When I was scrolling through Instagram one day, something funny popped up in my FYP. It was a compilation of the most hilarious yearbook quotes. One of them was a confession that reads, “I asked God for a bike, but I know God doesn’t work that way, so I stole a bike and asked God for forgiveness.” Due to the accumulated amusement inside me from previous funny quotes, I found myself laughing out loud at what was on my screen.
But as my laughter died down, part of me began to wonder how often Christians subconsciously live by such an ethos. I googled the quote and found out that it originated from Emo Philips, an American actor and stand-up comedian—no doubt a line from one of his gigs. It is likely meant to be a joke but not very tasteful in hindsight.
If you’re sensitive, you will up sense that something is not quite right with such a mentality. God certainly does not work that way. The ends don’t justify his means. And we know that it is not right for the Christian’s desire for the bicycle (or anything, even great works in the name of the Lord) to be stronger than their desire to obey God’s will. Moreover, it is an abuse of God’s unbounded grace carried out in wilful awareness of that abuse. Confession is not a free pass to commit sins.
What is confession, then? Herman Bavinck, in his book titled The Sacrifice of Praise, writes of two kinds of confession. The first is a certain acknowledgement of sins that occurs outside of faith. Judas cried out, “I have sinned for I have betrayed innocent blood” (Matt 27:4). Like Cain’s (Gen. 4:13), his is a cry of despair not borne out of a broken and repentant heart, but a remorse and despondency that doesn’t drive one toward God but further from Him in rebellion. It leads not to salvation but death (2 Cor. 7:10).
True confession—the second type—is completely different. It arises from a contrite spirit, pleasing to God. It is not contrite about the consequences of sins but its essence —displeasing God by acting contrary to his law. It consists in heartfelt grief at sinning against God who is love and righteousness. Such a confession is accompanied by sorrow toward God and produces a “repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret” (2 Cor. 7:10) because it sanctifies and transforms.
How are we confessing today?