On the Confession of Sin

What does biblical confession mean and involve?

I recently posted something on the social media about a pastor and his public fall from grace, and his later public confession of sin. That generated a lot of discussion and debate, so I wrote a whole article on the matter. You can see that piece here: https://billmuehlenberg.com/2025/03/14/great-sin-great-repentance-great-grace/

But when I posted snippets of that article on the social media, even more comments and back and forth discussion took place. Some wondered if public confession was needed, or how we are to understand it. Thus this second piece on the subject. Let me first share some of the replies I had made on this – or at least thought about making – and then share some thoughts of others.

Part of the reason disagreement can arise on these matters is the obvious fact that Protestants and Catholics differ on what confession is and/or what it should involve. We of course do not have a Sacrament of Penance and so on. But it is not my aim here to discuss all the pros and cons of whether confessing one’s sin to a priest is the way to proceed (although this matter will be raised a bit later on).

A main reason for this piece is the fact that Protestants can differ on the issue of public sin and where public confession comes in. Some feel that the contrite Christian need only confess his sins to God, and no one else – even seemingly the one who was sinned against.

Clearly this cannot be fully correct. If a Christian in a fit of rage lashes out at his wife, giving her a black eye in the process, surely just confessing that sin to God is not enough. When the guy sees his sin and repents, true repentance would entail going to his wife and apologising, and asking for her forgiveness.

Again, because some Protestants are so squeamish about what Catholics believe and teach, they might even be unhappy about asking some person for forgiveness. Sure, in one sense, only God can actually forgive our sins. But in any broken relationship, we seek restoration by apologising and asking for forgiveness.

I cannot here speak to every biblical text on the confession of sin. But one obvious passage that springs to mind is of course James 5:16: “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”

As we try to get a handle on what the confession of sin entails, obviously a text like this would be a key part of the discussion. Confessing your sin to others, at least to those that we have wronged, is biblical. And it would seem that making an apology is part of such confession.

Here is a quick example: If a pastor comes home raging drunk, smashes things and curses out family members, then he sobers up and sees the enormity of his sin and repents, then of course apologising and confessing his sin to the family would be part of the repentance process.

How much more so if the pastor had staggered into his church one Sunday morning drunk as a skunk, swearing at church members, etc. Would not his repentance include a full public apology to his congregation? Is not the making of a public apology a part of biblical confession and repentance?

Part of the problem has to do with if and when such confession to others is needed. It goes without saying that all sin must be confessed to God, as texts like 1 John 1:9 make clear: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” But what about confession to others?

As I have discussed often before, the general biblical rule of thumb is this: private sin should be privately rebuked and privately confessed and forgiven, while public sin should be publicly rebuked and publicly confessed and forgiven. Matthew 18:15-20 speaks about the former, while Galatians 2:11-21 discusses the latter. See more on this issue here: https://billmuehlenberg.com/2013/08/16/on-public-rebuke/

Stott on confession

In my library listing of some 8500 books, I did a search on the word “confess.” It came up with plenty of titles such as “The Westminster Confession”. But only one book had just the word “confess” in the title, so I will make use of that volume.

I refer to John Stott’s excellent but brief volume, Confess Your Sins: The Way of Reconciliation (Eerdmans, 1964, 2017). It is very good indeed, and eminently quotable. Stott of course writes as an evangelical Anglican, so that is the position he speaks from in the book.

Besides an Introduction and a Conclusion, there are five chapters:

1. Secret Confession (to God)
2. Private Confession (to an offended individual)
3. Public Confession (to the church)
4. Auricular Confession 1 (to a priest): The Minister’s Authority
5. Auricular Confession 2 (to a priest): The Penitent’s need

Early on Stott reminds us of three keys truths: our sins need to be forgiven; God is a forgiving God; our sins need to be confessed to be forgiven. As to private sin, he reminds us how harmful trying to conceal our sin is, as Psalm 32:3-5 makes clear. Walking in the light and keeping short accounts with God is crucial.

