JDL - Direction Twenty-Two - Confession and Absolution

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. (1 John 1:8-9 (ESV))

One of the most important, if not the most important, gifts and blessings we have from our Lord is the gift of confession and absolution. Knowing, understanding and believing that God’s Word does what it says, when we speak words of repentance, confessing our sins, and we hear the words of absolution, “Your sins are forgiven,” we know that is exactly what is happening; our sins are forgiven.

The interesting thing about confession and absolution, about repentance and forgiveness is that we cannot have one without the other. Without confession, without repentance, there is no absolution, there is no forgiveness. This is called “gift refusal.” We refuse the gift of forgiveness when we refuse to confess and repent of our sins.

When a child is given a brand new toy and told to take good care of it, that is what is expected of him. When he breaks that toy, unless he admits and confesses that he broke the toy, there can be no attempt to repair the toy. A parent cannot repair or replace a broken toy unless they know about it. Similarly, unless we confess and repent of our sins, acknowledging our sins, there can be no absolution, no forgiveness. The cost, the price, the wage, what sin has earned is eternal spiritual death. Paul writes, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23 (ESV)). The cost of sin has to be paid.

In the Garden of Eden, not too long after God created a perfect world and a perfect man (Adam) and woman (Eve) to live in the world, they disobeyed God and sin entered the world (Original Sin). Their sin has now infected all people (of all places of all times). Their sin along with the sins we each commit each and every day, even many times a day (Actual Sin, including sins of omission and commission) are counted against us. But how bad can that be, really? Suppose we only sinned thirty times in a day. Certainly that is a minimal number considering how many times we sin and we do not even realize we are sinning. Too often we sin, and since we do not realize we are sinning, we sin even more. It is just our nature to sin (Genesis 6:5). It comes so natural to us that we do not even need to practice. But suppose we only sin thirty times in a day. Multiply that by 365 days in a year, that equals over 10,000 sins a year. Now, multiply that number by how old you are, and we begin to realize what big sinners we really are.

The price for sin is death, eternal spiritual death. This sin is that which has separated us from God. And if we remain in our sin, we remain separated from God. Even the sin of all people before Jesus died on the cross, those sins which were set aside for a time (Romans 3:25), had a price to be paid. When Jesus came, He paid the price for those sins committed before He came as well as all the sins of all the people living at the time. And even more, He also paid the price for the sins of all people who had yet to sin. Even all the sins I have yet to commit, their price has been paid. The price for all sins has been paid.

There is nothing we need to do to make this forgiveness ours; it is all there, all paid for, all given to us. All we can do is resist it and refuse it. We resist and refuse God’s forgiveness when we fail to confess, acknowledge and repent of our sins. That is gift refusal.

And yet, the beauty is that when we do confess, when we do repent, then we hear the most beautiful words, “Your sins are forgiven.” Those are the most beautiful words in the world because we know that where there is forgiveness, there is also life and salvation.

Here again we see the beauty and the wonder of the Gospel, which tells us that when we confess our sins, there is forgiveness. It is this beautiful message which motivates us to confess and repent, not the harsh finger pointing of the law which merely points out our sin and our sinfulness and our worthless state. The law would merely lead us to despair, but this beautiful Gospel promise of forgiveness stirs us to repent and be given forgiveness.

And with forgiveness, our hearts and minds are open to be given more words of direction in Jesus leading our lives. And that is truly a Jesus-directed life.

Think About
How many times in a day do you find yourself confessing, “I wish I had not done that” or “I wish I had done something”? How often in a day do you find yourself in the midst of sinning, but you just had not thought about it?

Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank You for the gift of forgiveness, that all my sins have been paid for by Jesus. Help me when I am having a difficult time letting go of and admitting my sin so that I may confess and hear Your words, “Your sins are forgiven” so that I may have forgiveness, peace, life and salvation, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.