Confession vs. Repentance

Confessionnoun

The open admittance of having done something (especially something bad).

‘Without the real murderer's confession, an innocent person will go to jail.’;

Repentancenoun

The condition of being penitent.

Confessionnoun

A formal document providing such an admission.

‘He forced me to sign a confession!’;

Repentancenoun

A feeling of regret or remorse for doing wrong or sinning.

Confessionnoun

(Christianity) The disclosure of one's sins to a priest for absolution. In the Roman Catholic Church, it is now termed the sacrament of reconciliation.

‘I went to confession and now I feel much better about what I had done.’;

Repentancenoun

The act of repenting, or the state of being penitent; sorrow for what one has done or omitted to do; especially, contrition for sin.

‘Godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation.’; ‘Repentance is a change of mind, or a conversion from sin to God.’; ‘Repentance is the relinquishment of any practice from the conviction that it has offended God. Sorrow, fear, and anxiety are properly not parts, but adjuncts, of repentance; yet they are too closely connected with it to be easily separated.’;

Confessionnoun

Acknowledgment of belief; profession of one's faith.

Repentancenoun

remorse for your past conduct

Confessionnoun

A formula in which the articles of faith are comprised; a creed to be assented to or signed, as a preliminary to admission to membership of a church; a confession of faith.

Repentancenoun

the action of repenting; sincere regret or remorse

‘each person who turns to God in genuine repentance and faith will be saved’;

Confessionnoun

Acknowledgment; avowal, especially in a matter pertaining to one's self; the admission of a debt, obligation, or crime.

‘With a crafty madness keeps aloof,When we would bring him on to some confessionOf his true state.’;

Repentance

Repentance is the activity of reviewing one's actions and feeling contrition or regret for past wrongs, which is accompanied by commitment to and actual actions that show and prove a change for the better. In modern times, it is generally seen as involving a commitment to personal change and the resolve to live a more responsible and humane life.

Confessionnoun

Acknowledgment of belief; profession of one's faith.

‘With the mouth confession is made unto salvation.’;

Confessionnoun

The act of disclosing sins or faults to a priest in order to obtain sacramental absolution.

‘Auricular confession . . . or the private and special confession of sins to a priest for the purpose of obtaining his absolution.’;

Confessionnoun

A formulary in which the articles of faith are comprised; a creed to be assented to or signed, as a preliminary to admission to membership of a church; a confession of faith.

Confessionnoun

An admission by a party to whom an act is imputed, in relation to such act. A judicial confession settles the issue to which it applies; an extrajudical confession may be explained or rebutted.

Confessionnoun

an admission of misdeeds or faults

Confessionnoun

a written document acknowledging an offense and signed by the guilty party

Confessionnoun

(Roman Catholic Church) the act of a penitent disclosing his sinfulness before a priest in the sacrament of penance in the hope of absolution

Confessionnoun

a public declaration of your faith

Confessionnoun

a document that spells out the belief system of a given church (especially the Reformation churches of the 16th century)

Confession

A confession is a statement – made by a person or by a group of persons – acknowledging some personal fact that the person (or the group) would ostensibly prefer to keep hidden. The term presumes that the speaker is providing information that he believes the other party is not already aware of, and is frequently associated with an admission of a moral or legal wrong: In one sense it is the acknowledgment of having done something wrong, whether on purpose or not.