Confession of sin is foreign in this world's graceless culture. If we have no hope of mercy and grace in light of our failures, then we must hide them at all costs. The gospel culture of Christ and his church is entirely different. We are in covenant relationship with the living God not because of our steadfastness, but because of his grace and kindness towards us in Jesus. Therefore, we are free to confess our failure to live with covenant faithfulness in the safety and certainty of the promise that God will meet our confession with forgiveness and grace. So we confess—in things done and things left undone—the ways we fail to live faithfully towards God. And we confess in the peaceful assurance that God will meet us with renewed mercy and grace because of his great covenant love for us his people.
This post is part of a series of posts on the Sojourners Church Sunday morning liturgy. See the whole series here.