Confession

  ?He that covered his sins shall not prosper; but whosoever confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy? (Proverbs 28:13).

  The conditions of obtaining mercy of God are simple and just and reasonable.   God does not require Christians to pay everything in order to have the forgiveness of sin.   We need not commend our souls to the Lord God of heaven or to expiate our transgression; but he that ?confesseth and forsaketh? his sin shall have mercy.

  ?Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed?, the apostle James says (5:16).   Confess your sins to God, who only can forgive them, and your faults to one another.   If you have offended your neighbour, you are to acknowledge your wrong, and its his duty freely to forgive you.   Then you are to seek the forgiveness of God, because the brother you have wounded is the property of God, and in injuring him you sinned against his Creator and Redeemer.

  Those who have not humbled their souls before God in acknowledging their guilt, have not yet fulfilled the first condition of acceptance. The only reason why we do not have remission of sins that are past is that we are not willing to humble our hearts and comply with the conditions of the word of truth.   Confession of sin, whether public or private should be heartfelt and freely expressed.   The confession, that is, the pouring out of the inmost soul finds its way to the God of infinite pity. ?The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit? (Psalms 34:18).

True confession is always of a specific character, and acknowledges particular sins.   But all the confessions should be definite and to the point, acknowledging the very sins of which we are guilty.

  Confessions will not be acceptable to God without sincere repentance and reformation.   There must be decided changes is the life: everything offensive to God must be put away.   This will be the result of genuine sorrow for sin: the work that we have to do on our part so plainly described in Isaiah 1:16, 17.

  But unfortunately, when sin has deadened the moral perceptions, the wrongdoer does not discern the defects of his character nor realize the enormity of the evil he has committed and unless he yields to the convicting power of forgiveness he remains in partial blindness to his sin.   The examples in God?s word of genuine repentance and humiliation reveal a spirit of confession in which there is no excuse for the sin or attempt at self-justification.   Paul did not seek to shield himself; he paints his sins in the darkest hue, not attempting to lessen his guilt (Acts 26:10). The humble and broken heart, subdued by genuine repentance, will appreciate something of the love of God and the cost of Christ?s sacrifice; and as a son confessed to a loving father, so will the truly penitent bring all his sins before God. And it is written ?If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness? (1 John 1:9).

Bro. Erick Kipruto Mutai (Sosiot, Kenya)