The Blessing of Confession…
Today I want to remind you and I of what might seem like such a basic thing, but it’s so significant and so incredible. I was reading 1 John, and in the opening verses of this letter, John drops a couple of truth bombs on his readers:
“But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7 NLT)
Firstly, what stood out to me was that we get to ‘live in the light’. In the verses before, John states this – God is light. So, when we live in the light, we get to live in God. We get to experience intimacy with Him and let His nature and goodness flood and transform our lives.
Does that mean we are perfect? Not at all. Spend just a few minutes with me and you will quickly discover that I am far from perfect. But perfection is not what it’s about. God knows we can never get it right; that’s the whole point of the Gospel. Intimacy is what it’s all about.
The added benefit of intimacy is this: “…the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.” Not some sin, ALL sin. Not just the sin we are aware of, but also the sin in our lives we don’t even consciously know about. Isn’t that amazing? As I soak in that, I feel the pressure I put on myself to ‘get it right’ all the time lift off, and I also feel the weight of any shame that exists in me melt away.
He then repeats himself in verse 9: “But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.” (John 1:9 NLT) Once again, he cleanses us from not just some sin, but ALL sin, conscious and unconscious. This cleansing is also continual – it was both a one-time event thanks to the finished work of the cross, AND it’s also a never-ending process in our lives.
This verse also talks about the blessing of confession. Why is confession important? Is it because if we don’t confess our sins, he won’t forgive us? I don’t believe so. But once again, it all has to do with intimacy. Let me explain. All the way back in the beginning, in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve walked in intimacy with God. He would literally walk with them in the garden in the cool of the evening. Take a moment to soak in that! But, as we know, this was broken when they were deceived by Satan and ate the fruit from the wrong tree in this garden.
Adam and Eve had 2 choices here – they could run to God and confess their brokenness and their need for Him, or they could run away and hide. Sadly, they chose that option, which had direct implications on their relationship with Him. While it’s easy to look at them and think, ‘why did they do that?’, aren’t we all so easily guilty of falling into that same trap?
More often than not, unconfessed sin robs us of intimacy with God, because instead of running to Him, we run away. The more I understand the incredible truth that we are already cleansed, and the blood of Jesus continually purifies us from ALL unrighteousness, the more I realise I don’t have to run away when I make a mistake. Instead, I have the blessing of openly coming to Him, sharing it with Him, and soaking in the reality of the finished work of the cross. In turn, this allows me to continue walking in intimacy with God, which in turn allows more space for Him to work in my life to bring about the transformation and change He so longs to do and takes pleasure in doing.
My hope in sharing this with you is that it will encourage you in your own walk with God, and perhaps break down any fear you might have about having to ‘get it right’ all the time. You, my friend, are continually cleansed by the blood of Jesus, and you and I have the privilege of getting to share our struggles and our shortcomings with Him, so that we can continue to walk in true intimacy with our Maker, our Lord, our Saviour, our Father and our Friend.