Q. But what need I confess my sins to God, seeing he knows them already?—A. Confession of sin is necessary, for many reasons.
Q. Will you show me some of those reasons?—A. Yes; One is, by a sincere and hearty confession of sin thou acknowledgest God to be thy Sovereign Lord, and that he hath right to impose his law upon thee (Exo 20).
Q. Can you show me another reason?—A. Yes; By confessing thy sin, thou subscribest to his righteous judgments that are pronounced against it (Psa 51:3,4).
Q. Can you show me another reason?—A. Yes; By confessing of sin, thou showest how little thou deservest the least mercy from God.
Q. Have you yet another reason why I should confess my sins?—A. Yes; By so doing thou showest whether thy heart loves it, or hates it. He that heartily confesseth his sin, is like him who having a thief or a traitor in his house, brings him out to condign punishment; but he that forbears to confess, is like him who hideth a thief or traitor against the laws and peace of our Lord the King.
Q. Give me one more reason why I should confess my sins to God?—A. He that confesseth his sin, casteth himself at the feet of God's mercy, utterly condemns and casts away his own righteousness, concludeth there is no way to stand just and acquit before God, but by and through the righteousness of another; whether God is resolved to bring thee, if ever he saves thy soul (Psa 51:1-3; 1 John 1:9; Phil 3:6-8).
Q. What frame of heart should I be in when I confess my sins?—A. Do it HEARTILY, and to the best of thy power thoroughly. For to feign, in this work, is abominable; to do it by the halves, is wickedness; to do it without sense of sin cannot be acceptable. And to confess it with the mouth, and to love it with the heart, is a lying unto God, and a provocation of the eyes of his glory.
Q. What do you mean by feigning and dissembling in this work?—A. When men confess it, yet know not what it is; or if they think they know it, do not conclude it so bad as it is; or when men ask pardon of God, but do not see their need of pardon; this man must needs dissemble.
Q. What do you mean by doing it by the halves?—A. When men confess some, but not all that they are convinced of; or if they confess all, yet labour in their confession to lessen it (Prov 28:13; Job 31:33). Or when in their confession they turn not from all sin to God, but from one sin to another (James 3:12). They turned, 'but not to the most High,' none of them did exalt him (Hosea 7:16).
Q. What is it to confess sin without the sense of sins?—A. To do it through custom, or tradition, when there is no guilt upon the conscience, now this cannot be acceptable.