Where is confession in the Bible?

Sacramental confession comes directly from Christ’s commission to the apostles. Catholics also confess privately to God, but Jesus established a visible ministry through which serious sins are forgiven.

Christ gave the authority. On Easter evening, the risen Jesus breathed on the apostles and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained” (Jn 20:22-23). Forgiving or retaining sins requires knowing what those sins are and whether the sinner is repentant. Earlier, Jesus gave Peter and the apostles authority to bind and loose (Mt 16:18-19; 18:18). This language refers to real governing and teaching authority within God’s covenant people.

The apostles exercised a ministry of reconciliation. St. Paul says that God “gave us the ministry of reconciliation” and made the apostles “ambassadors for Christ” (2 Cor 5:18-20). The forgiveness still comes from God. The priest has no independent power over sin. Christ forgives through the ordained minister acting in His name (CCC 1441-1442). This is why absolution is spoken personally: “I absolve you from your sins.”

Scripture shows sins being confessed. People coming to John the Baptist were baptized while “acknowledging their sins” (Mt 3:6). In Ephesus, believers “came forward and openly acknowledged their former practices” (Acts 19:18). St. James commands Christians to “confess your sins to one another” and connects forgiveness and healing with the ministry of the presbyters, or priests (Jas 5:14-16). These passages do not each describe the sacrament in its fully developed liturgical form, but together they show that biblical confession is visible, ecclesial, and connected to ordained ministry.

What Catholics must confess. All mortal sins committed after Baptism must be confessed in kind and number, insofar as a person can remember them after an honest examination of conscience (CCC 1456). Venial sins do not strictly have to be confessed, but regular confession of them is strongly recommended because it forms the conscience and helps resist temptation (CCC 1458). Perfect contrition can reconcile a person to God before confession when it includes the firm intention to receive the sacrament as soon as possible (CCC 1452).

If you have been away from confession, make a simple examination of conscience and tell the priest how long it has been. He will guide you through the rest.