Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. JAMES 5: 16
Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said, " A man who confesses his sins in the presence of a brother knows that he is no longer alone with himself; he experinces the presence of God in the reality of the other person. As long as I am by myself in the confession of my sins everything remains in the dark; but in the presence of a brother the sin has to be brought into the light."
There is a deliverance from the power sin has over us, to keep us locked in a repetative cycle of sin. In the open confession made into the ears of someone we can trust, who will keep those sins covered (secretly) in love, (charity shall cover the multitude of sins 1 Peter 4: 8).
Only by open confession to someone who knows the desperation they themself experience, in needing someone to confide in, who will keep this information in confidence, can we experience the release of guilt and the deliverance of the bondage from the power of sin, through the grace and love of Christ.
By the grace of God, we are released from the powerful bondage to the repetative cycle of the sin confessed. Then we can openly testify, without shame or guilt, and can praise God for the freedom we have from it (Rev. 12: 11).
Grace is, "The divine influence in the heart, and its reflection in the life", 5485 - charis, khar'-ece. Strong's Concordance.
For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace ( Rom 6: 14).
