'Going to confession' must include repentance and renunciation of sin
Whether you are Protestant, Catholic, or something else, you may be in the habit of “going to confession.” Some people go to a pastor or a priest, while the majority of Christians go directly to God to confess their sins.
When you confess your sins, do you repent and renounce your sins as well? The Bible tells us: “He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy” (Proverbs 28:13).
Repentance is a “change of mind” regarding your sin. You no longer want to give into it. Renouncing sin means to turn away from it with a firm determination to head in the opposite direction. Confession of sin without repentance leaves you guilty and still in need of God’s forgiveness.
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When you “go to confession,” do you assume that merely identifying your sins is all that matters? Do you realize that God is just as concerned with what is in your heart? If your sorrow is not genuine, then “going to confession” does not remove your sins from your soul.
Jesus was speaking to some Pharisees and teachers of the Law one day when He said, “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.’" (Matthew 15:7-8).
When your heart is far from God, your religious activity is actually offensive to God. Believe it or not, religious people offend the Lord whenever they go to confession without repentance. Scripture instructs us: “Hate what is evil; cling to what is good” (Romans 12:9). God hates evil, and when the Holy Spirit is filling your soul, you too will hate what is evil.
When King David committed the sins of murder and adultery, his heart was a mess and his relationship with God was on life support. He finally came under the conviction of his sin when the prophet Nathan confronted him (2 Samuel 12:1-13). God’s Word declares, “Better is open rebuke than hidden love” (Proverbs 27:5). Nathan loved God enough and he loved David enough to rebuke David.
The Holy Spirit convicted David of his sin and he told Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord” (2 Samuel 12:13). David’s confession was much more than just words. The Holy Spirit gave David a hatred for his sin, which he had deliberately committed without any regard for God’s Law. David had willfully broken multiple commandments in his sexual lust and scheming.
While David was living in sin, he was miserable. He said, “When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night, your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,’ and you forgave the guilt of my sin” (Psalm 32:3-5).
What if a professing Christian deliberately commits sin and does not feel bad about it? This is not a good sign that the person is truly saved, redeemed, born again, justified, and forgiven through faith in Jesus. Born again people feel bad when they sin because the Holy Spirit within believers is grieved by sin (Ephesians 4:30).
David called out to God in repentance and faith: “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight” (Psalm 51:1-4).
David’s confession of sin was heartfelt and genuine. And he knew that only God could change his impure heart. This is why David prayed: “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me” (Psalm 51:10-12).
David was a broken man as a result of his willful sins. And while there were serious consequences to his sin, (2 Samuel 12:9-12) David was completely forgiven when he confessed his sin to God, repented, and renounced his evil behavior.
What about you? When you “go to confession,” what is happening in your heart? Are you planning to go right back out and commit that sin all over again? The correct attitude is to be completely disgusted with the vile and wicked behavior you engaged in when you sinned against God.
“Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done” (2 Corinthians 7:10-11).
If you and I are not alarmed over our sin when we “go to confession,” then our confession is not biblical. If we are not indignant over what we have done to God and others, then our “confession” is only make-believe and it won’t result in our sins being forgiven. We must turn away from sin in order for God to receive our confession of sin. Otherwise, we are like those teachers of the Law to whom Jesus said, “Their hearts are far from me” (Matthew 15:8).
Going to confession without repentance and renunciation of sin is worse than not confessing your sins to God at all. But when we renounce our sin and turn away from it, we are invited to come to Christ in faith and say: “Wash me Jesus in your precious blood.” And thankfully, the Lord will cleanse us every time!
“If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
Dan Delzell is the pastor of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Papillion, Nebraska.
