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celebrating.
It’s not because we’re holding out for the sweet by and by, but because we are
seeing the sick healed and the dead raised. We are seeing heaven on earth, here
and now.
     
     

6. Healthy vs Unhealthy
Confession
     
    Grace is God’s response to our
messes. If you don’t acknowledge your mess, you’ll never receive his grace.
Confession is a way to receive grace and deal with the messes and brokenness of
life. However, confession is a word that is poorly understood. Like the word
repentance, confession has been mangled through the machinery of manmade
religion. Instead of bringing freedom to the bound and life to the dead,
confession is seen as the cost of admission into the House of Grace. “You wanna
clear your conscience? Then ‘fess up you miserable sinner!”
    Confession
is good for you, but only when it’s not abused. We might say there’s good
confession and bad confession (see 1 Timothy 6:12). What is good confession? It
is articulating faith. It is agreeing with God and acknowledging your
dependence on him. And what is bad confession? It is verbalizing unbelief in
God’s goodness and the finished work of the cross.
    To help
you grasp this distinction, I want to draw twelve lines between healthy and
unhealthy confession.
     
    1.  Unhealthy confession is an admission of my badness, but
healthy confession is a declaration of my trust in God’s goodness (Psalm 145:4–7).
     
    2.  Unhealthy confession leaves me focused on my needs, my weaknesses, and my shortcomings, but healthy confession
connects my need with God’s grace, his strength and his limitless provision (2 Corinthians 12:9).
     
    3.  Unhealthy confession puts the focus on me and what I
have or haven’t done, but healthy confession puts the focus on Christ and what
he has done for me (Romans 10:9–13).
     
    4.  Unhealthy confession requires no faith at all and so
cannot please the Lord (Hebrews 11:6), but healthy confession stirs and reveals
the faith in my heart (Romans 10:8,17).
     
    5.  Unhealthy confession is based on the hope that I can
convince God to do something or give me something. In contrast, healthy confession
is based on the revelation that God has already given us everything we need for
life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us (2 Peter 1:3).
     
    6.  Unhealthy confession is begging God to forgive me, but
healthy confession is only possible when I know he already has (2 Peter 1:9).
     
    7.  Unhealthy confession is begging God to bless me, but
healthy confession is thanking God that in Christ I am already the beneficiary
of every blessing there is (Ephesians 1:3).
     
    8.  Unhealthy confession perpetuates a cycle of Adamic
self-reliance and death (Galatians 6:7–8), but healthy confession helps me to
walk in newness of life.
     
    9.  Unhealthy confession is hedged with excuses,
finger-pointing, and blame (see Genesis 3:12). In contrast, healthy confession
is an honest admission of my need for God’s great grace (Psalm 51:1).
     
    10.  Unhealthy confession is often motivated by a perceived
need to restore relationship with God. In contrast, healthy confession is only
possible when I am secure in his promise that he will never leave nor forsake
me (Hebrews 13:5).
     
    11.  Unhealthy confession follows sin, but healthy
confession preempts it. By being honest about my weaknesses and vulnerabilities
I position myself to receive the grace that empowers me to say no (James 4:6).
     
    12.  Unhealthy confession is agreeing with the Accuser that
I am still a miserable sinner. “Look at what you did!” In contrast, healthy
confession is agreeing with the Holy Spirit that I am still a saint despite
what I did (John 16:10).
     
    In this life you will make many
messes. Confessing-to-be-forgiven or to otherwise manage your sin is like
trying to clean house with a filthy mop. You’ll be busy but you won’t make any
difference. If anything, you’ll make things worse by adding self-righteous