Forgiveness
When we first come to
God, we may come just as we are with
all our sins, poor, and blind, and
naked, and God will receive and
forgive us. He will not turn us away;
He will not scold us; nor will He be
angry. Our sins may be as scarlet,
they may be red as crimson, but God,
enfolding us in His arms, will cover
us with His robe of righteousness and
bring us in triumph to the feast
which He has prepared. We are at
peace with God, with man, and with
ourselves. The former things have
passed away, all things have become
new, and profound thankfulness we
sing, “It is well, it is well,
with my soul.”
However, after we are
converted and are walking softly
before God we suddenly become aware
that the evil one has not left us
alone, but has tripped us up, and we
have made a misstep. We did not
intend to sin, we did not transgress
deliberately; but we are sorrowfully
aware that we have fell short of the
glory of God. We have sinned. What
are we to do? There is only one thing
to do: Go to God and confess all, and
if we have wronged others or hindered
them in their Christian life, confess
this to the ones concerned; and if
restitution is indicated, attend to
this also. If from a full heart we
honestly do our part, God will
forgive. He will abundantly pardon.
However, we should
remember that there are conditions
attached to this pardon, and that
forgiveness is linked to these
conditions. They are intended to help
us remember to be careful in our
daily walk and heed Christ’s
admonition, “Go, and sin no
more.” John 8:11.
These conditions are
the same as those God prescribed for
ancient Israel, and while Christians
are not to observe the ceremonies
that Israel had to follow, the
principles are the same. It will
stand us in good stead to receive
these ordinances, for they present to
us in visual form what God wants us
to do when we come short.
When an Israelite
sinned, even though he did not know
at the time that is was sin,
“when he knoweth of it, then he
shall be guilty. Leviticus 5:4.
It was a merciful provision that he
was not counted guilty until hr was
made aware of his sin. However, when
he did discover that he had sinned,
then he became guilty. He was not to
pass the matter off lightly and
excuse himself, because he did not
know that it was sin. He had been
guiltless before, but now he was
guilty. This required confession. He
was to “confess that he had
sinned in that thing.” Verse 5.
Confession Not Enough
It will be noted that
God was not satisfied with a general
confession. It must be specific and
concern “that thing.”
Ordinarily it is easy to confess
publicly that we come short in many
things; but to make a specific
confession is hard. To go to Brother
James and confess that you have
slandered and spoken evil of him,
takes Christian courage. To go to a
storekeeper and tell him that you
have taken things out of the store
and not paid for them, to ask
forgiveness and make restitution
– this is real Christianity and
takes much grace. God demanded this
of His people of old, and He has not
changed.
To impress upon the
sinner the sinfulness of sin, God
required of Israel not only
confession, but also sacrifice. The
sinner was to bring to the sanctuary
an offering of a lamb or other
prescribed animal for a sin offering,
confess his sin, and then slay the
lamb. After this, the priest was to
“take of the blood thereof with
his finger, and put it upon the horns
of the altar of burnt offering….
And the priest shall make an
atonement for him, and it shall be
forgiven him.” Leviticus 4:
28-31.
It will be noted that
the sinner was to slay the lamb
himself, doubtless to impress upon
him the fact that he was guilty. It
must have been a solemn moment when
the priest handed him the sacrificial
knife and commanded him to slay the
lamb. As he plunged the knife into
the innocent victim, he realized as
never before the heinousness of sin
and its great cost. He doubtless
resolved never to sin again, which
was the very effect God wanted to
produce. He wanted to make vivid to
the sinner that sin meant death and
that the sinner should leave the
temple grounds with the intention to
go and sin no more.
This ritual of the
lamb, the Christian, of course, does
not observe. It pointed forward to
the true Lamb of God, and after
Christ came, the ritual ceased. The
Christian has seen the true Lamb of
God; he has seen the nails driven
through the hands; he has seen the
spear thrust in His side; he has
heard the bitter cry, “My God,
why hast Thou forsaken Me.” He
has seen the blood shed for him, and
if these scenes have not produced in
him the same determination as it did
in the Israelite, to go and sin no
more, then to that extent Christ has
died in vain. Such a one may not have
done despite to the grace of God, but
he has most certainly grieved the
Holy Spirit.
The ancient Israelite
understood more of the plan of
salvation than we sometimes think. He
must certainly have received a lively
sense of the sinfulness of sin; and
he could not have failed to
understand that the Lamb that he slew
signified no less than the Lamb of
God of which the prophets had spoken
and which he had seen illustrated in
the Passover lamb.
