But the Lord has extended to us the hand of grace which He so freely extends to everyone through the Gospel. He has adopted us as His own dear children to be heirs of the eternal glory in Christ Jesus. Christ paid the price for our sins on the cross, and we have been clothed with His righteousness, "for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ" (Gal 3:27). Through this Gospel, the Holy Spirit has given us the precious gift of faith. We now live in the peace of forgiveness, for ALL of our sins have been forgiven through the sacrificial blood of Christ!

What then is the value of daily confessing and repenting of our sins to God our Father? In 'The Meaning of Baptism for Our Daily Life,' Martin Luther writes: "Our Old Adam with his evil desires should be drowned by daily contrition and repentance, and die, and . . . day by day a new man should arise as from the dead, to live in the presence of God in righteousness and purity now and forever" (Luther's Small Catechism). In the People's Bible commentary on Leviticus, Pastor Mark Lenz similarly states: "Although we have complete forgiveness available to us, yet we do need to claim it daily because we sin daily."

The Word of God confirms these statements: "You were taught with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness" (Eph 4:22-24). Notice the depraved qualities of our old self, our sinful nature: corrupt and deceitful. As Paul says, "I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature" (Rom 7:18).

Although we have been redeemed and have new life with Christ, we still live in a world and in a body polluted with sin, and the devil constantly seeks to lead us astray. The result is a continual struggle between our spiritual self in Christ, that is, our new man, and our unspiritual self, that is, our sinful nature. "For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want" (Gal 5:17). Paul describes the wearying frustrations of such daily struggles within us: "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do, I do not do, but what I hate I do. . . . I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing. . . . When I want to do good, evil is right there with me" (Rom 7:15, 18, 19, 21). Since such a battle wages within us, since the devil never ceases to offer up many temptations, since we are sinners and sin daily--the need to daily confess and repent is very real!

In keeping with the deceitful characteristic of our sinful nature, we deceive ourselves, making excuses for our sins or making light of them. But "if we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us" (I John 1:8).

Indeed sin itself is deceitful. That is why the Holy Spirit urges us in the book of Hebrews to "encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness"(Heb 3:13). And Satan is also a deceitful schemer, "but we are not unaware of his schemes"(II Cor 2:11), for the light of the Word of God exposes his darkness. Through frequent use, yes, daily use of the Word of God, the Holy Spirit will continually enlighten us to the darkness of Satan's many schemes and equip us with the desire and power to resist such temptations. Such a need is also very real!

Satan's deceptions are really no different than they were at the beginning. As with Adam and Eve, Satan tries to convince us that there is greater fulfillment apart from doing the Lord's will. That first deception left Adam and Eve and all humankind in the emptiness of sin, in a broken fellowship with God. Sin is as sin was--forsaking the will of God in favor of our sinful will; sin's deception is the lie that we will find fulfillment in our own agenda rather than the Lord's perfect, just, and righteous will, which is motivated only by love and seeks only our good.

Hebrews 3:13 also warns of the danger of infrequent and insincere repentance when it speaks of being "hardened by sin's deceitfulness." We deceive ourselves, making excuses for our sins; sin itself and Satan trick us, leading us to believe that what we are doing is not sinful, dulling our consciences. These deceptions and unrepentance lead to a gradual hardening of our hearts. This hardening may begin with a subtle, apathetic acceptance of the Gospel promise of forgiveness in the blood of Christ, but it may lead to outright rejection of the blessed Gospel of peace. So the Holy Spirit also warns: "See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God"(Heb 3:12). And Paul, with the words of the Spirit, says this of hardheartedness: "They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts"(Eph 4:18).

We must look even closer at the true nature of our sinfulness. When we sin, whether it be a sin of omission or commission in thought, word, or deed, it is not only against those affected by it; nor is it only against our conscience, burdening it with guilt and shame. First and foremost, we sin against our Lord God. ALL sin is against Him, for we have forsaken His flawless, loving will, we have placed before Him another god, we have given into the futility of our self-will. David fully realized this when he was confronted with his sin of adultery and murder. As he pours out his heart in true repentance in Psalm 51, he says to the Lord, "Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight"(v. 4).

We owe our Lord God a full confession of our sins. David made no excuses and blamed no one but himself saying, "I have sinned against the Lord"(II Sam 12:13). Will it be in the least bit to our advantage to hold anything back? Does not God see and know all? "For the Word of God is living and active . . . it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to Whom we must give an account"(Heb 4:12,13). David was also aware of the total depravity of his sinful nature when he said, "Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults"(Ps 19:12).

