Confessing Your Sins

Confessing your sins means you agree with God that you have offended His holy character, are worthy of punishment, and in need of forgiveness. That's exactly what we see Daniel doing in verses 5-16. Verse 20 summarizes his prayer: "I was speaking and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God."

Unlike some who suffer God's chastening, Daniel didn't shift the blame for Israel's calamity. Instead he admitted that his people had willfully disobeyed God's Word and ignored His prophets, thereby bringing judgment upon themselves. Once they were a nation blessed by God; now they were aliens and captives in a foreign land. God had kept His promise to curse them if they disobeyed Him (Deut. 28:15).

In verses 12-15 Daniel analyzes the consequences of Israel's sin, which included her captivity and the guilt she bore for her arrogance and reluctance to repent.

Verse 14 reflects perhaps the most important aspect of confession: Daniel's affirmation that "the Lord our God is righteous with respect to all His deeds which He has done." The Gentile nations knew that the Israelites were God's chosen people. Surely the fall of Jerusalem raised questions about God's character: What kind of God would stand idly by while His people are ravaged and His Temple plundered? What is the benefit of having a God like that? This, in effect, is Daniel's response: "God is righteous in everything He does. We deserve this punishment, so don't accuse Him of acting unjustly."

Confession therefore serves a dual purpose: it brings forgiveness and frees God to chasten us without bringing accusations of inequity or injustice upon Himself.

Daniel's prayer came at a special time in Israel's history, but undoubtedly confession was a regular part of his life. That should be your pattern as well. Don't wait until disaster strikes before you confess your sin. Make it a daily practice.

If you have not developed a systematic approach to prayer, the "ACTS" format is a good way to start.

Adoration—praising God Confession—confessing sin Thanksgiving—thanking God Supplication—praying for others For Further Study

Read about David's sin in 2 Samuel 11:1—12:25 and his confession in Psalm 51. What are the similarities and differences between David's confession and Daniel's?

We are not sinners because we sin, we are sinners because we inherited our fallen sinful spiritual state by being born. By being born again and washed in the Blood of Jesus Christ, recognizing His body broken on the Cross for us, He that knew no sin, BECAME sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in and through Him.

Therefore, if you born again and have a personal “sin” problem, confess the truth, you ARE the righteousness of God in Jesus Christ, already. God is not following you around holding a paddle with the Law of Moses written on it waiting for you to slip off the path of your personal walk with Jesus Christ so He can whack you with it. Redeemed believers are not meant to walk around carrying the yoke of the Law around their necks, fearful of simply living in case they might sin. You as a redeemed to God believer are already DEAD to the curse of the law and to the sin state of affairs that the Law brings with it. We live under Grace, and as pointed out in the Bible,

“My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” (1 John 2:1)

Jesus Christ is now RIGHTEOUS for us and in our place. We can NEVER be righteous apart from Christ, and we are ALWAYS righteous before God, after the new birth, BECAUSE of Him. Because of our Lord Jesus and what He has accomplished at the Cross, we already have forgiveness and we still stand righteous before God, even when we’ve missed it.

The key to overcoming sin is for the believer to recognize and confess their righteous identity in Christ. This not to encourage believers to sin, but to encourage us to look to the Lord, Jesus, to see that our sins were already punished and paid for at the Cross, and to live FOR Him.

Victory in Jesus is not about believers living piously, the VICTORY is already Christs’ and happened the moment you got born again. But YOU still cannot overcome the sin state of the body of flesh that you dwell in while in this world, only the Spirit of God that now dwells within you can accomplish that. What you can do is confess the biblical truth, “I am the righteousness of God in Christ”.

RIGHT believing paves the way to RIGHT living.

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