Are We Missing Something?

I mentioned previously about our pastor’s current teaching series on prayer and the importance of beginning with God’s Word and incorporating worship.  Thinking more on these things, my mind returned to the general topic of worship, and how it, too, begins with God’s revelation of Himself.  Pulling out my copy of Worship: the Christian’s Highest Occupation, I noted that A. P. Gibbs gives seven characteristics of worship drawn from Genesis 22.

1.  Worship is based on a revelation of God.
2.  Worship is conditioned by faith in, and obedience to that Divine revelation.
3.  Worship involves a costly presentation to God.
4.  Worship necessitates a deliberate separation unto God.
5.  Worship predicates the absolute renunciation with self, in all its varied forms.*
6.  Worship glorifies God.
7.  Worship results in blessing to the worshiper.

Gibbs makes good points, but the list paints an incomplete picture.  Local assemblies to often have defaulted to the same general approach of worship: we perform rituals (singing, praying, giving money) to God to demonstrate our appreciation.  Those three rituals fall within the domain of worship, however they all are directed from man to God.  Scripture seems to indicate that the reverse direction is equally true.  To partially fill some missing gaps, we need to examine a portion of the Levitical system.

Moses gave a good summary of worship practice to the people of Israel before crossing the Jordan River:

But when you go over the Jordan and live in the land that the Lᴏʀᴅ your God is giving you to inherit, and when he gives you rest from all your enemies around, so that you live in safety, then to the place that the Lᴏʀᴅ your God will choose, to make his name dwell there, there you shall bring all that I command you: your burnt offerings and your sacrifices, your tithes and the contribution that you present, and all your finest vow offerings that you vow to the Lᴏʀᴅ.  And you shall rejoice before the Lᴏʀᴅ your God, you and your sons and your daughters, your male servants and your female servants, and the Levite that is within your towns, since he has no portion or inheritance with you.  (Deut 12:10-12)

God promised to meet with His collected people who will be engaged in sacrifices, offerings, and rejoicing very much like a typical evangelical church service.  The reader may assume, “See?  All this giving with no receiving.”  But that view demonstrates an important, but often forgotten, function of offerings and sacrifices in worship—atonement.  In a section on the correct procedures for dealing with the blood, Moses instructs that it is not to be consumed, because it serves a holy use.

For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.  (Lev 17:11)

By extension, then, all blood sacrifices make atonement.  This can be seen most plainly in the Guilt (Lev 4:1-5:13) and Sin (Lev 5:14-6:7) offerings, as well as the Day of Atonement (Lev 16).  Even the Burnt offering (Lev 1), considered the epitome of pure, costly worship, is an atoning sacrifice (Lev 1:4).  Our best is tainted with sin.  Over and again the instruction is given: the priest shall make atonement.

Our concept of the connection between atonement and worship is that sins are first covered, and then we are allowed to worship the Lord.  In a sense that is correct, because if no atoning sacrifice is given, no worship can be offered or accepted.  When the atoning offering is presented with the sin(s) of the person or people pronounced on the animal, it must precede the any other offering when they are brought together.  What we fail to apprehend is that offerings to atone for sin and transgression are as much worship as any other offering.  Through an understanding of guilt before God and the promise of His forgiveness, the sinner comes in an act of repentance with confession.  When forgiveness is pronounced, God has communicated His good gifts through the Levitical priest to the worshiper who, by virtue of his restored status before the Lord, is then allowed to present whatever other gift might be deemed appropriate for the occasion and to enter into the praise.

Jesus’ death on the cross fulfilled the need for further bloodshed by His final sacrifice for sin on the cross.  He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  That work is complete.  Sin is covered and guilt is removed for those who are in Christ Jesus.  That being said, is there a need for believers today to expect this atoning work to be accomplished in their lives as part of worship?  The atoning working work of Jesus, while completed, has eternal effects continually meted out, because He ever lives to make intercession.  I contend that God is still giving His gifts in worship.

