True confession of sin to God leads to a new life. Confession of sin is a progression to restoration. When we commit sin, the first thing that we have to do to be restored in our relationship with God is to confess our sins to God and ask for forgiveness. Once we sincerely confess our sins and ask God for forgiveness, God immediately forgives us. We don't have to punish our bodies because our Lord Jesus died for our sins on the cross already. Confessing our sins leads us to walk away from our sins and turn the other way, and this is called repentance. Confessing our sins and repentance go together. Once God forgives us of our sins, we need to start doing the right things. Listen to David's prayer, "Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me. Then I will teach transgressors your ways so that sinners will turn back to you. Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, you who are God my Savior, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness. Open my lips, Lord, and my mouth will declare your praise (Psalm 51:12-15)."
David confessed his sins to God and turned away from them so that he could teach the sinners to walk in God's way. David illustrated to us the purpose of confessing our sins to God. It is about being forgiven, turning away from sins, and teaching or telling other sinners to walk in God's way. Many believers stopped moving towards restoration after they received forgiveness from God. They do not replace their bad habits with good habits. We must leave our sinful habits behind and start doing godly habits to live in a restored life. We do not need to stay feeling bad about the sin that we have done in the past because there is nothing that we can do to change it. We need to admit our sins before God and others, receive God's forgiveness, and move on to do the godly things. Let us not continue to dwell on our past sins because when we continue to dwell on our past sins, we do not really understand what true forgiveness is.
True forgiveness restores us to a new life. We are no longer bound by our past sins. We have been set free, and God has given us a new beginning. Jesus's blood, shed on the cross, could wash away all of our sins so that we can walk a new life in forgiveness. Let us start walking and doing things that are acceptable to God.
Questions for application: (Think through these questions carefully, meditate on them while answering them, and let the Spirit of God speak to you.) What is the progression of confessing our sins to God? What must I do after God forgive me of my sins? Why is it important not to dwell on my past sins?
Write down all the worries you face today and lift them up to God.
Prayer:
Father in Heaven, thank you for forgiving my sins after I acknowledge and confess my sins to you. Now, Lord, please help me to do the right thing before you and not dwell on my past sins. Please help me to walk in a new life of forgiveness. Please help me to replace my bad habits with godly habits so that I can live in restoration. In your name, Jesus, I pray. Amen.