"Confess your faults ["sins," R.S.V. and N.E.B.] one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" (James 5:16).
In volume 7 of the SDA Bible Commentary, page 541, we have a helpful explanation of the significance of the Greek words from which the English "faults" and "sins" were translated. This quotation should be read carefully:
Faults. Gr. paraptomata, "blunders," "trespasses." However, textual evidence favors (cf. p. 10) the reading hamartiai, "sins" (see on 1 John 3:4). Some have suggested that paraptomata stands for less serious offenses than hamartiai, but the difference between the two words seems rather to be essentially one of figure--a "falling" or a "missing"--rather than one of degree. However, except for its probable occurrence here, hamartiai is consistently used in the NT of offenses which only God can for give (cf. Mark 2:7), whereas paraptoma is used both in this sense and also of offenses that may be for given by one's fellow men (cf. Matt. 6:15). Here, it is the sick who are to confess their sins, and some hold that James means that they are to do so in the presence of "the elders of the church" (v. 14) who have been summoned to pray for them. Confession is to be a prerequisite to the offering of prayer for healing. The Scriptures clearly teach that sins are to be confessed to God alone (see 1 John 1:9; etc.), and that we have but one "mediator" of sin between God and man Christ Jesus (1 Tim. 2:5). He is our "advocate with the Father" (1 John 2:1).
In this article I wish to stress the when of confession as it concerns one man's acknowledgment of guilt to another and emphasize the necessity of prudence and wisdom if and when confession is made.
Wrong deeds secretly done are to be confessed to God alone. Sins that involve others are to be con fessed also to those who have suffered injury. A guilty conscience erects a barrier to unreserved reliance upon God and will defeat prayer. --Ibid.
Unwise Confessions
However, unwise confession creates many problems. Wisdom is the watchword here. I read once about a young woman who dated her sister's husband.* His spouse knew nothing about it. Later this young person became a Christian and she remembered her sinful life. Confessing her sin to God she felt relief but was troubled to know whether or not she should confess her sly adventures to her sister.
A ministerial counselor wisely urged her not to do this. What problem would be resolved by such confession, though the urge might be ever so strong? And whence the source of this urge? Probably a deep sense of guilt and regret and the ever-present human impulse to atone for wrong-doing, but God did not require it, so the counselor suggested Christ had atoned for that sin which the young woman had sincerely confessed to Him.
The only good that would be accomplished by such confession would be to satisfy a guilty conscience. In a sense, there fore, the confession would be an act prompted only by a desire to find relief.
In any event the question might be asked, Is it wise to create a second problem while trying to resolve a present one? Is this wisdom? Confession should be made when and if it is clearly right, but would it be right to create two problems by unwise confessions?
These questions need to be carefully weighed and the conscience brought to the test of the Word where the real priority lies. The Spirit of Prophecy has given good guidance in this delicate area of Christian experience:
True confession is always of a specific character, and acknowledges particular sins. They may be of such a nature as only to be brought before God, they may be wrongs that should be confessed before individuals who have suffered injury through them, or they may be of a general kind that should be made known in the congregation of the people. But all confession should be definite and to the point, acknowledging the very sins of which you are guilty. . . .
If you have given offense to your friend or neighbor you are to acknowledge your wrong, and it is his duty freely to forgive you. Then you are to seek the forgiveness of God because the brother whom you wounded is the property of God, and in injuring him you sinned against his Creator and Redeemer. Testimonies, vol. 5, p. 639.
Ellen White cautioned against unwise, needless confessions:
We have found in our experience that if Satan cannot keep souls bound in the ice of indifference, he will try to push them into the fire of fanaticism. When the Spirit of the Lord comes among His people, the enemy seizes the opportunity to work also, seeking to mold the work of God through the peculiar, unsanctified traits of different ones who are connected with that work. Thus there is always danger that unwise moves will be made. Many carry on a work of their own devising, a work which God has not prompted. . . .
God will be better glorified if we confess the secret, inbred corruption of the heart to Jesus alone than if we open its recesses to finite, erring man, who cannot judge righteously unless his heart is constantly imbued with the Spirit of God. God knows the heart, even every secret of the soul; then do not pour into human ears the story which God alone should hear.
I recognize . . . the danger of yielding to the temptation to conceal sin or to compromise with it, and thus act the hypocrite. Be sure that the confession fully covers the influence of the wrong committed, that no duty to God, to your neighbor, or to the church is left undone, and then you may lay hold upon Christ with confidence, expecting His blessing. But the question of how and to whom sins should be confessed is one that demands careful, prayerful study. We must consider it from all points, weighing it before God and seeking divine illumination. We should inquire whether to confess publicly the sins of which we have been guilty will do good or harm. Will it show forth the praises of Him who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light? Will it help to purify the minds of the people, or will the open relation of the deceptions practiced in denying the truth have an after influence to contaminate other minds and destroy confidence in us?
Men have not the wisdom, from God and the constant enlightenment from the Source of all power that would make it safe for them to follow impulses or impressions. Testimonies, vol. 5, pp. 644-647.
Will the Confession Result in Good or Evil?
The confession of one's faults or sins to another human being has its place. But in the Christian economy of things its place can be only as large as the actual requirements. Never should it be undertaken until certain things are clear to the guilty party. Will this confession of guilt result in good or evil? The spreading of the knowledge of sinful behavior is not a virtue. It is exactly the opposite. Sin should be contained and not spread abroad. It is to God that the confession of sin should be made. It should be made to the other person, if indeed he has been obviously wronged.
If the person to whom confession is made has not been injured, it is unwise to resurrect the matter, if the person has not been harmed a confession may be misunderstood, particularly if the act concerned is not obviously evil. It is possible for the confessee to impute a bad motivation to the one who confesses. It is also probable that the deed may be construed to be worse than it really was, possibly not as bad as it really was. The image formed of the person who confesses may be negative. In his nervous state he may not accurately represent the facts, not because he does not want to, but because he is embarrassed or perhaps con fused or distraught.
People are generally willing to forgive but they may gain wrong impressions. Have you ever thought how little the Bible urges confessions to human beings upon the con science? How little Jesus said of it as a Christian duty? There are many conscientious people who make unnecessary confessions. It is sincerely felt that these confessions are divinely required, when in actuality they are a misconception of what God requires. The confession-conscious man is in need of help. He may be sincere but short of understanding and emotionally motivated. He may also unconsciously be the victim of a salvation-by-works complex, a seeking to obtain favor with God by acts of contrition and humility.
The better judgment of the overconscientious Christian tells him not to spread abroad the knowledge of his mistakes, not to make confessions so liberally, but he does it anyway. He gets a momentary sense of relief but he condemns himself because he does something he knew was wrong. He opened up a matter that should have been forgotten should have died a natural death. Why then did he resurrect it? He wonders himself.
God is interested in people living right. He wants His saints to overcome their mistakes. A man who is impatient with his wife and admits it each time he becomes angry is to be commended if he repents and confesses, but he doesn't recommend himself to his wife as a stable man. If you have this weakness, the next time you do it don't confess it--overcome it. In time your wife will see there is a difference in you. That is what she wants to see anyway. And so does God.
There is a time and place for confession, but that time and place is generally in juxtaposition with a providence of God which indicates clearly that good and not harm will result from the confession itself. Confess, perhaps; but make sure. And if you are not sure, God understands your motive. He knows that you are willing to confess. In the judgment He will accept this motive as an act performed. He knows that the reason why you did not confess was because you were sure that more evil than good would result from it. This subject like every other needs to be resolved in the atmosphere of understanding God's character of love and grace.
