CONFESSION
True confession is made to God. The human spirit must come into direct contact with the Divine. The Father of our spirits permits the child to approach himself on such an errand; and the offspring man has faculties fitted for converse with God a spirit.
When confession is real it is complete. The same conviction which shows a sinner that he ought to confess, shows him that he ought to confess all. If it is not a confession of all, it is not a confession; it is the old trick of covering the sin.When the spirit of adoption in attained , the confessor , with the simplicitly of a little child, gives the keys of his heart to God , and welcomes the Omniscent Searcher into all its secret chambers.
True confession will produce actual forsaking of sin, as a living root sends up branches , spreads out blossoms , and nourishes fruit .If a son , far separated in residence, and long alienated in heart, relent at length and humbly invite his father to forgie and visit him; and if evil men and evil works find harbour still in the son's dwelling , before the father's visit , the place will be purged of its disreputable occupants. If the son is still wedded to these companions and these pursuits, he will not sincerely invite his father to come in; if he realy desires that his father should come in, he will at the same moment and under the same impulse drive out the offenders. It is thus that true confession to God, in the nature of the thing, carries with it an abandonment of the sins confessed; and if the sins confessed are not effectively abandoned, the confession has been a lie. If the persons and things that displeased the father are not dismissed , the son, whatever he may have said, did not actually desire that the father should visit and inspect the dwelling. Arnot.
When confession is real it is complete. The same conviction which shows a sinner that he ought to confess, shows him that he ought to confess all. If it is not a confession of all, it is not a confession; it is the old trick of covering the sin.When the spirit of adoption in attained , the confessor , with the simplicitly of a little child, gives the keys of his heart to God , and welcomes the Omniscent Searcher into all its secret chambers.
True confession will produce actual forsaking of sin, as a living root sends up branches , spreads out blossoms , and nourishes fruit .If a son , far separated in residence, and long alienated in heart, relent at length and humbly invite his father to forgie and visit him; and if evil men and evil works find harbour still in the son's dwelling , before the father's visit , the place will be purged of its disreputable occupants. If the son is still wedded to these companions and these pursuits, he will not sincerely invite his father to come in; if he realy desires that his father should come in, he will at the same moment and under the same impulse drive out the offenders. It is thus that true confession to God, in the nature of the thing, carries with it an abandonment of the sins confessed; and if the sins confessed are not effectively abandoned, the confession has been a lie. If the persons and things that displeased the father are not dismissed , the son, whatever he may have said, did not actually desire that the father should visit and inspect the dwelling. Arnot.
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