If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9

Confess – Let’s translate this verse according to contemporary standards: “If we admit our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive our sins.” In Hollywood terms, this is the equivalent of saying, “I apologize if I have offended you.” Whether or not I actually did anything wrong isn’t the issue. The issue is whether or not you took umbrage with what I did. Religious people often think of apology as saying, “Gosh, I’m really sorry.” But none of this is confession. It’s human minimizing.

The Greek word here is homologeo. It literally means “to say at the same time or place.” Confession is saying about me what God says about me. It is to speak God’s words over my actions. To confess my sins, I must have the same point-of-view that God has about my sins. This is not the same as admitting that I did something wrong. Admitting my behavior does not require me to adopt God’s point-of-view. Admission only requires that I acknowledge there was a rule I didn’t follow. But confession requires that I see my sin as an injury and insult to the character of God. It’s not about rules. It’s about trampling on His love for me.

Homologeo is also used in the sense of promise. Maybe this helps us see how deeply confession reveals the destruction of sin. God promises to love me, care for me, provide for me and direct me according to His purposes. In other words, He promises to be the Master and do those things which the Master does. On the other hand, when I accept His freely offered gift of life with Him, I promise to be obedient to His commands, to honor Him, to love Him with all that I am and to put my hope in Him. Sin breaks my promise! It’s not that I break a rule. Yes, of course, that is also the case, but it is insignificant in terms of the greater picture. Sin takes back my promise to Him. Sin is born of independence, self-will and arrogance. None of these are characteristics of His children. So, when I sin, I violate the deepest part of my relationship with Him. I shout, “I don’t care about Your promise to me so I’m not going to keep my promise to You.” In this regard, sin is betrayal.

Confession scrapes away our façade. You can’t be a Promise-Keeper and sin. But you can certainly be a Promise-Breaker and admit your failures. In fact, you can take pride in the fact that you are willing to admit you’re not perfect. And no one will bat an eye. We all know we aren’t perfect. There is no loss in admission. Admission makes sin excusable. But confession makes it personal.

It’s much easier to admit than to confess, but admission simply leaves us with more to confess. If we’re really going to deal with our sins, we will have to see sin as God sees it. The crushing weight of our arrogance must become a present reality. Then we will know forgiveness.

Topical Index: confession, admission, forgiveness, 1 John 1:9, homologeo