The Confession of Sins by E. Goodrich

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Jan 6, 1874

The Confession of Sins.

By E. Goodrich

The confession of sin is certainly a Bible duty. Yet in this, as in almost everything else, there seems to be danger of either misunderstanding or misapplying the truth.

Some of the reasons that underlie this duty are, Man deliberately sins; he should, therefore, deliberately renounce and put away his sins. And as sin is an injury, both to its possessor and to those against whom it is committed, destroying peace and friendship, the only way to restore broken confidence and repair the damage done is to confess the wrong, and make that restoration that the case demands.

These are inseparable, because a man cannot confess and obtain pardon while he holds the price of iniquity yet in his hands. Now, there are various grades and classes of sins, and the rule that is to govern us in confessing our sins is this: Sins are to be confessed in the same order and to the same extent that they are committed.

1. There are secret sins, those sins that are committed in secret where no eye but that of God is upon us. Every sinful thought, every wicked purpose that forms itself in the mind, and every lustful and unlawful wish that clamors in the heart and that seeks gratification under the cover of darkness, these are secret sins. And there is no principle either in reason or in revelation that demands that those sins that stain and pollute the soul should be publicly confessed, and thus thrown out upon the world to corrupt and taint others.

Facts are not moral only when they are moral facts. And, as we are affected with the sight of our eyes and the hearing of our ears, the less we know of the iniquity of others, the better it is for us. This truth is fully demonstrated in the great amount of evil done in publishing low literature. These sins are to be confessed only in secret in the presence of God who searcheth the hearts and trieth the reins of the children of men.

Undoubtedly there are those, and perhaps many, who stumble over this first lesson of Christian experience. Being convicted of sins, the cross of humble confession is too great, and they do not make a start. If this first duty is understood and discharged, it gives strength for more advanced lessons and duties. And this is the way with all duties; exercise gives strength.

Again, we are to confess only our own sins, not those of others. And it seems a mistaken idea that some get, if they think evil of any one, that they must express that evil thought, or else they are hypocrites. The thinking of evil of any one of our family, a brother or neighbor, does them no evil; it is the speaking of evil that injures. And the breathing out of our sinful thoughts, feelings, and passions, is Satan’s own way of scattering firebrands, arrows, and death. The speaking of evil of any one is never a duty unless the cause of virtue and humanity demands it as a warning to save others.

2. We have private sins—those sins that are committed in private life, where only one or at most but a few are witnesses. Those sins may be committed against members of our own families, against a neighbor, or even a stranger; or two or more persons may be confederate in sin, and a knowledge of the same be confined to themselves alone. Now in confessing this class of sins, there seems no need of going either upon the house-tops or into the streets of a city to proclaim what we have done. It is enough that we go to the injured one, or to the persons in whose presence we have sinned, and there confess the wrong and repair as far as we can the damage that has been done. And to do this properly, we should be as much in earnest and as explicit in confessing as in committing our sins. Apologies are not confessions; and we should never say, If I have wronged you, if you were offended, if I used improper language, I want you to forgive; but we should say, I know that I have wronged you, I know that I have abused you.

Neither should we expect that a single word is quite enough to cover a long period of evil treatment. Nor yet should we be discouraged if perfect confidence is not at once restored although our confession is hearty and genuine. The restoring of confidence that has been broken is like the planting of trees that have been pulled up by the roots; it requires time for them to become rooted again, so restoration of confidence requires time and evidence of reformation.

3. There are public sins—sins that are committed openly, and in the light of day. These sins cannot be confessed secretly, but are to be renounced and put away in a public manner. No person can go about the streets of a city or over the country publishing lying and slanderous reports about a neighbor, or even the least of Christ’s disciples, and then go into the closet or to the man injured and obtain pardon. In other words, no person who commits a public sin, of whatever kind it may be, can obtain either a secret or private pardon. And in seeking redress from wrongs that have been done, whether private or public, or in reproving the sins of others, the same rule is to be observed as in confessing sins. Private wrongs are to be privately righted, and public sins are to be openly rebuked and punished.

E. GOODRICH.

Edinboro, Pa.