Question: Why does the apostle Paul not mention confession in his letters?
Answer: This question is most often asked by people who are from a Roman Catholic background, because confession is one of the sacraments of the Catholic Church.
Although Paul does not speak of confession as a sacrament, he highlights it as one of the key elements of personal salvation. In Romans 10:9, he emphasizes “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”
In Philippians 2:11, he states: “Every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
And to his young friend Timothy he writes, “Fight the good fight of faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.”
We can see that Paul is speaking of confession in a broader sense, more akin to the word profess or proclaim. He wants everyone to know the power that comes from confessing, or proclaiming, that Jesus died on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins.
While Paul does not refer to the specific practice of confessing our sins to another person, the book of James does affirm that practice in verse 5:16: “Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed.”
And the apostle John, in 1 John 1:9, promises, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
So, even if Paul does not directly address the issue of confessing our sins to God, or to another person, we can see that it is indeed a legitimate biblical practice.
Dr. Steve Rahter
Pastor, Praise Tabernacle
Egg Harbor Township
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