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James 4–5

11/27/2012

 
Click here to read today's passage on Bible Gateway.

Confess Your Sins to One Another
It might seems strange that in such a large reading (two chapters!) with so much in it, I should pick out this one sentence - James 5:16.  I think this is a very important verse that is quite often misunderstood and with sometimes disastrous results.  Ardel Caneday did a very good multi-part series on this verse over at the Credo blog a while back, and I'd like to share some of his thoughts with you:

"Evangelicals tend to suppress and privatize publicly committed sins that affect many, especially sins that pastors and leaders commit, and to publicize privately committed sins that should be confessed either to the Lord alone or to one or two individuals against whom the sin was committed. How difficult it is to confess a sin to the many against whom the sin was committed! Yet, many Evangelicals teach believers to confess secret sinful thoughts to others, not to the Lord alone. They also teach us to confess to others those sins that we have privately committed against a single individual alone. Is it not obvious that such practices have several injurious consequences? Is it any wonder that gossip blights churches, that relationships are destroyed, and that reputations are ruined? And some injury to reputation is self-inflicted by confessing secret and private sins to individuals who have no need or right to know. How seductive it is to fall prey to the therapeutic notion that secret sins should be publicly confessed to “accountability partners” who have neither any right to bestow forgiveness of such sins nor any need to know (cf. Psalm 90:8; 19:12). How delicious are the morsels received from those who, like whisperers, confess their private sins to others, thus handing them morsels that lodge deep in their memories (Proverbs 18:8; 26:22)!" [1] (emphasis mine)

He goes into more detail about the harm that publicly confessing sins that are private can do (to both the hearers and confessors) in Part 4.  Be sure to check that out.

So what does this verse mean?  How are we to confess to one another?  He explains:

"...because James does not explain the procedures of confession, it is apparent that he expects that his readers know why, when, how, and to whom confession of sin is to be made.

Why? If we sin against others we must confess our sin in order to be set right (reconciled) with those against whom we have sinned.

When? We are obliged to confess our sin whenever we commit sin against a fellow human, especially against fellow believers, the case James has in view.

How? We are to confess the sin unequivocally with a request for forgiveness of the sin that we have committed.

To whom? We are required to confess our sin to the individual or individuals against whom we have sinned. Because only those against whom we sin have the right to forgive the sin we commit against them, confession of sin is to be made to them, not to people against whom we do not commit the sin. Even the Scribes understood that humans have no authority to grant forgiveness of sins not committed against them (Mark 2:1-12). Only God has that authority because every sin that we commit is against God, he alone has authority to forgive every sin (Psalm 51:4). So, if the sin I commit is a sinful thought confined within my heart alone and not an outward deed against any fellow human, to the Lord and to the Lord alone I am to confess my sin. Because every sin is against the Lord, every sin is to be confessed to the Lord to receive his forgiveness (cf. 1 John 1:9). But consider the injury that would almost surely be done if I confess to a fellow believer an evil thought I might have entertained against that believer. If I sin privately against my wife, privately I must confess this sin to her and to her alone before the Lord. If I sin against my family, I must confess this sin to my family and to them alone before the Lord. If I sin against the whole church, to the whole church I must confess my sin and to the church alone before the Lord."
[2] (emphasis mine)

Take some time and read the whole series here.  They are for the most part not that long, but very important and challenging to our current cultural ideas and practices about this verse.

What do you think?  Questions?  Comments?

[1] http://www.credomag.com/2011/10/12/what-does-it-mean-to-confess-our-sins-to-one-another-part-1-on-james-516/
[2] Ibid.


Andrei
11/27/2012 04:53:21 pm

Wow. Definitely seems counter-intuitive; will attempt to check out the series...

greg
11/30/2012 03:40:14 am

I'm going to reply to Kevin in a minute, so make sure you check that for elaboration. I understand why you'd say it's counter-intuitive, but what he's really talking about here is brought out in part 4. The really really really key thing to realize is that you can't attain forgiveness just from telling a big group of people about something: you must go to the person you wronged.

Kevin Kuo
11/29/2012 03:36:19 pm

How can one be held accountable not to commit future private sins? Or at the very least be encouraged not to. It would seem like, then Christopher Yuan should not be openly telling people about his indiscretions and his past life style. I feel the author of the post is right to say we shouldn't just flippantly confess private sins but I believe if you have a band of brothers or a good mentor disciple relationship you can share such struggles for the sake of requesting prayer. The jury is still out in my book. I believe spiritually mature Christians can confess private sins and not be ashamed as the author would purport because they know forgiveness comes from God and their transparency demonstrates how confident they are in God's forgiveness. Moreover I also believe mature Christians can use confession of private sins for accountability purposes.

greg
11/30/2012 03:57:53 am

Definitely good thoughts Kevin.

I'm going to try to make it a little more clear what he means. I wouldn't go as far as he does in discouraging accountability groups, but the concern here is about attaining forgiveness. The fear therefore of accountability groups is coming and saying "I looked at pornography" and everyone saying "That sucks. But we forgive you." You can't go to those you didn't wrong (whether accountability group or large group) and get forgiveness. Accountability CAN be very good and helpful when it is done well. Unfortunately it usually isn't. It's true that people could confess and know that forgiveness comes from God, but the question is SHOULD they? Part 4 goes into detail on this.

Christopher Yuan is different - he's got a ministry seeking to dialogue on an important issue and isn't seeking forgiveness from others. There is a difference in why and under what circumstances he shares about his past.

Maybe the hangup is over "confession". I would say that it an accountability group you aren't confessing per se, but making a struggle known to obtain help in overcoming it. I would definitely caution using this verse in particular to support going around and telling everyone about everything you've done and do.

It's also pretty clear to me that the author works with a certain set of people. The things he describes are relatively common on Christian college campuses, in Christian fellowships, and maybe in youth groups to a certain extent. You don't usually see this kind of thing in church - it tends to be more emotionally motivated and under certain circumstances.

I think the author does come on a little strong, but make sure you read part 4 if you haven't - I think that's where he makes his case most clearly for how it can be destructive.


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