Romans 2:4 tells us that “the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance.”  2 Corinthians 7:10 tells us that “godly sorrow worketh repentance.”  When we sin, as believers, we have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us to convict us of that sin.  What a blessing of the Lord!  He loves us too much to allow us to be unmoved by the sins we commit.  It is the goodness of God and godly sorrow that will convict us and cause us to repent of our sins.

Let’s read 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  This is not a verse that tells sinners how to be saved.  This verse is written to the believers on the Lord Jesus, instructing us to confess our sins to the Lord.  Here we learn that if we truly confess our sins to the Lord, He will forgive us and then cleanse us from the stain of sin.  As long as we sin, we will be called upon to confess that sin to the Lord.

For the believer, to confess our sins helps us to maintain a good relationship with the Lord.  If we sin, but do not repent of that sin, it greatly hinders our growth, our usefulness, and our closeness to the Lord.  It can greatly hinder the effectiveness of our prayers.  Psalms 66:18, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.”  If we tolerate sin instead of repenting and confessing our sin, the Lord’s ear may not be open to us.  What we desire to hear from us at this point, are words of contrition and confession.

You may be familiar with the old expression, “Keep short accounts with the Lord.”  This simply means that if we sin, we should be quick to confess that sin to the Lord to receive His forgiveness and cleansing.  To delay the repentance and confession is an indication of having a cold heart towards the Lord.  If we are seeking to please the Lord, we will confess our sins immediately as the Holy Spirit condemns our hearts for any sin we commit.

I suggest that you read and memorize Psalms 139:23-24 which says, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”  It would be good to constantly ask the Lord to search your heart and show its content to you.  Even as the Lord knows all there is about us, it is good to ask Him to share that knowledge with us so that if there is sin in our hearts that we have not repented of, the Lord will bring it to our attention and convict us so that we might truly confess it to him from a contrite heart.  (348.4)