Confession.
Rom. 10:9 If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in your heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
The Greek word for confession does not mean to confess at all, in the way we have understood it for years. I was stunned when I learned that it actually means: “To say the same thing.” It is actually two people saying the same thing. In the context of what we have understood, it was one person saying something and another person listening to what is said. One is a guilty party and the other is an innocent party. One is wrong and the other one is right.
Confession is something we have misunderstood. If you ask the average Christian what they understand about confession, or ask them to confess, they would almost all of the time think you want to know what they did wrong. Confession to most people is telling or revealing what they sinned or what they did that was wrong. They have to let you into their world where they wear masks so that no one else finds out what they really are. What if confession meant to say what was right instead of what is wrong?
People live with hurt and pain because they don’t want to reveal their deepest secrets about where they missed it and where they messed up. The biggest lie the enemy tells them is that God will be disappointed in them and won’t love them if they have to tell God all they have done. This is the enemy’s way to keep people in condemnation and bondage. What surprises me is the fact that God knows everything we do anyways and He still loves us. You cannot do anything without God knowing it and He knows it before you even do it. David says that if he made his bed in hell, God would find him. So where are you going to hide? Lets just confess our sins and get rid of the very thing that separates us from God.
Before we do, is that what confessions really are? Let's examine a few concepts first.
The bible says, “God is love.” HE is the very essence of love. God cannot choose to love you, as it is not a decision He makes, it is who He is. You are not the one making Him love you, it is who He is. Your actions, whether good or bad, cannot change how He feels, because He is love. Look at this verse:
1 Cor 13:4-7 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
So what do we say that is the same thing God says when we confess our sins? God is love and love keeps no record of wrong. If He keeps no record, what do I say when I confess then? When I say: Lord I have sinned by lying, He asks me what am I talking about. He keeps no record of my wrong. So do I try to convince love about my sin or do I say what love says? What does He say? God says that the price has been paid. God says that He loves me in my failures. God says that HE has a plan for my life and that what He has started in me He will surely finish. So when I miss it and I confess, I go to God and say what He says about me. In doing that I agree with Him and His plan for my life. Just like our verse says, if we confess Jesus as Lord we shall be saved. So what do I confess to be saved? I say what God says about His son. Most people when they got saved confessed their sins instead of confessing and saying what God said about Jesus.
2 Cor 5:19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people's sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.
God reconciled the world with Himself not keeping their sins against them. This simply means that when we sin, God does not hold you accountable. Does this sound too good to be true? Absolutely not. God poured His wrath against our sin out on Jesus at the cross. Because God poured it out on Jesus and raised Him from the dead to show His acceptance of the price Jesus paid, God does not hold us accountable anymore. If you understand this then you will understand that God chooses not to talk about your sin when you miss it. He talks to Jesus about the price that was paid to remove your sin and He talks about Jesus when He deals with your sin. Now you can try and convince God to talk about your sin but it will not be confession. It will be a lesson in your history but it will not be His-story.
Say the same thing that God says about you and over you. Love spoke and you were created. People say that you need to find out what pleases God. There is only one thing that pleases God, and that is Jesus. Our only response to God that validates who we really are is Jesus. It is all because of Him and Him alone. So when I miss it, I talk to God about Him because He pleases the Father. That releases the forgiveness I need because He is the one that paid for all my sin.