3 GO COXFESSIOJf (OF SIN)
COKFESSIOX (OF SIN)
to the eliect of baptism upon the soul (Ac 22'^, Ko 6"^-, Gal 3", 1 Co 12", 1 P 3=')- And it is worth noting how the author of Hebrews connects in the same sentence holding fast ' the confession of our hope' and drawing near to God in 'fulness' or 'full assurance' of faith (He lO--^ cf. 4'^- 1«).
(5) But, above all, the value attached to confes- sion in the NT seems to lie in the fact that it is the ffi-ciif Chin-c/i-hiiilding poiccr. The grand typi- cal case of confession of Clirist is that of St. Peter at C:e.-area Pliilippi (Mt 16'=- 1°) ; and this was the occasion on whicli Jesus for the first time spoke of His Church, and declared that on the rock of Christian confession that Church was to be built (v.'*). So it proved to be in after days. It was by St. Peter's powerful testimony to Jesus as the risen Lord and Christ (.\c 2'--^) that 3000 souls on the day of Pentecost were led gladly to receive the word, and in baptism to confess Christ for them- selves (vv.^-^'). St. Paul knew the mighty power that inheres in confession, and both in his preach- ing and writing made much of the story of his own conversion (Ac 22«t- iG^-"-, Gal l'^"-), thereby con- fessing Jesus afresh as his Saviour and Lord. It was above all else by the personal confessions of humble individuals— a testimony often sealed with blood (Rev 2'^ 12") — that the pagan empire of Kome Avas cast down and the Church of Christ built upon its ruins. And it is still by personal confession, in one form or another, that the word of the Lord grows and multiplies, and His Church prevails against the gates of Hades. It is by testifying to Jesus Christ as Lord that men become the ambassadors of Christ to the souls of other men. The secret of the influence exerted by such confession lies not only in the appealing grace of the Lord whom we confess, but in tlie subtle and mysterious power of a believing and confessing heart over its fellow. ' Blessed influence of one true loving human soul on another ! Not calcul- able by algebra, not deducible by logic, but mysterious, effectual, mighty as the hidden pro- cess by which the tiny seed is quickened, and bursts forth into tall stem and broad leaf, and glowing tasselled flower' (George Eliot, Scenes of Clerical Life, p. 287). J. C. Lambekt.
CONFESSION (of sin).— In the OT a laro;e place is given to the confession of sin, as being the necessary expression of true penitence and the condition at the same time of the Divine forgive- ness. Witness the provisions of the Mosaic ritual (Lv Si^"-), the utterances of the penitential and other psalms (e.g. 32* SP"-), and prayers like those of Ezra (IQi), Nehemiah (1<*-'), and Daniel (9^"- =«). It may surprise us at first to find that in the (Jospels the confession of sin is expressly named on only one occasion, and that in connexion with the ministry of John the Baptist (f'^oMoXoyoiVfoi Tds iftapTias ai/Tuv, Mt 3*, Mk 1'). But apart from the use of the actual phrase, we shall see that the Gospel narratives take full account of the confes- sion of sin, and that, as in the OT, confession is recognized both as the necessary accompaniment of repentance and as the indispensable condition of forgiveness and restoration to favour, whether human or Divine. There are three topics which call for notice: (1) confession of sin to God; (2) confession of sin to man ; (3) Christ's personal attitude to the confession of sin.
1. Confession of sin to God— It is to God that all confession of sin is primarily due, sin being in its essential nature a transgression of Divine law (cf. Ps 51^). And in the teaching and ministry of Jesus the duty of confession to God is fully recog- nized. Our Lord becrins His ministry with a call to repentance (.Mt 4", Mk 1"). In the midst of His public career He charatterizes the generation
to which He appealed as an evil generation be- cause of its unwillingness to repent (Lk ll^*- ^S). Among His last words on earth was His declara- tion that the universal gospel was to be a gospel of repentance and remission of sins (Lk 24'"). And as confession is inseparable from true penitence, being the form which the latter instinctively and inevitably takes in its approaches to God, we may say that all through His public ministry, by in- sisting upon the need of repentance, Jesus taught the necessity of the confession of sin.
But besides this we have from His lips a good deal of direct teaching on the subject. The prayer which He gave His disciples as a pattern tor all prayer includes a petition for forgiveness (Mt 6^', Lk'll^); and such a petition is equivalent, of course, to a confession of sin. In the parable of the Prodigal Son the prodigal's first resolution ' when he came to himself ' was to go to his father and acknowledge his sin (Lk 15"- ") ; and his first words on meeting him were the frank and humble confession, ' Father, I have sinned ' (v.-'). The parable of the Pharisee and the Publican, again, hinges upon this very matter of the acknowledg- ment of sin and unworthiness. It was the total absence of the element of confession from the Pharisee's prayer, and the presence instead of a self-satisfied and self-exalting spirit, that made his prayer of no effect in the sight of God ; while it was the publican's downcast eyes, his smitten breast, his cry, ' God be merciful to me a sinner ! ' that sent him down to his house ' justified rather than the other ' (Lk 18'""'^ ; cf. the words of Zac- chseus, another publican, Lk 19').