Confession and Repentance is Necessary

My husband gave a suggestion today that made a lot of sense to me. He said what we should do, is make up a gift box, written on the front with the word "forgiveness" and place it on the shelf ready and waiting for those who have confessed their sin, to come and get their gift, a valuable object lesson to show that we want to forgive, we desire to forgive, but those who have sinned must come and desire it with brokenness and sorrow over their sin.

This is what Christ has offered! He has forgiveness ready and waiting for anyone who will confess their sinfulness, to receive their gift. It costs nothing, but offers everything.

However, without confession and brokenness they will never receive this gift that was paid for with the blood of the Creator Himself. The gift is too precious to pass out to those who refuse to repent and trust Christ.

Psalm 51:17 "17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise."

Nathan the prophet did not offer forgiveness to David after he committed adultery and murdered Bathsheba's husband, he rebuked him and required brokenness and contrition. There was no thought of forgiveness for David until he confessed and his heart was torn over it all, even then he suffered the life long consequences of his sin. His baby by Bathsheba died and he was not allowed to build the temple because of the blood that was shed at his hands. And, yet he was called the apple of God's eyes, he was deeply loved by God and grieved by his sin.

God and Nathan loved David so much that making him comfortable in his sin was not an option, there must be discipline, rebuke, confession in the package to receive the forgiveness.

1 Peter 1:18-20 "…18 knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, 19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. 20 For He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you."

We take so lightly the matter of sin that we forget that it required the shedding of blood by the Perfect Lord. How unthinkable that we would express indifference to the sin in mankind by placing our own comfort above the giving of His life for our sin.

How unthinkable that we would focus on our own emotional desire to feel better about ourselves by forgiving before their is repentance. We do not forgive for our own sake, we forgive for God's sake and in His way that those who sin will see their need for repentance. It is all first about God and then about the spiritual well being of the sinner.

To make a sinner feel better by our acceptance of them while they are arrogant and unrepentant, is a slap in God's face. This life is not about us feeling better about ourselves, it is about holiness God's way.

When we negate sin by forgiving when the perpetrator is unrepentant, we are minimizing sin, as though it really doesn't matter, when in fact it is so serious that even the smallest sin in a soul cannot come before our Holy God. Only those who have repented (turned toward Christ confessing their sinfulness), can become born again and after God changes us into a new creation in our spirits, He begins the cleansing process.

God will not hear the prayers of the unsaved, nor will He hear the prayers of the saved when they are sinning.

John 9:31 "Now we know that God hears not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, AND DOES HIS WILL, him he hears."

1 Peter 3:7 "You husbands in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with someone weaker, since she is a woman; and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, SO THAT YOUR PRAYERS BE NOT HINDERED."

The prayers of many believers are being hindered because they are standing in the way of the consequences God has for a sinning brother or sister by not requiring repentance for forgiveness.

If we are to follow Christ we are to act as He acts. We should not be keeping company with or listening to those who are unrepentant. We can bring the gospel to the unsaved, but when they will not listen we are to "shake the dust from our feet" and move on. We are also to "come out from among them and be separate."
Matthew 10:14 and 2 Corinthians 6:17

If a believer is sinning and will not repent we are to remove the wicked one from among us as God tells us to do.

2 Corinthians 6:17 ""Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE," says the Lord. "AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN; And I will welcome you."

It is time the church realize the impact of this flippant and unBilbical form of forgiveness based on psychology and not the Word of God. We are to forgive God's way, requiring repentance for a relationship to be restored, desiring to forgive, only being prevented by the unrepentant heart of the stubborn, that has not yet been broken enough to confess.

The reason I write about this with regularity, is because the church as a whole, especially the apostate church is not obeying God in this matter. They are forgiving without requiring repentance, they are accepting sin in the body as though it were not very important, they are keeping company with believers who sin as well as unbelievers who reject Christ and for no other reason than to avoid all conflict and to appear spiritual and friendly to be approved by men.

Galatians 1:10 "For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ."

Proverbs 29:25 "The fear of man brings a snare, But he who trusts in the LORD will be exalted."

Notice when we speak to many people they say "we are to forgive for our own sake", using the scripture that we are to forgive to be forgiven by God, however they leave out the scriptures that say "when they come to you to ask." We can cherry pick any scripture we want, to make it fit with modern psychology, but it will produce false doctrine and ungodly methods that create the opposite of what God wants to do in the lives of people.

Our goal ought to point those in sin to repentance and holiness, not the superficial flippant view of sin that this psychologized apostate church has embraced. It all makes everyone feel better, but few people ever repent because they don't have to, they expect and demand forgiveness when they are not sorry, they do not change because they have no hardship to show them their need to be changed by Christ, church goers make sin easy for the unrepentant heart.

There is no show of disapproval except soft words, and business as usual. They are never shunned, or spanked over anything they do, so they are comfortable continuing to be evil. Our job as believers is to promote and demonstrate holiness and a hatred toward sin. When our concern is more about "appearing" friendly, we cannot be useful for the kingdom.

1 Corinthians 5:12-13 "…12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? 13 But those who are outside, God judges. REMOVE THE WICKED MAN FROM AMONG YOURSELVES"

If we are to put out the believer who is sinning, we can expect that God would want us to do this to those who sin against us, for their sake, we must discipline others, we must require a confession of sin. If someone refuses to confess they will not change. Change only comes when someone learns to hate their sin so much that they don't want to return to it.

Matthew 8:15-17 "15 “If your brother sins[a], go and [b]show him his fault [c]in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. 16 But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses every [d]fact may be confirmed. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as [e]a Gentile and [f]a tax collector."

1 John 1:9 "9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

If we will not confess, God will not cleanse us, He will leave us to wallow like the prodigal son, in the pig pen, until we are broken and ready to ask to be cleansed. We as believers who are not living in sin, must administer discipline, rebuke and correction to help the sinner to become aware of the seriousness of sin for himself and for the whole body.

1 Corinthians 5:6-7 "…5I have decided to deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. 6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough? 7 Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened. For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed."

When we forgive before repentance "for our own selves", we are not thinking about the growth of the sinner or the impact on the body of Christ. Psychology has effectively made everything about ourselves, it sounds so good, but has little help for the sinner or the body of Christ. It is simply just easier to forgive without repentance, than to confront sin head on, call it like it is, face possible rejection by the sinner and their f"lying monkeys" (people who support the sinner in their sin), than to fight the battle of defending God's Word.

Let me tell you, those who forgive without repentance care only about themselves, they do not have a burden for the sinner or for the church as a whole, their thoughts are almost entirely about their own feelings and acceptance of superficial believers and even non-believers.

I care more about eternity, far more than being loved and appreciated by this fallen and wicked world. I care about the eternity of the unbeliever and the sinning believer. Life should not be about "me", it is about holiness for all concerned.

There will be rejection in store for those who do things God's way, we are targets for all kinds of accusation and reputation maligning, that is not our business, we are about the business of our Lord, no matter the consequences.

If anyone accuses us of being rejected because of something we said or did on the Lord's behalf, our answer ought to be, "I am not responsible for the reactions of others, only for telling the truth in the power of the Holy Spirit. Then let them go and fight with God!