The Freedom of Confession

1 John 1:8-9 ESV says, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Perhaps the greatest thing about living a life of abiding is living in the grace that God gives us. At some point, I believe most, if not all of us, will have a season of surprising closeness from God. This could be like when you first were saved or possibly in a season of breakthrough where God is working in new ways that you needed. These times of access are precious. Of course, our access to God is not limited to our feelings, but I do not think it is wrong to be grateful for times of emotional connection to the Lord.

As we continue our faith journey, those butterflies are exchanged for deeper intimacy. It becomes a more precious, personal, and rooted connection between you and God as you truly become one as Jesus prayed in John 17. This special grace of companionship and partnership with the Almighty God infuses purpose into our Christian life.

The Sin Barrier

The first thing that stands in the way of this grace is sin. Sin short-circuits righteousness, freedom, and most of all, our connection with God. Sin comes in many shapes and sizes. Some forms of sin are obvious, like stealing and lying, but others are harder to detect, like gossip, dishonor, or envy. The latter are seeds of brokenness that can slowly become a part of our lifestyle without us realizing it.

I think this is why 1 John reminds us not to pretend we do not have any sin. We all have more layers to surrender in the journey of holiness. You might say, “Of course, I have sinned! Everyone has sinned,” but the actual test of this is our life of confession. If we never confess our sin to the Lord, we risk letting seeds of sin find a root in our hearts and grow into much more difficult strongholds.

Confession is easy when the fault is apparent. Confession is truly a joy and hope for us when we get stuck in blatant sin. On the other hand, confession can be a painful stripping away of our pride if we have to confront deeper faults that might mess with the way we live our lives.

Two Sides of Confession

In this way, confession has two functions. It is a joy and release of burdens and, at another time, a grueling process of refinement. If we are honest, the obvious sins are the ones we want to get rid of but may struggle to release because they are tempting to us. The hidden sins are the ones we want to cling to and struggle to release because we love them.

John is speaking to the other sins. The ones that we hold to like control, pride, selfishness, self-preservation, envy, and lust. These hidden sins cause us to say, “I have no sin.” They are the ones that we are wary of surrendering, but they are the strongholds that God can break through with his forgiving and cleansing power.

The enemy often draws us to focus on those outward and obvious sins like anger or lust so that we do not look at the deeper root driving these behaviors. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t confess our anger before the Lord, but we should not believe that our anger is the only thing to surrender. This life of confession is the key to a life of holiness and freedom. Do you have the courage to lean into confession today and every day?

I can tell you that the reward of refinement outweighs the cost of surrender.

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