Back to Previous Page

Back to Previous Page

[Announcer] (0:00 - 0:17) Think about the Bible like you never have before. You're listening to Christian Questions. Access more audio, videos, and Bible study resources at ChristianQuestions.com.

Our topic is: "Is It Necessary to Confess My Sins?" Here's Rick and Julie.

[Rick] (0:20 - 0:26) Welcome everyone. I'm Rick. I'm joined by Julie, a longtime contributor.

Julie, what's our theme Scripture for this episode?

[Julie] (0:27 - 0:35) 1 John 1:9: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

[Rick] (0:35 - 1:26) We all sin. We all make mistakes and sometimes they're just plain embarrassing. As Christians, we know that forgiveness for our sins can be readily available as a result of Jesus' sacrifice.

The question is, what do I have to do to access that availability? Is it automatic? Am I forgiven just because I've claimed the name of Jesus?

The answer to that question is an emphatic NO! While being a disciple of Christ grants us access to forgiveness from God, it does not automatically apply that forgiveness to our ongoing sins. So what do we have to do?

Do we actually have to confess our sins in detail to God? What does confessing our sins actually mean? Are there rituals that we should be following?

Should we confess them to others? Is there a right way or a wrong way to do this?

[Julie] (1:26 - 1:50) This is an interesting time to look at this topic. We live in a culture that celebrates image management, and confession feels like it's the opposite, where we voluntarily face the version of ourselves we'd rather hide. I'm excited to go through these questions that you asked, Rick.

Let's start with, do we actually have to confess our sins in detail to God? And what does confessing our sins actually mean?

[Rick] (1:50 - 2:02) Those are two important questions, a good baseline for us to begin with. Let's go to our theme Scripture as it's going to provide a basis for this conversation. 1 John 1:9:

[Julie] (2:02 - 2:41) " If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." This is a straightforward text. It shows us the importance of confessing our sins before God.

The Greek word John uses for "confess" is "homologeō." This is a legal word meaning to openly admit guilt; to declare the truth without excuses. The word also carries the idea of "saying the same thing."

Confession is both owning our guilt and agreeing honestly with God's assessment of it. We're bringing ourselves into alignment with Him--saying the same thing.

[Rick] (2:42 - 3:20) That's an important basis for us to begin with confession. What it does is it opens the door before God to forgiveness, to cleansing and to righteousness. Those are the things that were spoken of in 1 John 1:9.

We've got that in place. That's what we need to begin to take apart. Let's look at the process of accomplishing this confession, beginning with the Old Testament.

King David--whenever you want to talk about sins, King David is a very good place to go. He was a powerful example of confessing sins. After his sins with Bathsheba, he wrote Psalm 32 and Psalm 51.

[Julie] (3:20 - 3:40) In fact, Rick, the superscription of Psalm 51 says: "To the Chief Musician, a Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone into Bathsheba." How many of us would put our sins to music to be played in front of all our family, friends and our entire community and then preserve for thousands of generations after that?

[Rick] (3:40 - 4:22) You look at that and you say, what is going on? What that is, as we will see, is that is courageous repentance. That's what that is.

We're actually going to touch on Psalm 32. What we're going to do is take several of the verses out of order so that we can better observe the process that David went through instead of him just kind of showing you the end result and then working backwards. We're going to work forwards with the process he lays out.

In Psalm 32, there are actually five main points we want to cover, three of which we will pick up in this first segment. The first point: FEEL THE PAIN AND GUILT OF OUR SINS. Feel the pain and guilt of our sins.

Pay attention to the harshness and the guilt! Psalm 32:3-4:

[Julie] (4:23 - 4:44) "When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer.

Selah." David, as a poet, is expressing his guilt and inner turmoil. Today we might say, "my sins are eating me alive."

[Rick] (4:44 - 5:09) Yeah, yeah, that's a good way to put it. That's what was happening to David. Accepting our sinful actions as having happened and as a result of--wait for it--our own choices may be a profound challenge, a very difficult challenge.

Sometimes...sometimes we're able to admit our guilt and sometimes we need help. Let's look at the battle that King David actually had to fight with himself.

[Julie] (5:10 - 5:20) Yes. Some Christians today carry quiet guilt and it shows up as anxiety, irritability, or spiritual numbness without ever having named the sin behind it.

[Rick] (5:21 - 5:42) This is important. Let's look at what happened with King David. Now when Nathan the prophet came to him and he told him about a poor man with this one little lamb--he told him this event and David is going to be responding to it.

Julie, we're going to look at 2 Samuel 12:5-9. Let's just summarize the essence of what's happening here.

[Julie] (5:43 - 6:34) Sure. Nathan tells David this simple story about a rich man stealing a poor man's only lamb. David erupts in anger and pronounces judgment on this imaginary man without realizing he's really pronouncing judgment on himself, blind to his own guilt with the sins of Bathsheba.

Then in verse 7, Nathan says to David, "You are the man!" Through Nathan, God reminds David of everything He had given him: the throne, the kingdom, protection, blessing. And God says, "I would have given you even more."

Then comes the indictment in verse 9: "Why have you despised the word of the LORD by doing evil in His sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword,

have taken his wife to be your wife, and killed him with the sword of the sons of Ammon." This is God holding up that mirror that David had been avoiding.

