The Discipline of Confession

1) Confession “involves an objective change in our relationship with God and a subjective change in us. It is a means of healing and transforming the inner spirit.”

2) Salvation is both an event and a process (Phil. 2:12). Confession is the discipline that through which we process our sins as we “work out our salvation.”

3) Is confession a discipline or grace? It is both.

A) Grace—“Unless God gives the grace, no genuine confession can be made.”

B) Discipline—“There are things we must do…a consciously chosen course of action…

4) Is confession a private or corporate discipline? It is both

A) Private—“There is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (I Tim. 2:5)

B) corporate—“confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another…” (James 5:16)

5) As priests under Jesus Christ we are authorized to forgive sins (John 20:23, I Peter 2:9)

6) Dietrich Bonhoeffer writes, “Our brother…has been given to us to help us. He hears the confession of our sins in Christ’s stead and he forgives our sins in Christ’s name. He keeps the secret of our confession as God keeps it. When I go to my brother to confess, I am going to God”

7) Parts of a Confession or the Sacrament of Penance:

A) When it comes to sin there are no excuses or
extenuating circumstances

B) The word of forgiveness is expected and given in the absolution’

C) Penance is given not as a way of earning forgiveness but as an opportunity to reflect on the seriousness of the sin

8) Counsel in the Giving of a Confession

A) Examination of Conscience—We open ourselves to “the gaze of God” and deal with definite sins

1. Take time but don’t be worried if you can’t
remember every sin. Let God’s Spirit bring them to your mind, and confess them

2. There must be a definite end point to this
process

3. Carefully choose the person to whom you
confess. They should be mature and empathetic, able to keep a confidence, wise, compassionate, with a good common sense; and a wholesome sense of humor.

B) Sorrow—“An Abhorrence at having committed the sin, a deep regret at having offended the heart of the Father”

C) Determination to Avoid Sins—“We ask God to give us a yearning for holy living, a hatred for unholy living”

9) Counsel in the Receiving of a Confession

A) Live under the cross and do not be disturbed at
the sinfulness of humanity

B) Pray for an increase of the light of Christ within so it will radiate to others

C) Keep quiet as the penitent confesses

D) Place the cross by prayer between yourself and the penitent, so everything is done in the divine light of the love of the cross

E) Pray inwardly and silently for the penitent as confession is make

F) At the end pray out loud for the person announcing they are forgiven in Jesus Christ. The prayer is for inner healing of the wounds of sin and is best accompanied by the laying on of hands

10) When someone confesses a wrong done against you personally, you are to forgive them. However there are four fallacies of forgiveness to be avoided:

A) Forgiveness never means pretending an injury didn’t really hurt you

B) Forgiveness does not mean you cease to hurt from the wrong

C) Forgiveness does not mean you forget the wrong. You cannot. The memory remains but the vindictiveness leaves

D) Forgiveness means not pretending the relationship is just the same as it was before the wrong. It has changed, and by God’s grace maybe for the better