Public Confession Of Sin?

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It is written:

Acts 19:18-20-And many who had believed came confessing and telling their deeds. 19  Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20  So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.

When I was a young preacher, I was told about a situation that arose in a church of Christ in another state. There was a young man who had been baptized and who had committed a sin that others knew about. The church he was a member of was considering withdrawing fellowship from him if he did not “come forward” and confess his sin before the congregation. No doubt, he was mortified and did not know what to do.

Who was this young man, and what was this sin that he was being told he must confess before the church?

He was in the third grade, and he had swiped an extra chocolate milk for his lunch at school!

I am assuming you are probably as appalled as I was when hearing about such a “situation.”

Yet it does raise an important question: is there ever a time for a Christian to make public confession of sin before the local church?

Let’s study.

The only passage that I ever found in the New Testament that directly addresses public confession of sin by Christians is here in this passage from Acts. In context, God had been doing amazing miracles through the Apostle Paul, so that even items of cloth he touched were able to cast out demonic spirits (Acts 19:11-12). We are then introduced to a man named Sceva, a priest who had seven sons that were exorcists. They used the name of Jesus like a magic charm, and as a result they were soundly physically assaulted by a demon possessed man. As this became known, we are informed how some Christians repented of public sin.

Consider several things with me.

First, there is no doubt that the ones we are told about here had become Christians before their public repentance. The Greek of the passage strongly demonstrates this.

For example:

“The most dramatic example of conversion from magic occurs among those already converted to Christian faith (the perfect tense πεπιστευκότων indicates that they had begun and continued to believe).[ 5508] Perhaps they resemble Simon, who “believed” but was in danger of failing to persevere because he retained his magical worldview (Acts 8: 19–23).[ 5509]”. (Craig S. Keener, Acts: An Exegetical Commentary: Volume 3: 15:1-23:35, 1169-1170 (Kindle Edition): Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic)

Again:

“19: 18 Many of those who had come to faith came forward to confess and admit their practices (πολλοί τε τῶν πεπιστευκότων ἤρχοντο ἐξομολογούμενοι καὶ ἀναγγέλλοντες τὰς πράξεις αὐτῶν). The third reaction to the surprising and awe-inspiring events described in v. 16 is the admission of magical practices by Christian believers—probably the new believers whose conversions are suggested in v. 17. The imperfect tense of the verb “came forward” (ἤρχοντο) suggests that believers come to Paul and before the congregation, over an extended period of time, with the desire to confess their sins. The syntax of the Greek sentence can be understood in two ways. (1) The two participles form a hendiadys72 expressing the frank confession of sins, which is either sinful behavior in general or magical spells more particularly. (2) Luke describes two reactions of Ephesian believers: some come forward to confess (ἐξομολογούμενοι) their sins, admitting wrongdoing, and others come forward to admit (ἀναγγέλλοντες) their “practices,” i.e., to disclose their use of magical spells. Since magic was part of everyday life in Ephesus (as in any other city of the Greco-Roman world), it is not surprising that new converts would disclose their involvement in magical practices perhaps not immediately, but some time after their conversion.” (Clinton Arnold & Eckhard J. Schnabel, Acts (Zondervan Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament Book 5), 1405 (Kindle Edition): Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan)

The Greek of the passage is straightforward to the fact that these who came confessing their sins here were already Christians. They were Christians who had committed sins, and in repentance came back to the Lord.

Second, as noted above, there is also clear evidence from this passage that they came “confessing” publicly before the church. This was not Christians going into a confessional to a priest and receiving absolution. It was members of the Lord’s church going to each other in humility and love, asking for prayers as they rededicated their lives to the Lord and grew in the grace and knowledge of Christ.

“The fact that this becomes evident to those who already believe shows their growing maturity in the faith. They did not appreciate this when they initially responded to Jesus, but now they see it. So they did not give up the practice first and then become Christians. Rather, in their maturing walk with God, they came to renounce the practice, no doubt through the spiritual guidance and enablement that the gift of the Spirit brought. These believers are described through the use of a perfect-tense participle here (τῶν πεπιστευκότων, tōn pepisteukotōn, those who have believed), highlighting the enduring nature of their faith (Bruce 1990: 412).” (Darrell L. Bock, Acts (Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament), 916 (Kindle Edition): Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic)

Doesn’t this speak to the church of our day and age?