When you go to worship, does sin interfere?  If you come repentant, desiring to confess because you bear a great guilt and can echo David's words:

For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away
    through my groaning all day long.
For day and night your hand was heavy upon me;
    my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. (Psa 32:3-4)

As you are present in worship, do you receive the Lord Jesus in the bread and cup of Communion?  Do you come under conviction as God’s Law is preached, seeing your great need?  Confess the sin, and receive the Lord’s sure forgiveness.  Do you come in assurance of comfort and grace bought by Jesus’ perfect sacrifice?  Worship boldly, knowing that your worship, though zealous and sincere, is imperfect.  In each case, atonement is received.

 In this world Jesus’ atoning work never stops.  We always need it.  We look forward to a day, when the Lord returns and makes all things new.  Until that time, praise God that our Lord ever lives to make intercession for us.  We are a needy people.

*  Some of my readers will quibble on the validity of this point since nobody can absolutely renounce self.  I think the post will help address that concern.

We Believe, Teach, and Confess

In the Lutheran confessions, The Epitome of the Formula of Concord regularly uses the phrase “we believe, teach, and confess” to explicitly state doctrinal points held by those within the Lutheran branch of the reformation.  The authors of the document are to be commended for the regular usage of these words as they give a threefold understanding of how we are to grasp the faith and make it known.  In this post I would like to examine what it means to believe, teach, and confess.

What we believe is based on the accumulation of facts and propositions.  As data are assimilated, adjustments can and will be made in order to properly categorize the input into relevant models for further mental processing.  When the data agree with already held views, the sorting process occurs rather easily, even subliminally.  Where conflicting, however, the individual must either abandon the new data as fallacious or make shifts in order to recategorize and reestablish systems of thought.  Even when no new fact becomes available, we review our understanding according to our environment and make adjustments accordingly.  Also, because belief is individual, there can be as many variations of comprehension and opinion as there are combinations of stimuli.  In order to establish a consistent system, a focused, disciplined pattern of instruction orients the person through a combination of truth claims and conclusions—one building on another.  As the individual grasps the concepts, the mind is ordered accordingly, so that new data and stimuli are more properly evaluated.

Belief systems manifest themselves in the way we order our lives and interact with one another.  The interactions teach, both implicitly and explicitly, what the beliefs are.  The setting is of no consequence.  Whether a teacher-student setting or a conversation, beliefs are communicated.  The instructor (i.e., the one communicating beliefs) will offer what has been learned through a combination of formal instruction and experience.  It is the former that should be prominent when laying down precepts, while the latter is useful for example or application.  This is an important distinction.  The reverse leads to unreasoned (and unreasonable) thinking, therefore instruction is be rooted in a framework serving as the reference point from which the data and concepts flow.  In a codified form, this framework digests and systematizes the body of knowledge from an objective base.  Multiple professional fields utilize such documents to standardize their bodies of knowledge for future instruction and reference.  These bodies of knowledge are created collaboratively by experts in their respective fields as standard works.

Christianity has a body of knowledge that is similarly assembled in that it has multiple writers that added their works over time, however a key difference is in the direct hand of God as Author and Editor overseeing the entire project.  The Lord revealed Himself at the beginning, and as time wore on, further revealed His nature, immediate plans, and future hope.  This historical backdrop,though appropriate for revealing the story of man’s redemption in Christ, requires those who understanding this unfolding aspect to accurately teach what the Almighty had given and to Whom and what He was pointing.  The final product is a largely narrative recounting of a Divine hand moving man toward a final end of full and complete reconciliation, restoration, and renewal of all things in Christ.

