At the start of Jesus' ministry he says, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near" (Matthew 6:17, NIV). Jesus is declaring that the proper response to the kingdom is turning from sinful ways and turning towards God. Jesus illustrates this concept in many parables, including the parable of the Lost Son (Luke 15:11-32). In this story Jesus paints a picture of two sons, one who is rebellious and one who is legalistic. While both misunderstand the love their father has for them, the rebel turns from his path of destruction and returns to the father. By acknowledging that he squandered his father's love and returned in humility, his relationship with the father was restored. This son turned to his father only after he realized it was wrong that he had gone astray. In this way Christ teaches that a necessary part of repentance is recognizing the need to repent. Jesus explains this further when he states that he came to heal the sick and call sinners to repentance (Luke 5: 31-32). In this, Jesus is challenging his listeners to examine themselves, coming to accept the state of their hearts (Marshall, 1978, p. 220). Whether this manifests itself in a verbal confession to other believers or a personal confession to Christ, repentance cannot occur without first coming to know oneself as a sinner, estranged from God. In addition, truly meaningful confession cannot occur without a change of heart toward sin. Ultimately, no matter what a person is repenting of, through the process of confession a person is agreeing that God's ways are higher than their own.
In addition to being intertwined with repentance, confession is also connected to being in relationship with God. Just as the father from the parable wants his relationship to his son to be restored, God desires that humanity be restored to relationship with Him. What type of relationship is this however? Jesus illuminates what it looks like in John 10:14-15 when he says, "I know my sheep and my sheep know me- just as the Father knows me and I know the Father " (NIV).
