What does genuine confession of Sin look like?

How do you know if someone has really repented of sin? How do you know if you have really repented of sin? Can you say you have sincerely repented if you continue to commit the same sins over and over again? Repentance by definition means in Greek to change one’s mind. Regarding sin we are not only commanded to change our minds, we are to change our behavior as well.

The best illustration in the New Testament would be that of King David. We all know the story of David and Bathsheba, and how he committed adultery with her (2 Sam 11:4). When David was confronted with his sin by the prophet Nathan, David immediately expressed contrition and repented (2 Sam 12:13). As a matter of fact, David said, “ I have sinned against the Lord”. Well, didn’t he sin against Bathsheba and her husband Uriah whom he arranged to have killed in battle too (2 Sam 11:17;12:9)?

Yes, David sinned against all three, but he knew the ultimate and most gravest of his sins was against the Lord who’s laws he broke. God through Moses said, “You shall not murder (Ex 20:13). You shall not commit adultery (Ex 20:14). You shall not steal (Ex 20:15). You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife (Ex 20:17).

To go deeper into David’s grief we must travel to the fifty-first Psalm.

1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.

2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.

4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge.

5 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.

6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place.

7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.

9Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.

10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.

12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you.

14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, you who are God my Savior, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.

15 Open my lips, Lord, and my mouth will declare your praise.

16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.

17 My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.

18 May it please you to prosper Zion, to build up the walls of Jerusalem.

19 Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous, in burnt offerings offered whole; then bulls will be offered on your altar.

This is what is called a penitential psalm because the psalmist is expressing grief over his sin. Notice what David says in verses 12-13, “Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me, then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you.”

What the psalmist means in these verses is that once he cleans his own life up, he is in a position to help others see their sin so that they can repent and turn to God like he did.

David is devastated by his sin, and begs to be restored to a right relationship with God. Sin breaks our fellowship with God, not our relationship. David never ceased being a child of God, he was simply in disobedience to his Heavenly Father so he had to be severely chastened for his evil ways (Heb 12:5-11).

This is a clear picture of what genuine repentance looks like. How do we know David truly repented? He never committed adultery again.

We all need to use David’s words as a model of genuine confession of sin and by the power of the Holy Spirit vow to never commit the same sins over and over again. Will we always succeed? No. Because sin or evil dwells within us. But, as we become more like Christ, and develop a more Biblical mind, our frequency to sin should decrease. The more real God becomes to us, the more we will love and revere his commands, the stronger in our walk we will be.