Because of Scripture’s narrative nature, men have attempted to assemble concise statements as useful tools for both learning and communicating the faith.  In the time of the early church, three were written that continue regular use today: Apostles’ Creed, Nicene Creed, and Athanasian Creed.  These creedal formulae range in length depending on the degree of specificity needed to ensure understanding and clarity of the subject matter and would later be incorporated into larger confessional documents.  Over time, larger confessional documents (e.g., Augsburg Confession, Westminster Confession of Faith [WCF], London Baptist Confession of Faith [LBCF]) were constructed, reflecting the framers’ understanding of Holy Writ within the context of cultural and theological struggles within the Church.  Even those denominational bodies with no stated confessional document (“no creed but the Bible” or “no creed but Christ”) operate in accord with the twentieth-century multi-volume work The Fundamentals, edited by A. C. Dixon and later by R. A. Torrey.

This does not absolve responsibility to know the Scriptures themselves.  Only by being constant and regular in their study do we maintain a steady course.  The Scriptures are the norm by which all confessions are normed (norma normans, Latin for “the norming norm”).  Confessional statements must be formed and checked against God’s word to ensure trustworthy transmission and correct understanding.  However, before the invention of the printing press, personal copies of the Bible were not available, therefore the creeds, along with liturgies and hymns, were invaluable to communicate Law and Gospel.  Even with the modern proliferation of Bible editions available today those ignorant or immature in spiritual matters need systematized collections to group the major truths of doctrine.  Similarly, those mature in the faith find the confessions and creeds useful for teaching the doctrines of God, aiding the ability to hold fast to and pass along the truth.

When Worlds Collide
While we order our belief systems to make sense of all we have received, there are times when logical contradictions arise.  Somewhere within the stream of Bible – Confession – Teaching – Belief there arises a disconnect, internally to the body of doctrine or externally through interrelation with the world, so that two or more held facts or conceptions come into conflict.  What should be a self-checking system of discipleship moves gradually off course, resulting in beliefs that do not adhere with what is taught, or teaching what is not confessed, or confessing what is not inscripturated.  Individuals and groups stray from the truth delivered to them, choosing to improve what has been given with input from paganism, naturalism, etc.  What remains is a fractured body of believers, each doing what is right in his own eyes.  While affirmations are given both to the Bible and confessional statements, individuals practice a personal religion.

In order to accommodate the individuality, denominational bodies shift their teaching to allow for the diversity of opinion.  Where a conflict arises with a confession, the document is relegated to an historical status much as a museum piece—interesting to look at, but irrelevant for the present—and where the conflict is with the Bible itself, interpretations are manufactured to soften the clear word of God in favor of the contemporary focus.  There is now no end of confusion and discord: Presbyterians jettison the WCF; Baptists ignore the LBCF; Lutherans cast off the Book of Concord; and Roman Catholics discard the canons.  This manifests itself with individuals and groups within a denominational framework advocating for positions opposed to the confessions they supposedly hold onto.

Peace for Our Time—Only in Christ
Read your confessional documents.  I am constantly surprised by those who refer to themselves as being of groups with well-defined confessions and catechisms but have never read any beyond what was required to be confirmed. Then abide by your confessional documents.  If you no longer agree, affirm the difference, leave that confessional stance, and find a group more aligned to your beliefs.  If you no longer believe in Reformed principles, go to the group most closely aligned with your principles.  Do not call yourself Reformed (or Lutheran or Baptist or whatever you are leaving).  Instead, people want to stay within their respective bodies, hoping to influence it away from its moorings.  This tactic has a storied history in Christendom.  Montanus, Arius, and Pelagius were early purveyors of new ideas within the Church who needed to be resisted.  And lest there be a bit of Pharisaical pride in the non-confessional camp for not being like “those groups” feuding over confessional statements—the “non-con” wing of Christianity seems more likely to be cock-eyed pragmatists, working toward Christian unity for the sake of unity regardless of harmful the instruction by wolves fomenting discord.

