the middle of your back. Every time you try to stand up spiritually, Satan will use that sin against you. He will black-mail you. Interestingly, the name 'Satan' means 'accuser', and he is a specialist at that. "Just who do you think you are?", "You're not much of a Christian!", "If people find out what you've done, your public humiliation will destroy you", "How can you be so arrogant to confront them about their sin, considering what you've done?"So what is the best way to get rid of a black-mailer? Pay him? That's usually the first thing we try isn't it? But you've seen the movie, he's never satisfied, he always wants more and more, the payments never end. So, what can be done to get rid of a black-mailer? Well, obviously, get rid of the secret, confess it, expose it. When you do that, he has no more leverage over you.That, I believe, is one reason God tells us over and over to confess our sins. Once you do, Satan cannot use your secret against you anymore. Do you have a secret sin? Find a godly brother/sister in the Lord who will give you righteous counsel and get that handle off your back!
He who covers his sins will not prosper,
But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.Proverbs 28:13
But whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.Proverbs 28:13
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Interesting, but I'm not sure I fully understand. Can you provide an actual or hypothetical example to illustrate?
ReplyDeleteAre you saying Prov. 28:13 doesn't refer to confession before God alone?
There is no context per se to Pr. 28:13 so it would be presumptuous for me to say it means "to God only" or "To other people", but there are other passages that teach confession of sin both to God (1 John 1:9)and to others (James 5:16).
ReplyDeleteBy way of example I've got a couple of things. One is David. In Psalm 32 he talks about the consequences when he kept silent about his sin. Another is the common example of lying. If I tell a lie, and it is not known, it remains a secret; then to protect that lie I will be motivated to tell more lies, leading to more lies, etc. [the inward thoughts "Oh no, they'll find out, and if they find out, I'll be fired..." or maybe even more common, the accusation in my heart "who are you to tell someone... if they ever find out what you've done you'll look like such a hypocrite."] Confession of the lie removes that impetus to continue lying to cover up the sin. Our natural inclination (all the way back to the Garden of Eden) is to hide sin. God's answer to that includes confession to one another.
In a related thought, as long as I can keep a sin hidden, I continue under the false impression that I am getting away with it. That it is "hurting on-one but me". When my sin is confessed to my brethren, I learn that I am not really getting away with my sin, and that my sin isn't "just between me and God".
Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. -James 5:16