[Rick] (6:35 - 7:01) Through Nathan, this mirror is being held up. And you know what? It's like a mirror that's in front of David to the right side, to the left side and behind.

Wherever David looks, he sees. He's seeing the reality and Nathan is pouring this reality out upon him. He has to learn to put this in place, to feel the pain, feel the guilt, feel the pressure of his sin.

This is what he did. It brings us to the second point in Psalm 32.

[Julie] (7:01 - 7:21) Before we go to the second point, I just wanted to try and think about how I might respond. How will David respond to this? Perhaps he's going to say something like, Lord, it's been a rough season.

I've been under a lot of pressure. Kings have really stressful jobs. But confession loses its power the moment we start explaining ourselves.

[Rick] (7:21 - 7:52) It does. It does. David, we're going to see, doesn't fall into that trap.

He is going to feel, he's going to embrace the pain of his actions because he knows there is no place to hide. Now the second point: EMBRACE THE NEEDED HUMILITY TO OPENLY CONFESS OUR SINS BEFORE GOD.

That means to give those sins fully to Him. Fully to Him! Let's look at Psalm 32:5:

[Julie] (7:52 - 8:03) "I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I did not hide; I said, I will confess my transgressions to the LORD, And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah."

[Rick] (8:03 - 8:50) Again, Selah is that pause and consider. He's saying, "I acknowledged my sin." My iniquity, I didn't hide it.

I laid it out. It was brought before me. Then I took it, and I expressed it.

I laid it out before You. We also need to work at keeping the process and power of God's forgiveness real. Because you know, Julie, we can feign His forgiveness.

I think we're going to develop that as we go a little bit. We want to keep it real because we know we're susceptible to sinking back into our crushing guilt. We have to rise up.

David, in his saying "my iniquity I did not hide," he is saying, I am transparent before God. That's a powerful principle there!

[Julie] (8:50 - 9:03) "Transparent" is a really good word for this. There's a whole study on David using these words "sin," "iniquity," and "transgressions" together. We're going to add more information to this week's CQ Rewind Show Notes in our Bonus Material.

[Rick] (9:03 - 9:32) Good, because this is a big basis for us to begin with. David is such a powerful example. It's no accident that this is in Scripture, because it really takes away all of the excuses, all of the what-ifs, all of the rationalization and says, here's how to deal with it.

Here's what happens next in David's experience. David proclaimed his sin, and Nathan then proclaimed God's judgment. Here's what happens; 2 Samuel 12:13-15:

[Julie] (9:32 - 10:15) "Then David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD." There's how David responded--no excuses! Once he realized the enormity of what he had done, he didn't justify it or try to downplay it in any way.

Continuing: "And Nathan said to David, the LORD also has taken away your sin; you shall not die. However, because by this deed you have given occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born to you shall surely die.

So Nathan went to his house. Then the LORD struck the child that Uriah's widow bore to David, so that he was very sick." Just notice, it's "Uriah's widow," not David's wife.

Same woman, but how it's described.

[Rick] (10:16 - 11:15) This is tragic. This is tragic. Someone may look at this and say, why does that poor child have to suffer for somebody else's sin?

The answer to that is because the world of sin is not fair. It simply isn't. What God is doing is putting consequences in place.

Now we know that child will be brought back in the resurrection, and will have a beautiful, beautiful opportunity for a beautiful eternal life. But this is a tragic difficulty, because now a child's life is hanging in the balance, and it's not looking good just by the words of what Nathan proclaimed to David. It brings us to the third point from Psalm 32 (we're going to go back to that Psalm):

BE AT PEACE. He was just told the child's going to die,

and the next point is be at peace based on honesty of confession while bearing the consequences of our sins. This is hard. This is not something you just say, oh, okay, fine.

Be at peace. Psalm 32, this is where verses 1 and 2 explain this point:

[Julie] (11:16 - 11:30) 'How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered! How blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit!" Just a note; there is sin, iniquity, and transgression--those three things again.

[Rick] (11:31 - 12:19) Here's the thing. We can find peace after sinning by receiving the gifts of grace and forgiveness from God through Jesus as a result of our humble efforts to allow God's grace and love to win. But we don't allow God's grace and love to win unless we fully let Him in to the situation and confess.

That's really what David is teaching us here in Psalm 32. Here's the next piece of the story of David, going back to 2 Samuel in a moment. In spite of the deep consequences of his sins, because he was told that the child would die, David will be worshiping God.

It seems like those are two opposites, but it's a powerful clarity as to what happens here. Let's go to 2 Samuel 12:19-20.

[Julie] (12:20 - 13:07) Contextually, David fasted, prayed, and he lay on the ground for seven days, begging God to spare this child. Verse 19 says: "But when David saw that his servants were whispering together, David perceived that the child was dead; so David said to his servants, Is the child dead?

And they said, He is dead. So David arose from the ground, washed, anointed himself, and changed his clothes; and he came into the house of the LORD and worshiped. Then he came to his own house, and when he requested, they set food before him, and he ate."

Wow, that really happened quickly. He knew God's justice and mercy had to be fulfilled, and he was willing to accept it. Though he had been forgiven, he didn't escape the consequences of his sin.

In fact, it plagued him and his family for the rest of his life.