Regardless of our opinion towards confessions, read your Bible.  Listen to it being taught.  Study it in context.  Memorize it.  Bind God’s word as a sign on your hand, and let it be as frontlets between your eyes, and write it on the doorposts of your house and on your gates (Deut 6:8-9).  The commands of the Lord should be ubiquitous—a lamp to your feet and a light to your path (Psa 119:105).  Shepherds, be faithful in leading the flock to green pastures and still waters.  Make disciples: baptize and teach all that the Lord  has commanded.  We have been given a sure standard.  Believe.  Teach.  Confess.

Keep Your Account Short

And I urge you to show great zeal by gathering here at dawn to make your prayers and confessions to the God of all things, and to thank Him for the gifts He has already given.  Beseech Him to deign to lend you from now on His powerful aid in guarding this treasure; strengthened with this aid, let each one leave the church to take up his daily tasks, one hastening to work with his hands, another hurrying to his military post, and still another to his post in the government.  However, let each one approach his daily task with fear and anguish, and spend his working hours in the knowledge that at evening he should return here to the church, render an account to the Master of his whole day, and beg forgiveness for his falls.  For even if we are on our guard ten thousand times a day, we cannot avoid making ourselves accountable for many and different faults.  Either way we say something at the wrong time, or we listen to idle talk, or we think indecent thoughts, or we fail to control our eyes, or we spend time in vain and idle things that have no connection with what we should be doing.

This is the reason why each evening we must beg pardon from the Master for all these faults.  This is why we must flee to the loving-kindness of God and make our appeal to Him. Then we must spend the hours of the night soberly, and in this way meet the confessions of the dawn.  If each of us manages his own life in this way, he will be able to cross the sea of this life without danger and to deserve the loving-kindness of the Master.  And when the hour for gathering in church summons him, let him hold this gathering and all spiritual things in higher regard to anything else.  In this way we shall manage the goods we have in our hands and keep them secure.

John Chrysostom, Baptismal Instruction, 8.17-18

Admitting a Wrong Done

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

What does this mean?  Answer: We should fear and love God so that we may not deceitfully belie, betray, slender, or defame our neighbor, but defend him, [think and] speak well of him, and put the best construction on everything.  (Luther’s Small Catechism, Part I)

On September 16, I posted on my distaste of and disagreement to a capital campaign conducted by our local assembly.  Whether my critique on the procedure was valid or invalid is immaterial here.  I admit that assumptions and perceptions, rather than sound reason, ruled my thinking.  In other words, I assigned an invalid intent on the leadership.  That was sin.

In looking back on the months leading up to the post, I had opportunities to question the program being laid out and enacted.  I did not, first by allowing past experience with elders from other churches cloud how this group might react, and second by rationalizing that a public message after the fact.  The proper choice of action was to raise the concerns when they were presented.  That way I could have been enlightened on the thought processes behind decisions made or enlightened others to blind spots that may have entered through “group think.”

I wish to make a public apology to the leadership for bearing a false witness and have deleted the post in question.  And lest there be anyone who thinks that my actions come through some coercion from the elders, allow me to dispel the notion immediately.  What I do today was precipitated by a conversation with my wife and some providential reading along the same lines forcing a hard look at what I had done.

Lastly, some will think, “It takes a big man to admit he’s wrong.”  It takes a bigger man to avoid it.

My son, be attentive to my words;
    incline your ear to my sayings.
Let them not escape from your sight;
    keep them within your heart.
For they are life to those who find them,
    and healing to all their flesh.
Keep your heart with all vigilance,
    for from it flow the springs of life.  (Prov 4:20-23)

Who Has the Keys?

