Frankly Answered Questions - FAQs

Should confession be out loud?

Q: Dennis, this question comes from a discussion in our home group:

- 1 John 1:9 states, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

The question I brought up was, "Are we to speak our confession out loud." This was a note I had written in my Bible some time back. I looked up the Greek word for confess which is homologeo (Strong's Concordance #3670) which states, "to confess, i.e., to speak agreeable to fact and truth." I guess what I am asking you is if you have any thoughts on whether this means to literally speak it with my tongue "out loud."

A: The Greek word was typically used for a public confession. This sense comes out clearly in Matthew 10:32 and Romans 10:9 where it talks about the need to publicly profess Jesus or He will not publicly profess us before the Father. In secular literature the word was used to confess to a crime, i.e. to admit guilt in a court of law (which would have been verbal). Vine's Expository Dictionary defines it as "to speak..." and "to declare openly..."

Perhaps even more important is the Old Testament pattern of the Sin Offering (Leviticus 4:1-5:13; 6:24-30; 8:14-17; 16:3-22) and the Trespass Offering (Leviticus 5:14-6:7; 7:1-6) which were used to atone for specific transgressions. A bull, goat or ram was brought to the priest. The worshipper laid his two hands on the head of the animal (signifying that his sin was transferred to the animal) and then confessed his sin to the priest. The confession would be something like this one found in the Mishnah: "O Lord, I have committed iniquity, transgressed, and sinned before you, I and my house. O Lord, forgive the iniquities, transgressions, and sins, which I have done by committing iniquity, transgression, and sin before you, I and my house. As it is written in the Torah of Moses, your servant, 'For on this day shall atonement be made for you to clean you. From all your sins shall you be clean before the Lord (Leviticus. 16:30).'" Following this public confession, the priest then sacrificed the animal.

This idea of verbal confession continues in the New Testament where we are told to "confess our sins to one another" (James 5:16).

I think the pattern is pretty clear that (generally speaking) confessions ought to be made to someone. This creates a humble, confessing community living in the grace of God.