CONFESSION
1 John 2:12. I write to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.
Confession of the sins that burden us is helpful and needful as it can help us off load our burdens of guilt and condemnation, heal relationships with others, and share with God the issues we need help with. However, we need to be clear in our understanding of confession: For a believer confession is no longer a prerequisite for God's on going forgiveness.
When we came to Christ we repented of our old life style and confessed our sin. We recognized our need to be saved from Sin and death. Now that we are in Christ ALL our sins are dealt with, past, present and future. The salvation and blood of Jesus is totally and permanently effective: we are forgiven, righteous and have eternal life. God no longer see us in Sin, He no longer calls us sinners, but sons. This is the offense the cross and His grace.
Sadly there is a false teaching which says that sin separates believers from God. It goes even further and says that if a believer dies without having confessed their current sins, they lose their salvation. Think about it, not only is this absurd but it totally denies the finished work of the cross, God's sovereignity and God's grace. It would mean that our sinful actions are more powerful than Jesus' atonement and righteousness which was imputed to us by faith when we chose to repent and believe.
The above cartoon shows in real and practical terms the absurdity of wrong thinking that makes our salvation conditional on our ongoing confession of sins. This wrong thinking causes believers to feel unworthy, condemned, unqualified to be intimate with God, and unable to receive any thing from God except His judgement and wrath. An unhealthy obsession with sin and confession actually leads to condemnation, insecurity and strangely enough, in the long run, to more sin.
On the other hand, putting our focus on Jesus and the finished work of the cross, brings true life and real change! So try confessing what Jesus has earned for you on the cross: "I am righteous, I am forgiven, I am loved, I am blessed, I am a child of God, I am Holy, I have eternal life, sin has no power over me". This will build you up, set you free from accusation and glorify Jesus and His death. He died on the cross for ALL our sins. We now have the ability to say no to sin and to live in holiness.
PS. The movie "Joan of Arc" is a good illustration of the bad fruit and instability which comes with the false doctrine that unconfessed sins separate us from God of condemn us to Hell.