And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah!  For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.  And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matt 16:17-18)

This is not the property of Peter alone, but it came about on behalf of every man.  Having said that his confession is a rock, he stated that upon this rock I will build my church.  This means that he will build his church upon this same confession and faith.  For this reason, addressing the one who first confessed him with this title, on account of his confession he applied to him this authority, too, as something that would become his, speaking of the common and special good of the church as pertaining to him alone.  It was for this confession, which was going to become the common property of all believers, that he bestowed upon him this name, the rock.  In the same way also Jesus attributes to him the special character of the church, as though it existed beforehand in him on account of his confession.  By this he shows, in consequence, that this is the common good of the church, since also the common element of the confession was to come to be first in Peter.  This then is what he says, that in the church would be the key of the kingdom of heaven.  If anyone holds the key to this, to the church, in the same way he will also hold it for all heavenly things.  He who is counted as belonging to the church and is recognized as its member is a partaker and an inheritor of heaven.  He who is a stranger to it, whatever his status may be, will have no communion in heavenly things.  To this very day the priests of the church have expelled those who are unworthy by this saying and admitted those who have become worthy by repentance.

Theodore of Mopsuestia

God's Love Induces Great Love in the Penitent

In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.  (1 John 4:9)

He then who is so anxious to be loved by us, and does everything for this end, and did not spare even His only begotten Son on account of His love towards us, and who counts it a desirable thing if at any time we become reconciled to Himself, how shall He not welcome and love us when we repent?  Hear at least what He says by the mouth of the prophet: “Declare first your iniquities that you may be justified.”*  Now this He demands from us in order to intensify our love towards Him.  For when one who loves, after enduring many insults at the hands of those who are beloved, even then does not extinguish his fondness for them, the only reason why he takes pains to make those insults public, is that by displaying the strength of his affection he may induce them to feel a larger and warmer love.

John Chrysostom, To Theodore after His Fall 1.15

*  Isaiah 43:26 LXX

Just My Imagination (Running Away with Me)

Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.  (Prov 4:23)

And yet, certainly, when the mind is pleased in thought alone with unlawful things, while not indeed determining that they are to be done, but yet holding and pondering gladly things which ought to have been rejected the very moment they touched the mind, it cannot be denied to be a sin, but far less than if it were also determined to accomplished it in outward act.  And therefore pardon must be sought for such thoughts too, and the breast must be smitten, and it must be said, "Forgive us our debts;" and what follows must be done, and must be joined in our prayer, "As we also forgive our debtors" (Matt 6:12).

Augustine, On the Holy Trinity 12.12.18

A Cure Worse Than the Disease?

If It Hurts, It's Good for You
More than once I have heard this or a similar statement made in the context of physical labor or exercise.  Yet as difficult as those times of muscle strain might be, nothing in the ordinary seasons of life, compares to the internal strain wrought by the acknowledgment of sin, repentance, and confession.  Whether one is an addict who is driven by his fixation or a person who just needs to make amends for an unkind word, nothing quite affects the well-being so positively as the admission of guilt.

At the same time nothing is so difficult to accomplish.  People deal with their flaws in different ways: some conceal, some deny, and others will even flaunt.  Whatever means can be used to avoid squelching pride will be held tightly until convinced by the truth of God's word with its sharp, cutting work of exposing the baseness of who and what we are.

Tertullian recognized the effectiveness of confession as he describes the practice of ἐξομολόγησις (utter confession) for those who had recanted the faith in order to prevent suffering or death during the early persecutions. When they wished to repent, they were called on to publicly display repentance designed to move the church to once again accept them into fellowship.

With regard also to the very dress and food, it bids him to lie in sackcloth and ashes, to cover his body in mourning, to lay his spirit low in sorrows, to exchange for severe treatment the sins which he has committed. Moreover, to know no food and drink but such as is plain,—not for the stomach’s sake but the soul’s; for the most part, however, to feed prayers on fasting, to groan, to weep and cry out to the Lord your God; to bow before the feet of the elders, and kneel to God’s beloved; to impose on all the brethren to be ambassadors to bear his deprecatory supplication. (On Repentance 9)

Regardless of how one reacts to the degree of austerity in the practice, the personal elements—abnegation and supplication—were well-known reactions to sin in the biblical world (1 Ki 21:27; Neh 9:1-2; Jon 3:5-8).  On the Day of Atonement, God commanded the community, "afflict yourselves," "do no work," and "have a holy convocation" (Lev 16:29-31; 23:27-31; Num 29:7), not because there was a particular, identifiable sin, but because they were sinners.  The holy things needed to be cleansed because of what they were, not because what they did.

