Fear No Fear

“I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I did not conceal. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah” (Psalm 32:5, MEV). Stop and think about that. Forgiveness didn’t come when the sin was hidden. It didn’t come when they felt sorry for themselves or for being caught. It came after the decision to confess – a word which wraps up both true repentance in heart and deed. John spoke about it in 1 John 1:9 and included our responsibility to confess to one another those things we’ve done to one another as part of the repentive process of turning completely away from prior actions to honest, supportive loving of one another (Colossians 3:15-16). When we are repentant, actions naturally flow. It is the SAME process that trust in Jesus follows. When we have true trust in Jesus, which is based in His love for us and our love for Him, we cannot HELP but to good works. The works are the fruit of the trust, not the root. Confession is the fruit of repentance, not how we get forgiveness. If we are repentant, we’ll confess it. To others to build trust and relationship. To God to SHOW our trust and submission to His point of view. Confession doesn’t GET you forgiveness, confession is the fruit of forgiveness.