What Comes First? Repentance, Confession or Forgiveness? Lessons for His Children
The underlying message for us is that God’s forgiveness has no limit just as His agape love has no limit, for God is love! When we come to see more of the depth of His love and His sacrifice then our hearts and minds will be changed and as new creatures in Christ, we also, through the power of the Holy Spirit in us would be willing to forgive our brothers and sisters without limit. Before we can forgive, we need to see His forgiveness of us, taking a closer look at God’s forgiveness of us. https://studio.youtube.com/channel/UCIHo35zNI1a7f7I0uZQpfNQ/playlists
Let us start by looking at Christ’s forgiveness of the woman caught in adultery in John 8:1-11:
Jesus went unto the Mount of Olives.
2 And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them.
3 And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,
4 They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.
5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?
6 This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not.
7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
8 And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.
9 And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.
10 When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?
11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.
“In His act of pardoning this woman and encouraging her to live a better life, the character of Jesus shines forth in the beauty of perfect righteousness. While He does not palliate sin nor lessen the sense of guilt, He seeks not to condemn but to save.” (DA 462.3)
What deliverance! What a Savior! This story clearly shows forgiveness taking place before any confession or repentance. In fact, the Bible shows no evidence of any confession. Yet she was clearly pardoned and given hope when Jesus said “go and sin no more.”
Can you imagine what she must have thought? Is it really possible? Can she not only be pardoned but cleansed? Is it possible she can actually go out and sin no more? She sees hope in the Lord’s command. She wants to be cleansed. She wants to go and sin no more.
“In astonishment she saw her accusers depart speechless and confounded; then those words of hope fell upon her ear, “Neither do I condemn thee: go and sin no more.” Her heart was melted, and she cast herself at the feet of Jesus, sobbing out her grateful love, and with bitter tears confessing her sins. This was to her the beginning of a new life, a life of purity and peace, devoted to the service of God. In the uplifting of this fallen soul, Jesus performed a greater miracle than in healing the most grievous physical disease; He cured the spiritual malady which is unto death everlasting. This penitent woman became one of His most steadfast followers. With self-sacrificing love and devotion, she repaid His forgiving mercy.” (DA 462.1,2)
We see that her pardon led to a desire for cleansing and she was cleansed. The woman was pardoned before she confessed, and the pardon led to confession, repentance, and cleansing.
Here are several scripture texts dealing with forgiveness that further clarify what Christ has done for each and every sinner at the Cross:
Ephesians 1: 7,8: “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that He lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding.”
Romans 3: 23: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”
Colossians 1: 13,14: “For He has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness, and transferred us into the Kingdom of His dear Son, Who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.”
Consistent with these scriptures are several quotes that help us to see more of the depth of Christ’s infinite love and sacrifice in paying the penalty of the second death for every sin and every sinner none of which we earned or deserved:
“Justice demands that sin be not merely pardoned but the death penalty must be executed. God, in the gift of His only-begotten Son, met both these requirements. By dying in man’s stead, Christ exhausted the penalty and provided a pardon.” (1SM 340.1)
“Christ became sin for the fallen race, in taking upon Himself the condemnation resting upon the sinner for his transgression of the law of God. Christ stood at the head of the human family as their representative. He had taken upon Himself the sins of the world. In the likeness of sinful flesh, He condemned sin in the flesh.” (RH 5/6/1875)
“Jesus has purchased redemption for us. It is ours;” (YI 11/4/1897)
“All men have been bought with this infinite price. By pouring the whole treasury of heaven into this world, by giving us in Christ all heaven, God has purchased the will, the affections, the mind, the soul, of every human being.
Whether believers or unbelievers, all men are the Lord’s property.” (COL 326).
Many do not understand that all of our sins were pardoned at the cross, although scripture is clear on this point. Some believe that the free gift of salvation is only a provision and that your sins are only forgiven when you are baptized, confess, and repent…and even then, it only applies to past sins. Every future sin must then be confessed and repented of, otherwise you are lost. In other words, we have to earn both our forgiveness and salvation.