Avoiding It Like the Plague
All people, whether from the early third-century or early twenty-first, have a natural inclination to avoid disclosure for fear of "a public exposure of themselves," attempting to defer repentance

thinking more of modesty than of salvation; just like men who, having contracted some malady in the more private parts of the body, avoid the confidentiality of physicians, and perish because of their own bashfulness. (On Repentance 10.1)

The inability to face the truth inhibits us from seeking a needful remedy.  Many can attest to those they knew who avoided early medical attention for an affliction and slipped into a far worse condition.  We do much the same in the spiritual realm by turning away from the light of truth and the One who is the light:

For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed (John 3:20).

We fear the both the Great Physician and his cure.  We know his condemnation is just, and that we cannot withstand its full brunt.

Putting on a Brave Face
Sin has a cascading effect: the more we do it, the more bold we become.  We seek out others who will engage in the same sinful activities and try to convince others to join (Prov 1:11-14; 7:14-20; Rom 1:32).  Attitude becomes more brazen as revelry and wantonness increase.

When faced with our own sin and the need for repentance, this turns to sheepishness.  Shame enters with a tendency to cower.  There is a feeling of being trapped—knowing that the only way out is to come clean, yet fearing what others will think of the admission.  Some “double down” on sin hoping to salve the conscience.  The rest struggle for a time as pride continues to wage war in a desperate attempt to maintain its inimical control as the person considers the possible reactions and scenarios from acquaintances if repentance is made.  Perhaps no other person knew of the sin, and when exposed, friends and acquaintances turn against him or her.

The spiritual understand that sinners are "a dime a dozen."  Their assemblies are filled with them and are represented from the elders down to the newest believer.  The difference is that they know and believe that Christ died for their sin.  They understand that the one wrestling with sin is no different than they who will exhort, care, and admonish for good.  That is the place of refuge—the body of Christ.

But among brethren and fellow-servants, where there is common hope, fear, joy, grief, suffering, because there is a common Spirit from a common Lord and Father, why do you think these brothers to be anything other than yourself?  Why flee from the partners of your own mischances, as from such as will derisively cheer them?  The body cannot feel gladness at the trouble of any one member, it must necessarily join with one consent in the grief, and in laboring for the remedy.  (On Repentance 10.2)

The church acts as nurse-maid, solacing and binding up the repentant one as the Holy Spirit does his work.  Being Christ's very body, it acts as his hands and mouthpiece to restore and correct what had been injured or lost.  Here there is the comfort of knowing restoration and acceptance of one whose sins are forgiven for Christ's sake.

No Pain, No Gain
Death is painful and ugly, tearing asunder what is a whole person with throes being a visible testament to the end.  In similar fashion our sin struggles within.  Though our old self is crucified with Christ (Rom 6:6) and we be considering our selves dead to sin (Rom 6:11), that nature still works in our members seeking to regain control.  Having been buried with Christ, the repentant person will feel the struggle in presenting his members as slaves of righteousness leading to sanctification (Rom 6:19).

But where repentance is made, the misery ceases, because it is turned into something beneficial.  Miserable it is to be cut, and cauterized, and tortured with caustic medicinal powder.  Still, the things which heal by unpleasant means do, by the benefit of the cure, excuse their own offensiveness, and make present injury bearable for the sake of a future advantage.  (On Repentance 10.4)

Yes, repentance hurts, but the sin had been doing far more damage, bringing misery and destruction upon us at our own hand.  Only the effectual work of God's word and Spirit allows us to now walk in newness of life, being cleansed from unrighteousness by virtue of Christ's atoning sacrifice on our behalf.

