Go Ahead, Say It

Last week I wrote about entering God’s rest. Towards the end of the blog, I talked about repentance and confession. These are two major doctrines of our faith that I feel we do not know much about. I believe that they go hand in hand in the life of the believer. I do not believe you can have one without the other. I will break down one this week and the other next week.

Let’s talk about confession. What is it, what does it mean, what is the impact? The very word Confess is translated in to two words; homologeo and exomologeo. Homolegeo means to “speak the same thing” and Exomologeo means to “confess forth or openly”. The best illustration I can think of to illustrate confession is the example of two friends responding to a third person simultaneously. Have you ever had a friend that when you were in a group of people talking, you and that friend said the same exact thing at the same time? You actually said the same exact thing, at the same time, same expression, same tone and same emphasis on the same vowels all at the same time. How do best friends get to the point where they say the same thing? Time. They spend so much time together that their thoughts become the same thoughts. They can look at each other and know what the other person is thinking without even speaking a word. It is the mark of a strong relationship.

In I John 1:9, the word confess is used in the context of “admitting oneself guilty of what one is accused of, the result of inward conviction". We like to think that all we have to do is say to the Lord what our sin is and then He forgives us and we go about our merry little way. I had someone say to me, “Well, James, you just confess and He forgives every time.” I do not believe that to be true. To “say the same thing” is exactly that. You say what Christ would say about your sin. It’s looking at your sin through God’s eyes admitting your guilt as a response to your inward conviction of sin. Then, and only then, He cleanses us from all unrighteousness or forgive our sin. God takes all sin so seriously even the sin done in secret is not hidden from His eyes. He is Holy and Just and He will punish sin.

Let’s look now at the Scripture surrounding I John 1:9. There are six examples of things that people say that are not true confession. They simply do not “say the same thing” as Christ would say. These six things are:

I John 1:6 – “If we say we have fellowship with Him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.” Walking is a reference to a pattern of life. It is not a once in a great while thing; it’s a constant “walking around”. In this case, true confession of this sin is admitting that you are guilty of walking around in the darkness. A life that walks around in darkness is a life that does care about true doctrine or holiness. It is a life that contains hidden sins, falsehoods and deception. In context, you cannot have fellowship with God and hold on to a known sin.

I John 1:8 – “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” This is the person who does not take responsibility for their own sin. Much like the proud Pharisees, this person does not “say the same thing” about sin in that “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God”. True confession in this context is simply admitting that you are presently a sinner and the truth is not in us, therefore we need of a Savior.
I John 1:10 – “If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.” This refers to the past. This is the person who feels they never had sinned in their entire life. Much like the rich young ruler, this person does not “say the same thing” when they boast that they have kept the Ten Commandments from their youth. True confession in this context is admitting that there is not one of the Ten Commandments that can be kept completely. This person realizes that there is sin in every part of their life.

I John 2:4 – “Whoever says ‘I know Him’ but does not keep His Commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him” Again, we go back to the pattern of life. We just talked about how we cannot even keep one of His Commandments, now we are saying a true Christian must keep His commandments. Obedience to His commands is the evidence of a true believer. To know Him is to have an on-going personal relationship. A person whose pattern of life does not align up with the 10 Commandments does not “say the same thing” as someone who walks in truth. True confession in this context is admitting when you have been disobedient to His commands and accepting the consequences of your sin.

I John 2:6 – “Whoever says he abides in Him ought to walk in the same way in which He walked.” We cannot repeat Christ’s unique saving death, but we can mirror His love, faith, obedience and self-sacrifice as our pattern of life. To “say the same thing” is to mimic Christ as a pattern of life. True confession in this context is to admit that you will fall short in walking like Christ; nevertheless, you get back up and take another step in a continual movement closer to Him.

I John 2:9 – “Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness.” This is the person that holds on to hate. It is impossible to be in the truth when there are feelings of hatred harbored in your heart for another human being. True confession in this context is admitting that you cannot love God and hate another person.

To wrap this up, I want to ask a question. How can you “say the same thing” without spending time in His word and in prayer? I Thes 5:17 tells us to pray without ceasing and Psalm 1:2 talks about meditating on His word day and night. Imagine how much time we would be spending with Him if we just did those two things. Both of those passages could be an entire blog by themselves. My point in this whole thing is that we claim to know what confession is all about, but we never spend time with the One who we are to confess with. Here’s a quick test of your ability to “say the same thing”: Husbands – Do you know what God says concerning your wife? Wives – Do you know what God says concerning your husband? Parents – Do you know what God says about your children? Children – Do you know what God says about your parents? Can you go to specific passages regarding these questions? If not, how can you “say the same thing”?