“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed” (James 5:16).Is corporate confession of sin enough? It is, but it may not be. It all depends on who’s asking. Let me explain.
Corporate confession of sin on the Lord’s Day is a glorious, sin-debilitating means of grace. With solemnity, we confess as one body that we have not done the things that we should have done (sins of omission), and have done the things that we should not have done (sins of commission). Then, with joy, we look away from our past sin and set our gaze on God’s faithfulness to His covenant promises in the gracious work of Jesus Christ—His humble entrance into the world, morally-perfect life, wrath-absorbing death for our sins, victorious resurrection, and ascension to the right hand of the Majesty on high, where He continually and unfailingly intercedes on our behalf. In the assurance of pardon, we receive grace and mercy in time of desperate need from our High Priest through our pastor, as the church is, once again, reminded of our mutual state of dependence on our Triune God and the imputation of Christ’s righteousness. There’s no doubt about it. Corporate confession of sin is enough. Keep reading
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