While all private sin must be confessed to God, not all of it must be confessed to others: It is “social sins of word and deed which we must confess to our fellow men, not the sinful thoughts we may have harbored against them.” And another point he makes is important. He appeals to Luke 17:3 (“If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him”), and writes:

We are to rebuke a brother if he sins against us; we are to forgive him if he repents — and only if he repents. We must beware of cheapening forgiveness. Although God’s forgiveness of us and our forgiveness of one another are quite different (since God is God, and we are merely private individuals, and sinners besides), yet both are conditional upon repentance. If a brother who has sinned against us refuses to repent, we should not forgive him. Does this startle you? It is what Jesus taught. Oh, we must forgive him in the sense that our thoughts towards him are free of all animosity and full of love. But this is not Christian forgiveness. “Forgiveness” includes restoration to fellowship. If we can restore to full and intimate fellowship with ourselves a sinning and unrepentant brother, we reveal not the depth of our love but its shallowness, for we are doing what is not for his highest good. A forgiveness which bypasses the need for repentance issues not from love but from sentimentality. (p. 29)

And this longer quote from his Conclusion is worth running with:

The principle which we have sought to establish and illustrate in this book is that sin must be confessed only to the person or persons who have been offended and from whom forgiveness is therefore desired. Confession is never to a third party, both because he has not been offended, and because he is not in a position to forgive the sin. This is the simple reason why auricular confession is a practice to be deplored. It is not an answer to say that auricular confession is not “to a priest,” but either to God through the priest or in the presence of the priest, or to the church represented by the priest. Such representative confession is neither recognized nor recommended in Scripture. If the sin has been committed against God, it should be confessed to God secretly; if it has been committed against the church, it should be confessed to the church publicly. Confessing such sins to a priest is not right, since it makes secret confession not secret through including another person and public confession not public through excluding the church.

 

This critical rejection of the practice of habitual auricular confession is not to be interpreted as due to a light view of sin or to a desire to make confession easier for the sinner. On the contrary, I believe we need to take the gravest possible view of sin, which the Bible does, as “this detestable thing” which God hates (Jer 44:4), which is responsible for the sin-bearing death of the world’s Savior, the sorrows and sufferings of many people in this life, and the irretrievable ruin of others in the next. Our opposition to “sacramental” confession is to be attributed not to our low view of sin but to our high view of Christ and the perfection of his provision for the sinner’s absolution. So let me, in conclusion, issue two practical appeals.

 

First, we need to take the confession of sin more seriously… (pp. 80-81)

He continues:

This book is a plea for more confession, not less, but for better confession, and confession of the right kind. We need to be more disciplined in secret self-examination and detailed confession to God. This should be “habitual, thorough, compulsory.” We need to be more faithful and courageous in apologizing to those we have offended and in rebuking those who have offended against us. We need to press for a restoration in the Anglican Communion, whatever the cost, of a seemly, biblical discipline in the local congregation when a public scandal has been caused.

 

My second appeal is that we should take the forgiveness of sin more seriously also. Christianity is a religion of forgiveness. God is willing to forgive sinners through Christ. We must forgive one another. The church has absolute authority to forgive and to restore to its fellowship those who have offended against it and been suspended, but have subsequently repented and confessed their sin. We need to demonstrate the forgiveness of God to a world burdened with guilt, and to a world torn by bitter animosities the way in which the disciples of Jesus are taught to forgive one another. We need more faith in the promises of God to rejoice in divine forgiveness; more love for each other to rejoice in human forgiveness. We need to exhibit before the world our Christian freedom—freedom from guilt and freedom from spite. We need to go on beyond forgiveness, and exploit the privileges which forgiveness makes possible, a great parrhesia, boldness or outspokenness, both in our access to the throne of grace and in our fellowship with one another. (pp. 81-82)

Needless to say, not all Catholics will agree with everything Stott has said here. Indeed, not all Protestants will either. But he offers us much to think about and prayerfully consider. Getting the biblical take on things like sin, confession, repentance and forgiveness is vital. I encourage you to get a hold of his book and read it for yourself.

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