What about confession, repentance, and asking for forgiveness? If we’re not supposed to be sin conscious, what to we do with these spiritual exercises? Aren’t we supposed to do those things? Yes, we are, but perhaps not in the way we have been taught.
Here are those three words and what they mean:
Confess is the Greek word “homologeo”1, and it means to say the same thing as another. As believers we are told in the scriptures to:
…draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the CONFESSION of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. (Hebrews 10:22-23, emphasis mine)2
What is the confession of our hope? It’s that we are righteous through the blood of Jesus! If we are in Christ today, our confession is not that we are sinners, but that we are righteous. It doesn’t mean we don’t sin, but it means that when we do sin, it is not according to our new nature in Jesus!
Repent is the Greek word “metanoeo”3 and it simply means to change one’s mind. It does not mean to change your behavior or even to be sorry and apologetic. It doesn’t even mean to change your direction, although that could be the result of repentance. “Meta” means change, “noeo” means mind.4
When Jesus began His earthly ministry, He explained exactly the change of mind that the people needed:
Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. REPENT, and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:14-15, emphasis mine)
The days of the law were coming to an end. Jesus said, “Believe in the Gospel.” We need to believe the Good News that Jesus has come and washed us clean from our sins!
Forgiveness is the Greek word “aphesis”5, and it means “letting them (sins) go as if they had never been committed.” God let go of our sins. He didn’t hold them against us. When the bank forgives a debt, it means that the debt has been paid. The wages — the debt — of sin is death, and Jesus has paid our debt of death with His own blood! Our Creditor, God, has let go of the debt!
In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace. (Ephesians 1:7)
We have been forgiven. Past tense. We are not forgiven as we go. We are not working towards being forgiven. We are not forgiven some time in the future. All of our sins — past, present, and future — were paid for at the cross. We are forgiven according to the riches of His grace, not according to anything we can muster through religious activities or re-defined ideas of repentance or confession. If we could ever measure the riches of His grace extended towards us, then we would comprehend how much we have been forgiven. Nothing in all of creation even touches the value of the payment of Christ’s blood for our sins.
(from pages 88-89 of Unveiling Jesus)
Want more from Tricia Gunn? Check out excerpts from the Unveiling Jesus 20-part series!
Unveiling Jesus, by Tricia Gunn, is a verse by verse study of the pure gospel of grace. It’s an amazing journey of love, identity, and freedom in Christ.
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1G3670 (homologeō), Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, website: http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/Lexicon/Lexicon.cfm?strongs=G3670&t=KJV, accessed 5-19-14
2All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New King James Version. Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
3G3340 (metanoeō), Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, website: http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/Lexicon/Lexicon.cfm?strongs=G3340&t=KJV, accessed 5-19-14
4G3340 (metanoeó), “HELPS Word-studies” Bible Hub, website: http://biblehub.com/greek/3340.htm, accessed on 6-13-14
5G859 (aphesis), Thayer’s Greek Lexicon, website: http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/Lexicon/Lexicon.cfm?strongs=G859&t=KJV, accessed 5-19-14″
