Confession Precedes Absolution

“Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” (Isaiah 6:5 NIV)

The book of Isaiah begins by painting a pretty bleak picture of God’s people. They had turned their backs on the Holy One. They had prostituted themselves before other gods. They had paraded their sin, rejected the law, and called evil good and good evil. Quite shockingly, this is the culture in which Isaiah had come into the Temple and had found it full of God’s glory. (Isaiah 6:2) Isaiah’s immediate response to the perceptible presence of God was confession.

Isaiah confessed: he was unclean and his people were unclean. Offense becomes blatant in the spotlight of God’s presence. And remarkably, Isaiah’s confession was met with absolution.

“Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.” (Isaiah 6:6-7 NIV)

Confession precedes absolution. Grace meets admission of guilt. Our current culture says everything is permissible: nearly nothing is identified as sin anymore. This mindset creates a reluctance to confession because we are convinced we have done nothing wrong. The thing is, the standard for righteousness hasn’t lowered. God’s criteria for sin hasn’t changed. He is still offended by transgression.

When we stumble into God’s actual, tangible presence as Isaiah did, we become aware of the transgression in our hearts. We immediately feel the sinful holdouts that offend him. Pretending we are innocent will not protect us from His wrath. Only confession opens the door of His grace. We see this throughout the gospels: confession is met with the goodness of God. We do others and ourselves harm when we pretend that sin is anything less than sin.

What’s more: God’s definition of sin is likely far more stringent than ours. God judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart, not just the actions of our body. Isaiah was a good guy: a worshiper and a potential man of God. Even still, a few moments in God’s tangible present produced confession. How much moreso do we have to confess living in this sin-saturated, post-Christian culture?

Lord, may we regularly come into Your presence with confession in our hearts. Help us identify any offensive way in us. Lead us in our admission. Please meet our profession of guilt with Your glory and grace. We are so thankful for the atonement You have graciously paid for. May we receive Your forgiveness with humility and gratitude. Amen.

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