Confessions

Roman 10:9 (NLT)
9 If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

God commands us to confess our sins to Him and to one another.

James 5:16 (NLT)
16 Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.

Psalm 32:1-5 (NLT)
1 Oh, what joy for those
    whose disobedience is forgiven,
    whose sin is put out of sight!
2 Yes, what joy for those
    whose record the LORD has cleared of guilt,
    whose lives are lived in complete honesty!
3 When I refused to confess my sin,
    my body wasted away,
    and I groaned all day long.
4 Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me.
    My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat. Interlude
5 Finally, I confessed all my sins to you
    and stopped trying to hide my guilt.
I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the LORD.”
    And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.

1 John 1:7-9 (NLT)
7 But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. 9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.

God commands confession for His glory, our good, and others’ good.

Ken Sande’s Peacemaker 7 A’s of a Good Confession

• Address everyone involved
• Avoid “if, but, and maybe”
• Admit specifically as sin
• Acknowledge the hurt
• Accept the consequences
• Alter your behavior
• Ask for forgiveness