September 7

One of many major differences between Christianity and the religion of Islam is their completely opposite perception of confession as regards forgiveness from sin. The position put forth by Jesus is that when we confess our sin, God forgives our sin and cleanses us from it.

The Moslem view is that the sin that is hidden is the one that is least detrimental. They believe the sin that is veiled or covered or denied has less weight against the proponent of Islam when he stands before Allah’s great scale on judgment day where his good deeds will be weighed against his bad deeds.

The Bible says the opposite, “Be sure your sin will find you out,” stated in Numbers 32:23, is a clear declaration of God’s abhorrence of secret sins. Without confession and the cleansing that comes when Jesus is received as Savior and Lord, Christians believe no one shall see God. Beyond acknowledging our sins to God, the Lord adjures us to be straightforward with others regarding sin

James 5:16 says, “Confess to one another therefore your faults and pray earnestly for one another that you may be restored to right standing before God, for the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much." This clearly says that we are to be transparent before our brothers in Christ and they are to hold us accountable—and to pray that we may be restored to grace when we have stumbled.