God’s grace brings us to repentance– a turning back to His ways. Some people wonder if they need to confess sins to others; but only sins against others must be confessed to others. All sins are in effect committed against God, as God has created all. David embraced this truth as evidenced in his confession to God after he sinned by killing Uriah after causing his wife, Bathsheba to become pregnant.
“For I acknowledge my transgressions,
And my sin is always before me.
Against You, You only, have I sinned,
And done this evil in Your sight…”
(Psalm 51:3-4)
RELEVANCE
God looks at one primary source in judging our actions: our heart. He hears what we speak from our heart.
“But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?'” (that is, to bring Christ down from above) or, “‘Who will descend into the abyss?'” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation” (Romans 10:6-11).
Truly, the LORD is your High Priest! He alone has paid for your sins with His blood.
“Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:14-16).
REFLECT AND RELATE
Is your relationship with God secure enough to believe that you need no intermediaries to hear your heart?
Write down your confessions to God. It enables you to process what you communicate with God.
REFERENCES
Deuteronomy 30:11-14; 2 Samuel 11:1-31; Hebrews 5:5-11; Hebrews 7:19-20