“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
1 John 1:9
“Why do we confess sin each week in worship?” That’s a question I hear from time to time. It feels strange to some. In the last hundred years or so Baptists have not generally included confessions in worship (though early Baptists certainly did, and most reformed churches still do). Others fear that confessing sin together each week is unnecessary After all, I’m not guilty of every sin we confess! Or perhaps you feel it’s ‘praying by rote’ to confess a prayer in unison. But there is a gospel logic to public confession that has deep roots in the Bible and in the Reformation Faith that springs from the Bible.
Biblical worship in the reformed tradition seeks to display the Gospel every time we gather. In the call to worship, we hear God summoning us to come to him in faith. As we come, we hear God declaring Himself and His ways to us in His word and in songs that point us to His majesty, holiness, power and grace. Confession is our Gospel-driven response to this vision of God’s majesty. Just as Isaiah fell down and confessed his sin when he saw the Lord in the temple (Isa 6:1-5), so must we. (Or think of Peter’s response to Jesus in Lk 5:8).
So each week, rather than come pretending we can draw near to God on our own merits, we humble ourselves through the confession of sin to be reminded again that the gospel promises forgiveness. In this way, each week’s service becomes a “gospel dialogue” where we hear God’s Word with all it’s warnings and promises summoning us to repentance and faith in Jesus. We then respond to that summons by confessing our sins, hearing his word of pardon, giving thanks and praise for his mercy, and then departing to go out into the world emboldened to live by faith. As we worship this morning, pay attention to this Gospel pattern as your draw near to Christ by faith in His promises.
May the Lord give us humble, repentant hearts.
Pastor Scott