This is in contrast to the peace and assurance that God wants us to have when we believe that the free gift of salvation is already ours in Christ. By faith, (the faith of Jesus), we believe that we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
We can see that forgiveness is more than a legal act or pardon by which He sets us free from condemnation. God also wants to reclaim us from sin-it is the outflow of His redeeming love that transforms the heart and causes us to want the cleansing only He can provide.
And so, we have Jesus as our High Priest in the heavenly Sanctuary, cleansing us from our sins and preparing a last day people for His second coming. But it is with a moment by moment surrender to His will through the power of the Holy Spirit that we will recognize our need and desire that cleansing so we may claim His victory over our sins and our sinful nature until He comes.
“We do not repent in order that God may love us, but He reveals to us His love in order that we may repent.” (COL 189.1)
“His death has secured life and pardon for all. Nothing can keep them from salvation except their own perverse will. Men must take themselves out of the hand of God, in order not to be saved.” (Waggoner on Romans p.144)
“The Lord will not compel anyone to take it…no man will die the second death who has not chosen sin rather than righteousness, death rather than life.” (GCB 1895 Feb.21, p.269)
“All the grace of God is freely given to everyone bringing salvation to all…Having given it all, He is clear, even though men may reject it.” (RH 4/17/1894)
In Romans 5 we see how Christ as the Second Adam took the entire human race into Himself so that “by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life” (vs.18).
At Christ’s baptism (Matthew 3:13-17), John was reluctant to baptize Jesus. “How could he, a sinner, baptize the Sinless One? And why should He who needed no repentance submit to a rite that was a confession of guilt to be washed away?” (DA 110.2). “Jesus did not receive baptism as a confession of guilt on His own account. He identified Himself with sinners, taking the steps that we are to take, and doing the work that we must do.” (DA 111.2). “As one with us, He must bear the burden of our guilt and woe. The Sinless One must feel the shame of sin. The peace lover must dwell with strife, the truth must abide with falsehood, purity with vileness.” (DA 111.4).
“Had the purpose of God been carried out by His people in giving to the world the message of mercy, Christ would, ere this, have come to the earth, and the saints would have received their welcome into the city of God.” (Testimonies for the Church 6:450 (1900).
The good news is that in Revelation 3: 18 God has the solution for the church of Laodicea:
“The gold that Jesus would have us buy of Him is gold tried in the fire; it is the gold of faith and love, that has no defiling substance mingled with it. The white raiment is the righteousness of Christ, the wedding garment that Christ alone can give. The eye salve is the true spiritual discernment that is so wanting among us, for spiritual things must be spiritually discerned. (RH April 1, 1890).
But Christ’s message to the angel (leadership) of the church (vs.14) tells us we need more as seen in vs. 19: “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore and repent.”
While we, of course, do need individual repentance this is a message to His bride, God’s final church, His last day church in our Laodicean condition. He is looking for our corporate repentance as a church and His bride. Our groom has been patiently waiting for us since He gave us a most precious message in 1888 to share with the world.
“The Lord in His great mercy sent a most precious message to His people through Elders Waggoner and Jones. This message was to bring more prominently before the world the uplifted Saviour, the sacrifice for the sins of the whole world…. this is the message that God commanded to be given to the world. It is the third angel’s message, which is to be proclaimed with a loud voice, and attended with the outpouring of His Spirit in a large measure.” (TM 91/92)
“Every true turning to the Lord brings abiding joy into the life. When a sinner yields to the influence of the Holy Spirit, he sees his own guilt and defilement in contrast with the holiness of the great Searcher of hearts. He sees himself condemned as a transgressor. But he is not, because of this, to give way to despair; for his pardon has already been secured. He may rejoice in the sense of sins forgiven, in the love of a pardoning heavenly Father. It is God’s glory to encircle sinful, repentant human beings in the arms of His love, to bind up their wounds, to cleanse them from sin, and to clothe them with the garments of salvation.”
Yes we are told to repent and be baptized, we need to be forgiven to get right with God, go and sin no more Jesus tells the woman caught in adultery. It is not about our human logic, I will forgive you if you ask. But what is there first? It must be the nature of God, which is a gracious, loving, desiring and providing a way for humanity to be restored in relationship.
The reasonable conclusion is that the forgiving nature of God and the working of the Holy Spirit is what makes repentance and confession possible.