[Rick] (13:07 - 14:17) Those seven days he spent begging for God's mercy. When God said no, because of the depth of your sin, he got up, and was he angry with God? No, he worshiped Him. That's what confession can actually do.

That's where it can put us if we let it. David is an amazing example of what confessing our sins actually needs to look like. Putting this together thus far; Clearing Our Conscience Through Confession Before God:

Confessing our sins before God is owning them. This is truly owning them. It's demonstrating our undivided loyalty to our Father by presenting ourselves with humble honesty and complete trust.

That's what David did. Confessing our sins before Him means we're willing to embrace whatever consequences He provides because they are for our highest well-being. That's what David did.

That's what we're learning by just touching on Psalm 32 at this point. Confessing our sins before God is really an exercise of deep and fundamental faith in God through our most difficult experiences.

[Julie] (14:18 - 14:25) The example of King David is dramatic! Are there any differences in how our confessions before God should work with us as Christians?

[Rick] (14:26 - 14:53) Well, using King David's example is important as it focuses us on the great power of confessing our sins, again, before God. Our next step is to now examine what the New Testament tells us about this important aspect of our Christian experience. We have the distinct advantage of having Jesus to rely on, and that fact truly, truly helps our cause!

[Julie] (14:53 - 15:29) David shows us the heart of confession—honesty, humility, transparency. The New Testament now gives us the framework for how confession works for followers of Jesus. The next question from our introduction that you asked, Rick, is: Are there rituals we should be following?

Some Christians treat confession as something formal, structured, often done through a priest as part of receiving forgiveness. But Scripture presents confession differently, not so much as a ritual that dispenses forgiveness but a relational step that restores our alignment with God.

[Rick] (15:30 - 15:59) That's important. That's an important phrase. It's a relational step that restores our alignment with God.

Again, are there rituals that we should be following? No! The Scriptures don't give us rituals.

God sees all, and we need to just go to Him. Now think about that. God sees all.

Look, that can be a little bit unsettling to think about, but that's the principle. God sees all, and we need to go to Him fully, without reservation. Let's look at Hebrews 4:12-13:

[Julie] (15:59 - 16:20) "For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do."

[Rick] (16:20 - 16:49) In verse 12, it talks about "the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword" that can break through anything. Then at the end of the 12, He's "able to judge the thoughts and the intentions of the heart." You're going to God--

He already knows! He not only knows what you did, how you did it, He knows why you did it, and He knows what you're thinking about as you are trying to go to Him. He knows it all, but we need to go.

We need to put this in place, because He is the all-knowing God.

[Julie] (16:50 - 17:02) Yeah okay, but if He sees all, He's the all-knowing God, why would we need to confess our sins to Him? He's all-knowing! Proverbs 15:3 says: "The LORD is watching everywhere, keeping His eye on both the evil and the good."

He knows.

[Rick] (17:02 - 17:02) He does.

[Julie] (17:02 - 17:03) No reason to tell Him.

[Rick] (17:03 - 19:13) He does. But you know what? It's important because it's a lesson.

It's a teaching experience that needs to happen. Just a quick story from many years ago when our oldest, our son--he's in his 40s now, don't do the math about my age, but he's in his 40s now--and he was maybe eight or nine or something.

Something happened at school, and he got mad at one of the other kids, and he broke the kid's pencils. It was a pretty bad situation for a seven-year-old or whatever, however old he was, and I got word from the teacher. So our son comes home, and I say, so tell me what happened. Head down, he kind of mumbles it. And I said, so what happened?

You did what? And I said, Okay, what are you going to do about it? Well, I don't know.

I said, Well, you broke his pencils. Don't you think we should do something? I guess I got to get him pencils.

I said, Okay, okay, so do you have any money? No. I said, Okay, we're going to have to put you to work so you can earn the money to go buy the pencils. And he did, and at the beginning, it was very begrudging, but after a while, the chores, he started to get it. Then he and I went to the store and we bought pencils.

Here's where the pencils are. He picked the ones that were the shiny ones and all the...because now he's excited. So then we called the mom and said, hey, we want to come by and make amends. She met, she and her son met us at the front door. I said, Tim has got something to say. He volunteered and said, here are the pencils. You could tell he was feeling like, okay, this is good.

I'll never forget. The mom looked at him and said, you know what? That was a very manly thing you just did. Again, why?

I already knew, but the important thing was that he know. He know the...and look, it's a simple little thing for a little kid, but the principle is a powerful, powerful story. The lesson here is we tell God, even though He knows everything, so we can begin to see ourselves in a more God-reflective way.

That's the point of telling Him. That's the importance of putting this in such a clear picture. Let's go to Hebrews chapter 4:14-16:

[Julie] (19:13 - 20:14) "Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

Just a quick point. These texts aren't telling us to confess to Jesus instead of God, but it's showing that we can come to God through Jesus because he (Jesus) understands us, he intercedes for us, and that opens the way to the throne of grace. Confession is acknowledging what God says about our sin, not what we wish were true.

It's aligning with Him, not informing Him. Here's a quick illustration. I was just this week getting dressed and my shorts felt, well, wrong.

Did I gain weight? Did I lose weight? Something was off, and I looked down and I realized I had them on backwards!

[Rick] (20:14 - 20:14) Oh, geez.