God’s family should be a place where Christians feel safe going to brothers and sisters and confessing personal weaknesses and sins, because let’s face it: every one of us has them!

1 John 1:8-If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

Philippians 3:12-16-Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. 13  Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14  I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 15  Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you. 16  Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind.

We need to do our best to make the church a place where people can freely come with their struggles, with the hope that they will find forgiveness, restoration, healing, and encouragement.

Third, it is logical to assume that the sins here confessed were of a public nature. Ephesus was well-known for magic and witchcraft of all kinds, and the public repentance of these Christians suggest that they felt the need to make such a public confession in response to publicly known sin.

This same principle is shown throughout other passages in Scripture.

Matthew 5:23-24-Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24  leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

Matthew 18:15-17-Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. 16  But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY WORD MAY BE ESTABLISHED.’ 17  And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.

We also see precedent for this in the Old Testament. Those who intentionally cheated their neighbors were required to repent and offer restitution (see Leviticus 6:1-7). When David’s private sin with Bathsheba became publicly known (2 Samuel 12:14), he saw the need to make his repentance publicly known (see Psalms 32, 40, 51).

The Christians in Acts 19:18 were following the same pattern laid out in principle throughout both Testaments.

It should be pointed out that there is not requirement from God for a person to give painstaking detail about the sins he has committed. I have always found it interesting that the prodigal son did not tell his father great detail about the depths of depravity he had sunken into while living a sinful lifestyle (Luke 15:18-21).

Let it also be considered that the Christian-no matter what sin has been committed-does not need to wait for a church assembly to return to the Lord and be forgiven. David had been forgiven of his very publicly known sin before he penned the aforementioned Psalms (2 Samuel 12:13). In the same way, baptized believers can return to the Lord and be forgiven as soon as they repent and pray to the Lord (Acts 8:22; 1 John 1:8-2:2). This is because the Christian has Jesus as our Advocate and High Priest (Hebrews 4:15-16; 7:25). If a public apology is afterward deemed necessary, let it be offered: but let a child of God seek the forgiveness of the Father first and foremost.

In conclusion, let me share these words with you from brother Guy N. Woods.

“The foregoing considerations make it obvious that our responsibility in such matters involves only those sins which are open and public, before all. The verbs of James 5: 16 are present imperatives, and thus signify, “Keep on confessing your sins one to another, and keep on praying one for another… ” The passage does not deal primarily with confession to God (though this is implied in James 5: 15, immediately preceding), nor to the elders or preacher (!) but to one another-the brethren generally. Sins known only to God should be confessed only to God; sins known to one or a few, should be confessed only to the one or the few, as the case may be; public sin, sin known to all, should be confessed publicly and before the church. It is a practical rule, clearly grounded in the premises above that the confession should be as public as the sin-but not more so. The deplorable practice of establishing, in religious meetings, a “confessional,” in which the purest and best and most faithful members of the church are influenced by emotional appeals to respond to an invitation because of their awareness of weaknesses, imperfections and shortcomings, is a travesty on God’s plan and an abandonment of the teaching of the New Testament regarding the proper procedure in such matters. All such weaknesses ought to be acknowledged to God in private prayer in the home-not in the public assembly. There is no rule of reason or revelation which requires those who are living as best they can to submit to high pressured appeals of preachers (desirous of reporting a large number of “responses” to their efforts) and to confess that they are mindful of their frailties (such awareness must ever be with us all in this life); all such weaknesses are provided for by “walking in the light,” and by the continuous cleansing of the blood, “from all sin.” (1 John 1: 7-9). James 5: 16 cannot properly be cited to sustain this hurtful and absurd practice of maintaining a “church of Christ confessional;” if this teaches that one is to confess to the preacher who makes the appeal, it teaches as clearly that the preacher must immediately confess his sins to the confessee! The sins contemplated are those of the confessors and confessees. “Confess your sins one to another,” is the edict of James. He who truly repents will be desirous for all who knew of his lapse into sin to be informed of his penitence, but he will shrink from any effort to publicize weaknesses which would not otherwise be known and whose circulation would only reflect further upon the cause of Christ.” (Guy N. Woods, Questions and Answers (Open Forum Questions Book 1), 5123-5140 (Kindle Edition): Henderson, TN: Freed-Hardeman University)

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all. Amen.