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Scripture Reading: Lev. 6:1-5; Psa. 32:1-7; Prov. 28:13; Matt. 5:23-26; 3:7-8; Luke 3:10-14
The subject of confession is an important matter after one's salvation. First, we must be clear that no Christian in this world can be saved through confession. Some have said that without confession, there is no salvation. This is a heresy. No one can be saved through confession. One does not enter the sitting room and then pass through the main gate. Neither does one eat his meal before cooking his meal. Although many things are turned upside down in this world, salvation cannot be turned upside down. Some have said that the extent of man's forgiveness is the extent to which he has confessed his sins. This is wrong. This is to bury the glorious work of Christ in the dust. Those who propose this have also said that if one's eyes have sinned, he should nail them to the cross, and then the eyes will be free from sin. One person said to me once, "Someone is preaching the message of the cross." I asked him whose cross he was preaching. It is true that many are preaching the message of the cross, but whose cross are they preaching? Paul said, "For I did not determine to know anything among you except Jesus Christ, and this One crucified" (1 Cor. 2:2). It is not our cross, but the cross of the Lord Jesus. It is not our cross or crucifixion that will save us, but the cross of the Lord Jesus that saves us. If we nailed our mouth or eyes to a cross, it would only be our cross; it would not be the cross of the Lord Jesus. Only the cross of the Lord Jesus has borne our sins. If He had not died, we would not have been saved.
Therefore, our confession will not save us. I am not saying that we do not need to confess. But we must be careful not to put the sitting room in the middle of the street. We must distinguish between the first step and the second step. We have to see that we are saved first, and then we make confessions. Salvation comes first; confession comes later. Nothing can save us except the blood of the Lord Jesus. I am not ignoring confession, but I desire to see the Lord Jesus uplifted. We are not saved through confession; we are saved by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
While confession has nothing to do with salvation, it has much to do with reward. Matthew 5:23-26 tells us that if our brother has something against us, the first thing we have to do is to be reconciled to him. We must do our best to be reconciled to him; otherwise, he will deliver us to the judge, and the judge will deliver us to the officer, and we will be thrown into prison. This shows us that when the Lord Jesus reigns in the millennium, this kind of Christian will suffer loss. Therefore, we must have this clear distinction before us. A Christian is saved through the Lord Jesus. But after he is saved, he will suffer loss when the Lord comes to reign in the millennium if he has not confessed all his sins.
Proverbs 28:13 says, "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy." Brothers and sisters, we have to realize that all of our former sins must be confessed thoroughly. If we have sinned against man, we have to confess to man. If we have sinned against God, we have to confess to God. If we do not do this, we will suffer loss.
Mr. Roberts was once asked by a brother concerning the secret to Christian growth. He answered by asking, "When was the last time you made a confession?" The brother did not understand what this meant. He wondered if confession had to be made daily, as often as taking a meal, and he admitted that he had not made a confession for a few years. Later he found out what Mr. Roberts meant. A Christian grows by making confessions. When a man confesses to God what he has sinned against God, and confesses to man what he has sinned against man, he grows spiritually.
Brothers and sisters, many people do not feel sorry after they have sinned. The reason they do not feel sorry is they have failed in the matter of confession. After a person believes in the Lord, he will run a good race if he confesses thoroughly all the sins he has committed against God and man. He will run faster than many other Christians who have too little feeling concerning sin!
Many people refrain from sins only because they do not want to "lose their face"; they do not sin because they do not want to lose their family's face or their own face. Some do not sin because they do not have the "capital" to sin. Others do not sin because they are afraid of the consequence of sin; they do not sin because they are afraid that they will have to suffer as a result of sin. How many of us do not sin because of the evil and filthiness of sin itself and because it is against God? I am surprised that so many people can sin and still sleep and eat well. Our God hates sin. We should not hate sin because we are afraid of losing our face, because we do not have the "capital" to sin, or because we are afraid of the consequence of sin. We should not sin because of God. If a Christian wants to have a hatred for sin, he must confess his sins. I can at least say that confession helps us have a hatred for sin. When I sin, I always feel much suffering. But this feeling of suffering is good.
Are there any unresolved things between you and others? Rev. K. once wrote in his diary: "There is nothing unresolved between myself and others. I can die without the need for regret or redress, and there is nothing more that I need to do." Brothers and sisters, can we say that we have thoroughly confessed our sins? Is there anyone among us who has not dealt thoroughly with his sins? We are often afraid to give an account of ourselves. This fear speaks of a problem on our part. If there is a small hole in a pear, we know that there must be something wrong inside the pear. Sometimes we want to eat the pear, but do not want to open it up to see what is inside.
