Do we shrink away? Do we turn away? Do we hide?
Do we offer excuses? Do we place blame? Do we justify ourselves?
Do we bargain? Do we really commit this time to try harder?
Do we tend to our own wounds, touch up our exposed selves, re-frame our broken pieces?
Do we just say we’re sorry?
Can we just say we’re sorry and have it be ok?
When confronted with our sin, God’s heart is for us to confess and repent. Is that the same as saying “I’m sorry”?
If you journey with me, you know we've been tracking with David’s story in 2 Samuel 11-12. When his sin and heart were exposed...
“David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the LORD.’ Nathan replied, ‘The LORD has taken away your sin.’” (2 Samuel 12:13)
Was it merely words? Did he just say he was sorry, and that's it? Presto change-o, everything was ok?
Read 1 John 1:8-10.
Confessing is coming to God and declaring openly to God what you have done, not denying anything but instead agreeing with Him fully, that what you've done, said, or thought was against Him and His ways.
So are these verses about being saved or confessing our sins on a Tuesday? Yes.
If you have not trusted Christ as your Savior, this is the Good News! Tell God about your sin and be washed clean!
If you have trusted Christ as your Savior, consider the words of Jennifer Kennedy Dean. “Jesus knew [forgiveness] would be finished at the Cross…It is the confessing and turning from a sin that brings the Father’s forgiveness into your experience.” (Set Apart)
Kevin DeYoung explains confession this way: “The cleansing [when we confess], mind you, is not like the expunging of a guilty record before the judge. That’s already been accomplished. This cleansing is more like the scraping of barnacles off the hull of a ship so it can move freely again. We need confession of sin before God like a child needs to own up to her mistakes before Mom and Dad, not to earn God’s love, but to rest in it and know it more fully…1 John 1:9, then, is not just about getting saved. It’s also about living as a saved person and enjoying it.”
Confession.
So what actually took place when David said “I have sinned against the LORD”?
Look closer at two truths with me.
David had a change in his heart.
David’s confession was not just “I've sinned,” or, “I am sorry I got caught.” The words “against the LORD” are key. David realized that all his sin, everything that he had done as his heart was led astray, all of it, was against God. Those words reveal that his heart that was once led astray and calloused was now broken. At that moment he was turning back to God, His ways, and their relationship.
David had a change in his god.
Pastor and leader Jeff Vanderstelt has a profound definition for repentance.
Repentance isn't a change of behavior.David didn't say, “I'm sorry, I won't do that anymore. I am going to do all these things better and different.” Or, “Well I can't fix this, but I did try to make this right.” David didn't change his behavior first. He changed his god.
Repentance is a change of our god which will lead to a change of behavior.
Who had his god been? Who had he followed and worshiped? Who had he lived for?
Himself, his wants, his needs, his desires, his ability to cover up, his comfort. Himself.
Repentance meant that David would turn away from the god of himself and his desires and turn towards the LORD.
David confessed his sin. The LORD was faithful and just to forgive David of his sins and cleanse him from all unrighteousness. David’s story after this moment was a journey with God beyond this sin, and living in fellowship (deep, active, connected relationship) with God.
When cracks in our hard exteriors are pierced in a moment by light, and what we've done is exposed?
When truth finally penetrates what feels like a layer of tar that seems to coat our hearts and souls, causing feeling in a place once anesthetized?
I’m sorry...?
If those words usher you into God's heart for you to fully
Confess. Repent.
then surely, humbly, use them.
Just another seed of my faith,
Ginny
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