TRANSPARENCY #15

One of the sweetest confessions from a sinful man is in Luke 18. The publican stood afar off and said, "...God, have mercy on me, a sinner."(Lk. 18:13)(N.I.V.) What a transparent person he was! It is almost a given that the proud man in the parable Jesus told, a Pharisee, was not impressed with the publican's openness and frankness about his sinfulness. For the Pharisee, you see, was too enamored with his own personal perfection to give this publican the time of day. He told God simply that he was thankful he was not like this publican.(Lk. 18:11) Notable that Jesus said that the transparent man was the one who "...went home justified before God..."(Lk. 18:14)(N.I.V.) And Jesus further said the Pharisee would eventually be humbled for his exalted idea of himself.(Lk. 18:14)
There are two words in the early Greek language, exomologeo and homologeo, which mean, according to Zodhiates, "...confess..." "...assent..." "...concede..." "...admit..." These words speak directly to and volumes about the openness and transparency of men.
Initially all men being saved confess Jesus as Lord and confess their sins. "...they were baptized in the Jordan by him, confessing(exomologoumenoi) their sins."(Mt. 3:6)(Amplified) "...if you confess(homologeses) with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." "For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth you confess(homologeitai) and are saved."(Ro. 10:9-10)(N.I.V.) "If anyone acknowledges(homologese) that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God."(I Jn. 4:15)(N.I.V.)
Yet we are not perfect, so those who live within the realm of reality and outside the Pharisaic self-righteous state, become transparent, confess their sins and allow others the equal right to look to the throne of God and go to the altar of forgiveness.
God expects confession, not only initially at conversion, but subsequent to conversion. And He honors the confession of His Son's name initially and the confession of sins thereafter by His children. And confession is necessary for obvious reasons. "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us."(I Jn. 1:8)(N.I.V.) "If we claim we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar,...'(I Jn. 1:10)(N.I.V.) Yet He says: "If we confess(homologomen) our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."(I Jn. 1:9)(N.I.V.)
We are even encouraged to be expectantly transparent with one another. "Confess(exomologeisthe) to one another therefore your faults--your slips, your false steps, your offenses, your sins; and pray(also) for one another, that you may be healed and restored--to a spiritual tone of mind and heart..."(Ja. 5:16)(Amplified)
Jesus taught us that our transparency will not go unnoticed. "Whoever then will acknowledge(homologesai) me before men, I will acknowledge(homologeso) him before My Father in heaven;..."(Mt. 10:32)(N.E.B.) "...he who conquers(is victorious) be clad in white garments, and I will not erase or blot out his name from the Book of life; I will acknowledge him (as Mine), and confess(homologeso) his name openly before My Father and before His angels."(Rev. 3:5)(Amplified)
Ultimately the Bible teaches us that confessional transparency will occur even among the Pharisees of this world and those who self-righteously cast a disgusting glance at others' sincere transparency. "For it is written, As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess(exomologesetai) to God--that is, acknowledge Him to His honor and to His praise."(Ro. 14:11)(Amplified)
It would be far better to place our hope in Him now through confession. We all have that right. "So let us seize and hold fast and retain without wavering the hope we cherish and confess, and our acknowledgement(homologian) of it, for He who promised is reliable(sure) and faithful to His word."(Heb. 10:23)(Amplified)
That is about all I know the N.T. says about confession. Wouldn't it be wonderful if men were as reliable as God in honoring the transparency of the lost, the broken, the hopeless?
The Holy Spirit knew men would be negative about their brothers' transparency. So He gave us a long list of possible negative responses toward others' transparency.

sigma negative responses
skolios--"...bent..." "...warped..." "...unjust in contrast to gentle, tolerant..."
"...masters..." "...who are harsh..."(skoliois)(I Pet. 2:18)(N.I.V.)
"...masters..." "...who are surly-overbearing, unjust, and crooked."(Amplified)

stenazo--"grumble from impatience..." "...ill humor..."
"Don't grumble(stenazete) against each other, brothers,..."(Ja. 5:9)(N.I.V)

sukophanteo--"...to inform against..." "...accuse falsely..." "...to extort by false accusation..." "...calumniate..."
"Receive thy servant for good: let not the proud accuse me falsely."(sukophantesatosan)(Ps. 119:122)(Septuagint)
"He that oppresses(sukophantou) the poor, increases his own substance..."(Prov. 22:16)(Septuagint) (...will only come to poverty..."(Prov. 22:16)(N.A.S.B.)

sumbouleuo--"...to plot..."
"...they plotted together(sunebouleusanto) to seize Jesus by stealth and kill Him."(Mt. 26:4)(N.A.S.B.)
"...from that day on they planned together(ebouleusanto) to kill Him."(Jn. 11:53)(N.A.S.B.)

sunomosia--"...to swear together..." "...conspiracy..."
"...the Jews banded together and took an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul. There were more than forty in this conspiracy..."(sunomosian)(Acts 23:13-14)(N.E.B.)

tau negative reponses
tameion--"...any place of privacy, a room, closet..." "...where one cannot be easily seen..."
"Whatever you have spoken in darkness shall be heard and listened to in the light, and what you have whispered in (people's) ears and behind closed doors,(tameiois) will be proclaimed upon the housetops."(Lk. 12:3)(Amplified)