RESOURCES — SHORT ARTICLES

 

SHORT ARTICLES BY TOM ELSEROAD
	2020-09-25	Is It Important to Confess My Sin to Someone Other Than God? (Ja.5:16)
		Jas 5:16  Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. What place should private confession of our personal sin to other Christians play? What is James commanding us to do? What does it mean, “that you may be healed” Because of our new birth making us a new creation in Christ we are now children of God. And being in union with Christ we are now children of light (Ep.5:8). Because we are children of light, and part of light is truth, the Christian community will not be marked by secretness. If you struggle with sin, it does not mean you need to broadcast to the world your specific sins. That would not be good for the world, and it would not be good for you. The Christian life should be known as an open book appropriately read by mature people in your life (Ep.4:25). Eph 4:25 Therefore, putting away lying, "LET EACH ONE OF YOU SPEAK TRUTH WITH HIS NEIGHBOR," for we are members of one another. This includes doctrinal and relational truth. We should be known as people of truth. What follows is that we would seek to confess and make right any ways we have wronged others (Mt.5:23). Mat 5:23  Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you Jesus is saying to first be reconciled with your brother then offer your gift. Here we are to confess the sin specifically to the person you have wronged. Being children of light also implies that we will not be ashamed to pursue reconciliation by drawing attention to the sins of others against us in the body of Christ (Mt.18:15). Mat 18:15  "Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. In other words get a confession from him so it can preserve the relationship. We try to help others confess when we know about their sin. Gal 6:1  Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. Restoring someone caught in a sin is going to involve helping them to confess it. If they lie about it or hide it nothing is achieved. So confession is clearly implied here. Eph 4:32  And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. Paul describes a community spirit where confession and forgiveness is regularly happening. It is seen in the word “forgiving”. You do not go around the church forgiving people who have given you no indication they have sinned against you. That would be offensive because they do not know what you are talking about. Jas 5:13  Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. Jas 5:14  Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. Jas 5:15  And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Jas 5:16  Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. James 5 is in the context of elders coming before someone who is sick. It appears in the encounter with the elders sins emerge which may be connected with his illness. We are not told how. So in verse 16 James in general commands believers to confess your sins to one another. Just like when the elders were having a prayer meeting (vs.13-15), we should confess our sins to one another. In the normal life of the Christian honesty and purity of heart involve continual admission and confession of sin to appropriate people in our lives. Psa 32:3  When I kept silent, my bones grew old Through my groaning all the day long. Psa 32:4  For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was turned into the drought of summer. Selah Psa 32:5  I acknowledged my sin to You, And my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD," And You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah This is a confession to the Lord, but the principle here between physical and spiritual is that they are connected. When you do not confess sin it affects you physically (v.3). Thus, dishonesty and hiddenness about our sins brings both physical and spiritual misery. God wants to spare us that, so He teaches us to confess our sins to God and when appropriate to one another. And by appropriate we mean when the sin affects your relationship with another believer. Pastor Tom Elseroad

 

An Evangelical Free Church of America

23304 E Wellesley Ave. Otis Orchards, WA 99027 Church Office: 509.926.9552 Church Cell: 509.342.9145 Pastor Cell: 509.828.8843 tomelseroad@gmail.com