[Julie] (20:15 - 20:51) Yes. I'm grateful I caught that before I left the house. But here's the point;

our sin shouldn't feel comfortable. It should feel off to us until we turn ourselves back the right way. Confession is how we get aligned in God's way, not our own.

Confession, it's not like a vending machine where you put in a confession and you get out automatic forgiveness. It's how we come back into harmony with God's heart. We're going to talk about repentance a little bit later.

It's a relationship step to restore that closeness so that we can move into repentance.

[Rick] (20:52 - 20:55) That's such a good story because you were not comfortable.

[Julie] (20:56 - 20:57) And I didn't know quite why.

[Rick] (20:57 - 21:43) That's what happens with guilt. Sometimes we want to avoid something. We want to rationalize it.

We don't want to let it be as big as it is it might be. We just try to...well, it's okay, it's okay. And we're just not right.

You have to be able to look at that and take that and say, where am I going wrong? What do I need to do? With that in mind, now the context of our theme Scripture that plainly tells us to confess our sins before God.

That's a Scripture we started with. This is the opening message of 1 John. He gives his greetings and here comes his opening message.

He begins by setting a dramatic and fundamental comparison in place. We're going to look at 1 John 1:5-10

and we're going to essentially take it one verse at a time. Julie, 1 John 1:5:

[Julie] (21:43 - 21:50) " This is the message we have heard from him and announce to you, that God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all."

[Rick] (21:51 - 22:10) Here's the principle. There is no middle ground. Understand that.

There is the light of God or there is darkness. There is one, there is the other, and it's either one or the other. That's the principle John puts in place.

Therefore, let's go to 1 John 1:6:

[Julie] (22:11 - 22:17) "If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth..."

[Rick] (22:18 - 22:44) That's a powerful statement. If we say that we're fellowshipping with Him but we're in the darkness, it's a lie. We cannot profess discipleship and walk a compromised path or we will be fooling only ourselves and we will be lying before God.

That's a serious consequence. There's light and there's darkness. We have to choose where we're walking.

On to 1 John 1:7:

[Julie] (22:45 - 22:53) "...but if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His son cleanses us from all sin."

[Rick] (22:54 - 23:21) Our true fellowship through Jesus is with one another, but it depends on our walking in the light. Not in the partial light, not in kind of an in-between, not in a rationalized state. We need to walk in the light.

Julie, this is where this confession concept--confessing our sins before God--becomes so powerful, because we need to have that purity set upon our hearts and our minds and our consciences so that we can move forward with it.

[Julie] (23:22 - 23:51) In studying for this, I was looking at some of these dark and light Scriptures and it's surprising how often Scripture describes sin as something done in the dark. It's hidden, concealed, kept out of sight. Proverbs 4:19 says: "The way of the wicked is like darkness..."

But here John is turning that imagery around. Instead of hiding in the dark, he's calling us, walk in the light. Confession is what brings us out of those shadows into God's light where healing and fellowship can actually happen.

[Rick] (23:51 - 23:55) All right. With that thought, let's go to 1 John 1:8:

[Julie] (23:55 - 24:00) "If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us."

[Rick] (24:00 - 24:01) Okay.

[Julie] (24:01 - 24:04) These are like clubbing me over the head. I mean, these are really strong!

[Rick] (24:04 - 24:30) Well, it is. That's why verse by verse, you see what John is building.

This true fellowship does not release us from our fallen human nature. Just because I'm a Christian doesn't mean I'm above and beyond anything and everything and I can just sort of rationalize things. We have to be on the alert.

That's what John is telling us. Now let's go to 1 John 1:9 (verse 9 is our theme Scripture) and then verse 10 as well:

[Julie] (24:30 - 24:41) "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us."

[Rick] (24:42 - 25:20) It's harsh. It's clear. It's true.

It's pure. We have to grab hold of it. Are there rituals here?

No, there's no rituals. There's just a foundation of having our sins forgiven. That's the key.

To deny our sins is to deny true discipleship. Just like David was transparent before God, we must be transparent before God. That's what 1 John:5-10 is really telling us.

Just moving a little bit forward now. Our confessions or professions of Jesus can actually be a model for our confessions of our sins. What do we mean by that?

Let's look at Matthew 10:32:

[Julie] (25:20 - 25:39) "Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men (and this is Jesus speaking), him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven." This uses that "homologeo" word for confess, but in a different way. It's about confessing allegiance--public loyalty--meaning not hiding our discipleship.

[Rick] (25:40 - 26:20) One of the things that we can look at and misrepresent in the Scripture is the idea of I confess the Lord Jesus before men. I talk about him. I'm a believer in Jesus.

That's not what this is about. Really it's saying if we live Jesus before others, then Jesus will bring us before the Heavenly Father and say, true disciple, true disciple, living in light. That's what this is about.

That's why confession is so incredibly important. We need to clearly recognize the powerful accountability of what being a true disciple really is. Let's look at Galatians 6:7-8:

[Julie] (26:20 - 26:35) "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the spirit will from the spirit reap eternal life."

[Rick] (26:35 - 27:24) There you have it. We reap what we sow. Here's the thing.

I don't get to be the judge. It's not me who judges, it's the Heavenly Father who judges. We can understand a judgment through scriptural principle.

