Constant Confession Is Not Condemnation but Comfort
By Jonathan L. Shirk - Posted at Gentle Reformation:
When Jesus taught his disciples how to pray, he focused them in on something extremely important for their everyday walk of faith: recognition and confession of sin. Jesus taught his disciples to pray, “and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” Jesus taught his disciples to continually recognize and confess their sins and to ask God for gracious forgiveness. Why would he do this? Why would Jesus instruct his disciples to constantly remember their sinfulness? It was as if he wanted their sinfulness to be in the forefront of their minds. Wouldn’t this simply discourage them?One time a woman expressed to me that she felt like her sin was constantly being thrown in her face. She was referring to our worship service. She said she was well-aware of her sinfulness. It seemed to me that she didn’t really want to hear about her sin. And did she really think she was as aware of her sin as she ought to be?
I get the sense that some Christians feel as if constantly remembering their sinfulness and utter need for God’s grace leads more to feelings of condemnation than feelings of comfort. Is a weekly corporate confession of sin in worship too much? Do we really need to confess our sins to God every day, especially considering we just confessed the same ones yesterday? And what about the law? If preachers preach not only the gospel but also the law, is it over the top, extreme, too much for the congregation to handle? I think if we say or even feel, “Yes, it’s all a bit much,” we do not understand the law, the gospel, or the Lord’s Prayer as we ought. We do not understand that the Lord is using constant confession to comfort us in our struggles. Perhaps we don’t know how to be comforted by the gospel?
