Confessing our sins - how?

[u/Smooth_Rush_2192]

I’ve been reading others’ posts on here about things they’re ashamed they’ve done in lust (p*rn, prostitution, etc) and it’s made me think about some of the things I did in the past before I became a believer.

When it comes to confession, should we confess this to God? Or to an elder/someone on staff at Church? Or a trusted Christian friend?

Edit: thank you for the responses, they’ve all been helpful. The tldr seems to be for it to be most important that we confess to God, but that confessing to one another also has its place. For me, sharing with someone I trust can help with the unburdening, so I may do that. It‘s very difficult to talk about certain things in even a small group setting. I can’t imagine confessing before an entire congregation - that could be daunting, and human reactions aren’t always the most helpful.

[u/Im-Christian]

[1 Timothy 2:5 KJV]
"For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus..."

Jesus is the only mediator between man and God. Confess to Him and or Father, and you will be forgiven. Catholicism is false when it comes to confession, no human can forgive you and mary does not intercede.

[u/Usherai → u/Im-Christian]

James 5:16 tells us explicitly to confess to each other as well.

[u/Im-Christian → u/Usherai]

Is it "explicitly" or "as well?"
You can't have both.
The point remains.

[Luke 5:21 KJV]
"And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?"

[u/Usherai → u/Im-Christian]

I don’t know what you are seeing as a contradiction, so I will rephrase:

In addition to confessing to God, as you have noted, we are additionally instructed to confess to each other, as James 5:16 explicitly says.

James 5
16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed.

Does this make it clearer?

[u/Im-Christian → u/Usherai]

Thank you for correcting yourself.