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Confession and Repentance

God Rejected King Saul, But Declared King David a Man After His Own Heart. Didn’t God Get this Backwards?

November 14, 2021 7 Comments

God rejected King Saul, a bungler who made a few mistakes trying to do God’s will, his own way. But he accepted King David, a rapist and murderer, forgave him two unforgivable sins, promised him an eternal kingdom, called him a man after his own heart–and put him in Jesus’ lineage! Didn’t God get this backwards? NO!!

Confession and Repentance, Desire to have our own way, forgiveness and mercy, God is Love, God's Existence and Nature, God's rationality, Leaving Our First Love, Peril of Seeking Power, Refusing to hear, Rejecting God, Repentance, Repentance versus Remorse, Sin, Sins versus sin, Social control and statecraft, The Problem of Evil, Trusting sight over God's words, What is sin?

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King Saul, The People’s Sin

November 7, 2021 5 Comments

King Saul is an example of a leader appointed by God–at the rebellious insistence of the people–who followed his people’s idolatrous rebellion against God. Generally, in spiritual matters, worldly leaders follow their constituents rather than lead them. After God warned the people about the way their king would take, and sent a sign of his displeasure, they showed remorse–false, incomplete repentance–but did not change their ways. Ultimately, King Saul also followed their lead.

Confession and Repentance, Desire to have our own way, God's rationality, idolatry, Peril of Seeking Power, Rejecting God, Repentance, Repentance versus Remorse, Sin, Social control and statecraft, The Problem of Evil, Truth and Falsehood, What is sin?

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Repeated sins, repeated repentance and repeated forgiveness in Luke 17:3-4

October 17, 2021 2 Comments

Jesus uses unforgiveness as the prime example of a stumbling block we can place in the way of a fellow believer, bringing judgment. Therefore he warns us that we must be careful to freely forgive those who come to us expressing repentance for harm they have done to us by missing the mark of either our own, or God’s, expectations for their behavior.

Confession and Repentance, Confession of Sin, Divisions in the Church, Forgive as we forgive, Forgiveness and Unforgiveness, Repentance, Restoration of our Relationships, To live in unity

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Judas Iscariot: Remorse Too Late in Matthew 27:3-5

August 18, 2021 0 Comments

Judas demonstrates the difference between worldly remorse and true repentance. Judas was truly remorseful after he saw Jesus would die because of his betrayal, and he tried to fix things himself. When that failed, he hanged himself. He was remorseful, but never repented of doing things his own way.

Confession and Repentance, Desire to have our own way, Desire to have our own way, Divisions in the Church, Greed, Repentance, Repentance versus Remorse, What is sin?

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Debts, debtors and paráptōmata in the Lord’s Prayer and Jesus’ associated saying on mercy towards others’ weaknesses–Matthew 6:12-15 and Mark 11:20-26

August 12, 2021 2 Comments

In the Lord’s Prayer and the parallel teaching about mercy, Jesus tells us that we are to ask God to release us from the consequences or resulting debts of our sins as we release others from the debts we imagine they owe us. While praying, we are to show mercy upon the flaws (paráptōmata) that led them to sin, because the Father will show us mercy in the same measure.

Confession and Repentance, Divisions in the Church, Forgive as we forgive, forgiveness and mercy, Forgiveness and Unforgiveness, Reconciliation, Repentance, Restoration of God's Image, Restoration of our Relationships, To live in unity

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Repentance, Confession and the Textual Variant in James 5:16

August 9, 2021 3 Comments

James 5:16 occurs in a context dealing with sick Christians and healing. In that context, it teaches that we are to agree with each other about the character flaws in our lives that lead to discrete sins, and pray for each other that these flaws–and the whole person–will be healed. This sensible reading is supported by the Byzantine New Testament text tradition, which is to be preferred for this verse.

A God who Speaks, Confession and Repentance, Confession of Sin, Forgiveness and Unforgiveness, God Speaks to Us, God's purpose for us, Is forgiveness of sins the focus of salvation?, Reconciliation, Repentance, Repentance in community, Restoration of God's Image, Restoration of our Relationships, Through others, Through the church, To live in unity

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Introduction: The Question of Confession

July 27, 2021 6 Comments

Confession of sin is expression of our full agreement with God about the evil within us that produces acts of disobedience. It is NOT the recitation of a detailed list of wrong acts, which we admit we did but for which we deflect responsibility to God or others. True confession is the beginning of reconciliation and restoration.

Church purpose versus church growth, Confession and Repentance, Confession of Sin, Divisions in the Church, Forgiveness and Unforgiveness, In the Church, Meaning of Unity, Purpose of the Church, Repentance, The universal Church and local churches, To live in unity

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