Sunday, October 30, 2011

Chapter 15: Of Repentance unto Life

The Westminster Confession of Faith in Plain Language
1. Saving faith and saving repentance are free gifts from God that go together. It is just as important for preachers to preach about repentance as it is for them to preach about saving faith.

2. Several things lead sinners to grieve over and hate their sins to the point of repentance: They fear God’s wrath. They see the grossness and offensiveness of their sin in the light of God’s holy nature and righteous law. They understand how merciful God is toward those who repent. As a result, they resolve and strive to walk with God and obey his commands.

3. Sinners should never think that repentance makes up for sin or earns God’s forgiveness. That is a gift of God’s grace alone. On the other hand, repentance is still necessary. No one who refuses to repent should expect forgiveness from God.

4. The smallest sin is enough to condemn a person to hell. But even the greatest sin cannot condemn a truly repentant person.

5. People should not be satisfied with a vague, surface-level repentance. Instead, they should target and repent of their sins very specifically.

6. Those who sin in private should confess to God in private. He is always merciful to those who repent and pray for forgiveness. But those who sin against others should be willing go directly to them to ask forgiveness. If they sin publicly against the whole Church, they should confess to the whole Church. And those who have been wronged should always forgive and welcome them back with open arms.

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