From the recital of
how sins were forgiven in the old
dispensation, we should have clearly
in mind that forgiveness is not
merely a matter of God’s
overlooking our faults, forgiving and
forgetting them. Every sin required
blood atonement; every transgression
meant the death of an innocent
victim. God can and does forgive, but
the cost is Calvary.
We are always to
confess our sins to God; but if the
transgression is such that others are
affected or involved, it may be
necessary to make confession to man,
and in certain cases to make
restitution. If we have stolen ten
cents or a thousand dollars, it is
not enough to confess that we have
done so; we must pay back that which
we have stolen, with interest. As
soon as Zacchaeus was converted, he
said to the Lord, “Behold,
Lord, the half of my goods I give to
the poor; and if I have taken
anything from any man by false
accusation, I restore him
fourfold.” Luke 19:8. God does
not require fourfold, but in some
cases in the Old Testament, one fifth
was to be added. Leviticus
5:16. There is no rule in the
New Testament in regard to adding a
certain sum in addition to that which
has been lawfully taken; hence we
take it for granted that this is left
to the individual conscience.
There are some things
that cannot be restored, especially
where there have been slander,
criticism, false witness. Though no
real restitution can be made, they
come under the general rule of
confession and restitution. Charity
demands that every effort be made to
undo the evil.
Where Others Are
Involved
In cases of sexual
misconduct, care should be taken lest
innocent persons be made to suffer
because of confessions made. Where a
case involves the husband or wife,
and the sin is not known to the other
mate or to the children, the
procedure calls for great
wisdom. While no hard and fast
rule can be given, let all move
cautiously lest harm be done by the
unwise confession. In fact, it is
only in very exceptional cases where
confession should be made to an
innocent person, though we think of
circumstances where it may be
necessary. However, often it may be
best to let the matter rest and not
bring sorrow and disaster to innocent
parties. We do not feel free to give
this advice in cases not personally
known to us. It is too dangerous. We
know of incalculable harm that has
come from unwise advice.
In a certain church, a
deaconess had for years been a leader
in good works and an example to the
flock. Her reputation was unspotted,
and she held in high esteem. In her
youth she had a misstep, however, of
which she deeply repented. The man
was never a church member, and the
case was not known.
Twenty years had gone
by, and then the partner in the
transgression became converted and
joined the church where the deaconess
also was a member. He felt it his
duty to confess his past sin, naming
the deaconess as the other party. The
pastor stood aghast. The
deaconess’s family was a happy
one, and the two daughters were
enrolled in one of our schools. What
should the pastor do? He did not feel
that the matter should be published,
and yet he did not think the good
sister should continue her work.
Therefore, at the next election she
was quietly relieved of her office.
This caused wonderment
in the church. She was the best
fitted for the work. Why could she
not serve? At last, the news leaked
out, and under the circumstances, the
sister felt it best to tell her
husband. Result, a blasted home, a
bewildered and crushed husband, a
disgraced wife, and the two children
called back from school where it had
become impossible for them to remain.
This was the result of one’s
person’s confessing for another.
Involving a Third
Person
There may be times
when it seems best to consult with
some experienced and godly saint, one
who will lock the confession in his
heart and never divulge to anyone the
secret entrusted to him. However, let
the confessor be sure that he selects
the right kind of person. No woman
should confess to a man alone, and no
pastor should permit a woman to
confess to him alone. The
pastor’s study is not a place
for confessions of that kind, since
often he is not in the building
alone. What then, is to be done? If
the pastor thinks it not best to have
his wife present, let him select an
old and trusted friend and let the
two hear the case. Even then, it may
be best to stop the confession when
it appears that no good will be
gained by hearing it to the end.
One reason for
discouraging confessions on this
subject is that some people like
altogether to well to confess. They
seem to think that it gives them a
certain standing. For once, they are
important and intend to make the best
of it. They tell unnecessary details,
and the pastor gets uncomfortable
feelings that they might not be
averse to repeating their
transgression. However, let the young
minister beware, and the old also.
Hearing confessions of sexual
misconduct is a dangerous practice.
Let none be moved unduly by the
penitential tear or the bid for
sympathy. Danger is near. It is
doubtful that hearing confession
should be a large part of a
minister’s work. In addition,
this goes for the minister in a
church and the chaplin in a school.
Let no one draw the
conclusion that all confession should
be discouraged or that counsel should
not be sought. However, let each
individual think twice before he
bears his soul to a human being. It
is in the confessional that Catholic
clergy get their power over the
people. Let the minister beware lest
he be contaminated by their example.
Memory Verse:
“But there is
forgiveness with thee, that thou
mayest be feared.” Psalms 130:4
Questions:
1.
Are we always to confess our sins to
God or man? Explain.
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2. What is
restitution and does the Lord require
us to undo the evil that we caused?
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