THE HONEST ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF OUR SINS (MAY 27)

"For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me" (Psalm 51:3).

THE KNOWLEDGE OF OUR SINS IS PAINFUL, BUT IT IS POWERFUL. If we’re willing to look honestly at our sins against God, the door can be opened to confession, repentance, and salvation.

The problem at the root of sin is always pride. It is pride that moves us to sin in the first place (we refuse to submit humbly to a will higher than our own), but having sinned, it is also pride that prevents us from acknowledging what we’ve done. Rather than confess our sins and seek God’s forgiveness, we suppress the truth with all manner of evasions, defenses, and rationalizations.

But if the gospel is about redemption from our sins, we must acknowledge our need for redemption. The first prerequisite to the gospel, therefore, is humility — the willingness to bow before the painful truth about ourselves. We must lay down not only our rebellion but the excuses we have been offering for our rebellion.

We usually think of the confession of sin in two directions: confession to God and confession to others. But I suggest that there is a confession that must precede both of these, and it may be the hardest confession of all. We must admit the truth to ourselves. Only when we ourselves face the facts will we be ready to acknowledge those facts to God and to those we’ve sinned against.

But let’s go a little deeper. The honest acknowledgement of sin requires more than a generic “I have sinned.” We must be willing to confess our actual sins and call them by their right names. In our human relationships, we wouldn’t feel an apology was sufficient if someone said no more than, “I haven’t treated you as I should.” An honest apology requires stating specifically the error that was committed. But again, the real difficulty lies in making that acknowledgement to ourselves. We won’t seek the forgiveness of God (or the forgiveness of others) if we haven’t fully digested the truth about our guilt and laid aside our excuses.

Personally, I know of no part of the plan of salvation that is any harder than this. It is gut-wrenching. But look at the doors that are opened. Humbled, we are ready to come to the foot of Jesus’ cross and say, “What must I do to be saved?” (Acts 16:30).

"The knowledge of sin is the beginning of salvation" (Epicurus).