Do we need to confess our sins daily to someone else? Things I do know: confession to God is of the utmost importance. It is also important to confess/make amends to the person you may have sinned against. I understand that I should approach my salvation with "fear and trembling " and yet I should also have confidence that I am saved. Someone actually asked me "What if I died before I confessed my sins?" -- Michelle

You have framed the question well. As for the matter of confession of sin, this is biblical (James 5:16). We need not confess sins to other people in order to be saved: the Catholic system is nowhere to be found in the New Testament, nor is its elaborate "priesthood." That doesn't mean, however, that confession of sins isn't therapeutic! I am quite sure from my own experience that when I am open about what is going on in my life and in my heart I experience more wholeness, and faith even seems to come more easily. 1 John 1 says confession of sins is part of the continual forgiveness we experience in Christ, though it seems John is speaking of confession to God (since Christ is our intercessor as seen in 1 John 2).

I might add a question to your question: What if we had failed to ask for forgiveness for a specific sin to God? What if we "forgot" one of our sins? (Heaven forbid!) I have written extensively on this matter in my book James, Peter, John, Jude. In part, I wrote this book to set free people who are living under the shadow of guilt and whose false notions of confession and penitence are making their lives miserable. (See especially the chapters on 1 John.)

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