In the matter of confessing, what about things you do repeatedly?

When you clean a room in a hurry, it does not get very clean. Later, when you come to look it over, you can see it needs a much more thorough job. The same is true with our confessing. If we go to the Lord in a rough, hasty way, we shall not take thorough care of our confessing. The next time we go to Him, not in a rush, we shall find the same matters still need our attention. Do not think this is a repetition of what you have already confessed; it is that you must complete your unfinished confession.

How can we avoid confessing according to knowledge and be sure that we are confessing by life?

Sometimes we may confess by knowledge, yet because we do so before Him, the Lord extends His mercy. When you have a little feeling that you have touched the Lord’s mercy even in confessing by knowledge, go on to the confession by life. The test of genuine confession is whether it results in life. The phrase in Acts 11:18, “repentance unto life,” can be translated “repentance issuing in, or resulting in, life.” You may think that your confession is by life, but if there is no change in your life, it is not genuine. On the other hand, you may go to the Lord one night and say, “O Lord, forgive me. I offended the brothers,” and go to bed feeling you have confessed by knowledge without any inspiration. The next morning, though, when you are about to talk to your wife and say something negative about the brothers, you are stopped by fear. This change in life proves that the previous night’s confession was genuine. This “repentance unto life” produces fruit worthy of repentance (Matt. 3:8). Every time you repent, there must be fruit. Your feeling about your confession is not reliable. Do not go by your feeling; go by the fact, the fruit that results.

I am not clear about the matter of the blood in our confession.

There is no need to say, “Lord, I apply Your blood to my situation.” First John 1 says that if we confess our sins, God forgives. It also says that if we walk in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus cleanses. In these verses confession is implied. If I offend a brother, when I am in the fellowship the light will expose. Then I shall ask the Lord to forgive me for offending Brother So-and-so. Spontaneously I shall also go to that brother and ask him to forgive me. It is at this point that the blood cleanses. If I repent and confess, the blood is effectual for me, without my applying it.

When you really want to repent but feel that you are just in the area of knowledge, how do you get from knowledge into life?

Just confess sincerely. Pray, “Lord, have mercy on me that I may confess to You from a sincere heart.” Life is just the Lord Himself. Today as the Spirit He is waiting within us. When we turn our heart to Him, we touch Him. In Him we spontaneously confess by life. Alas, sometimes our confession is just a performance for the purpose of deceiving others. How much we need the Lord’s mercy!

Could you share a little more about getting into the Word consistently?

It is profitable for us to cultivate good habits and not to take up bad habits. Doing something that is not wholesome can lead to worse things. This is like walking around a well; you may feel quite safe and certain that you will not fall in, but a naughty boy may come along and give you a push. Beer, for example, is a threshold to wine. Stay away from the one lest you be lured to the other.

Not only your own well-being is at stake. We must “abstain from all appearance of evil” (1 Thes. 5:22). C. H. Spurgeon was once invited by the manager of a newly built theater to go there for an open house to preach the gospel. After agreeing to go, Spurgeon did not feel peaceful about it. Some circumstance arose which made it impossible for him to keep his commitment. When the manager came to find out why Spurgeon had not fulfilled his promise, Spurgeon apologized. Then the manager told Spurgeon that if he had gone to preach the gospel in the theater, its business would have flourished. Spurgeon realized why God had intervened and prevented his going. To go into a theater, no matter how good the motive, is to give an appearance of evil.

After saying so much about Christ in the earlier part of Philippians, Paul admonishes us in 4:8, “Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” Thinking on these things, most of which are not Christ, still is a good habit. This is the kind of habit we need to build up. Praying, studying the Bible, and contacting the Lord are also good habits we need to cultivate in a legal way. Do not wait till you are moved by the Spirit to contact the Lord. It may be a long time before any inspiration comes; make it a habit to contact Him regardless of how you feel.

Building up these good habits will keep you from sin. Do you think that if you spend time in the Bible every day you will want to go to the movies? On the other hand, if you neglect the Bible day after day, you may feel free to go. Do you call that liberation? It is your lusts which are being liberated. Do you feel free to pray and to thank the Lord for His mercy when you walk into a movie? Contrast your feeling on entering a theater with your feeling on entering the meeting hall. There is an atmosphere in the meeting hall that constrains you to pray and praise even as you are walking up the stairs.

Be faithful to build up these good habits of touching the Lord through the Word and through prayer. If you do not sense His mercy and grace toward you today, you may tomorrow. Our consciousness fluctuates, but actually His grace and mercy remain the same. His blessing is upon us, whether we sense it or not, every time we come to the Word.

When is confession enough, and when is restitution also required?

If only God knows of your wrongdoing, there is no need to tell others; just confess to Him. If others know of it, even if the offense was not against them, it is best to confess to them too, to clear up their poor impression of you and also to be a testimony to them.
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