When we refuse to agree with God that we have sinned, we experience the barrenness which David experienced until he confessed his sins to God.
Prayer must be listed as one of the key priorities in the believer’s life. I vividly remember crying out to God in desperation as a lost sinner, and I also remember how He heard my cry and revealed His glorious Son and the saving work of Calvary. Prayer is simply talking with God our Father, enjoying a relationship created by Christ’s redemptive work. We pray in Christ’s name because we acknowledge that He is the One who restored us to fellowship with God. As believers, we are needy children; when we pray we are acknowledging our dependence on our Father for His wisdom, guidance, and resources.
In the beginning stages of our new life, prayer might be treated as a last resort after we have tried our best but failed. But as we mature, our prayer lives become a daily time of seeking God in every circumstance of life. As we seek Him and receive answers to our petitions and requests, we are filled with praise and thanksgiving for who He is and for His personal intervention in our lives.
But there is another aspect of prayer: the need for confession. Vine’s dictionary states that confession means, “to speak the same thing…to agree with.” Therefore, when we confess, we are telling God about our sin and agreeing with His verdict on our conduct. Agreement with God implies a definite commitment to follow through with a practical response. Without a genuine resolve to act, confession becomes merely childish prattle. “He who covers his sins will not prosper: but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy” (Pr. 28:13). It is confession of specific sins, not generalizations, that is evidence of true conviction and repentance.
The need for confession
The moment we receive Christ, we have joined the side of the Lord in the battle against darkness. Paul reminds us that the Father has delivered us from the power of darkness and placed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love. Not only that, but He has qualified us to share the portion or inheritance of the saints “in light” (Col. 1:12-13). John reminds us that “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all” (1 Jn. 1:5). Yet the Father has made us fit to enter His presence. This is the believer’s realm now—we are citizens of the light and are to “walk in the light as He is in the light” (1 Jn. 1:7). Our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ (1 Jn. 1:3). But we don’t always walk according to the light. Sin mars the enjoyment of our fellowship and grieves the very heart of the One who loves us so dearly.
For example, when David sinned with Bathsheba, there was a period of time afterwards where he tried to hide it from God. When we refuse to agree with God that we have sinned, we experience the barrenness which David experienced during that time. “When I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was turned into drought of summer.” But everything changed when David confessed his sin to the Lord. “I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,’ and You forgave the iniquity of my sin” (Ps. 32:3-5).
A one-time work
In the upper room, the Lord illustrated the importance of confession in order to maintain fellowship with Him (Jn. 13:1-17). “He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are completely clean…” The moment a sinner receives the Lamb of God as God’s perfect sacrifice for his sin, he is completely forgiven (Jn. 1:29). Christ’s blood cleanses our consciences from the guilt of sin and secures our legal justification before a holy God (Heb. 9:14). This is the bathing that the Lord referred to. In John 3, we’re told that, at salvation, He implants within each believer the very life of the Holy Spirit of God Himself. This is the “washing and regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5; Heb. 10:22). The believer then has within him the power to rise up and overcome the wrong desires and attitudes of his sinful heart. Peter tells us that, “His divine power has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness” —all the necessary resources that we need to live godly lives have been fully provided by Him. We have “been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the Word of God which lives and abides forever” (1 Pet. 1:22-23). The biggest part of the process of our being made holy has already taken place. It was forever accomplished when we trusted Christ.
An ongoing task
Once saved, the goal for the believer is to make progress and to grow and develop the fruit of the Spirit in his character. The Lord has provided us with all the resources that we need to accomplish this. But we need to avail ourselves of them. Being indifferent and careless won’t do (2 Pet. 1:5,10; 3:14). Peter tells us, “Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the Word, that you may grow thereby” (1 Pet. 2:1-2).
This is equivalent to the foot-washing in our Lord’s parable. Every day we inevitably become soiled with moral dirt, both from within and without. Then there are the daily trials of life, the worldly temptations that constantly bombard us, and the difficulties that arise in our personal relationships. All of these can stir up bad attitudes and habits that followed us from our old lives. These things can be very daunting and even discouraging. But John reminds us that when this defilement takes place, we can come to the Father as His children and seek His forgiveness. And confession plays a vital role in that practical, daily foot-washing. “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 Jn. 1:8-9).
Of course, there are times when we sin but aren’t aware of it. Reading God’s Word regularly will cast light on areas in our lives that will also need to be cleansed. The very Lord who loved us and gave Himself for us will lovingly show us where our attitudes and actions displease Him, making us aware of our pride, arrogance, and other hidden flaws. But we needn’t be discouraged by this for, along with that knowledge, He provides us with the grace necessary to change. This is a lifelong process.
However, we are certain to be overcome with sin if we are full of foolish self-confidence instead of reliance on Christ. If we persist in self-righteousness rather than humble recognition and confession of our sins, our Christian growth will be stunted, our fellowship with the Lord will be hindered, and we will experience the same oppressive guilt that David did when he refused to confess His sins. Fellowship with Christ means that we see ourselves honestly, as He does. If we are to have a part with Christ in His work of evangelism, discipleship, etc., we must have His mind. If we don’t allow Christ to constantly keep us clean from prejudices, anger, impatience, selfishness, and other spiritual uncleanness, we will not enjoy practical fellowship with Him or share in His mission to reach the lost. If we desire to walk humbly with the Saviour, we must examine ourselves and learn the discipline of immediately confessing any known sin to Him.
I have worked in industry for 24 years alongside some who profess the name of Christ but have neglected the constant daily rinsing of their feet that comes by confession of sin and application of the Word of God. As a result, they have made no progress in their Christian lives. Worse still is the dishonor brought to the very One they claim to know and love. Beloved, “grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.” (2 Pet. 3:18)