Word of Encouragement (4/24/2020)
We started talking about confession—why we need to confess our sins. Today, let’s think about what we need to confess.
It is our sins, of course. Let’s briefly consider various aspects of sin.
Our catechism speaks of sin as “any want [lack] of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God” (Q. 14). There are three things to consider. First of all, the ultimate standard of what sin is is the law of God. We don’t need to confess the silly things we feel embarrassed about or the honest mistakes we feel regretful about or even what other people make us feel guilty about. Strictly speaking, the law of God is the ultimate standard of God’s righteousness, not anything else—not the law of the land, nor the ethical standard of our society, nor any man-made (religious) laws, nor our conscience. This is important to remember because it will protect us from the tyranny of others, who want to impose their sense of right and wrong on others.
This is not to say that what we feel in our conscience is not important. While God’s law is the ultimate standard of righteousness, our conscience is the vehicle by which we appropriate what is right and wrong. In that sense, it is never right to violate our conscience. So, even if God’s law is not violated, if we violate our conscience, we consider that to be sin. This is so not because what we did is wrong (because only God’s law determines that); rather, it is in the sense that, when we violate our conscience, we are going against our knowledge of what is right and wrong, however imperfect our conscience may be at the moment, and it is morally wrong to do so. This is why it’s important for us to conform our marred conscience to the law of God.
Second, sin is violating the law of God. This is obvious. It is to go against the law of God, to do what the law tells us not to do. It is also to deviate from the law of God, to change it in any way to fit our idea or convenience. In doing so, we reject the authority of God.
Third, sin is any lack of conformity to God’s law. It is failing to do what the law of God tells us to do. We dare not think that we are good because we didn’t do “bad things.”; we must also do all that God requires us to do. And what God requires is more than just keeping the letter of the law but also the spirit of the law. We need to ask ourselves, “Have I loved God as He deserves to be loved? Have I really loved my neighbor as myself?”
This will humble us, showing us how far we fall short of God’s holy standard. It is enough to throw us into a sense of helplessness and hopelessness, were it not for God’s provision of a Savior. This also shows what kind of Savior we need—a Savior to pay the penalty of our sins as well as fully satisfy God’s demand of perfect righteousness. That Savior, we have in Jesus Christ. So, when we confess our sins in the name of Jesus Christ, we have the assurance of God’s forgiveness and His acceptance. The more we see the truth about ourselves, the more we see the greatness of God’s all-sufficient grace. Thus, we receive the encouragement we need to continue our new life in Jesus Christ unto godliness.