When I violate scriptural principle, make no mistake, I am starting to walk in darkness and I need to do something dramatic about it. Our confessing our sins is all about being in a position to embrace the power of forgiveness. Right now up to this point, Julie, where it's like, everybody listening is like, this is scary, this is scary--but it's about the power of forgiveness.

Paul in Hebrew shows us two phases of forgiveness. I love this part! First, the power of forgiveness that passes to us.

Let's look at Hebrews 10:19-23. Again, Julie, just sum up some of the pieces here.

[Julie] (27:24 - 27:53) These verses tell us that Jesus' sacrifice gives us confident access to God. Our hearts are cleansed, our conscience is freed. Then in verse 23 he says: "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful." In other words, we have to stand in the light in order to receive what He's giving. We can't be in the dark and expect to be ready to receive.

You don't just say words and you get forgiveness, but you're still really sitting in the dark.

[Rick] (27:54 - 28:12) "Hold fast" to "the confession." "Hold fast" to "the confession of our hope without wavering" by bringing things before God. That's forgiveness passing to us, but it doesn't stop there.

The second phase of forgiveness is to allow its power to pass through us. That's in Hebrews 10:24-25:

[Julie] (28:12 - 28:37) "And let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near." When we hold fast our confession because it says, "He who promised is faithful," we become a positive influence on those around us. The cleansing that began inside starts to show on the outside.

[Rick] (28:38 - 29:37) We often quote these verses, "Consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds," because that's a very positive verse. It's very full of flowing goodness and inspiration, and you get excited. But it's because we've confessed our sins.

It's because we are clean before God. Then we can really contribute to others. That's what this is telling us, and it's such an important principle.

You have to have the confession of sins before God. Again, Clearing Our Conscience Through Confession Before God: Confessing our sins before God is owning them.

We said it now, we're going to say it again. It can only be done appropriately if we're abiding in the light of His word and His will, and we are willing to see ourselves humbly and honestly, with purity from godly perspective. Because we're given so much blessing and guidance as Jesus' disciples, taking the step of full confession will ultimately end in continued blessing, as long as our hearts remain committed.

[Julie] (29:37 - 29:51) We keep seeing this confession as a relational step. It's personally aligning our hearts with God, restoring closeness, walking in the light, transparent alignment. These are the words that keep coming up.

That's the foundation we're building on.

[Rick] (29:52 - 30:05) That's what the Scriptures are teaching us that we need to do. Nobody ever said that truly confessing our sins before God would be easy. On the contrary, it's a challenge that can firmly build our faith.

[Julie] (30:06 - 30:15) Now that we can see the Christian's responsibility for confessing our sins before God, our next question from our introduction is, "Should we confess our sins to others?"

[Rick] (30:16 - 30:47) The answer to this question is a cautious "yes." We do need caution here, because arbitrarily informing others about such deeply personal and challenging things can unfortunately, and sometimes unknowingly, produce responses of gossip and even slander. We should strive to only reveal our deep challenges in an atmosphere of reverent and respectful hearing.

Reverent and respectful hearing; that's the key here.

[Julie] (30:48 - 31:07) If I'm being honest, this complete segment panics me a little. I can guarantee you that I am not announcing my deepest, darkest failings to everyone that I meet. I'm still working my way up to bringing them fully before God through Jesus.

So the idea of bringing them to another person feels even more intimidating. This next part deserves a thoughtful look.

[Rick] (31:08 - 31:30) Yes, yes, it does. It's tough. What does confessing our faults to one another actually look like?

Actually, what is it really? I'm going to look at James 5:13-16. Again, Julie, a lot of verses here.

I'm just going to ask you to sum up pieces of them so we can get to the core of how this helps us understand this confessing of our sins to one another.

[Julie] (31:30 - 32:20) James has just been talking about spiritual discouragement--praying when we're suffering and seeking help when we're weak. Then he says in verse 16--this is interesting-- for "confessing to God," the word "homologeō" was used (Editor's note--in John 1:9, for example).

James uses a different Greek word here for confess, "exomologeō," which has the thought of openly acknowledge something so that others can help us pray and heal. Different word. God gives one kind of confess and to man is another kind of confess.

This is about inviting spiritual support in the right setting. Confessing to God is aligning with His truth. Confessing to another is inviting support, accountability and healing.

[Rick] (32:21 - 33:17) There is definitely a more outward expression here in this confession because the confession before God is solemn and reverent and individual. You can see that it's a very different perspective here. We're not going to get the forgiveness from confessing to others.

We are, like you said, going to gain the support. But here's the thing; the reverent trust and confidence.

In those verses before (Editor's note: James 5:13-15), it was talking about elders working with those who were in the congregation suffering through trials. It shows reverent trust and confidence displayed in those elders to be helpful. Then it goes right into this example of confessing our sins to one another.

That example of reverently working together to build that person up, that's what the confessing of our sins to one another should be built on. That's how it should work. The big question is, am I willing to be transparent before others?

[Julie] (33:17 - 33:35) Well, some Christian groups, especially in charismatic or revival-style settings, they are very transparent. They practice a public confession, and these moments are often emotional and spontaneous in front of the entire congregation. But I can't think of a Scripture where this is actually prescribed or required.

[Rick] (33:36 - 33:50) We have to be careful about extending things beyond what the Scriptures actually tell us to do. There's a reason that we have to have that reverent and respectful hearing with all of these things. I'm glad you brought that up, because we've got to follow the scriptural example.

