The word confession has more than one meaning, but in this brief study confession will be used as an admission or acknowledgement of one’s sins. In the pages of Scripture, we have examples of individual confessions to God, mass public confessions, and confessions made to injured parties. What we do not find in the Bible is a demand for auricular confession—the practice of believers confessing their sins to a professional clergyman as penance or to obtain forgiveness.
According to Roman Catholic tradition, auricular confession is a sacrament involving the confessing of one’s grave sins to a qualified priest for absolution. Auricular, based on the Latin auricula, meaning “external ear,” implies the confession is made verbally. As a sacrament, auricular confession did not exist prior to the eighth century. The process of auricular confession was ratified by the Council of Trent (1545—1563). If auricular confessions are necessary for salvation, believers who die before confessing “mortal sins” to a priest risk eternal damnation, but this frightful contingency does not square with the teachings of the Bible.
The Bible speaks of the confession of sins but attaches no special importance to confession to a priest. The apostle John wrote of general confession to God: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9, ESV). We see this truth illustrated in the following parable told by our Lord Jesus:
Taking responsibility for one’s sins is a prerequisite for forgiveness; the boastful Pharisee did not receive forgiveness, for he was blind to his faults and fancied himself fully justified before God by his own acts of righteousness. By contrast, the tax collector knew he was a vile sinner and, without making excuses or mincing words, confessed as much to God. Grace is granted to the humble, not to the proud (James 4:6).
An example of a mass public confession took place in the city of Ephesus where the apostle Paul was ministering. After seeing the reality of spiritual warfare, the town reacted:
Convicted of their sin, those who had practiced the magic arts publicly renounced their evil en masse as a testimony to God’s renewal and forgiveness. As a result of this public testimony, the word of the Lord multiplied at an unstoppable rate.
Some argue that auricular confessions are justified based on this passage: “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working” (James 5:16, ESV). A perfunctory reading of this verse may appear to support the Roman Catholic tradition; however, this is more likely a command for believers to confess wrongdoings to those they have injured by ill-spoken words or insensitive deeds. This seems to be borne out by Jesus:
If A injures B, then A is to confess the grievance to B; nowhere are we taught that, if A injures B, then A is to confess the act to a priest. In other words, the Bible does not teach the necessity of auricular confession.
Is this to say believers should not discuss their weaknesses or spiritual shortfalls with a trusted pastor or mature Christian mentor? No, for those acting as counselors may have a legitimate need to understand the exact nature of the struggles facing those who come to them for help. But pastors and counselors offer guidance and wisdom—not the forgiveness of sins. Jesus alone forgives sin (Acts 4:12).