“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

“He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.” (Prov. 28:13)

“Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.” (Ps. 51:1-3)

It may be asked that since a Christian is justified in the sight of God, and hath perfect remission of sins, why does he still have need to confess his sins daily before God? Seeing the Christian is seen objectively as having no sin, what need is there to pray that we might be forgiven of sin? For it is certain that the scripture declares all them that believe in Christ as righteous saying, “there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus”, and “being justified by faith we have peace with God”, and it is evident that Christians who are so justified are also zealous and diligent in prayer and private confession of sin, as David laments his own sin of adultery saying, “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.” (Ps. 51:1-3) Ezra also the priest of Israel confessed for himself and the people also, the scripture saying, “Now when Ezra had prayed, and when he had confessed, weeping and casting himself down before the house of God, there assembled unto him out of Israel a very great congregation of men and women and children: for the people wept very sore.” (Ezra 10:1) and again the prophet Daniel, “And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments…” (Dan. 9:4) and do we not find the answer to the question in this passage from Daniel? For the scripture declareth that faith worketh by love. And this faith that justifies is also the faith which sanctifies, for they are one faith. Not that faith itself is the operating power of justification or sanctification, for it is the Spirit that works faith in us, but that through faith which beholds or apprehends the righteousness of Christ we are made just by Him, and beholding His righteous life, we are transformed into His own image, in obedience to God’s commandments. For what do we see in the life of Christ? A life of obedience or disobedience? A life of prayer or lack thereof? There is no doubt that Christ was wholly obedient to all God’s commandments, for if not, we are still in our sins, and if so, then He is truly a pattern for us to follow, for it is evident that we are obliged to walk as He walked, or we cannot say we have part with Him as the apostle John witnesses. And therefore the scripture shows that Christ Himself being the perfect Son of God prayed earnestly saying, “And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he [Jesus] went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.” (Mark 1:35) and, “he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed.” (Luke 5:16) and in his passion, “saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. And he went a little farther, and fell on his face, and prayed…” But let us distinguish for a moment the prayer of Christ and the prayer of the Christian, for Christ needed not to confess His own sins, but did freely offer Himself as a sacrifice for them. But as a minister Christ prayed for His disciples, for their instruction and their sanctification and finally for their salvation. Therefore He fulfilled the office of a Mediator. He prayed for the forgiveness of the sins of His people, saying, “Father, forgive them.” We on the other hand are those atoned for, we are the sheep, the subjects, the sinners who are in need of redemption, and as such it behooves us to pray for that which we ought to pray for, even the forgiveness of our own sins, and the purification of our souls, both in sanctification and glorification. As Hebrews says, “Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.” and again Peter saith, “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” Therefore the scripture commands us to confess our sin, as the law saith, “And it shall be, when he shall be guilty in one of these things, that he shall confess that he hath sinned in that thing” (Lev. 5:5) and, “If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me; And that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if then their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity: Then will I remember my covenant…” (Lev. 26:40-42) For it is by the power of God that we are made to see that we are sin, for sin cannot discover itself, as darkness cannot discover light as another scripture saith, “And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.” For to see yourself as a sinner is to condemn yourself, which demands light, which cannot be but by the Spirit. Therefore is the confession of sin from the heart, properly the work of the Spirit in regeneration, and also in sanctification. For the prophet Daniel says, “I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments…” Note, the text says that God keeps covenant and mercy to them that love Him and to them that keep His commandments. This is the same as to say, “repent and believe” and that faith works by love. Repentance is the changing of the mind, and faith the apprehension of the doctrine. For when the law is impressed upon the soul of the sinner, immediately he who once was darkness confesses his sin and cries out to God, “woe is me!” and, “How can man be just before