The Forgiveness of Sin

The iMonk  (Michael Spencer) has an interesting article on “unconfessed sin,” in which he encourages his readers to download a podcast and reflect upon what they hear.  He writes:

The August 19th edition of the White Horse Inn contains a large segment of interviews asking people at a Christian conference what happens to a person if they died with unconfessed sin.  Whatever you do, get this podcast/mp3, listen to it and keep it around. The answers may or may not shock you, depending on your experience with and perception of evangelicalism. In my experience, this is how the majority of the evangelicals that I know think of salvation, right down to the overt appeals to good works.  

Spencer goes on to say,

A few years ago I was showing an R.C. Sproul series on justification, and one man who had been studying the Bible with me for about 5 years got so angry he stormed out. Why? A standard explanation of the reformation doctrine of justification by faith alone. This brother- a fine Christian man with a real servant’s heart- was determined that repentance and good works were necessary to be declared right with God. When R.C. set down that we are justified by grace alone, with repentance and confession in vital, but non-saving relation to that declaration, he couldn’t deal with it. Where was our part? Where was what we did to keep salvation? Where were the works we did- like confession and repentance- that God would look at and say we were “worthy” to be Christians? (I hear that prayer all the time.)

I encourage my regular readers, all 10 to 12 of you, to read Spencer’s post in it’s entirety, as well as download the podcast he mentions for a listen.  The idea that we are made right with God only through God’s own grace is repugnant to many Christians today (as it has no doubt been throughout history as well).  It strikes me that most Christians are either semi-pelagian or just plain pelagian in their beliefs about what “saves” them.  That is, the majority of Jesus’ followers believe that they play a part in their salvation when they engage in good works and moral/ethical behavior.  After all, you get what you pay for, and nothing that one gets for free is really worth having.  Further, since salvation, wholeness and reconciliation with God is obviously the greatest thing since sliced bread, it only figures that it’s procurement requires some work on our part.

Grace, sheer grace, free grace, is offensive to the mores of modern Christians.  After all, if it is a free gift, with no strings or prior conditions attached, then it is available to anyone, anywhere, and at anytime.  This is not only repulsive, it is also patently unfair.  Who do these people think they are?  What makes them think they deserve the grace of God?  If we have had to work and strive to be acceptable to God, shouldn’t they also have to do the same thing?  What have they done to earn God’s mercy and forgiveness?

One could, and many do, also turn this argument around and ask, “Who does God think he is?”  What kind of God would give his grace to anyone and everyone, regardless of their qualifications?  What kind of God forgives a sinner before he or she even repents of his or her sinning?  What self-respecting deity would deign to bestow his divine mercy on upon a depraved and unworthy people without at least requiring something, anything, from them as a sign of good faith first?

Jesus told us what kind of God would do just that in the story of the forgiving father (the prodigal son for those of you who insist upon applying the traditional but inaccurate title to the parable). 

And He said, A certain man had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give me the portion of goods that is coming to me. And he divided his living to them. And not many days afterward, the younger son gathered all together and went away into a far country. And there he wasted his property, living dissolutely.

And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land. And he began to be in want. And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country. And he sent him into his fields to feed pigs. And he was longing to fill his belly with the husks that the pigs ate, and no one gave to him.

And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father abound in loaves, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, Father, I have sinned against Heaven and before you and am no more worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.

And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him, Father, I have sinned against Heaven and before you, and am no more worthy to be called your son.

But the father said to his servants, Bring the best robe and put it on him. And put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf here and kill it. And let us eat and be merry, for this my son was dead and is alive again, he was lost and is found. And they began to be merry.

And his elder son was in the field. And as he came and drew near the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him safe and sound. And he was angry and would not go in.  Therefore his father came out and entreated him.

And answering he said to his father, Lo, these many years I have served you, neither did I transgress your commandment at any time. And yet you never gave me a kid so that I might make merry with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your living with harlots, you have killed for him the fattened calf.

And he said to him, Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours. It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; and was lost, and is found.

(Luke 15:11-32)

Notice, if you will, two things about this familiar story.  From my perspective, the younger son appears rather calculating when it comes to his returning home to his father.  He has hit rock bottom, he is starving, and he realizes that even the slaves in his father’s home are better off than he is in his present situation.  So, this young formulates a plan of action and even rehearses the exact words he will say in order to save his skin. 

Then see the second thing.  The father of this young man (regardless of whether or not the boy is truly repentant or merely trying to weasel his way back into his father’s good graces), is already on the lookout for his wayward son.  And before his jerk of a son even has the chance to launch into his rehearsed speech, the father sees him, runs to him, embraces him, and kisses him.  The forgiveness is already there before repentance has been proffered.  Further, even when the younger son gets around to saying what he has come to say, by all appearances the father either ignores his words and/or refuses to acknowledge them.  Instead, he orders his servants to get his son all fixed up and to make preparations for a party.

The sin has already been forgiven.  The father forgives before the son even says a word.  The price for the sin of the son has been paid by a father whose heart is filled with grace and mercy, no matter what the son has done previously or is even trying to accomplish by his return home.  The sin is forgiven, period.  There were no conditions on the father’s grace.

Near the end of his post, Spencer goes on to say the following: 

[So] what about those who die with unconfessed sin? I know that some of you belong to churches where you’re terrorized by this.

First, read Hebrews 10 a couple of times. Then Read I John 1:8 and realize that confession is for YOUR sake. Not God’s. Agreeing with God that sin is sin doesn’t forgive it. It allows the experience of forgiveness to happen.

Jesus is a mediator whose sacrifice perfectly forgives all the sins of all his people. All. All. All. Like I forgive my children for all they would ever do, but the experience of realization and confession allows forgiveness to flow.

Then remember this: You could never say enough. You could never be sorry enough. You could never confess sincerely enough or completely enough. At the end of your confession, God would say “All your righteousness is filthy rags in comparison to my laws demands.” Not the labor of my hands- or my best attempt at confession- can fulfill thy law’s demands. Christ’s perfect confession for us is “It is finished.” From there, “there is no condemnation,” deathbed or otherwise.

What wondrous love is this, O my soul?

To this I would only add something that I have heard before and have said many, many times myself:  “Every sin that has ever been committed, every sin that is being committed at this very moment, and every sin that will ever be committed, all of these sins, all of them, have already been forgiven by Jesus Christ.  The forgiveness has already been extended.  God’s mercy and grace have already been applied.  Nothing we do can ever add to or detract from this truth.

This reflection based on Riffs: 08:20:07: The White Horse Inn on Dying With Unconfessed Sin, written by Michael Spencer on Monday, 20 August 2007.