What does First B Jackson teach about confession?
Drawn from the messages where it was actually addressed: the words said from the front, the passages taught, and where to hear the whole thing.
At First B Jackson, the teaching on confession starts with what confession actually is. Pastor Brian spent time on the Greek word behind it, homologueo, meaning to say the same thing, to agree with God about what God already sees. Confession is not convincing God of something He did not know. It is the act of stopping and saying out loud what is already true. First John 1:9 is the anchor: when we confess, God is faithful and just to forgive and to cleanse from all unrighteousness. That promise does not shrink based on what the inventory turns up.
A thread running through several of these messages is the part of confession that Protestants tend to resist most, the 'another human being' piece. Pastor Mark went directly to James 5:16 to answer that objection, making the case that confessing to someone who is a step ahead of you and asking for their prayer is not a Catholic invention but something Scripture calls every believer to practice. The point is not that another person can absolve sin. The point is that secrecy keeps things stuck. Pastor Carl returned to the same idea when he described a friend who, mid-conversation, caught himself judging someone else's motives and stopped to say so immediately. That kind of promptness, keeping a short account rather than letting things build, is what the practice looks like in daily life.
Pastor Ray, working through 1 John 1, pressed on what walking in the light actually demands. Claiming fellowship with God while avoiding honest examination is a lie, and lying is its own additional sin on top of whatever is being hidden. The good news on the other side of that is real: walking in the light produces genuine fellowship with one another and the ongoing cleansing that comes from Christ. Confession is not the bad news. It is the door into something better.
Taught from 1 John 1:9 · James 5:16 · 1 John 1:5-7 · 1 John 1:8-9 · Psalm 139:23
The passage taught · 1 John 4:9-11
9 By this God’s love was revealed in us, that God has sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.
10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
11 Beloved, if God loved us in this way, we also ought to love one another.
World English Bible
The messages that teach on it
- September 29, 2024 Good News for the Sinners in This Room A pastor walks through Step 10 of recovery: taking daily personal inventory, promptly admitting wrong, and trusting God to complete the work He began in us.
- August 18, 2024 Admitting It to God, Yourself, and One Other Person The pastor returns from dropping his daughter at college to walk First B Jackson through Step 5 of the 12 steps, grounded in James 5 and the power of honest confession.
- August 18, 2024 Deflation at Depth A Wyoming pastor walks through Steps 4 and 5 of the 12 Steps, showing how honest confession to God, yourself, and another person leads to real freedom from guilt.
- April 21, 2024 God Is Light and in Him There Is No Darkness at All Pastor Ray walks through 1 John 1, showing how confessing sin, walking in the light, and trusting Christ's forgiveness lead to real fellowship and freedom.
Mentioned along the way
- September 24, 2025 Rid, Run, Look Hebrews 12 calls Christians to strip off sin, run with endurance, and fix their eyes on Jesus, the champion who finished his race so we could run ours.
- October 20, 2024 Having Had a Spiritual Awakening Pastor Ray walks through all 12 steps, then Stoney Vance shares how recovery from alcoholism and cancer brought him back to God and his family.
- September 22, 2024 Direct Amends Wherever Possible A Wyoming pastor walks through Step 9 of the 12 steps, showing from Matthew 5 how making amends and seeking reconciliation is rooted in the teaching of Jesus.
- September 22, 2024 First Be Reconciled to Your Brother Step 9 of the 12 Steps calls us to make direct amends. A pastor and peacemaker Ken Sandy share why reconciling broken relationships can't wait.
- September 15, 2024 Love Must Have an Object The pastor walks through steps one through eight of a biblical framework for freedom from sin, focusing on willingness to make amends and pursuing peace with God and others.
- September 1, 2024 The Ones Who Looked Lived A Wyoming pastor walks through Steps 6 and 7 of the 12 steps, grounding them in Numbers 21 and John 3: sin, sorrow, and the salvation God makes possible by looking up.
- August 25, 2024 Rise, Take Up Your Pallet, Walk The pastor walks through steps 6 and 7 of the 12 steps alongside John 5, asking the same question Jesus asked a paralyzed man: are you ready to be made well?
- August 25, 2024 Rise, Take Up Your Bed, and Walk Ray walks through Steps 6 and 7 of the 12 Steps alongside John 5, asking one question: are you truly ready for God to remove what holds you back?
- July 21, 2024 Search Me and Know My Heart A Wyoming pastor walks through Step 4 of the 12 Steps, showing how a fearless moral inventory of ourselves is deeply rooted in Scripture and leads to healing.
- August 27, 2023 Nothing in My Hand I Bring Jesus tells a parable about two men who pray. Pastor Mark explores what true humility before God looks like and why it is the only path to being justified.
- February 26, 2023 Fear God and Keep His Commandments Pastor Ray walks through the arc of Solomon's life and the book of Ecclesiastes to show why wisdom and wealth alone cannot satisfy, and where true answers are found.
- March 21, 2022 People Do Not Drift Towards Holiness Brad teaches Mark 9 on Monday night, warning against causing others to stumble, guarding against personal sin, and what it means to stay salty for Christ.
- February 2, 2020 Forgiven People Forgive People A Wyoming pastor walks through biblical forgiveness: what it costs, why we avoid it, and how God's grace makes it possible to finally let go.