The Beautiful Confessional
“Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:16
“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all,…” 1 Tim. 4:5-6
A teacher decades ago told my class about her Catholic upbringing and how as a young girl she had been taught she needed to enter the confessional with the priest and confess her deadly sins. Needless to say, she confessed her sins perfectly to the priest, or so she thought. She went down the list of so-called deadly sins and confessed them all to him. I am not sure whether God factored in at all. She didn’t know what the deadly sins were, or if she had committed them. She likely figured if she pleased the priest and confessed all, she could get back to being a kid. Tragically, she was an alcoholic who taught our class drunk and didn’t seem to have a personal relationship with God via Christ. Who was God anyway?
She appeared to have been raised amid false human traditions rather than the Truth of God’s Word that God’s love and mercy can’t be earned, and that Jesus died on the cross to pay our sin penalty so we can repent, believe in Him, turn our lives over to God and His ways forever, and be forgiven and enter into an everlasting relationship with God rather than spend eternity apart from Him in hell and the lake of fire. This poor dear broken woman had been taught humankind needs to enter a confessional with a priest when what we need is to fall on our faces in repentance at the glorious mercy seat of God with our only mediator being the Lord Jesus Christ who bore God’s wrath upon Himself as our atoning sacrifice so we through Christ can come into God’s presence and fellowship forever.
I have an amazingly beautiful, intimate relationship with God in part because I enter into my confessional with Him daily, as often as I need. I study His Word daily; He convicts me by His Spirit when I sin, bringing all into the light; I come hungrily to His mercy seat with heartfelt sorrow for hurting Him; I confess to Him all; He lavishes His love and forgiveness upon me; He teaches me by His Spirit through His Word how to walk in His strength in His ways; and I soak in His magnificent kindness, grace, compassion, and encouragement as He reinvigorates me and draws me ever closer to Him. Before Christ, special priests were needed to stand in the gap for people because they couldn’t enter into the temple’s holiest place in God’s presence as sinners. The priests had to go through incredible formalities to do this. We no longer need confessionals and special priests to come to God. Christ paid the unfathomable price of his death and resurrection so we through Him as our only mediator can come into God’s presence forever!
Come to the mercy seat, oh come!