[Julie] (33:51 - 34:21) I think when we're looking at confessing to others, we have to think of this not so much as exposing ourselves--because who wants to be that vulnerable-- it's really more about inviting spiritual support, as you'd said, in the right setting. When we confess to someone who is spiritually mature, we can borrow their strength and their guidance until our strength returns.

Just as importantly, they can help us be held accountable as we work our way through various temptations or trials.

[Rick] (34:22 - 34:51) Now, having said that, we need to look at the other side of it and understand that if we are on the side of hearing someone's experiences, we have not only great responsibility but we have to be very, very, very, very careful in how we handle that, because it's so easy to abuse it. It's so easy to repeat things that we shouldn't--it's way too easy. We have to put things in order. How do we do that?

I think Matthew 7:1-4 is going to be a good place for us to start:

[Julie] (34:52 - 35:40) "Do not judge so that you will not be judged. For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?

Or how can you say to your brother, Let me take the speck out of your eye, and behold, the log is in your own eye?" You have to be really careful if you're trusted with someone's secrets, so to speak, not to accidentally or intentionally use that information in a way that it harms this person. Rick, you are probably the least judgmental person that I've ever known.

I know a lot of people are very open with you about their sins, and they are confessing to you. How do you handle that? Don't you just burst at the seams and just want to tell somebody what's happening?

[Rick] (35:40 - 38:09) No. No, no, no, no. Because it's such a deep responsibility.

Frankly, honestly, from my very core, every time this happens, it scares me to death. Because somebody is trusting you to such a degree, and you are now responsible to be godly in handling that trust. Not an ounce under godliness should be acceptable.

When that happens, Julie, sometimes somebody will start saying something to me, and it's like the bubble inside of me bursts, and I go, oh, no...oh, no...please, Lord...what do I... Really, it comes down to, what do I do now? What do I say now?

Then it's trying to figure out how to reverently, respectfully, tell them the things that maybe they need to hear. Sometimes, individuals--sometimes we all may need to hear what David needed to hear from Nathan; "You are that man!"

Sometimes they need to recognize that, okay, it's done. What are the broken pieces? Where do we start?

Sometimes it's just prayer. Sometimes silence works best, and it's scary. It's scary.

It's not something I recommend to anyone. Even in testimony meetings, when there's a group of brothers and sisters together, if someone speaks of something that's pretty personal, and if I am in the position of chairing that testimony meeting, I'll pause after that person finishes and remind all of us that we are in a reverent and respectful hearing position. Let's treat it that way.

There is no talking about this. If you have any questions as to what to do, you come to me, or you go directly to that individual. It's difficult, but it's necessary because that's how we can build one another up.

Okay. It's tough. This is a tough subject, okay?

This is going to bring us to our fourth point from Psalm 32. Now let's just really quickly recap the first three. First, feel the pain and guilt of our sins.

Pay attention to the harshness and the guilt. The second point: Embrace the needed humility to openly confess our sins before God. Give them fully to Him.

The third point: Be at peace, based on honesty of confession while bearing the consequences of our sins. Now the fourth point from Psalm 32: ENCOURAGE OTHERS TO KNOW GOD'S MERCY BECAUSE WE HAVE BEEN GIVEN GOD'S MERCY. If we've gone through this, we have been given this opportunity to encourage others to know it.

Let's go back to Psalm 32:6-8:

[Julie] (38:09 - 38:38) "Therefore (in other words, because You forgave the guilt of my sin), let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found; surely in a flood of great waters they will not reach him. You are my hiding place;

You preserve me from trouble; You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah. (Now this is David speaking for God)--

I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you."

[Rick] (38:38 - 39:13) David is essentially saying, be a living example. He says, "Therefore," because the guilt of my sin has been lifted, "let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time where You may be found." In other words, encourage others to offer their sins up before God before they're so overwhelmed in the guilt and the frustration by them that they're susceptible to be completely overtaken and swallowed by them.

David was being swallowed by his sins and Nathan rescued him. David is saying, I want to show others that it's okay. Bring it before God, put it where it belongs, and things can change.

[Julie] (39:14 - 39:17) Before that flood of great waters comes over them.

[Rick] (39:17 - 39:18) Yes.

[Julie] (39:19 - 39:34) Oh, that's just beautiful; look what David did for us.

He memorialized his sins in such a way that we're still learning from them now. Our friend Carl Hagenseck would always say, "lessons learned can become lessons taught." RICK: Yeah.

JULIE: That's giving to others the difficult times that happened to you.

[Rick] (39:34 - 40:20) That's one of the things that when someone is going through something like this, you remind them of. Think of the value of your overcoming and dealing with this. Think of what you can help to contribute to others because of that.

The harshness is for a reason. The Apostle Paul is also a great example of this. Though he couldn't fix the lives that he destroyed when he was Saul of Tarsus hunting Christians down, he could show his complete ownership of his sins as well as the transformation he was blessed with.

He told both believers and unbelievers about his past. He didn't hold it back from anyone. He did just what David did in the Old Testament.

He's the New Testament example here. Paul accepted responsibilities for his actions. In Galatians 1:13, he's speaking to Gentile believers. Here's what he says:

[Julie] (40:21 - 40:29) "For you have heard of my former manner of life in Judaism, how I used to persecute the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it."

