The Bible doesn't say which sins we should confess, just that we should confess sins. I take that to mean all of them. I doubt that many people actually do that, but it appears to be the command.
If I confess that I got angry at a driver who cut me off, and then at another one who nearly hit me, and at a driver who was text-messaging while driving and weaving in and out of the lanes, is that important, or should I say that I was angry at the way people drive?
I don't recall any notion of "bundling" in the scriptures. :) More confession leads to more conviction and repentance.
The sin in all these cases is that I don't know why they were driving the way they did, and I judged them for something I presumed (negligence, carelessness, even "stupidity"). So, yes, the intent is more important. I need to be aware that others have lives too and that they may be dealing with emergencies that take their attention away form the world, rather than judge them and call them names.
Sure, and when you are aware of that, then you won't become angry and there is no issue of sin. My experience in becoming upset with bad drivers is that I only ever get angry when I'm REALLY already angry about something else. :)
Even for major sins, such as adultery, every little detail that qualifies as a sinful act is not necessary to describe. The fact that one has committed adultery is. So, yes, the intent is more important.
I totally disagree. There are a hundred different ways of committing adultery. Are you telling me that the confession of a single person sleeping around should be the same as that of one who consistently lies to his wife about his whereabouts and pays to have unsafe sex with a brood of prostitutes? I don't think it should work like that at all. That is why I say content DOES matter.
David committed just about all the worst sins you can imagine (adultery, killing the husband of the woman he committed adultery with), yet he was forgiven because he repented of the intent to repeat it. When any desire to repeat it has died, that's when you know that sin has been forgiven. The intent is no longer there.
Well, I thought that your point was that the murder would be wrapped into the sin of adultery, so David would have no need to separately confess it. That's what confession is like when content doesn't matter as much as intention. The intention was to get away with adultery.
Sure, you confess ingratitude to God, anger, envy, pride, arrogance, gluttony, coveting, lying, etc. The details don't make sins more, or less sinful. The Bible teaches that committing one sin is as good as committing all of them.
The idea is to change your behavior, and you do that by becoming aware that your behaving is sin and by repenting, which is to say to never wish to repeat it.
More confession leads to more conviction and repentance.
We should confess everything we are aware of that is sinful in our daily lives, whether deeds or thoughts. Just because we may not remember all of them doesn't mean we don't regret them. So we must confess in principle and repent in principle.
Sure, and when you are aware of that, then you won't become angry and there is no issue of sin
If someone threatens your life with his carelessness, or causes great deal of damage, which may result in injury or even a death of a loved one, a missed appointment, flight, whatever, it is difficult not to get angry. The important thing is not to judge. We can hate the sin but not the sinner.
There are a hundred different ways of committing adultery. Are you telling me that the confession of a single person sleeping around should be the same as that of one who consistently lies to his wife about his whereabouts and pays to have unsafe sex with a brood of prostitutes?
I presume both of them are married. In which case the answer is Yes. Is one murder any less of a sin than three in the eyes of God? Are you any less of a murder if you commit one and not three?
The problem in both cases in your scenario is that neither one of them is regretful and ready to stop the offensive behavior. Maybe that's because they believe they are already "saved"...
That is why I say content DOES matter
I disagree. It makes no difference if one commits adultery with a blonde, brunette or both.
Well, I thought that your point was that the murder would be wrapped into the sin of adultery
No, that was not my point, FK. Murder is a separate sin.
The intention was to get away with adultery.
You don't know that.