What Do Christians Do About Sin?
By Micky Galloway

Recently in a Bible class where we were reviewing the book of Acts, someone asked, "What is God's plan for forgiving and saving the alien sinner?" The students were prompt to correctly answer that the Bible pattern from the book of Acts teaches that one must hear, believe in Him, repent, confess his faith in Jesus as the Christ, and be baptized in His name. Jesus commanded the apostles, "Go ye therefore, and make disciples of (teach KJV) all the nations" (Matthew 28:19).

The students in the class have correctly learned the pattern for the sinner's conversion to Christ. However, there is another question that must be asked. "What is God's plan for forgiving the Christian's sins?" Asking this question acknowledges that a part of God's plan to save is faithfulness on our part. After one obeys the gospel, the Lord adds him to the church (Acts 2:47). Christians, members of the Lord's church, must remain faithful in worshiping God, living pure lives, and working for the Lord. It is summed up in the words, "Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life." (Revelation 2:10) Christians must be "stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord" (1 Corinthians 15:58). But what must a Christian do when he sins? There seemed to be some pause when this question was asked in class. That suggests that we don't know the answer, or perhaps we haven't considered that Christians do sin and need forgiveness, or perhaps we aren't doing anything about our sins. The question demands an answer.

In Acts 8 we read of Simon the Sorcerer who had believed and been baptized, and was saved from his past sins. "But when they believed Philip as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. Then Simon himself also believed; and when he was baptized he continued with Philip, and was amazed, seeing the miracles and signs which were done." (Acts 8:12, 13)

Afterward, Simon sinned, or erred, and he became an erring child of God. Peter's exact words to him were, "Repent therefore of this thy wickedness and pray the Lord, if perhaps the thought of thy heart shall be forgiven thee." (Acts 8:22) A person who has obeyed the gospel of Christ is a child of God and a servant of righteousness (Romans 6:17-18). When one sins after having become a child of God, he is still a child of God, albeit an erring child. It is a fact that children of God can and do sin. James wrote, "My brethren, if any among you err from the truth, and one convert him; let him know, that he who converteth a sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall cover a multitude of sins." (James 5:19-20) John also wrote, "If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." (1 John 1:8)

In order for an erring child of God to be saved from the error of his way, he must repent. For the erring child of God, repentance means the same thing it means for the alien sinner. When a person repents of sin, he experiences a mind change, produced by godly sorrow, regarding his sin. This results in a reformation of life. Repentance is not simply regret, sorrow, prayer, or fear. It is a change of mind--the decision to quit sinning--which results in a complete turning from evil.

In the parable of the two sons, Jesus demonstrated repentance. "But what think ye? A man had two sons; and he came to the first and said, 'Son go to work today in the vineyard.' And he answered and said, 'I will not:' but afterward he repented himself, and went." (Matthew 21:28-29) The rebellious son said, "I will not." Later he repented and said, "I will." Repentance, then, is the decision, the determination, to stop sinning and obey God. When a child of God, who is leading a life of sin, either by being indifferent and careless with respect to his duty to Christ and the church, or by living in an immoral and worldly manner, comes to himself and repents, he quits the life of sin, turns from it, and obeys God.

The prodigal (Luke 15) came to himself, realized his condition, and made a resolution. "But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, 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 I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.'" (Luke 15:17-19) That illustrates what repentance is. It was, in the case of the prodigal, the determination to stop doing his own will and start doing his father's will.

Not only must the erring child of God repent, he must also pray to God in order to receive the forgiveness of his sins. Peter commanded Simon to "repent and pray" (Acts 8:22). To pray means to beseech, seek, ask, entreat; in the New Testament, it means requests that men address to God. The erring child of God who repents must pray to God for forgiveness. Alien sinners are not told to "repent and pray" for forgiveness. They are to believe and be baptized (Mark 16:16). On the Day of Pentecost, to alien sinners who believed, Peter said, "Repent, and be baptized ... unto the remission of your sins." (Acts 2:38) Peter, the same apostle who told alien sinners to "Repent and be baptized," told the erring Simon to "Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray the Lord."

Why did Peter tell the people at Pentecost to "Repent and be baptized ... unto the remission of your sins," and tell Simon at Samaria to "Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray the Lord, if perhaps the thought of thy heart shall be forgiven thee?" Indeed, there are two laws of pardon--one for the alien sinner and another for the erring child of God. God's child has the right to pray, but he must pray in penitence, in faith, in harmony with God's will, and in the name of Christ. "For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears unto their supplication: but the face of the Lord is upon them that do evil." (1 Peter 3:12) "If we ask anything according to His will He heareth us." (1 John 5:14) "And if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." (1 John 2:1) We must ask in faith, through Christ.

Christians who pray to God for forgiveness must confess their sins. We cannot pray to God for forgiveness unless we admit to ourselves, and acknowledge to God, that we have sinned. The command to repent and pray implies the necessity to confess one's sins. James said, "Confess therefore your sins one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed." (James 5:16) John said, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9) Hence, the second law of pardon includes repentance, confession of sins, and prayer. It does not include baptism; baptism is a condition of forgiveness for alien sinners.

God's child who sins and refuses to comply with the second law of pardon can no more expect remission of his sins than an alien sinner who rejects Christ's commandments to believe in Him, repent of past sins, confess faith that He is the Christ, and be baptized in His name can expect remission of his sins.

Brother Galloway has shown us, in a clear and understandable way, the second law of pardon according to the Scriptures. But, whenever we discuss this subject, we sometimes overlook another aspect-public confession of sin. When is it necessary to publicly confess one's sin(s)? How do we determine whether we need to confess publicly? How much detail does one need to reveal about the sin? Let's try to answer these questions briefly.

When is it necessary? The answer to this questioned is best expressed by the statement, "The confession needs to be as public as the sin." If the sin is between two people, those two people need to be involved, along with God, of course, in the quest for forgiveness. Many problems and additional heartaches have been caused by expanding the knowledge of private sins much further than God's word requires. If the community is aware of the action, as also are many people in the church, then a public confession is prudent. Example: One from whom the local church has withdrawn cannot come back years later and then act as though nothing ever happened. The entire church needs to be made aware that an erring child has returned to the fold (Matthew 3:8).

How much detail does one need to reveal? After thoroughly searching God's word, I am unaware of any command to reveal, or example of revealing, all the sordid details involved in the sin(s) being confessed. Does the entire church need a laundry list, with all the juicy details, of every sin of which the person is repenting? Sin is sin, and every sin transgresses God's law (1 John 3:4; 5:17). The church needs to know that the person is repenting of all past conduct that violated God's laws-period. Example: If a person has been away from the Lord's church for many years, does he need to list EVERY sin and its details? The Scriptures contain no such examples or commands.

What do I need to know in order to forgive? "And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, 'I repent,' you shall forgive him." (Luke 17:4) Some brethren would like to enact a probation period to ensure that fruits of repentance are forthcoming. Again, we must ask for the passage? Is this the way God forgives us? Erring Christians must repent with godly sorrow and change their conduct, but we are duty-bound to forgive and encourage them and to assist them with increasing their courage and strength so they do not return to that path. Let's not make demands that God's word does not authorize! (KMG)


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