Thursday, March 4th, 2010
To summarize the previous five sections concerning repentance:
1. It is a Gospel Grace meaning true repentance brings life. Godly Sorrow leads to repentance which leads to salvation. 2 Cor 7:10.
2. By repentance we mean hating sin and turning to Christ and seeking his mercy. In repenting we recognize that we are sinners, that it is only through Christ that we are righteous and only by the power of the Holy Spirit that we can change.
3-4. We recognize the need for repentance and even daily repentance we are not mindful of the things of God. No sin so small that it does not deserve damnation nor any sin so great that it can bring damnation to those who truly repent.
5. Our repentance should be to repent of each particular sin particularly. Each specific sin reveals or is an indication of some part of our heart that is still captivated by something besides God.
As we close off Chapter 15, we note that God’s desire for repentance is not only in a right vertical relationship between God and man but also a right relationship horizontally, between man and man.
We see two aspects in this horizontal dimension of repentance:
The offender (the one who sins against his brother or the church) confessing his sin, and having sorrow for his sin, declaring his repentance to the offended party AND
The offended party being reconciled to the offender and receiving him in love.
We have few passages regarding horizontal repentance:
James 5:16 Confess your faults to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
Matthew 5:23″Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.
Matthew 18: 21Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” 22Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy times seven.
True repentance means confessing specific sins specifically, recognizing our fallen condition and that we all desperately need Christ and recognizing that those that sin against us also desperately need Christ. We are called to pray and forgive them when they fail and have them pray and forgive us when we fail. There is also a great urgency to do this quickly. We are not to let unconfessed sin nor unforgiveness linger or simmer as it will destroy relationships. True repentance leads to true worship and true fellowship.
As genuine repentance is the gift of Christ, its exercise is an indication that the person exercising it is forgiven by Christ.
We, then, as sons through faith in Christ, can have Shalom with our Father… wholeness and peace, reconciliation and love… just as Jesus had with his Father. This Shalom is what God desires for us to have with one another…
6. It is the duty of each one to make private confession of his sins to God, praying for pardon (and whoever confesses his sins, prays for forgiveness, and forsakes those sins shall find mercy). Similarly, anyone who has scandalized a brother, or the church of Christ, ought to be willing by private or public confession, and sorrow for his sin, to declare his repentance to those that are offended, who are then to be reconciled to him and receive him in love.
Tags: confession of faith, repentance
Posted in confession | No Comments »
Wednesday, January 20th, 2010
Two responses of Christians to God’s salvation through Jesus Christ is faith and repentance.
Faith as we recall is belief and trust in the promise and work of Jesus Christ for salvation, Repentance is the turning away from sin and turning to God, it is the putting off sin and putting on righteousness.
Romans 2:4 says that it is God’s kindness that leads us to repentance. We recognize that repentance is a grace given to us from God. It is not something we can boast in because apart from Christ we cannot truly repent, it is a gift of God.
Today’s confession calls it a Gospel grace.
As Christians, God has given us the grace to turn away from sin and to turn to God. Because of this we must do this often as well as call others to repentance. Our lives must be lives of continual repentance of confessing our sins and turning to God. This is how we work out our salvation. That is why we have the confession of sin during our worship service every week.
Let’s read today’s confession acknowledging that it is God’s kindness that leads us to repentance.
Repentance unto life is a gospel grace, the doctrine of which is to be preached by every minister of the gospel, just as is the doctrine of faith in Christ.
Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 15, Section 1
Tags: confession of faith, repentance, westminster confession of faith
Posted in confession | No Comments »
Sunday, November 16th, 2008
If as 2 Corinthians say, If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation the old has gone and the new has come, why are Christians still being tempted and falling into sin? Why do Christians suffer from temptations?
Today’s confession addresses this issue. God in his providence allows his children to face temptations for a time, so that they will not only face the truth of their own deceitful hearts, but also draw his children to depend on him more.
Paul says in 2 Corinthians 7:10 that “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death…” When we repent of our sins, when we turn to God both for help and salvation, he shows us a better way. He shows us he is the only way. Apart from him we can do nothing.
Paul later goes on in the same letter in 2 Cor. 12:7-10, to keep him from being conceited by all these great revelations he received, God sent him a thorn in his flesh to torment him. Three times Paul pleaded with the Lord to take it away, but instead God said “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Paul concludes that he will boast more gladly about his weakness so that Christ’s power may rest on him. For Christ’s sake, he will delight in weaknesses, in insults, hardships, persecutions and difficulties because when he is weak, then he is strong.
God in his providence will use even our weaknesses to draw us to rely on his grace against future occasions for sinning and to fulfill his other holy purposes. His grace truly is sufficient for us for his power is made perfect in weakness.
5. The most wise, righteous, and gracious God often leaves his own children, for a time, to manifold temptations and to the corruption of their own hearts. He does this to chastise them for their past sins, to humble them by making them aware of the hidden strength of the corruption and deceitfulness of their hearts, and then to raise them to a closer, more constant dependence upon himself for their support, to make them more watchful against all future occasions for sinning, and to fulfill various other just and holy purposes.
Tags: christians, gracious god, hardships, repentance, westminster confession
Posted in reformed theology | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 19th, 2008
Humble Orthodoxy – Joshua Harris teaches on 2 Timothy2:14-26. Are you reacting to the previous generation or God’s approval? Do you try to prove yourself right or desire to turn people to Christ. What does it mean to be a generation approved by God? Handle the word of truth rightly…
2 Timothy2:14-26 – Keep reminding them of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have wandered away from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some. Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”
In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.
Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.
Tags: culture, God, repentance, scripture, sermon, youth
Posted in conference, culture, scripture | No Comments »
Monday, February 11th, 2008
Been thinking a lot about repentance lately.
What is repentance? “By [repentance] a sinner, out of the sight and sense not only of the danger, but also of the filthiness and odiousness of his sins, as contrary to the holy nature and righteous law of God; and upon the apprehension of his mercy in Christ to such as are penitent, so grieves for, and hates his sins, as to turn from them all unto God, purposing and endeavoring to walk with him in all the ways of his commandments. . . yet [repentance] is of such necessity to all sinners, that none may expect pardon without it. As there is no sin so small that it deserves damnation; so there is no sin so great that it can bring damnation upon those who truly repent. Men ought not to content themselves with a general repentance, but it is every man’s duty to endeavor to repent of his particular sins, particularly” (Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter XV, sections II, III, IV).
Tags: cof, repentance, westminster
Posted in meditations | No Comments »