James 5:16 “Confess your sins to one another”
In the past few months, I’ve had two instances where believers confessed to me their sin. Although they may not have realized they were doing what God had told them in the passage above from James 5, that’s exactly what they did. In the first instance, it was the case of a friend who has been a believer for many years. He’s a wonderful, godly, brother in the Lord. Spending time with him always encourages my soul. It is as we were discussing our walk with the Lord that this brother confided in me his problem with arrogance. He told me that it’s something that trips him up and that Satan loves to take advantage of.
The second instance was recently in an adult Sunday School class that I teach. This incident involved a relatively new Christian, and the confession was before the entire class. She confessed that she was struggling with an old habit of cursing, and she asked prayer for God’s help to resist the temptation.
As I’ve thought about both of these instances, one of the blessings of the passage above has dawned on my mind. That is that while confession is good for the confessor of sin, it is likewise good for the one to whom that confession is made, i.e., the “one another” in this verse. You see, in both of these instances, I was greatly encouraged by the other person’s honesty. I was encouraged to know that I’m not the only Christian who struggles against sin. I was encouraged to pray for this brother and sister. I was blessed to experience their trust in other believers as they shared their words. And in my heart, I felt no condemnation at all towards these believers. Rather it was compassion that I felt deep within. And isn’t that as it should be, for the heart of Jesus is to forgive others, not to condemn or look down on their confession of sin. And so if that heart dwells within us, as the Bible says it does, our reaction should be the same.
You see, in some traditions, the confession of sin is done to a priest. And while confession CAN be done in this way, if that’s all it is, it falls short of what the Lord has said. The church is a body of believers. We are brothers and sisters in Christ. We are to love one another, pray for one another, give to one another, help one another, and all the other “one another’s” that God calls us to in His Word. And among these is to confess our sins to one another. Like all the other “one another’s” in Scripture, it’s a command that goes two ways. One day you may need to confess to me. Another day, I may need to confess to you. And as we do that, as we are honest with each other about our struggles in life, the church can truly be what God meant for it to be, i.e., those who “encourage one another and build one another up” (1 Thessalonians 5:11).
May God help us to heed His word regarding confession. May He help us to truly live as those whom “He has delivered . . . from the domain of darkness and transferred . . . to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13-14).
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