There is nothing that thrills the heart of the preacher more than to see visible responses to the preaching of the gospel. I remember, in the church in which I grew up, there was hardly a Sunday that went by that we did not have at least 2, and as many as 10 responses each Sunday.

Over the years, however, we began to study the idea of confession and decided that we didn’t need to do as much “visible” responding as we thought we needed to. It could be that we began to realize that some of this was more for “show” than it should be. Or, it may be that we decided many more of our sins were private in nature, and should only be confessed between us and God. Whatever the reasons, now it seems that we go weeks without any public or visible responses.

Have we stopped sinning as much as we did twenty years ago? I don’t think so. If anything, we are sinning more “publicly” now than we were. For example, a sister in Christ has pre-marital sex with a young man, and thereby conceives a child. She marries the young man, but nothing is stated publicly about the sin of pre-marital sex. She says nothing, and oft times the elders and the preacher say nothing, so she thinks she is still in fellowship with the church and with God. She has sinned, but has not confessed this sin before God, or before those who knew her. Was it a private sin — yes! But it becomes publicly known as the child within her grows. Should she confess this as a public sin? Or, a young Christian man has pre-marital sex with his girlfriend in the heat of a moment, and she becomes pregnant. Soon, it becomes evident to all that they have sinned. Should he confess this sin?

For years we have stated that confession of sin should go as far as the sin is known. If the sin is only between that person and God, then the confession of that sin should be private. If the sin is between two people and God, then the sin should be confessed as far as it is known. If the sin is public in nature, then confession should be made publicly.

When we do not deal with sin in the way God has outlined, we become guilty of trying to establish our own righteousness. We also lend credence to the fact that if so many others are sinning, can I not sin and get away with it as well? Let’s take this to its logical conclusion:

A church is under divine command to practice discipline (2 Thessalonians 3:6-10; 1 Corinthians 5; Romans 16:16). But sin is in the camp and we turn a blind eye to it. Others become bold in their sin. Others look at us and say “Well, they are really not serious about sin in the camp,” and either practice sin themselves, or go somewhere where it is taken seriously. I do believe that some what to be held accountable by their brethren, and encouraged not to sin. The church is weakened, its influence is gone, and sin becomes rampant.

But when we repent and confess the sin, and deal with it God’s way, then we show others that we are as serious about sin as God is. Then, and only then, can we say sin does condemn us, and then can we truly thank God for His amazing grace.