Confession in broad terms means “the act of admitting and acknowledging that someone has said or done wrong to someone.” However, from a Biblical perspective, confession means “to say the same thing as another” or “to agree with God that we have done wrong,” from the Greek, “homologeo.” Confession to God means we admit our guilt by saying what God says about our sins and accept the principle that when we sin, we violate God’s laws. Sin is also a violation of God’s character and holiness. When we sin, it is definitely against God. In confessing his sin to God, King David said, “Against you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight” (Psalm 51:4).
The theme of the Apostle John’s first letter is “Fellowship with God our heavenly Father.” He writes, “Truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ” (1 John 1:3). One of the great things our salvation does for us is that it prepares us for a life-long relationship with the Lord. The Apostle Peter writes, “His [God’s] divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3). John goes on to point out that “God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). This means that God is infinitely glorious, absolutely true, and separate from sin. It means, therefore, that for us to continue to enjoy our fellowship with Him, we must confess sins that we have committed.
John continues, “If we confess our sins, He [God] is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness’ (1 John 1:9). In his commentary on this verse, William MacDonald appropriately writes, “In order for us to walk day by day with God and with our fellow believers, we must confess our sins of commission, sins of omission, sins of thought, sins of act, secret sins, and public sins. We must drag them out into the open before God, call them by their names, take sides with God against them, and forsake them. Yes, true confession involves forsaking our sins; “He who covers his sins will not prosper: but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy” (Proverbs 28:13). When we do that, we can claim the promise that God is faithful and just to forgive. (Taken from Believer’s Bible Commentary William MacDonald, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Inc. Nashville, Tennessee).
It is said that confession is good for the soul. We all sin because we are not perfect. The Bible makes it abundantly clear that “all have sinned and come short of God’s glory” (Romans 3:23). Also, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8). From birth, everyone is a sinner. “I was shaped in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me” (Psalm 51:5). Hence, there is the need for confession of present and ongoing sins. One of the great joys of confession is that it helps us to maintain our fellowship with our heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ, “Walking in the light as He is in the light” (1 John 1:7). And, also, the guarantee that “He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” This means God will “not hold our sins against us” and He will “remove our sins from us,” We must never underestimate the God’s love, mercy, and grace. The sacrificial death of Jesus on the Cross has already paid the penalty for our sins, and through Him we are “accepted in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:6).