[Rick] (40:29 - 40:52) He's telling Christians, I tried to destroy everybody like you. That was one of my objectives. The next verses we're going to look at, Paul is recounting a conversation that he had with some hostile Jewish crowd in Jerusalem.

They're in Jerusalem for Pentecost, and they are angry because he's bringing Gentiles around and they don't like them. Here's what he says in Acts 22:17-20.

[Julie] (40:52 - 41:14) He's telling them about that conversion that he had with Jesus and the vision: "And I said, Lord, they themselves understand that in one synagogue after another I used to imprison and beat those who believed in you. And when the blood of your witness Stephen was being shed, I also was standing by approving, and watching out for the coats of those who were slaying him."

[Rick] (41:14 - 41:42) He's laying out, this is what I did. He's laying out to a hostile crowd, saying, think what you want. This is the truth, and I'm not afraid of it.

The question is, how ready, willing, and able are we to accept what we have done in our past, the way the Apostle Paul accepted what he did? One more scriptural example; Paul answered the call from Jesus to preach the gospel. He did it with his whole being, and his next verses, he's talking to King Agrippa. Acts 26: 19-23:

[Julie] (41:42 - 42:01) "So, King Agrippa, I did not prove disobedient to the heavenly vision, but kept declaring both to those of Damascus first, and also at Jerusalem and then throughout all the region of Judea, and even to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds appropriate to repentance."

[Rick] (42:02 - 42:27) "Deeds appropriate to repentance." Paul replaced shame and guilt with powerful and motivating remorse. Just like David who was transparent before God, the Apostle Paul is transparent before God.

He's using that transparency as a tool of witnessing to the gospel. Again, Clearing Our Conscience Through Confession Before God:

[Julie] (42:27 - 42:59) Confessing our sins before God is owning them. Once we do truly own our sins AND the forgiveness that God's grace provides, we are powerfully positioned to use our experiences to encourage others towards their own deeper godliness and transparency. Such encouragement must be made with clear and spiritual principles in place, and can result in significant blessing! As we wrap up this segment, Rick, are we though, REQUIRED to confess our sins to others?

Does it add to our "sin list" if we don't?

[Rick] (43:00 - 43:38) We are not required to confess, especially those deep, deep, deep ones to others, as long as they are appropriately handled before God. With many of our sins, though, it is important to get help, because there's a vulnerability and an accountability on a very human level that is very, very valuable. It's not a requirement, but boy, is it helpful in the right environment, and that's really the key.

Talking about being vulnerable here, I mean, this is vulnerability. With hearts firmly set on building others up in an appropriate way, the risks taken here can become investments into others.

[Julie] (43:38 - 43:45) These are challenging lessons! The next question from our introduction: "Is there a right way and a wrong way to do this?"

[Rick] (43:45 - 44:15) The short answer here is yes, there is a right way to do this. The right way--the only way--to confess our sins before God is to do it as we engage in true, heartfelt repentance. This repentance bears some discussion, as it can be easy to mistake a simple acknowledgement of our wrongdoing for genuine repentance. Now we've got to just understand repentance.

Exactly what is repentance and what is NOT repentance?

[Julie] (44:16 - 45:17) In the New Testament, there are two very different ideas hiding behind our one English word, "repent." One word means regret; it's an emotional reaction.

We feel bad. We even feel guilty. It's about being in the moment.

The other word means to change direction, to rethink your path and actually turn around. Beyond just the moment, it's about life. The clearest New Testament picture for me of this difference is Judas and Peter.

Judas felt deep regret that was an emotional collapse. It drove him away from Jesus and into despair.

Peter also failed terribly, but his response shows this kind of turning that showed the change of heart. It brought him back toward Jesus. Judas regretted;

he ran from the Lord. Peter grieved, turned, and ran towards him. One other example, in Matthew 11:21, Jesus said to the people of Chorazin and Bethsaida that they would have repented if they had seen his miracles.

Not just felt bad, but truly turned.

[Rick] (45:18 - 45:47) Right, because the repentance would have been in sackcloth and ashes. That was a signal that you are openly saying, I have been wrong, I have done wrong, I am wrong, and now I am going to make it right. This is an important principle.

Repentance is not regret. Let's define this. Regret causes us to pause because something we did or thought doesn't sit well in our heart or our mind.

[Julie] (45:47 - 45:51) Or because we got caught! Repentance is not--we got caught!

[Rick] (45:51 - 47:30) Yes, that's really important. It's interesting; Nathan caught David, brought it to his attention, and then David repented. See, repentance doesn't end at getting caught. If you did get caught, that's where it can actually begin.

Here's what repentance does; it causes us to stop, to observe, to process, to conclude, and then to fundamentally change direction. That's the key of repentance.

It's changing direction. True repentance stimulates that word, stimulates transparency. Because it says, not going there, not living like that anymore.

I have changed, I'm a new person, I'm walking in a new way. Doesn't mean you're going to be without falling, but it does mean that you have set your heart and your mind and your feet on a different path. While understanding the depth of what repentance requires from us, let's go to the fifth point from Psalm 32.

