052. Ought we to confess our sins to man, or only to God?

Ought we to confess our sins to man, or only to God?

First of all, we should confess them to God. David says in Psalms 32:5 : “I acknowledge my sin unto Thee (that is, the Lord), and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said: I will confess my transgression unto the Lord,’ and Thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin.” In 1 John 1:9 we read: “If we confess our sins (and it evidently means, unto God) He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” But if we have sinned against man, we should confess our sins to the man against whom we have sinned. We should be reconciled to our brother who has aught against us (Matthew 5:23-24). It is well also to confess our sins one to another in order that we may pray one for another (James 5:16). There is not the slightest hint, however, that this means that we should confess our sins to a priest any more than to any other brother. It says: “Confess one to another,” and there is no more reason why we should confess our sins to a priest than that the priest should confess his sins to us.

If we have sinned publicly, we should make public confession of our sins. But there is nothing in the Bible to indicate that one should make a detailed public confession of all his transgressions, or even that he should confess to any man every sin that he has committed. Religious impostors often require this of their disciples, and in this way they get a hold over their disciples, and rule them by fear of exposure. One of the best known religious impostors of modern times got a hold upon his people in this way. He made them confess everything mean and vile that they had done, then he terrorized them, got their money from them, made slaves of them. There are some things that a man should keep to himself and God.