to its bottom, symbolically removing the barrier that denied common people direct access to God.

Later it would be written, “For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5). No longer did everyday people have to rely on a human priest to serve as their intercessor with God. There was no longer a veil or any other kind of obstacle to keep unholy mankind from humbly approaching a holy God.

A centurion, having observed the manner in which Jesus died, as well as experiencing an earthquake and other unexplainable events concurrent with His death, declared, “Truly this was the Son of God!” (Matthew 27:54).

When Jesus’ body was mercifully buried in a tomb donated by a wealthy man, Joseph from the town of Arimathea, that Friday still seemed oppressively gloomy. But by Sunday, that horrific day had transformed into a very good Friday as the implications of Christ’s death were defined by His resurrection.

Romans 5:8 declares, “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Had Jesus remained dead, His body continuing to lie in repose in that tomb, He would have been nothing more than another dead prophet. But that Sunday morning, which we commemorate on Easter, the tomb had been vacated.

An angel, reassuring two women who had gone to visit the tomb, made the astounding announcement that continues to echo today: “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He is risen, as He said” (Matthew 28:5-6). Inside the tomb, the women found nothing except His burial clothes, neatly folded as if He were saying, “I don’t need these anymore.”

Because of this, unlike with leaders of every other religious movement who have died through the centuries, people who follow Jesus – commonly known as Christians – worship a risen, living Savior. And through the power of spiritual rebirth can state, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

That’s how a very bad day became a very good day, leading up to the best day – the day we now know and celebrate as Easter.

Access Is Granted

Huge electronic scoreboards have become fixtures at major stadiums and arenas. Fans spend more time staring at computer-generated videos and graphics than they do watching the actual games. Have you ever wondered what those scoreboards look like on the inside?

Years ago Ohio Stadium was undergoing major expansion, and a new scoreboard was part of the renovation plan. A friend in Columbus, Doug, knew the project foreman. So when I was in town Doug asked if I’d like to take a tour of the updated stadium, including going inside the huge scoreboard. Buckeye fan that I am, I hesitated…for a nanosecond…then replied, “Do I want to see it? Do squirrels gather nuts for the winter?”

Some areas inside the massive scoreboard were large enough for a small apartment. And its inner workings were an amazing testimony to modern technology. But the point is, I couldn’t just barge into the stadium and insist on entering the scoreboard. I could see it only by being granted access from the person in charge. It wasn’t that I deserved it – I hadn’t done anything to merit the privilege. I just happened to know the right person who knew the right person who was qualified to provide the desired access.  

Similarly, the only way we could meet a prominent person, whether it be the President of the United States, our favorite actor or actress, a celebrated athlete, or a business magnate like Bill Gates or Warren Buffett, would be if we somehow received access to them. We can’t just show up and declare, “Hi, I’m here to see Lebron James” or, “Hello. I need to see Meryl Streep – now.”

The same holds true spiritually. We talk and think casually about prayer, that mystical form of communication with the living God. But have you ever considered what a wonderful, undeserved privilege it is to pray and speak to God – and ask Him to speak to us? How is it we can have instant, continual access to our Lord, the Creator and sustainer of the entire universe?

This time of year, as our annual celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ draws near, it’s important to remind ourselves that we can have unlimited, 24/7 access to God – but only because of what Jesus has done for us.

Hebrews 4:16 tells us that through Christ, who serves as our high priest, “Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” Ephesians 2:18 adds, “For through him (Jesus Christ) we have access to the Father by one Spirit.”

Some people speak flippantly about speaking to “the Man Upstairs,” or “the Big Guy.” However, as we contemplate the pristine, pastoral scene of the Babe in a humble manger in Bethlehem 2,000 years ago, it wasn’t to pose for pretty Christmas cards that would be designed centuries later. He came to teach, model, be the atoning sacrifice for our sins – and to serve as our divine mediator: “For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5).

Jesus is the one – the only one – who can provide us access to God. And not only access, but assurance that He will eagerly receive us into His presence. "This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything, according to His will, He hears us” (1 John 5:14).

Unlike with password-protected computers, secured websites, closely guarded companies and top-secret government sites, when we approach God in the name of Jesus Christ, we will never hear, “Access denied!”