“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 5:9).

Have you ever experienced what I call a “David and Nathan moment?” In 2 Samuel 12, Nathan the prophet, through means of a parable, got it across to King David that he had committed the sins of adultery and murder (you must read the story if you don’t already know it).  This is called conviction. I believe that David felt gut-punched when he was convicted of his sin; I myself have felt the gut-wrenching sense of conviction of my sin—it is unbelievably uncomfortable.

Upon becoming convicted of sin in our lives, we have two choices:

1. Acknowledge our sin. This is called confession, and it means that we agree with God about our sin. In this case, King David’s response is “I have sinned against the Lord.” (2 Samuel 12:13), OR
2. Ignore the conviction, hoping it will go away. This is called hardening of the heart, and if you do it enough, you will become immune to your sin. “If we don’t confess our sins, they have a cumulative and desensitizing effect on the conscience, making it difficult to even distinguish right from wrong. And this sinful and hardened heart is tantamount to the “seared conscience” Paul speaks of in 1 Timothy 4:1–2. Scripture makes it clear that if we relentlessly continue to engage in sin, there will come a time when God will give us over to our “debased minds” and let us have it our way. The apostle Paul writes about God’s wrath of abandonment in his letter to the Romans where we see that godless and wicked “men who suppress the truth” are eventually given over to the sinful desires of their hardened hearts (Romans 1:18–24)” (From Got Questions)

As believers, we need to continually evaluate our choices—what we think, say, and do—and seek conviction. And when we receive conviction, then we must confess our sins as stated in 1 John 1:9. Confession means agreeing with God about our sin; it means admitting to God that we have sinned. Confession does NOT require a priest; it is a direct interaction with God. God is the only One who can forgive sin, and Jesus is our only Mediator. However, there are times when it is also appropriate to confess to others about our sin if that is what it takes to reconcile, or to ask for prayers or encouragement in overcoming our sin.

With confession comes repentance, an about-face, a turning from sin. We can’t just say I agree I have sinned, but I’m not going to change.  And the promise is this: when we confess our sins to God, he is faithful to forgive us and purify us.

Some supporting comments:

1. We all sin. “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…” (Romans 3:23).
2. All sins are equal before God, and without forgiveness will result in death. “For the wages of sin is death…” (Romans 6:23a).
3. Some sins have greater earthly consequences than others. For example, while hate and murder are equally sinful before God, murder carries a greater punishment in earthly courts. (Matthew 5:21-22).
4. “Scripture singles out sexual sin as having worse consequences than other types of sin: ‘Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body’ (1 Corinthians 6:18). In this passage, immorality is considered apart from other sins such as dishonesty, pride, envy, etc. All sin will negatively affect the mind and soul of a person, but sexual immorality will immediately and directly affect one’s body.” (From Got Questions)

Where does grace fit in to all of this? In the Message, we learn “All that passing laws against sin did was produce more lawbreakers. But sin didn’t, and doesn’t, have a chance in competition with the aggressive forgiveness we call grace. When it’s sin versus grace, grace wins hands down. All sin can do is threaten us with death, and that’s the end of it. Grace, because God is putting everything together again through the Messiah, invites us into life—a life that goes on and on and on, world without end” (Romans 5:20-21).

In our opening story, Nathan displayed the grace of Jesus Christ in confronting King David with his sin. King David received this grace, which led to his confession and repentance. Let us seek to follow David’s example so that we can receive God’s gift of grace and eternal life.

“Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?” (Romans 2:4).

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

In Christ,

Judy