Page 41 - Biblical Counseling I Textbook

Study Section 7: Understanding Confession

7.1 Connect

When I was a child, I would often do something wrong but found out that my parents did not know
about it. I was relieved at first, but then a sense of tremendous guilt invaded my spirit. Life
became miserable, no matter what I tried to do. It was only through going to my parents and
confessing my sin did the guilt go away. The same is true for everyone, even when we reach
adulthood.

The Bible calls this guilt our conscience. The problem is we can fool ourselves with bad advice to believe what
we did was not “all that bad.” We can excuse our sin and sear our conscience. But no matter how hard we try
to hide from our sin, it remains. The only way to deal with sin is to go to God and the people we have offended
and confess our sin before them. The Bible says, “if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our
sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (I John 1:9). Today we want to gain a good understanding of
what confession is and how to practice it….

7.2 Objectives

1. The student should be able to define what true confession is and how it brings forgiveness.

2. The student should be able to explain what true forgiveness is and how it solves the problems of life.

3. The student should be able to understand the role of the church in dispensing discipline to bring forgiveness
and reconciliation.

7.3 Understanding confession

What is confession?
ὁμολογέω (homologeo) = to say the same thing

Confession is agreement with God with respect to what He has revealed.

What do we confess?
• Negative confession (Psalm 32; 1 John 1:9).
• Positive confession (Matt. 10:32; Rom. 10:8-10).

To whom do we confess?
• Ultimately to God (Ps. 51:4; 1 John 1:9).
• To those against whom we have sinned (Matt. 18:15; Luke 17:4).
• To one another.

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