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Doing Penance
“Bless me Father, for I have sinned. Since my last confession, I have…”
Likely you recognize this as the beginning of another session in a Catholic confessional. Let’s listen in some more.
“Well, my son, you have been busy, haven’t you?”
(Oh no! I got Father Mac. He’s so hard on us.)
“For your penance you must repeat the rosary four times and say five ‘Hail Mary’s’. You must also make restitution for your sins by mowing the rectory lawn each week for a month.”
“A whole month?!?”
“Yes, my son. Then you will be forgiven.”
Of course, we can all quickly point out the flaws in this system of forgiveness. We are to confess our sins to one another, not a separate clergy (Jas 5:16). We are not granted eternal forgiveness by men, but by a fair and holy God (Col 1:13,14). Do you see the other error in this scenario? No, the error is not incorrect restitution offered for sin. Many might say that if I changed the scenario to say the sinner should repent and pray for forgiveness, then that part would be correct. I believe the real error is the idea of man being able to make resititution for his sins against God. I often hear brethren speak of repenting and praying for forgiveness in ways that sound scarily similar to the hypothetical situation above. Sin Sacrifices
It seems that some regard repentance and prayer as the New Testament (NT) equivalent of the sin sacrifices offered under the old covenant. Those sacrifices were ineffectual in removing sin (Heb 10:1-4). More importantly, sin sacrifices of any sort are not needed today (Heb 10:10-14). We have but one sacrifice today, which was offered 2000 years ago. We do not need to offer any more. Yes, that means the sacrifice for our sins was offered before the sins were ever committed. Why should that be difficult for us to conceive since God developed the plan to forgive and save man before He created him? Repentance
I think much of the problem is in understanding the meaning of the term repent. Repentance is translated from the Greek word metanoeo, which literally means “to perceive afterwards” (Vine’s). It simply means to change one’s mind or intent. When one repents, they change their heart to put God first. Anytime someone has a heart that does not have God first, they must repent or be lost (Acts 8:21-23). But does all sin necessarily require that one has turned their heart from God? A sin committed in misunderstanding or ignorance of truth does not require that one’s heart has turned away from God and is in need of repentance (change of intent). Prayer for forgiveness
We know that all good things come from above (Jas 1:17). We must ask in faith to receive these blessings from God (Matt 7:7-11; 21:21,22; Jas 1:5-8). Does that mean that we must make a singular request of God for each and every blessing? Does not God consider us a praying people if we do not cease praying? (1 Thess 5:17) When Jesus taught the disciples how to pray, He included a section asking for forgiveness of sins (Matt 6:12). I believe that is included because we must always have an attitude of seeking forgiveness, not that we must specifically ask for each individual sin. If we are in fellowship with God and continually receive spiritual blessings from Him, among those blessings are the forgiveness of our sins through the blood of Jesus (Eph 1:3-8).
Should we ever need to repent and pray for forgiveness? Absolutely! Anytime our heart is not right before God, we are no longer in fellowship with Him and the blood of Jesus no longer cleanses us of our sins (1 John 1:7-10). The Biblical pattern for someone in that condition is to repent and pray for God to forgive them. |