Today many churches place a lot of emphasis on confession. This often happens at the expense of a proper understanding of repentance. Confession of sin is mentioned twice in the New Testament in James 5:16 and 1 John 1:9, but repentance is talked about a lot more. It is important for us to be careful not to confuse the two, because a believer can confess without repentance but can't repent without confession.
It is possible to feel sorry and confess our sins but change nothing. Repentance means taking responsibility for sin and committing to change a wrong action or attitude (work to stop committing that sin). This is essential for spiritual growth. True confession (when we agree with God's perspective about our transgression) goes hand in hand with repentance. If we know that God hates what we are doing, we will stop.By confessing and repenting, the believer accepts responsibility for getting rid of his or her life of sin through the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus' ready forgiveness shouldn't be treated like the Monopoly "get out of jail free" card! We have to do more than casually say, "Lord, I've messed up again...I'm sorry." To win over habitual sin, we have to resist temptation and obey God. Satan will continue to harass us, and we may fail again, but we should keep up sincere confession and repentance until God gives us victory over our sin.
Closing: Repentance isn't feeling sorry or claiming weakness in the face of temptation. It's a condition wherein our spirit understands the Lord's grief over sin, grieves with Him, and commits to changing behavior to please Him.
No comments:
Post a Comment