The extent of confession should be the extent of the offenses. We cannot confess more than we have sinned, nor can we confess less than we have sinned. Suppose the extent of my sin goes only as far as offending God. Then the extent of my confession should be limited to God. If the extent of my sin is such that it offends both God and my brothers, the extent of my confession should correspondingly cover them both. If we confess to others or publicly confess what we have sinned only against God or against individuals, we will fall into the error of the Roman Catholic Church. Many revivalists charge people to confess their sins in public. This is wrong. This will only defile the minds of others. If we have sinned against one person, all we have to do is confess to that person. If we have sinned against five persons, all we have to do is confess to those five persons. However, if the extent of our sin is large, the extent of our confession cannot be small. If I sin against both God and my brother, it is not enough for me to just confess to God, without confessing to my brother also. The extent of confession should be the extent of our sin. It cannot be more, nor can it be less.
I must confess that although I am a preacher of the Word, I am also ashamed to confess. However, I can tell you some of my past experiences. I studied once in a church parochial school. On every examination, I usually scored a grade between ninety and one hundred. My average grade in the school was about ninety-nine. But I could never do well in the class that taught the Bible. I was not interested in the subject. My grade-point average was always pulled down by this subject. In the third year, I still did not like this subject. (At that time I was not yet a believer.) The teacher would always tell everyone that a certain student did well in every subject except this one, and that it would be nice if the student did well in that particular subject as well. Therefore, I determined to study and prepare for the Bible course. That year we were on the book of Acts. I spent a few months studying it, and by the time the examination came, I decided to do well. I wrote down the crucial points of the book on my arms and covered them with my long-sleeved shirt. I gave the right answer on many questions, but still my score was only a little over seventy. (Prior to that I had received grades of only forty to fifty.) Later, I was saved, and I had no peace about this matter. I dared not confess it, for if I did, the principal and the teachers would think that I did the same thing with the other subjects. I was afraid that the school would expel me because the school rules stated that anyone caught cheating would be expelled. Moreover, I had already voiced my disagreement with the Anglican Church concerning certain truths, and the principal was not very happy with me. I was afraid that if I was expelled, I would be too ashamed to face my parents. I struggled for many days. In the end, I realized that I would have no peace if I did not confess. The conscience can go to sleep, but it will never die. As a result, I wrote a letter to the principal and made the confession. Later, the principal called me and told me that he forgave my offense on behalf of the school.
Brothers and sisters, our conscience often can go to sleep. But after it wakes up, it will continue to remind us. Every unconfessed sin is an unremoved scar. Your conscience can be suppressed, but it will not shut up and be silent forever. Only those who confess their sins will obtain mercy, and only those who confess their sins will be at peace. The taste of sin is the taste of hell. We are often like David, who said, "When I kept silent, my bones wasted away/Through my groaning all day long./For day and night Your hand/Was heavy upon me;/My life sap was dried up/As in the drought of summer" (Psa. 32:3-4). However, after he confessed his sins, he said, "You surround me with the ringing shouts of deliverance" (v. 7).
Previously, we have mentioned that if one does not make confessions, he will not have the proper feeling for sin. Now we must also say that if one does not make confessions, he will not have the proper feeling of joy. Some have wondered why some feel joyful after they are saved, but others do not have joy. Some do not have joy because they have not testified. Others do not have joy because they have not obeyed God in certain areas, or because they are not willing to give up some matters. Still others do not have joy because they are unwilling to confess their sins. The joy of confession is a great joy.
Once I was conducting a conference in Changchow, and the principal of a school wanted to bring some elementary school students to my meetings. I was somewhat reluctant to agree because I was afraid that they would disturb the meeting and distract others. But the principal was an experienced man. He said that there is power in the gospel, and that perhaps a few among them would be saved. Eventually they were allowed to come. Afterward, one teacher from that school came and told me that something had happened in their school. I asked what it was, and he said that a wave of confession had swept through the school. He told me that one child was only seven or eight years old. He and a few other children had once picked loquats from the loquat tree next to the principal's office without permission. Now he realized that this was a sin. But he was afraid of the principal and dared not confess his sin. When he refused to confess, he did not have the peace. He cried for two days, and in the end he confessed to the principal.
