Confession of Sin: Restoring Fellowship with God

1. SHEEP IN THE WORD MINISTRIES Rev. Robert C. Lewis • Glendale Baptist Church • Houston, Texas quicknotes.org • 2007

2. CONFESSION OF SIN How to Have Fellowship with God

3. AGREEMENT AND ADMISSION OF GUILT KEY VERSE 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).

4. • If we confess our sins… e˙a»n oJmologw◊menIf we confessta»ß aJmarti÷aß hJmw◊n…the sins of us

5. • homologeo (oJmologe/w) means 'to agree, admit, acknowledge, confess’it’s used in extra-biblical literature of:(1) friends who have agreed to do something together (Josephus, Antiquities 17.39),

6. These men, who on the surface were in disagreement and spoke injuriously of one another on all occasions, were, she said, really concealing their friendship from public view and whenever they were alone together acted as friends without any differences and were agreed (oJmologeivn) to fight against those from whom they had taken pains to conceal the goodwill that they felt toward one another (Josephus, Jewish Antiquities 17.39).

7. (2) a general who captured a town by negotiation, that is, through agreement on the terms of surrender (Josephus, Jewish War 1.21),

8. I will then tell how they fortified the neighboring towns; how Nero, apprehensive for the fate of the Empire because of Cestius’ reverses, entrusted Vespasian with the supreme command of the war; of the invasion of Jewish territory by Vespasian and his eldest son; the strength of the forces—Roman and auxiliary contingents—with which Vespasian penetrated into Galilee; of the capture of the Galilean towns, taken by main force or by negotiations (di j oJmoligi/aß) (Josephus, Jewish War 1.11).

9. (3) of two countries making a covenant or treaty (Herodotus 8.140)

10. “Give them back their territory, and let them choose more for themselves besides, wheresoever they will, and dwell under their own laws; and rebuild all their temples that I burnt, if they will make a covenant (oJmologe/ein) with me” (Herodotus 8.140).

11. (4) admitting you have treated others with contempt(Aristotle, Rhetoric 1380a5), and

12. And towards those who admit (toivß oJmologouvsi) and are sorry (metamelome/noiß) for a slight; for finding as it were satisfaction in the pain the offenders feel at what they have done, men cease to be angry (Aristotle, Rhetoric 1380a5).

13. (5) admitting your faults to others, such as timidity(Epictetus 2.21.1ff.).

14. Some of their faults men readily admit (oJmologouvsin), but others not so readily. Now no one will admit (oJmologh/sei) that he is foolish or unintelligent… (Epictetus 1.21.1).

15. • confession is agreeing with God you've committed a sin(agreement logically precedes an admission of guilt)

16. • the opposite of confession is keeping silent about your sins (Psalm 32:3–4; Proverbs 28:13)

17. SELF-JUDGMENT

18. • confession is judging yourself correctly—rendering a guilty verdict with respect to personal sins(1 Corinthians 11:31)

19. FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD

20. • sin breaks our fellowship with a holy God:the moment we sin we drop out of fellowship and become carnal (controlled by the flesh)

21. • confession produces forgiveness of sins, cleansing from all unrighteousness, and fellowship with God (1 John 1:5–9)

22. • the moment you’re aware of an unconfessed sin, confess it immediately to restore your fellowship with God

23. • continual, uninterrupted fellowship with God is not possible in this life because we all have sin natures and commit sins

24. KNOWN AND UNKNOWN SINS

25. • confession cleanses from known ("our sins") and unknown ("cleanse us from all unrighteousness") sins (1 John 1:9)

26. • you can't confess unknown sins (they keep piling up until you confess a known sin)

27. • unknown sins are automatically forgiven when you confess known sins

28. NAMING SINS

29. • naming sins is recommended but not commanded(naming clearly identifies the sins you're confessing)

30. • David did not name his sins of adultery and murder (2 Samuel 12:13; Psalm 41:4; 51:4)and numbering the people (2 Samuel 24:10)

31. • but Moses named the sin of his people—idolatry:"They have made a god of gold for themselves" (Exodus 32:31).

32. • Ezra, Nehemiah, and Daniel also named specific sins in their prayers(Ezra 9:10–12, 14; Nehemiah 1:7; Daniel 9:5, 6, 10, 11, 14)

33. A DAILY DECISION

34. • confession is a choice:in 1 John 1:9 "if" is a third class condition expressing uncertainty (maybe you will, maybe you won't)

35. • self-inspection is a good habit to cultivate:ask yourself, "Have I committed any known sins in the past few hours?"

36. • praying without ceasing is a good way to keep short accounts(begin each prayer with confession)

37. A PROMISE FROM GOD

38. • confession is made to God in prayer (Psalm 32:5)

39. • forgiveness (God's part) is promised for confessing our sins (our part); e.g., 1 John 1:9

40. • confess and forsake your favorite sins to receive compassion from God(Proverbs 28:13; cf. bÅzDo 'forsake' in Ezekiel 23:8)

41. DIVINE DISCIPLINE

42. • failure to confess results in divine discipline(Psalm 32:3–4)

43. • confession may not remove divine discipline(Joshua 7:19–25; 2 Samuel 12:10–12, 14–23; 24:10–17)

44. ISOLATION OF SIN

45. • when you confess a sin, forget it—God has;why keep punishing yourself for something God has forgiven?

46. • don't let the yo-yo effect discourage you(the frequency of confession will decrease as you become spiritually mature)

47. SHEEP IN THE WORD MINISTRIES Rev. Robert C. Lewis • Glendale Baptist Church • Houston, Texas quicknotes.org • 2007