God?” This is the first confession of sin, even the acknowledgment that we are not what we ought to be, but have both transgressed the law and omitted that which we ought to have done. Seeing therefore that the Christian sees the law as good, and God’s righteousness as demanding of him perfection, he is driven by that love to the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, which imputed righteousness is the only way of right standing with God. And seeing that he is made by the same Spirit of holiness to love the law, what does this lead him to but a life of obedience? Therefore a Christian desires that which God desires, and applies himself diligently to the law, for he is given a new heart enabled to the keeping of it. Now, being justified he is made objectively perfect, but he is not yet subjectively so. Therefore is the confession of sin most necessary throughout his whole life. So the catechism states, “To escape the wrath and curse of God due to us for sin, God requires of us faith in Jesus Christ, repentance unto life, with the diligent use of all the outward means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption.” and, “The outward and ordinary means whereby Christ communicates to us the benefits of redemption are His ordinances, especially the word, sacraments and prayer all which are made effectual to the elect for salvation.” Just as much as we insist that men must be brought to the acknowledgement of their total depravity, we insist that they confess their sins to God, and submit to the ordinances of God. We are still plagued with the remnants of original sin, and have daily need to confess our sin to God.
i. We are obligated and constrained to confess original sin, and say, “Woe is me that I am born in Adam, a child of wrath! I am not worthy to appear in the courts of God, or to be counted among the saints, but do bewail myself as a sinner, condemned in Adam for his sin. For his sin is made my sin by imputation, and I stand before Thee the Great and Awesome God as guilty of eating the fruit and abusing that sweet liberty of uprightness of heart. I was made good, but I forfeited that right by sin. I was made wise, but I became foolish. I was made holy, but I became filthy and abominable. Therefore I do confess that I am Adam, and I am in need of the blood of Christ, the second Adam to cleanse me from this guilt, or I am forever undone!” ii. In the same manner we are plagued in this life with the defiling nature of sin. Therefore the apostle says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9) And so when we sin and feel the worm biting against our conscience, we are to confess it to God, sincerely repent of it, and ask Him for strength to mortify it. As there is always sin in a believers heart, so there shall always be confession issuing forth from his soul. A believer prays thusly, “Father in heaven, I am thy son by purchase and adoption, and therefore I do not despair to come before thee, though I know I am not worthy in myself, now or ever, yet because of the promise of forgiveness in Christ I am behooved to make supplication. I have sinned against thee, and broken thy law. I am commanded to be holy as thou art holy in thought, word and deed, and I have come short. I have done that which ought not to be done, and left undone that which should be done, and there is no health in me. Therefore take pity upon thy son, and redeem me according to thy lovingkindness. Forgive me for this sin because thou art good and hast promised to forgive those who come to thee in fear. Are we not commanded to forgive a brother seven times, yea seventy times seven? For though our sins be multiplied in thy sight, yet is they mercy not swallowed up by it. Thy mercy is wider than the sea and greater than all heavens. let thy promise be true, “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever. He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.” Let thy mercy be so poured out upon us, thy people who fear thee, though we are plagued with sin. It is not a burden we willingly carry, but do desire that it be thrown off forever. Show us thy compassion therefore and forgive us, turn thy face toward us and renew us to thyself again. Put thy fear in our hearts and cause us to walk in all thy commandments. Sanctify us by thy blood and make us to be holy even as thou Father art holy. Perfect us, strengthen us and make our way plain, that we might not sin against thee, and do it for thine own sake, thou who art our Father, in the name of the Son we pray, Amen.” For God oft times withdraws His comfortable presence, and leaves us to diverse temptations, to try us, and to purge us from inward corruptions which lurk in our members. The Westminster Confession states, Of Providence, “The most wise, righteous, and gracious God doth oftentimes leave, for a season, his own children to manifold temptations, and the corruption of their own hearts, to chastise them for their former sins, or to discover unto them the hidden strength of corruption and deceitfulness of their hearts, that they may be humbled; and, to raise them to a more close and constant dependence for their support upon himself, and to make them more watchful against all future occasions of sin, and for sundry other just and holy ends.” and, of Assurance,
