An online friend of mine, a Christian woman, has a website where people may ask her questions. One user asked if she had a boyfriend; answered “yes”. Later, another user asked if she were “living in sin.” She gave an interesting answer, “Isn’t everybody?” She did not mean that she was living with her boyfriend, instead she was reminding her audience that no one is without sin. We all – and by all I’m including even the redeemed – we all sin every day, whether by commission or omission. It is why Jesus warns us to judge ourselves before judging others.

Our sinfulness is largely under-addressed. Not the origin of sin, and not how God dealt with sin on the cross and through the resurrection – that is discussed frequently and at length and deservedly so. I’m talking about personal sin. It’s not a feel-good topic, so it isn’t a popular one either. Unfortunately, this has brought us to a place where confession is rarely regarded in the believer’s life despite it being one of the things that can most impact our relationship with God.

Look at Job’s example in chapter one:

When the days of [his children’s] feasting were finished, Job would send for them and sanctify them; he would get up early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job thought, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s customary practice.

Job took sin seriously. So much so that he would atone for potential sin as well as committed sins. He is considered the most righteous man who ever lived so it might be a good idea to follow his example. We do not have to sacrifice animals any longer, Jesus saw to that, but confession of sin isn’t just advisable (1 John 1.9), it’s commanded (James 5.16). It may be old school, but the old acrostic ACTS (Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication) is still a great model to follow for daily prayer.

How do we confess our sins? I believe there are three kinds of sin that we ought to confess. The obvious one is the sin of commission, which is flat out doing something we know to be wrong. The second is commonly referred to as the sin of omission, which is not doing something we should have done. A great example of this is found in Jesus’ rebuke of the Pharisees,

“But woe to you Pharisees! For you pay tithe of mint and rue and every kind of garden herb, and yet disregard justice and the love of God; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.” -Luke 11.42

The third category I call the sin of ignorance. Shortly after becoming engaged, an old friend of mine became a Christian. He and his fiancé started taking premarital classes at their new church. When the pastor leading the course discovered the couple had been living together for some time, he showed them in the Bible why this was sinful. The couple separated and refrained from sexual activity until the day they were married. Being new believer’s, neither of them knew that their behavior was wrong. Once they were shown the truth, they immediately repented and changed their behavior. We do not always know what offends God, and we do not always know the right thing to do in every situation.

A word of warning may be helpful here. It is not our intent, or God’s, that we should be consumed with guilt or live in fear of our sins. Jesus died so that we might have life abundantly, not so that we might live in fear of offending God. Our focus should be on two points, God’s character and our actions. By focusing on God’s character we can make better choices about how we live, and by focusing on the right thing to do in every situation we safeguard ourselves from doing the wrong thing.

It is inevitable, however, that we will make mistakes, and that is where confession comes in. By daily going before God and, with him, reviewing our day, confessing the wrongs we committed and asking for forgiveness we will be less likely to commit the same again. This will train us to know what to watch out for during the next day and how to handle tough situations in a more godly fashion. We do not need to tremble or obsess over our failures, God is forgiving and remains with his people so long as their sins do not pile up and create a wall between us and him.

If you have thoughts on this topic I’d love to hear them. Please respond on our facebook group page or email me at info at think-biblically dot com.