Confession Is Good for Worship

During the time of the divided kingdom, the northern tribes as Israel under Jeroboam II had prospered economically, largely by taking advantage of the poor and downtrodden. During this time sacrifices continued in a syncretist form by combining elements of Baal, Asherah, and Molech with Jewish elements—all before golden calves erected years prior by Jeroboam I.  The people were zealous in their sacrifices and worship thinking that their economic and cultural boon was the result of God's blessing.  They determined that their work and worship as the larger half of God's elect, covenant people must have been in accord with his desires. After all, had they not grown in wealth and might and expanded their borders?

Then along came Amos, a farmer from the northern boundary of Judah to give the straight story including what God thought of their worship:

I hate, I despise your feasts,
    and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,
        I will not accept them;
    and the peace offerings of your fattened animals,
        I will not look upon them.
Take away from me the noise of your songs;
    to the melody of your harps I will not listen.  (Amos 5:21-23)

Notice that they gave three prescribed Levitical sacrifices.  The burnt offering was a freewill offering given wholly to the Lord and atoned for sin in a general way and was an appeal for God's acceptance.  The grain offering was also freewill and allowed for some variety by the person bringing the offering.  Also, this was shared between the Lord and the priests.  Lastly, the peace offering was unique in that the Lord, the priests, and the person bringing the sacrifice all shared as a symbol of fellowship.

All these are apparently good, but there is a striking lack: missing are the sin and guilt offerings.  While the burnt offering was given with an understanding that there is some sin within our nature, the sin and guilt offerings address specific transgressions before God and man that needed an act of reconciliation and possible recompense.  The Israelites did not recognize the sinful acts they were perpetrating against one another and God: the required satisfaction was not given.  The people were not ignorant of the Lord's desire.  He had shared through Moses, David, prophets, and Amos himself what was desired above sacrifice:

But let justice roll down like waters,
    and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.  (Amos 5:24)

They simply did not know how far they had fallen and refused to accept the rebuke.  What worked in Israel's and later Judah's corporate life came about because they fell away from their God for their own ways: what had been clearly revealed in absolute terms was later minimized, distorted, or abandoned for a man-made plan or system.  A powerful person or group turned the hearts of the people to what they considered a better way.  Rather than return to the Lord when he sought them (Amos 5:4-7, 14-15 and later in Hosea 14:1-9), they continued in their ways.

What Is That to Me?
All this above was stimulated by a men's Bible study I lead.  This past Friday, as we were discussing this chapter, one of the men made a comment that maybe we Christians should be more serious in confessing sin before coming into worship.  This is a great idea.  Christ even gives specific instruction to this end (Matt 5:21-26).  Sadly, this falls by the wayside.  The sins and transgressions against God or neighbor are not confessed, and there is no room for repentance.  This can happen from ignorance of scripture, though usually there is a deliberate move out of pride, arrogance, lust, or some other sin that takes root.

We tend to treat Sunday morning meetings like a therapy session.  There is an unspoken expectation that every person coming in the door is doing moderately well in life; all settle in to a service with rousing and/or joyful singing followed by an invigorating sermon; and there is an expectation that everyone has been sufficiently moved or stimulated godward.  The only acknowledgement there may be a possibility that something might be less than perfect in anyone's life is just prior to the Lord's Supper when we are reminded to examine ourselves and participate accordingly.  That is far too late.  There needs to be a procedure or mechanism to deal with this beforehand.

Confessional Lutherans make use of a corporate confession and absolution early in the service.  People come acknowledging that their sin nature remains with the daily struggle.  Though no specific sin may be known, there is the appeal to be cleansed from unrighteousness knowing the sure promise in Christ that he will be cleansed.  I can see the benefit of this as it is typified in the burnt offering mentioned above.  There would certainly be a danger of becoming rote or victim to lackadaisical hearts.  It can happen in the Christian just as certainly as the ancient Israelite.

