C is For Confession

[My contribution to the 2012 Blogging A to Z April Challenge  Here is my INTRODUCTION to this series, and an opportunity for you to influence which alphabetically aligned weird words I will comment on this month.]


CONFESSION may not seem like a very strange word.  We hear it every day on any one of a multitude of cop shows; 

     "Did you get a CONFESSION out of that perp yet?"  says good cop.

     "Not yet, but we will after we get some coffee." promises bad cop.

But in Bible verses like 1John 1:9 we see one of its derivatives, exhibiting its most common meaning.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

IF we simply admit... that we are undoubtedly enslaved... by a complete sinfulness, THEN God does all that needs to be done.  This is a both a great challenge (for we don't want to admit anything!), and a great promise.  God demands no good works from us, except the 'good (and passive) work' of CONFESSION!

There is another important meaning of the word CONFESSION that bears discussing.

It also means to testify to a conviction as Paul uses it in his second letter to the Corinthians here; 

Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your CONFESSION of the gospel of Christ  (9:13)  

and as he wrote to Timothy here;

Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good CONFESSION in the presence of many witnesses. (1 Timothy 6:12)

Remarkably, the 'good' CONFESSION that Paul here attributes to Tim, was modeled by Jesus Himself when He was on trial.

In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good CONFESSION... (1 Timothy 6:13)

They both made the same good CONFESSION:  Timothy confessed, or proclaimed, of his faith in Christ as the truth bearer, and Jesus confessed, or declared, that He IS the truth!

36 Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”
37 “You are a king, then!” said Pilate.
Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”
38 “What is truth?” retorted Pilate.  (John 18)

Read through the end of this dialogue with Pilate to see an absolutely fascinating picture of one who saw the truth plainly, but was too politically mortgaged to make the good CONFESSION we all need to make.