Hear My Confession
Hear My Confession
By Jennifer Moodie
7/31/2022
Today in my church, as we do often, our congregation read a corporate confession of sin. It went like this:
“Most merciful God,
we confess that we have sinned against you
in thought, word, and deed,
by what we have done,
and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you with our whole heart;
we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
We are truly sorry and we humbly repent.
For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ,
have mercy on us and forgive us;
that we may delight in your will,
and walk in your ways, to the glory of your name, Amen.”
I absolutely love this. I need this. I am so thankful for this practice. I love that I can sit amongst my brothers and sisters in the Lord and acknowledge that we have sinned since we last saw each other. There is no hiding it and pretending because we are confessing. Together.
I don’t have to pretend as if I have it all together when I come to church because I know that I will be confessing my sins in the open for all to hear. And if I, during the week, have not had a conscience tender enough to have confessed my sins alone, I know I will go no longer without it. I will be forced to confess.
I don’t have to pretend as if I have it all together when I come to church because I know that I will be confessing my sins in the open for all to hear. And if I, during the week, have not had a conscience tender enough to have confessed my sins alone, I know I will go no longer without it. I will be forced to confess.
And my children sit and listen, and confess with us. They get to watch us all confess together that we are imperfect and have sinned. They are watching adults confess out loud that they have done wrong and sinned against God in thought, word, and deed by what they have done and left undone. There is no pretense that adults don’t break God’s commandments.
And then we get to hear our pastor read an assurance of pardon. No, he is not absolving us, but assuring us of the forgiveness we already have in Christ.
And then we get to hear our pastor read an assurance of pardon. No, he is not absolving us, but assuring us of the forgiveness we already have in Christ.
“Almighty God have mercy on you, forgive you all your sins
through our Lord Jesus Christ, strengthen you in all
goodness, and by the power of the Holy Spirit keep you
in eternal life. Amen.”
Psalms 32:5-7
I acknowledged my sin to You,
And my iniquity I did not hide;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”;
And You forgave the guilt of my sin.
Selah.
Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found;
Surely in a flood of great waters they will not reach him.
You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble;
You surround me with songs of deliverance.
Selah.
I acknowledged my sin to You,
And my iniquity I did not hide;
I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”;
And You forgave the guilt of my sin.
Selah.
Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found;
Surely in a flood of great waters they will not reach him.
You are my hiding place; You preserve me from trouble;
You surround me with songs of deliverance.
Selah.
James 5:16
Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.
1 John 1:8-9
If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Romans 8:1
Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Hebrews 4:14-16
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
I cannot keep the law. It was never meant to be kept but to show our need for a savior. And I need reminded that I can’t keep the law, that I haven’t kept the law, and yet I have been covered by the One Who kept the law perfectly for me.
Knowing that I am not alone in my struggle with sin, and being reminded that I am forgiven and not condemned…. This is one big reason I love being a part of a Reformed Confessional Church.
And then, after our corporate confession, we heard the gospel preached from John 6 and it was so good. You. A listen here. I had never heard the story of the 5 loaves and 2 fish presented in this manner. It will bless you.
Soli Deo Gloria
*This confession and assurance of pardon can be found in the Book of Common Prayer or here.
And understanding the law/gospel distinction is so important in this as well. Here is a great short explanation of that- https://heidelblog.net/2017/06/olevianus-on-the-distinction-between-law-and-gospel/
These episodes of The Pactum were also a rich blessing in discussing the law/gospel distinction.
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