Repentance, Not Penance

When someone wronged me as a child, I often looked for visible signs of contrition before I would accept their apology and forgive them.  We all realised (even as children) people can say things they do not necessarily mean.  We said "please" and "sorry" because our parents told us we needed to, and doing what we were told was the means of earning good standing with them again.  This, of course, is not the biblical model of forgiveness made possible by God after we are born again by faith in Jesus.  Trying to ensure people prove they really are sorry and have learned their lesson is not the basis of our forgiving of others, but Jesus has freely forgiven us according to His grace.  People are more likely to adopt a system of imposing penance on those who do wrong or put a burden on themselves rather than freely forgiving others and receiving forgiveness by God's grace.

The definition of "penance" in the Webster's 1828 Dictionary is as follows:  "The suffering, labor or pain to which a person voluntarily subjects himself, or which is imposed on him by authority as a punishment for his faults, or as an expression of penitence; such as fasting, flagellation, wearing chains, etc. penance is one of the seven sacraments of the Romish church."  As I am no expert in Roman Catholicism, I find it fascinating and disturbing penance is provided as a means of restoration in the place of simple biblical repentance.  According to the Catholic Diocese of Broken Bay, the sacrament of penance is described in four steps:  "Contrition: a sincere sorrow for having offended God, and a firm resolve not to repeat our sin. Confession: confronting our sins in a profound way to God by speaking them aloud to the priest. Penance: an important part of our healing is the penance the priest gives us in reparation for our sins. Absolution: the priest speaks the words by which we are reconciled to God and are absolved from our sins."  While contrition and confession of sin to God is an important part of repentance for Christians, there is no way possible to make reparation for our sins.  Healing does not come from working but from faith in God demonstrated by humble obedience to Him.  What God has already spoken in His word provides all assurance of total forgiveness and satisfaction of divine justice, for Jesus has already paid the necessary price in full:  1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

When the children of Israel broke God's law, they wondered what they could possibly do to find favour in God's sight and have fellowship with God again.  In one sense, they asked God to tell them what their penance was so they could demonstrate adequate contrition.  They even offered suggestions to set things right in Micah 6:6-7:  "With what shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before the High God? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? ⁷ Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?"  In their sorrow for sin, people desired to know they could do to please God and right their wrongs.  The irony is, they had offered sacrifices and even their own children to idols!  Was this what God wanted from them?  David understood no sacrifice could bring anyone into God's favour, for God looked for contrite hearts as he sang in Psalm 51:16-17:  "For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. ¹⁷ The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart--these, O God, You will not despise."

In response to our sin, God does not demand we wear chains, crawl upon broken glass or whip ourselves:  Jesus has already provided atonement in full with His own blood shed for the sins of the world.  God had already spoken and provided an example the children of Israel were to follow concerning His expectations of His people in Micah 6:8:  "He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?"  God did not require His people to do an arduous task in the resolve of their flesh but to do what only God can do in the hearts of those who trust, love and obey Him!  Jesus commanded His disciples to love one another as He loved them, and the only way we can do this is after being born again by faith in Him and submitting to the leading of the Holy Spirit.  It is repentance--a change of mind that agrees with God that results in a changed heart and lifestyle--that is the path to spiritual restoration and revival.  For Christians, Jesus has shown us what God's active love looks like.  When we are convicted of sin, we ought to repent and return to the LORD our first love by faith, and simply do what He has already shown us is good.