The Grace of Confession

Confession is a means of grace unto reconciliation with God.

“Speak to the sons of Israel, ‘When a man or woman commits any of the sins of mankind, acting unfaithfully against the LORD, and that person is guilty, then he shall confess his sins which he has committed, and he shall make restitution in full for his wrong and add to it one-fifth of it, and give it to him whom he has wronged.'” (Numbers 5:6-7)

“Now if a person sins and does any of the things which the LORD has commanded not to be done, though he was unaware, still he is guilty and shall bear his punishment. He is then to bring to the priest a ram without defect from the flock, according to your valuation, for a guilt offering. So the priest shall make atonement for him concerning his error in which he sinned unintentionally and did not know it, and it will be forgiven him. It is a guilt offering; he was certainly guilty before the LORD.” (Leviticus 5:17-19)

In the Old Testament, when a person had sinned against God or against men, even if it was unintentional but brought to his knowledge, he had to come before God at the Tent of Meeting, confess his sin and wrongdoing, present his sacrifices according to the laws of offerings to the priest for atonement sacrifice, and make restitution for his wrongdoing where required. He knew that once the priest had made atonement on his behalf for his sin which he had committed, it would be forgiven him.

This principle of reconciliation with God and with men remains valid today, albeit in different forms and substance.

“If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; 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… If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:6-7, 9)

“For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Hebrews 9:13-14)

Today, if we sin against God or against men, even though unintentional but brought to our knowledge by the Spirit or by men, we still need to appear before God at the throne room of His grace, confess our sins and wrongdoings, present as our offerings (burnt offering, sin offering, guilt offering, or peace offering) the eternal blood of Christ through Christ the eternal mediator and priest for atonement, and then make restitution to whom we have done wrong.

As we can see, the requirements for atonement through blood sacrifice have not been changed, though the constant bearing of animals to priests for blood sacrifices has been replaced by the better and once-and-for-all-time sacrifice of Christ, the Lamb of God; and the imperfect priesthood after the order of Aaron has been replaced by the perfect and perpetual priesthood of Christ according to the order of Melchizedek.

While Jesus Christ has changed the forms and substance of sacrificial offerings, He did not make redundant the need for confession of sins and wrongdoings before God.

What is confession then? Confession is not about doing penance or seeking absolution to avoid punishment. Confession is for atonement, consecration, and sanctification; and for presenting the soothing aroma of a humble, contrite, and thankful heart to God; through the sacrificial and salvific work of Christ Jesus, the mediator between God and men. Thus, confession is an act of acknowledging God’s transcendent holiness and submitting to God’s sovereign workmanship, through the mediatory work of Christ ratified on the Cross.

As in the Old Testament, if we confess our sins which we have committed today, we know that when the Great High Priest makes atonement with the Blood of the Lamb on our behalf for our sins which we have committed, the sins will be forgiven us.

Praise God for the grace of confession!

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