A closer look at the law and our own sinful nature will show us even more clearly our need to repent. In his first letter to Timothy, Paul states: "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--of whom I am the worst"(I Tim 1:15). I also am the worst of sinners. We all are the worst of sinners in our own right, because it is not me compared to the next person, it is not me compared to my own deceptive moral standard of self-righteousness; it is me--alone--compared to God's standard of perfection. With such a comparison, we must all admit that we fall far short of the glory of God. "Whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God"(Rom 3:19). So we are silenced; we offer no excuses, blame no one but ourselves. We see clearly our sinfulness in the mirror of the law, and must admit before God, the Judge, that each of us is the worst of sinners.

Ah, but "(we) are [no longer] under law, but under GRACE"(Rom 6:14)! For "God . . .saved us and called us to a holy life--not because of anything we have done but because of His own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ, Who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel"(II Tim 1:9, 10). God is no longer a fearful judge but a loving Father, for "(we) are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus"(Gal 3:26). We have not been left dead in our sins, for our Savior Jesus "was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification" (Rom 4:25); our sins have been forgiven, we have been made alive with Christ! "God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God"(II Cor 5:20). Christ fulfilled the law in our place because we cannot, and the innocent Lamb of God suffered our hell and punishment on the cross. Our sins have been forgiven, and we have been made the righteousness of God through faith, "and this not from (ourselves), it is the gift of God"(Eph 2:8). We are under grace--we can do nothing to save ourselves from our sin, but Christ has done it all that we might have life with Him! "Christ's love compels us"(II Cor 5:14) in this new life with Him, and Christ's love alone, for He has done it all for us! This is the power of the Gospel to touch hearts, change lives, and bring us to true repentance--heartfelt sorrow for our sins and the desire to stop sinning, "to put off (the) old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of (our) minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness"--all this with faith in the free and full forgiveness that is ours in Christ Jesus!

Sin creates the need to daily confess and repent of our sins, to be renewed in the peace of forgiveness. The law clearly shows this need to be very real, for every day we fall far short of the glory of God. The Gospel message of Christ's love compels us to full confession and true repentance. We confess our sins with the confidence that "the blood of Jesus . . . purifies us from every sin"(I John 1:7). We confess our sins to our heavenly Father as dear children of God, already knowing our loving Father's answer: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness"(I John 1:9). As His dear children, we come to our loving Father through Christ, freely and fully confessing our sins to Him, with the blessed Gospel assurance that "there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus"(Rom 8:1). Through faith in Christ, we know that when we look into our Father's eyes, we will see only love, acceptance, and forgiveness. So "let us draw near to God with a sincere [repentant] heart in full assurance of faith"(Heb 10:22).

David provides an excellent example of the free and full forgiveness that is ours by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone. "Then I acknowledged my sin to You and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, 'I will confess my transgressions to the Lord'--and You forgave the guilt of my sin"(Ps 32:5). Behold the grace of God in its heart-gripping beauty! In true repentance, David said, 'I have sinned.' The Lord God said, 'You are forgiven.' "Who has ever given to God that God should repay him?"(Rom 11:35). Yet He freely showers us with His grace, forgiving our constant transgressions and shortcomings for the sake of Jesus Christ our Savior! This is the Lord God, "the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin"(Ex 34:6,7)! This is the God of all grace, Who has given His Son into death for us sinners, Who has raised us from the depths of spiritual death with the Holy Spirit!

So it is in repentant confession of our sins that we ever more fully experience and appreciate this awesome grace of our Lord God, and it is in the Word that we are ever more fully equipped with the Spirit to live a new life. Daily repentance is part of a sanctified life in Christ, and raises our new man to life with this confidence: "The blood of Christ, Who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, cleanses our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!"(Heb 9:14).

Let us not think that confession and repentance is to our credit. Again, repentant confession and its blessings are free gifts of the Lord's grace! Through the Word, the Spirit convicts us of our sinfulness, brings us to repentance, and raises to life the new man within us. A full confession of sinfulness and weaknesses is absolutely contrary to human nature; to declare ourselves the worst of sinners, who can only be saved through Jesus Christ, does not come from deep within us; to desire and be empowered to resist that which our sinful nature craves is not to our glory. This instead is all a testimony to the power of the Word and the work of the Holy Spirit! It is said that it takes a big man to admit he's wrong, and an even bigger man to say he's sorry. But it takes the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit to say, "Lord, against You, You only, have I sinned."

We are sinners and we sin daily, so we daily need to be renewed in the peace of forgiveness. We know that we have that peace of forgiveness in Jesus' sacrificial blood, which purifies us from every sin. Knowing that in Christ Jesus no sin can now condemn us, we confess our sins to our heavenly Father and repent of them as Christ's love compels us, glorifying Him as our only Savior from sin.

In Psalm 51, a penitential psalm, David follows his confession and repentance by petitioning the Lord for renewal and restoration from the Holy Spirit. These verses would also serve as an excellent concluding prayer:

Create in me a pure heart, O God,

and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not cast me from Your presence

or take Your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of Your salvation

and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

(Ps 51:10-12)