And then there is the need to set things right in specific matters.  The Law dictated certain sacrifices be given for unintentional sins.  Where the sin was intentional or the sacrifice might be refused, that person was cut off from his people.  Again, we see the Lord Jesus teaching this (Matt 18:15-20), and the expectation after the Ascension was for the church to continue dealing with the unrepentant with a view to ultimate restoration (1 Cor 5:1-5).

Whatever the solution for the church today, the constant reminder of the sinfulness of sin still working in our members should be reminding us Christians of the promise to "draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water" (Heb 10:22) and that our Lord will "save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them" (Heb 7:25).

Salvation Is Not Either ... Or

Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.

There is need of both, of faith true and firm and of confession made with confidence, so that the heart may be adorned with the certainty of faith and the tongue shine forth by boldly proclaiming the truth.

Theodoret of Cyrus, "The Letter to the Romans" on Romans 10:9-10

Putting the Lord First in Confession

There is a spectrum of belief concerning the acts of confession and absolution as to who may hear a confession and to what degree absolution may be considered effectual when pronounced in God's stead.  In an article addressing the confidentiality issues when someone hears confessed sin(s), Craig Meissner makes the following points.

If a confessor does not intend to keep the seal absolutely confidential, he is likely weak in faith, or his doctrine of justification is likely inconsistent, and so could easily likewise mislead or harm the faith of any penitent who would approach him.  When a confession is not held in absolute confidentiality, any of the following is suggested to the penitent, however subtle:

1.	The word of absolution is not fully sufficient for forgiveness.
2.	Christ has not necessarily died for or perfectly forgives all sins.
3.	Certain sins and sinners are somehow more or less damnable before God.
4.	There is no authority or office for truly forgiving sins on earth, but that forgiveness is only something for which one may hope to have as a reality before God in heaven.
5.	That the church is made up of and led by only those who are morally superior.
6.	One believes one can and must be the actor in changing his or her own destiny, including his own fate before God eternally.

Similarly, if a penitent is required first to be willing to reveal his sinful intentions or actions to neighbors or other authorities before coming to confession, then confession and absolution is not understood as being the place where the ungodly are justified.  If reporting sins to the government or other earthly authorities is first required before confession, this also suggests to the penitent that the government is a higher authority than Christ’s word and church also in regard to dealing with sin. *

My interest was stimulated by the high regard for the Lord and his word expected of the Christian hearing a confession.  I say this because I know of many instances where absolution or forgiveness was not extended to the penitent until there was full restitution, a period of penance, or both: upon which the matter becomes public without the confessor breaking the trust of confidentiality.  But where is the scriptural precedent for this requirement?  If someone who has sinned makes confession, scripture plainly states that God "is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleans us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).  Before God the sins are reckoned as forgiven.  Before the wronged parties the same should be said, though we realize this is not always the case.  Either way there should be no man-made precursor.

This does not mean that restitution should not be made or consequences not suffered.  After confession is made before the aggrieved party or parties, the true penitent will set matters right to the best of his ability.  It will be a natural response of the humbled heart before God.  The confessor should instruct that action be taken as quickly as possible and not act as intermediary unless requested—and even then with much wisdom and discretion.

What of the person who admits he or she has sinned but refuses any attempt to make proper restitution and seeks to avoid the consequences?  In this matter the person making an admission was in no way speaking out of a spirit of repentance.  Forgiveness and absolution are neither actually expected by the so-called penitent or given by God.  There is no obligation for the confessor to maintain confidentiality.  The full weight of condemnation should be brought to bear on the matter with the hope that the person will repent and deal justly.



* Craig A. Meissner, "The Seal of the Confessional and Maintenance of Confidentiality in Pastoral Practice," Logia XX, No. 3 (Holy Trinity 2011): 25-33.