Eza 9:3 As soon as I heard this, I tore my garment and my cloak and pulled hair from my head and beard and sat appalled. (ESV)
Too often, I think, we misunderstand what it means to confess sin. As New Testament believers we are quick to quote 1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Everyone knows John 3:16, but my guess is that within evangelical circles 1 John 1:9 is the next best known verse. That is not a bad thing in and of itself. It's a great verse, but do we understand it?
Unfortunately I fear that "If we confess" has come to mean "If we say we're sorry." The problem is: that's not what confess means. To confess means to agree. It means to speak the same thing. If we are confessing sin to God then we are demonstrating our agreement with him that what we did was reprehensible sin offensive to a righteous and holy God. I don't believe that God forgives sin if I grovel enough before him, but I do believe that if I am truly in agreement with God about sin then there will be a brokenness in me. Just saying words means nothing if we don't really believe them.
A child may say "I'm sorry," but only be sorry he got caught. A person can ask, "Will you forgive me?" without believing that they actually did anything wrong. A Christian can say to God, "I've sinned. Please forgive me." without having any sense of how offensive their actions were to God. "If we confess our sins" does not equal, "I'm sorry." Ezra understood Israel's sin not as simply an inconvenient rule that had been broken. He understood it in the context of God's righteous holiness, God's special call on Israel, the covenant relationship Israel had with God, and the history of Israel's former failures. When he heard about this sin the blood drained from his face and he "sat appalled."
If a person is broken over their sin then 1 John 1:9 is a wonderful promise. Unfortunately we have too often just turned it into a rote liturgy to get us of the hook. We need to see sin as God sees it or we will never see and appreciate God and his grace as they truly are.
Father, I confess that I have too often taken sin in my life too lightly. Thank you for your unfailing grace. May I learn to truly appreciate it by realizing better the depth of my own sin.
By His grace,
Rick Weinert
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