76 “…then he shall confess his sin which he has done;”
Numbers 5:7
There is great power in the confession of sin and in taking our guilt seriously and having it dealt with. If we ignore our sin and never face up to it, we fail to grow in God and become entrapped by these same sins. Sin entraps us and causes us to be its slave. We must recognise our sin and face it so that we can overcome it in the power of God. There is full and free forgiveness to the sinner and God will not count our sin against us when we confess and turn away. Even if we keep falling down there is restitution and free pardon.
Confession of sin is difficult for us because we do not want to have to face up to our inbuilt weaknesses and bring our faults to God. We don’t want to face our faults because it reminds us that we are finite and frail and need the Lord. We can somehow imagine that we are able to sustain ourselves and get strength from our resolve, but we fall and fail anyway and cannot support ourselves.
There is a real strength in facing up and bringing all our failure to the Lord. He knows all about them and yet loves us so dearly. He is willing to help us and get us through the paths of confession and repentance and bring us out into new life in Himself.
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
1 John 1:9
Such is the mercy and power of our God.
