Proverbs 18:17

Therefore, beloved, when you commit sin, do not wait for another man to accuse you but, before you are accused and indicted, do you yourself condemn what you have done. Then, if someone accuses you later on, it is no longer a matter of your doing the right thing in confessing, but of your correcting the accusation which he makes. And so it is that someone else has said: "The just man begins his speech by accusing himself." So it is not a question of accusing but of being the first to accuse yourself and not waiting for others to accuse you. Peter certainly sinned gravely in denying Christ. But he was quick to remind himself of his sin and, before anyone accused him, he told of his error and wept bitterly. He so effectively washed away his sin of denial that he became the chief of the apostles and the whole world was entrusted to him.

You see, when Cain was asked by the Lord, "Where is your brother Abel?" that was the time for him to confess his fault, fall on his knees, pray and ask pardon. At that point, however, he rejected the healing, whereas now, after the sentence, after all was over, after the accusation was leveled at him in a loud voice by the blood that had been shed, he made his confession only to gain nothing from it. That is why the inspired author also said, "He who accuses himself at the beginning of the speech is in the right." Accordingly, had Cain anticipated the Lord's accusation, perhaps he would have been granted some mercy on account of the Lord's unlimited goodness. I mean, there is no sin, no matter how grave, that can exceed his mercy provided we demonstrate our repentance at the proper time and beg pardon. "Cain said, 'My guilt is too great for me to be forgiven"—an adequate confession, but too late.

He is his own accuser who, instead of waiting, anticipates his accuser, so as to lighten his own sin by confession, lest he have something which his adversary may accuse. And for this reason, Scripture says, "The just is first accuser of himself." For he …

The just man indeed notices his own frailty more than the unjust man; and the wise man recognizes, while the foolish man does not recognize. Finally, the wise man is remorseful for his own failings, while the foolish man takes pleasure in them: the just man accuses himself, the unjust man defends himself.

Let us who are free from sin, purchased, as it were, by the price of Christ's blood, let us not be subject to the slavery of people or of passion. Let us not be ashamed to confess our sin. See how free is the one who could say, "I have not been afraid of a very great multitude, so that I would not confess my sin in the sight of all." One who confesses to the Lord is freed from his slavery: "The just is the accuser of himself in the beginning of his speech." He is not only free but just, for justice is in liberty, and liberty in confession, and as soon as one has confessed he is pardoned.

Those even who do not believe that they have sinned, generally confess themselves sinners. For it is frequently the case, that men openly confess themselves sinners, but on hearing a true account of their sins, when other persons attack them, they boldly defend themselves, and endeavour to appear innocent. Every one, then, of this character, if he says that he has sinned, speaks untruly; inasmuch as he proclaims himself a sinner not from the inmost heart, but in words only. For since it is written, "The just man in the beginning accuseth himself," he wished to gain credit, not to be humbled, by confessing his sin: he desired, by accusing himself, to appear humble, without being so. For did he really wish to be humble, by confessing his sin, he would not attack others when convicting him of the commission of it. The righteous then, in passing sentence on his own conduct, knows from the bottom of his heart, by the examples of holier men, that he really is what he professes to be.

The just man is the first to accuse himself, etc. Everyone who is truly just, when he observes the errors of sinners, first turns the eye of consideration upon himself, and while he anxiously accuses his own frailty, only then does he gently extend his …

He that is first in his own cause seemeth just,....

He that is first in his own cause - Any man may, in the first instance, make out a fair tale, because he has the choice of circumstances and arguments. But when the neighbor cometh and searcheth him, he examines all, dissects all, swears and cross-questions every witness, and brings out truth and fact.