The What and Why of Confession

con·​fess (kən-ˈfes) v.

to tell or make known (something, such as something wrong or damaging to oneself).[1]

 

As we move forward on the map of forgiveness from repentance to confession, questions are raised, such as:

• What does confession mean?
• Why is confession vital to the process of forgiveness?
• How do we confess, and to whom?

Before we begin answering these questions, let’s look at the Hebrew and Greek words translated as confess and confession.

 

Yadah (Hebrew):

The Hebrew word translated as “to confess” and “confession” is yadah. This word can mean “confess,” “praise,” “give thanks,” or “thank.” This overlap of meanings might cause some initial confusion, but Vine provides helpful insight with this comment:

An affirmation or confession of God’s undeserved kindness throws [human] unworthiness into sharp relief. Hence, a confession of sin may be articulated in the same breath as a confession of faith or praise and thanksgiving. … If praise inevitably entails confession of sin, the reverse is also true: The sure word of forgiveness elicits praise and thanksgiving on the confessors’ part. This wells up almost automatically from the new being of the repentant person.[2]

This “thicker” understanding of yadah raises several important points. Here are two:

• The interrelationship of confession emanating from the divine gift of repentance leading to forgiveness results in both praise and thanksgiving, and
• the implicit and necessary engagement of God in the process of forgiveness.

 

Homologeō (Greek):

The verb or action word, homologeō (to confess), and its noun, homologia (confession), occur more than 25 times in the New Testament.

The homo refers to “same” as in homogenize, homonym, and so forth. The logeō part is “say” or “speak.” Taken together, the word has the literal meaning of “to speak the same thing.”[3]

In the context of confessing sin, we find it in Matthew 3:6; Mark 1:5; Acts 19:18; and James 5:16. In 1 John 1:9, we read:

If we confess [homologeō] our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

Literally, we could say, “if we say the same thing as God about our sins, he ... will forgive us our sins and purify us ...”

So, confession is saying the same thing as the offended party about what we have said or done that has damaged or broken our relationship with them. It means:

• owning our wrong or sin,
• speaking it to the ‘other’ fully and honestly,
• not excusing it, and
• not blaming others.

That is the dynamic of confession.

 

Biblical examples of confession

From that grace-filled place where a person experiences and acts upon the gift of repentance, there is a need to express that repentance to the offended person or group in some way. It is not a formula. It is an honest, forthright, and unconditional expression of repentance.

We may say that confession is spoken repentance. It is the repentant heart expressing itself to the ‘other.’

In the ‘story’ we are becoming familiar with, the prodigal returns home. The very act of returning is an act of confession, but listen as he expresses his repentant heart (Luke 15:21):

Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.

Similarly, when the prophet Nathan exposes David’s sin, the king says (2 Samuel 12:13):

I have sinned against the LORD. 

Later, David recounts this experience (Psalm 32:5):

I acknowledged my sin to you [God], and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, ‘I will confess [yadah] my transgressions to the LORD,’ and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.

Genuine confession offers no defense for the offense. It is a frank admission: “What I did was wrong.”

 

What confession is not

There are counterfeits of genuine confession. Moves that “duck and weave” by excusing the wrong, blaming someone or something else, or treating it as of little or no importance. Two imitations that come to mind are “I’m sorry” and “I apologize.”

As a courtesy, you might say “sorry” to a pedestrian you brush against on a busy street. But what does “I’m sorry” mean in the context of an offense that broke or damaged a relationship? Does it mean:

• “I’m sorry you’re so sensitive.” 

• “I’m sorry I got caught.” 

• “I’m sorry you’re such a jerk.” 

“I’m sorry” has little, if any, meaning in the process of rebuilding a broken relationship.

The same is pretty much true of the term “I apologize.”

The word “apology” comes from a Greek word (apologia) used for a lawyer’s defense of a court case. Although we may not use this word in its technical sense, we probably acknowledge that “I apologize” falls short of saying “I have sinned” or “I was wrong.”

 

Why confession matters

Here are three reasons why genuine confession matters.

1.    Confession is integral to the process of forgiveness in the Bible. David (1 Samuel 11-12; Psalms 32 and 51) and the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32) are just two of numerous biblical examples.
2.    Confession is necessary. We have described confession as repentance spoken or otherwise expressed. It is the wrongdoer communicating to the offended person, “When I did or said …, I was wrong.” 

If repentance is not communicated in some way, how can it be known there was repentance at all? How do we know the offense has been “owned” by the offender, and the offender is now “saying the same thing” about the offense as the victim?

In some way, the genuineness of the heart is linked with the expression of the mouth. Without the heart, what we say with the mouth lacks authenticity; without the mouth, what we believe with the heart lacks substance. We observe this heart-mouth link in biblical texts such as Romans 10:9-10.

So again, a genuine confession is the speaking or other expression of the repentant heart.

3.    Confession implies the yearning for forgiveness. We could say that confession includes the expectation of forgiveness—but not the demand for it.

Commenting on Psalm 32:5 (quoted earlier), Walter Brueggemann writes that this verse

… describes the incredible release that comes with articulating the guilt before Yahweh. That is all that is needed.  ... The act of forgiveness follows the act of confession directly, without condition or mediator. 

In future posts, I plan to explore confession in the vertical (toward God) and in the horizontal (toward others).

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FORWARD TO the next post in this series

BACK TO Six Grace-Filled Dynamics of Repentance

TO START at the beginning of this series 

Notes:

[1] Merriam-Webster Dictionary, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/confess (accessed April 23, 2026).

[2] W. E. Vine, et al. Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1985), 45. See also Laird Harris, et al., Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (Chicago, IL: Moody, 1980), s.v. “yadah.”

[3] W. E. Vine, 120.

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