Confession is necessary. If a sin is not confessed, it will follow you all your life. Moses said that "your sin will find you out" (Num. 32:23). Sin does not sit still; it does not remain at a distance from us. Sin will follow us and find us out. The teacher I mentioned earlier told me similar stories. One child was eleven or twelve years old. Three or four years earlier, he had seen some of his friends buying candy at the entrance of the school. He did not have any money himself, but it occurred to him that a few pennies were lying on the desk of his teacher's bedroom. He went to see whether or not the teacher was there so he could take the money to buy some candy. He went and looked, and sure enough, the teacher was not there. He took six pennies and bought himself some candy. Now he felt sorry for his sin. He wanted to repay what he took, but he did not have the money. So he went to his sister and asked for six pennies. His sister asked for the reason, but he would not tell her, pleading only that he needed it, and that he could not get by without it. His sister eventually gave him the money, but followed him to find out what he was doing. He took the money to the teacher and said, "Three or four years ago, I took six pennies from your room to buy candies. Now I would like to return this money to you." When I heard this story, I mentioned it in my message the very next day. After the meeting, a few in the audience who were judges came to me and said, "If things go according to what you have said, there will be no need for judges anymore. If man returns what he has stolen, there will be no need for courts anymore. Although we have not seen much merit in Christianity, the few things that you mentioned are enough to show us the distinction of Christianity."
Confession brings not only peace, but joy as well. Not only does it bring joy, but it wins back the ones whom one has offended. Sometimes our hard-hearted friends will acknowledge with tears that Jesus is their Savior when we confess with tears our sins and acknowledge that Jesus is our Savior. I have experienced this myself. If it were not for Christ's sake, and if there were no Christ, no one on earth would do such a thing.
Brothers and sisters, if there is some sin in you, you should confess it immediately. This is not an easy thing to do. Sometimes I struggled for a few weeks and even for a few months. At times I struggled for half a year. You may be better than I am, but I have to tell you that the year after I was saved, I confessed at least a hundred times to people. Have you offended anyone in anything?
Other than giving us peace and joy and winning people back to ourselves, confession can do another thing: it can be a testimony. Without confession, there is no testimony. If I do not confess my sins, my audience will wonder if a person such as I can give a message. We must confess our own sins, and we must condemn ourselves for our sins more than we condemn others. Only then will we have a good testimony. We must acknowledge that our sins are sins and that they are wrong before we can persuade others not to sin. We have to confess our own sins before we can testify to others. If we do not confess our sins now, we will not be able to touch others, and we will not have a proper testimony.
Confession is one thing, and recompense is another thing. Is there anything that has ended up in your house? Is there anything that you have stolen? Is there anything that is not yours, but has become yours? Is there anything that you have secured by improper means? Is there anything that you have picked up from the street, or any debt that you have not repaid? Are you willing to clear up these things at the first available opportunity? If you are not willing to do this, God will not bless you. Many Christians are too negligent about these matters. According to Leviticus, not only should we pay back what we owe, but we should also add one-fifth to it (6:1-5). This means that we should not only repay, but we should also repay a little more. We must never allow others to suffer loss. As Christians, we should only allow ourselves to suffer loss from others. If we cannot make the recompense now, we still have to find a chance to do it later.
If the person who has suffered the loss is no longer present, you can hand the recompense over to his relatives. The ordinance in the Old Testament says that if a person's relatives are not there, one can give it to the priest. But if the person is still alive, the priest cannot accept the recompense. The same is true today. In Fukien there was a maid who had stolen about sixty dollars worth of goods from her master. Later she believed in the Lord and felt that this was a sin. She proceeded to save about seventy dollars for recompense. One day she took this money to a worker of the Lord and told him to accept it and use it for God's work. The brother asked if her master was still around, and she said that he was. The brother then said, "Why don't you return this money to him?" Then he told her solemnly, "God does not need a thief's money for His work." If I had been there, I would have said the same thing to her.
If a person has sinned against anyone in material possessions, he should find that same person and make the recompense. If that person is not around any longer, he should look for his relatives. If he does not have any relatives, the recompense can go to the church. Brothers and sisters, may God dig deeper in us. Does Acts 19:19 not tell us that those who believed burned improper books worth fifty thousand pieces of silver? The book of James also tells us that we have to confess our sins to one another (5:16). You are not responsible for the sins that you do not remember. But you have to be responsible for the sins that you do remember. May no one wait until tomorrow to obey God's word.
