This is Part 6 of our 15-part series walking through Session 1 of “The Assassins Among Us.” Check out the blog for previous posts.
ELEMENT 5: CONFESSION AND RESTITUTION – MAKING THINGS RIGHT
Numbers 5:5-7 gives the requirement:
“And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the people of Israel, When a man or woman commits any of the sins that people commit by breaking faith with the LORD, and that person realizes his guilt, he shall confess his sin that he has committed. And he shall make full restitution for his wrong, adding a fifth to it and giving it to him to whom he did the wrong.'”
This is the obvious progression from what we discussed in Element 4. Once the Holy Spirit exposes the unclean things in your life, once you identify what must be put out of the camp of your heart, then comes confession and restitution.
You can’t just acknowledge sin exists. You must confess it and make it right.
God’s preparation included a specific requirement:
Confess the sin Make full restitution Add one-fifth to it Give it to the one wronged
GOD DOES THE CLEANSING
1 John 1:9 gives us the New Covenant promise:
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Notice carefully what this verse says: He is doing the work. We are only acknowledging and assenting to the purifying work of the Holy Spirit to move in our lives.
You confess. He forgives. He cleanses. You cannot cleanse yourself—remember Job 14:4, “Who can bring clean from unclean? No one!” But when you confess, God is faithful and just to do what you cannot do—cleanse you from all unrighteousness.
This is not works-based righteousness. This is the biblical pattern of sanctification. This is the way of abiding that is prescribed by the revelation of God and the witness of the Holy Spirit.
GRACE AND GOOD WORKS
Ephesians 2:1-10 makes this crystal clear:
“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
You were dead. God made you alive. It is by grace you have been saved—not by your works. But here’s the critical point: We are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Confession and restitution aren’t earning salvation—they’re walking in the good works God prepared for us. They’re the evidence of the life God has already given us. You’re not working to become alive; you’re working because you’ve been made alive.
GOD GRANTS REPENTANCE
Acts 5:31-32 shows the order clearly:
“God exalted Him to His right hand as Prince and Savior, in order to grant repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.”
God grants repentance. God grants forgiveness. The Holy Spirit is given to those who obey. Notice the pattern: God does the work of salvation, and the Holy Spirit bears witness in those who respond in obedience.
Confession is obedience to what God has revealed. Restitution is obedience to what God requires. The Holy Spirit witnesses to this obedience—not because you earned anything, but because you’re walking in the good works God prepared for you. And it cannot be achieved outside the supernatural power of God at work in your life.
You’re not earning God’s favor through confession. You’re submitting to His cleansing process. You’re acknowledging and assenting to the purifying work the Holy Spirit is already committed to doing in you.
RESTITUTION, NOT JUST APOLOGY
The hard question: Is there anyone you’ve wronged who needs restitution? Not just an apology—actual restoration of what was taken or damaged?
Most believers want to skip this step. We want God’s forgiveness without making things right with people we’ve harmed. We want to confess to God in private but avoid the humiliation of confession and restitution to the person we wronged.
It doesn’t work that way.
Matthew 5:23-24 makes this clear:
“So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.”
God doesn’t want your worship if you’re harboring unconfessed sin against a brother or sister. The restitution comes first. Then the worship is acceptable.
THE PATTERN OF SANCTIFICATION
Here’s the pattern of sanctification:
- The Holy Spirit exposes the sin (Element 4—separation of the unclean)
- You confess the sin to God (Element 5—confession)
- You make restitution to those you’ve wronged (Element 5—restitution)
- God cleanses you from all unrighteousness (His work, not yours)
- You continue abiding in His purifying presence
This is how you stay fit for battle. This is how the unclean gets put out of the camp and stays out. Not by your willpower. Not by your religious performance. By the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit to whom you’ve submitted through confession and obedience.
THE QUESTION FOR THE OBSTACLES AHEAD
Are you in the pattern of biblical sanctification? When the Holy Spirit convicts, do you confess? When confession reveals harm done to others, do you make restitution? Are you acknowledging and assenting to the purifying work of the Holy Spirit to continue in your life?
Or are you stuck in religious performance, trying to cleanse yourself, refusing the humility required for confession and restitution?
You cannot enter the challenges ahead carrying unconfessed sin and unaddressed restitution. The Holy Spirit will not empower what He has not purified. God’s presence will not lead where His cleansing has been refused.
APPLICATION
- Is there sin the Holy Spirit has convicted you of that you have not confessed?
- Is there anyone you’ve wronged who needs more than an apology—who needs actual restitution?
- Are you trying to cleanse yourself through willpower rather than submitting to the Holy Spirit’s purifying work?
- Have you been offering worship while avoiding reconciliation with someone you’ve wronged?
- Are you walking in the pattern of sanctification—conviction, confession, restitution, cleansing, abiding?
Confess. Make restitution. Submit to the Holy Spirit doing the cleansing work only He can do.
Then—and only then—are you walking in the sanctification that prepares you for what’s coming.
But confession and cleansing are only the beginning. What you’ve confessed and been cleansed from must now be tested. The pressure ahead will prove whether your commitment is genuine—or merely emotional and self-serving.
TOMORROW: Element 6: The Testing of Commitment
We’ll discover why pressure reveals the truth about our hearts—and why this testing is essential preparation for battle.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Most ministries stay in the safe middle. We bring marginalized truth back to the center.
THE PROPHET’S MARGIN – Truth From the Narrow Place
ONE TRUE LIGHT MINISTRIES Calling believers to authentic faith Damascus Road Journey: STOP. LOOK. LISTEN. LIVE. www.onetrulight.org