Confession: A Good Start, Repentance: The Larger Goal

Every Wednesday we’ll post a message having to do with doctrine and purity. Hope it helps.

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I lean pretty heavily on John’s promise that “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (I John 1: 9) After all, if we’re honest, we’ve got to admit that we fall short daily, repeatedly, regularly. My thoughts alone, on any given day, are enough to send me straight to perdition were it not for God’s grace! So all of us, if we’re smart, will be regularly confessing sins of thought, word, or action. In fact, I’ve found that by praying “Lord, please make me aware of it when grieve You today” at the beginning of the day, I am made that much more sensitive to it when sin. (Try that prayer out, by the way. He will definitely answer it.)

But so many men I’ve known have mistaken confession for repentance, thinking, in essence, that by simply acknowledging a sin, they have therefore turned away from it. And that’s a serious though common mistake. Confession is about acknowledgment; repentance is about literally turning away from something that’s no longer acceptable.

That’s why John the Baptist, when he was at the height of his ministry baptizing at the Jordan river, said, “Bring forth therefore fruit worthy of repentance.” (Matthew 3:8) He was saying, in essence, “Show me the money. Don’t just talk about being sorry for sin. Take steps to turn away from it.”

We could use a bit of that thinking in the church today. To even talk about sin, in some quarters, is to risk being seen as legalistic, rigid, quaint. And while I wouldn’t want to get morbid about the whole thing, obsessing over my countless faults and beating myself up over them, I also fear getting too casual about sin. Because to be casual about sin is to be casual about the cross, and His suffering on it, to pay the debt for the sin I’m casual about. And that’s a charge I don’t ever want on my head.

So confession is a great start, clearly. When we confess, we acknowledge specifically where we’ve fallen short, and ask for forgiveness. Then comes, in many cases, the need to also turn away from what we’ve confessed. And that means action. So if I say I repent of using internet porn, you have every right to expect me to back my words up with actions. You should expect me to get a filter on the internet, or give my spouse the password, or, if need be, get rid of the computer altogether! The point is, if I say “I repent”, you have the right to ask, “How? What steps are you taking to turn from the behavior you’re repenting of, and what steps are you taking to prevent a repeat of that same behavior?”

The serious believer is, among many other things, pretty darned practical. That is, she or he backs up words with actions, and the actions are clear, verifiable and sensible. So I hope you and I will be free today, enjoying our liberty in Christ with some good laughs, good times, good everything. But I also trust you’re serious about sin, so let’s both of us show that seriousness, in verifiable ways, through both words and actions that confirm our words.