“True believers may have the assurance of their salvation divers ways shaken, diminished, and intermitted; as, by negligence in preserving of it, by falling into some special sin which woundeth the conscience and grieveth the Spirit; by some sudden or vehement temptation, by God’s withdrawing the light of his countenance, and suffering even such as fear him to walk in darkness and to have no light: yet are they never utterly destitute of that seed of God, and life of faith, that love of Christ and the brethren, that sincerity of heart, and conscience of duty, out of which, by the operation of the Spirit, this assurance may, in due time, be revived; and by the which, in the meantime, they are supported from utter despair.” Therefore, being cast upon the mercy of God, the saint lives in constant dependence upon Him for all their support in trial, and their success against temptation. For as God is sovereign, so he orders all things to come to pass for the salvation of His people. It is meet for God to withdraw His presence from us when we sin, that we might know that sin separates us from God, and we might be well persuaded that it offends Him. And so training us by diverse means, whether trials or temptations, He leads us back to Himself, that we might lean on Him more evenly, and pray and confess to Him more openly. Now, it may also be asked, “What of all those sins I committed many years ago? Am I also obligated to confess them daily?” I answer, we are not commanded to confess past sins if they be already forgiven. But when unmortified and unchecked sins be committed, when holy duties are forgotten or rushed without profit, or past sins we have not yet repented of come to mind, if we were not yet aware of them, we are to confess them before God and ask His forgiveness. This is not because He does not know about them, or has not already forgiven them, but to try our hearts, and see if we be sincere or not, as it is by His own Spirit He searches us and causes us to confess. As the scripture says, “The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly.” For the saint seeks to do that which God delights in, and His word saith, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.” and again, “Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the Lord: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word.” Therefore we see that salvation is intimately, yea inseparably tied with confession of sin. For inasmuch as every elect member of God is brought to a knowledge of their sinfulness, and utter depravity, so also they are made the rest of their life to feel their sin, and be burdened by it, as John Owen once said, “I cannot call a man a Christian if sin is not his greatest burden in this life.” Therefore, seeing that Christ is a Savior to the broken-hearted, and He has promised to put away the sins of His people, let us come to Him daily as to a faithful High Priest, confessing our sins to Him, and beseeching Him for His mercy, for we know that we do daily sin against Him. The godly man Elihu says to Job, “Surely it is meet to be said unto God, I have borne chastisement, I will not offend any more: That which I see not teach thou me: if I have done iniquity, I will do no more.” So we say in the daily confession of our sins. “Lord, I know not all that I have sinned against thee, and therefore for the multitude of my sins of ignorance, I seek forgiveness, and as for my known corruptions, I confess them and ask for mercy for thy sake.” God has effectually drawn us into communion with Himself, and has made us partakers of the divine nature. We are made into His image of knowledge, righteousness and holiness that we might worship Him in sincerity and truth. It is our duty to worship and therefore it is our duty to pray, and inasmuch as we are sinners, it is our duty to confess our sins and forsake them as the divine Proverb says, that we might find mercy. For it is certain that all those who so confess and forsake them shall have mercy, and it is equally certain that no promise of forgiveness is given to anyone apart from it. As a wise Puritan once said, “Though God has promised forgiveness to the penitent, He has not promised repentance to the sinner.” There is no forgiveness apart from repentance.
Therefore, being a member of the house of God, and being under the ministry of the word, let us heed the voice of His servants and repent. Let us come before God and confess to Him our faults, even all that we know against ourselves, so that we might be blameless before Him at His coming and have no reason to be ashamed, as it is written, “And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.” For to sin is certainly not to abide in Him, and if we would be restored to Him, the way God has ordained is through repentance. For if we would be assured of salvation, if we would have that precious joy of the Spirit, that ineffable and blessed communion with His Spirit, it must be through the confession and forsaking of sin. “And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.” (Job 28:28)
The Westminster Confession of Faith teaches,
“CHAPTER 15
Of Repentance unto Life