The fifth point, the final point, is: GROW INTO ENCOURAGING OTHERS TO BE PLIABLE IN THE HANDS OF GOD. Again, what we're going to find is this can only happen--we can only be encouraging to this degree--if we are truly repentant. Otherwise, it's just a shallow thing.

Folks, most of the time, we know in our hearts if we're truly repentant or not. Are we still trying to hide it? Are we still trying to cover it up?

Are we still trying to find happiness and goodness when we shouldn't be? Work on the repentance. Let's look at Psalm 32:9-11:

[Julie] (47:30 - 48:19) "Do not be as the horse or as the mule which have no understanding, whose trappings include bit and bridle to hold them in check, otherwise they will not come near to you. Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but he who trusts in the LORD, lovingkindness shall surround him Be glad in the LORD and rejoice, you righteous ones; and shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart."

I love when Scriptures are so basic, you totally get them. Here, don't be a stubborn mule! That I understand.

God wants us to come back again into alignment because we want to, not because we're a stubborn mule being dragged to. Honest introspection and then confession--honest confession--is one of the ways we keep stepping back into this alignment, and it helps us live in the joy that our Designer intended for us.

[Rick] (48:20 - 49:07) It really does. In that Scripture, it says, "He who trusts in the Lord, lovingkindness shall surround him." When we repent--confess before God--we can be surrounded by His lovingkindness.

Sometimes we think it's going to be anger, and yes, there are consequences, but it's because of His lovingkindness that the consequences exist. That's the key. What we want to do is be able to learn from that so we can be urgent in our encouragement to others.

We have this unfathomable privilege of being personally loved by God. I mean, let that thought just sink into your head here. Revealing our flaws to Him helps us realize our lack!

Repentance is a foundation for a godly life. Ephesians 1:7:

[Julie] (49:08 - 49:14) "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace."

[Rick] (49:15 - 50:20) Simple verse. "We have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses." How do we get there?

We are given that as a gift, and as we now sin more, which we will, repentance becomes critical. Repentance would be extremely hard if it had to stand alone. But in Ephesians 1:7, the verse you just read, it puts God's forgiveness and Jesus' ransom into the picture, and now that repentance has so much support. That's the key.

If you're repenting for a sin and there's no support, it's a very lonely, stark, and barren place to live. But here, repentance is surrounded by the lovingkindness of God--which is often coming out in consequence, because we need it to grow. That's what a father does.

That's the lovingkindness of lifting us up, teaching us. Confession of our sins based on true repentance is exactly what God looks for from us. Confessing to Him is what He looks for from us.

Psalm 103:8-14:

[Julie] (50:20 - 50:34) "The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness. He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities."

[Rick] (50:35 - 50:47) It's telling us there's something bigger. He's not always going to be angry with us. He's got a bigger plan.

He's not going to be working with us based on our iniquities because there's something bigger, something stronger in all of that.

[Julie] (50:48 - 50:59) "For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His lovingkindness towards those who fear Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us."

[Rick] (51:00 - 51:11) If you want to have Him remove your transgressions as far as the east is from the west, then confess your sins before God. Repent so things can be put in order. Let's finish the verses:

[Julie] (51:12 - 51:22) "Just as a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him. For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust."

[Rick] (51:23 - 51:36) He will give us what we need, when we need, how we need it, in the way that we can actually learn from it, if we will trust Him with our sins with that confession and with that repentance.

[Julie] (51:36 - 51:52) It reminds me of Proverbs 28:13, "He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion." Again, confession is the courage to bring our darkness into God's healing light.

[Rick] (51:53 - 52:33) Folks, here we have it. Clearing Our Conscience Through Confession Before God: Confessing our sins before God is owning them, owning them. A major factor in that ownership is the act of true repentance.

While repentance does not mean we suddenly become pure in heart, mind and deed, it does mean that we are committed to seeking those things. That's the big thing. We are committed to seeking those things.

The repentance factor completes our confession before God. This complete confession, when we put this complete confession in place, it praises and worships Him, and it blesses us beyond measure!

[Julie] (52:34 - 52:56) We started by asking the question, is it necessary to confess my sins? The answer is yes. It's not because God needs information from us, but because we need transparent alignment with Him.

It's how we realign our hearts with God's truth, turning our compass needle back towards His true north, restoring our closeness with Him.

[Rick] (52:56 - 53:47) It really comes down to understanding. Confession of sins has to be before God, first, foremost and always. Repentance is a basis for that confession to actually be able to work and be transformative.

It is important when we can to confess our sins to one another for the purpose of building one another up. Then as we learn to go through our sins and confess them and learn from them, think of the blessing you can be to others who are going through the same experiences. That's why confessing our sins before God is so very important.

Think about it. Folks, we love hearing from our listeners. We welcome your feedback and questions on this episode and other episodes at ChristianQuestions.com.

Coming up in our next episode: "How Do I Identify Temptation and Shut It Down?"

Final Notes: copyright @2026 Christian Questions. In addition to this transcript, we provide comprehensive CQ Rewind Show Notes for every episode. They include every scripture quoted during the podcast, as well as graphics, illustrations and bonus material. Click the "CQ Rewind Show Notes" button near the audio player or sign up to receive these weekly at ChristianQuestions.com. This transcript was created using artificial intelligence. While we believe it to be accurate, we apologize for any errors that may exist.