Why Confess My Sins?

I believe Christians should confess their sins. When we recognize that we have sinned, we should name that sin, thank God for forgiving us and move on.

But why? Didn't Jesus' death on the cross pay for my sin once for all? Am I not now justified - declared not guilty and accounted righteous before God? Yes all those things are true.

Maybe this will help.

There are two dimensions to forgiveness of sin. When we come to faith in Christ there is an overarching forgiveness God gives us that brings us into relationship with God. That is non-repeatable. However, as we live our life we find ourselves falling into sin. This does not end our relationship with God, but it does stifle our fellowship with God. Confessing our sin - agreeing with God about our sin - restores the closeness of our fellowship with him.

It's like being married. When I married Trudi we made a life long covenant. Sometimes, we wrong each other and this puts a block in our fellowship. We don't cease being married when that happens. But we do need to apologize if our marriage us to stay warm and vibrant.

That's why we confess our sins regularly - to stay close to God.

Here's how I do it. When I realize I have sinned I simply say, "Father, I confess to you that I have _______. Thank you forgiving me for this. In Jesus' name. Amen." That's it. Based on the promise of scripture I know I am forgiven and I move on.