1. Repentance unto life is an evangelical grace, the doctrine whereof is to be preached by every minister of the gospel, as well as that of faith in Christ.

2. By it, a sinner, out of the sight and sense not only of the danger, but also of the filthiness and odiousness of his sins, as contrary to the holy nature, and righteous law of God; and upon the apprehension of his mercy in Christ to such as are penitent, so grieves for, and hates his sins, as to turn from them all unto God, purposing and endeavoring to walk with him in all the ways of his commandments.

3. Although repentance be not to be rested in, as any satisfaction for sin, or any cause of the pardon thereof, which is the act of God’s free grace in Christ; yet it is of such necessity to all sinners, that none may expect pardon without it.

4. As there is no sin so small, but it deserves damnation; so there is no sin so great, that it can bring damnation upon those who truly repent.

5. Men ought not to content themselves with a general repentance, but it is every man’s duty to endeavor to repent of his particular sins, particularly.

6. As every man is bound to make private confession of his sins to God, praying for the pardon thereof; upon which, and the forsaking of them, he shall find mercy; so, he that scandalizeth his brother, or the church of Christ, ought to be willing, by a private or public confession, and sorrow for his sin, to declare his repentance to those that are offended, who are thereupon to be reconciled to him, and in love to receive him.”

As a way of final exhortation, let us be careful then not to offend Him, for His Spirit is grieved at inward corruption more than you could ever be grieved at any sin committed against you. To better illustrate what God thinks of sin, He likens it to adultery, for He is a Jealous husband who will not tolerate His bride going after other loves. WATCH YOUR HEART, therefore and be diligent to cleanse yourself from all that would defile it, for the LORD whose name is JEALOUS is a jealous God.
Hosea chapter 2 says, “Say ye unto your brethren, Ammi; and to your sisters, Ruhamah. Plead with your mother, plead: for she is not my wife, neither am I her husband: let her therefore put away her whoredoms out of her sight, and her adulteries from between her breasts; Lest I strip her naked, and set her as in the day that she was born, and make her as a wilderness, and set her like a dry land, and slay her with thirst. And I will not have mercy upon her children; for they be the children of whoredoms. For their mother hath played the harlot: she that conceived them hath done shamefully: for she said, I will go after my lovers, that give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, mine oil and my drink. Therefore, behold, I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a wall, that she shall not find her paths. And she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them; and she shall seek them, but shall not find them: then shall she say, I will go and return to my first husband; for then was it better with me than now. For she did not know that I gave her corn, and wine, and oil, and multiplied her silver and gold, which they prepared for Baal. Therefore will I return, and take away my corn in the time thereof, and my wine in the season thereof, and will recover my wool and my flax given to cover her nakedness. And now will I discover her lewdness in the sight of her lovers, and none shall deliver her out of mine hand. I will also cause all her mirth to cease, her feast days, her new moons, and her sabbaths, and all her solemn feasts. And I will destroy her vines and her fig trees, whereof she hath said, These are my rewards that my lovers have given me: and I will make them a forest, and the beasts of the field shall eat them. And I will visit upon her the days of Baalim, wherein she burned incense to them, and she decked herself with her earrings and her jewels, and she went after her lovers, and forgat me, saith the Lord. Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her. And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor for a door of hope: and she shall sing there, as in the days of her youth, and as in the day when she came up out of the land of Egypt. And it shall be at that day, saith the Lord, that thou shalt call me Ishi; and shalt call me no more Baali. For I will take away the names of Baalim out of her mouth, and they shall no more be remembered by their name. And in that day will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field and with the fowls of heaven, and with the creeping things of the ground: and I will break the bow and the sword and the battle out of the earth, and will make them to lie down safely. And I will betroth thee unto me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the Lord. And it shall come to pass in that day, I will hear, saith the Lord, I will hear the heavens, and they shall hear the earth; And the earth shall hear the corn, and the wine, and the oil; and they shall hear Jezreel. And I will sow her unto me in the earth; and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God.”
And in the fourteenth chapter confession of sin is mentioned saying, “O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. Take with you words, and turn to the Lord: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips. Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy. I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him. I will be as the dew unto Israel: he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. His branches shall spread, and his beauty shall be as the olive tree, and his smell as Lebanon. They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine: the scent thereof shall be as the wine of Lebanon. Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols? I have heard him, and observed him: I am like a green fir tree. From me is thy fruit found. Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein.” The prophet saith, the ways of the Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them, but the transgressors shall fall therein. For the way of peace is through the valley of tears and salvation through the broken cries of repentance. We do not say, however with the legalists that man has power within himself to fulfill this, neither those that say we have no need to heed the law of the Lord, seeing we are forgiven, but in the fear of God by the power of His Spirit in us we acknowledge our sins, and confess them to Him, with full purpose to forsake them, and do ask for mercy to forgive us for them and power to overcome them. For to confess our sin is to “say the same thing as God”, and therefore since we are still sinners, will we lie to God and to our own soul and say we are not? And thus do we ever have matter to pray before God, and rejoice in His patience, love and forbearance. And so may we ever pray, and so may we ever confess until that day when we are risen with Him and exalted to that eternal glory through the blessed resurrection of the Son, wherein the conscience will never again be wounded by sin, for it shall be rid of its presence forever and ever, being perfected in paradise. Praise be to God for Jesus Christ!