James 5:16
16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
it is good to confess your sins
it
can be delt with just between you and God, so to speak, but why seek a faith that is the bare minimum? live a heroic life for the Lord in whatever station you are called for
Thank you for your post- I generally agree with this, but have three comments:
1. the verse from James 5 is arguably the most direct instruction in the Bible with regard to how we should deal with sin and confession. But this verse does not suggest that it is
mandatory to confess your sin to a person.
2. I am not aware that Jesus ever suggested that we must confess our sins to a fellow human being.
3. Neither in James, or anywhere else in the Bible, is there any instruction as to how detailed a confession of sin should be- either to God or to others. I think it is very interesting that Jesus, in the Lord's Prayer, simply says the following in
Luke 11 (I bolded the key passage):
1 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples."
2 He said to them, "When you pray, say:
" 'Father,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come.
3 Give us each day our daily bread.
4 Forgive us our sins,
for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.
And lead us not into temptation.' "
So Jesus suggests that we should only ask God to
forgive our sins, nowhere does it suggest that we need to go into gory details about what those sins are, or that we should confess them to someone other than God.
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Let me give some examples of why I believe this is an important issue for Christians, and why I am keen to hear other's insights into this matter:
1. I have several times been at Church services where someone, during their testimony prior to being baptized, has talked about their former life of sin- describing in detail a former history of drug abuse, or sexual immorality.
Personally, I don't think it is necessary or appropriate to do this, especially when there are children present. We are all mortal human beings, and can never expunge from our minds what we hear. Despite our best intentions, I believe it is not possible to totally erase from our consciousness such a person's sordid past when we meet them face to face at other church functions. Imagine, for example, a community church leader or teacher, who confesses to past sins involving some perversion- can we (especially a prospective employer) really expunge those thoughts from our minds and not let them bias our assessment of that person, even if they have totally repented? Besides, is it not unfair for a person to make such a confession in a setting where listeners can't escape; where they must listen, no matter how uncomfortable they are, to the confession?
2. I have heard or read stories of married people who succumbed to adultery- but then realized their sin, felt horrible and very guilty about it, repented, and renewed their marital commitment. Some of those accounts are even related here on CF.
In cases where the spouse- or the family- did not know about the adultery, is it really necessary to risk breaking up the marriage, or worse, the family, by confessing such a sin to them? Again, a wife or child who hears such a confession is forced to listen, and will forever have that information imprinted in their minds- so I ask- is that really fair and necessary for healing to take place?
3. I was once present at a church service where people were encouraged to confess and seek the congregation's forgiveness of their sins. I am sure the intention of the Pastor was to have people make their confessions in a general way- but one woman got up and confessed to a former life of embezzlement and fraud, for which she had served time in jail. Trouble is, she now worked in the local bank- and although I have no doubt that her repentance was complete and real, I don't think it was appropriate or necessary for her to share her past sins in such a public way, even if it was in a church service.
Jesus never expected people to spell out in lurid detail what sins they had committed. His message was clear: the Father knows, so repent and sin no more, and go on with your life as best as you are able with God's guidance.
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