Part 6 · Deep dive
How do we deal with sin?
Ten practices, Bible examples, and how each tradition practises repentance.
The New Testament doesn't offer a self-improvement program. It describes a life of turning to God again and again, relying on Christ's forgiveness and the Spirit's power, while really taking part ourselves.
Ten practices
1. Recognize sin honestly
David asks God to search him. Honest self-examination, without excuse and without despair, is the start.
2. Confess it to God
To confess (homologeō) is literally to 'say the same thing' as God about our sin. God promises to forgive and cleanse.
3. Repent: turn toward God
Metanoia is a change of mind that becomes a change of direction. The prodigal son 'came to his senses' and got up to go home.
4. Trust Christ's forgiveness
Forgiveness rests on what Christ has done, not on how sorry we feel. Peter, after denying Jesus three times, is restored three times.
5. Resist temptation
Joseph fled from Potiphar's wife. Sometimes resisting means simply leaving.
6. Put sinful habits to death by the Spirit
Paul says 'by the Spirit' we put to death the deeds of the body. Effort is real, but the power is God's.
7. Replace evil practices with good ones
Paul never just says 'stop'. The thief must work and give; the liar must speak truth. Empty space fills back up.
8. Make things right
Zacchaeus repays four times what he cheated. Jesus says to reconcile with a brother before offering a gift at the altar.
9. Walk in the Spirit and remain in Christ
Prayer, Scripture, worship, the Lord's Supper and fellowship are how branches stay connected to the vine.
10. Keep going
The Christian life is a race of endurance. Falls are met with getting up again, eyes on Jesus.
What repentance really means
μετάνοια metanoia — A change of mind, a turning
From meta (after, change) and nous (mind). In the New Testament it translates the Hebrew shuv, 'turn around, return'. It is not first a feeling but a change of direction: facing God again.
Repentance has three strands in Scripture: seeing sin truly (the mind), grieving it before God (the heart), and turning to a new way of life (the will). John the Baptist demands 'fruit in keeping with repentance' (Luke 3:8). Repentance is also a gift: 'God's kindness leads you toward repentance' (Romans 2:4).
Respected commentary
Martin Luther · 1517 · Ninety-Five Theses, Thesis 1
'When our Lord Jesus Christ said "Repent", He willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.' Repentance is a lifelong posture, not a single moment.
Two kinds of sorrow
'Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation without regret, but worldly sorrow brings death' (2 Corinthians 7:10). Peter and Judas both betrayed Jesus on the same night, and both wept or regretted. The difference was where they turned.
Judas: remorse without return
Matthew says Judas 'was filled with remorse' (metamelētheis, regret) and returned the money (27:3). He confessed, 'I have sinned', but to the priests, not to Jesus. Regret folded in on itself and became despair.
Peter: sorrow that returns
Peter 'wept bitterly' (Luke 22:62), but he stayed with the disciples, ran to the tomb, and met the risen Jesus by the lake. Three denials were answered by three questions: 'Do you love me?' (John 21:15–17). Restoration came through facing Jesus, not avoiding Him.
Worldly sorrow asks, 'What will this cost me?' Godly sorrow asks, 'How have I wounded the One who loves me?', and then trusts that He will receive us.
The early church
John Chrysostom · c. 390 · Homilies on 2 Corinthians 15
Worldly grief mourns lost money or reputation; godly grief mourns offence against God, and it alone heals, because it carries hope.
Isaac the Syrian · 7th c. · Ascetical Homilies
'This life has been given to you for repentance; do not waste it in vain pursuits.' Isaac also taught that no sin defeats the mercy of God for one who turns.
Confession through the centuries
James says, 'Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed' (5:16). The Didache (c. AD 100) told believers to confess their sins in church before praying. In the early centuries, serious public sins such as apostasy, murder and adultery were dealt with through public penance, often lasting years, before restoration. Over time private confession to a priest became the normal practice.
How traditions practise confession
Catholic
The sacrament of Penance (Reconciliation): confession to a priest, contrition, absolution in Christ's name and an act of penance. Required for mortal sins, recommended for venial ones (Catechism 1422–1498).
Orthodox
Confession takes place before an icon of Christ with the priest as witness; the priest prays for forgiveness as a physician of souls rather than a judge, often giving guidance as 'medicine'.
Lutheran and Anglican
Keep general confession in worship and offer private confession and absolution for those who desire it; the Book of Common Prayer includes a form for it.
Other Protestant
Confession is made directly to God, with mutual confession among believers, accountability partners and pastoral counsel encouraged on the basis of James 5:16.
The early church
Tertullian · c. 203 · On Repentance
Describes the public discipline of exomologēsis: the penitent humbles himself before the church and asks the brethren to pray for him.
Cyprian of Carthage · 251 · On the Lapsed
Wrote during the crisis over Christians who denied Christ under persecution, insisting on sincere repentance and restoration through the church rather than either easy pardon or no pardon.
Abba Poemen (Sayings of the Desert Fathers) · 4th century
When a monk fell and asked if he should despair, the elders told him: get up again, as many times as you fall.
Practical wisdom for daily life
A simple daily examination
Many Christians end the day with a short review, a practice taught by early monks and later formalised by Ignatius of Loyola (the Examen): thank God for the day; ask the Spirit for light; review the hours honestly; confess and receive forgiveness; ask for grace for tomorrow.
Making things right with others
Zacchaeus repaid four times what he had taken (Luke 19:8), following the Law's pattern of restitution (Exodus 22:1; Numbers 5:6–7). Where we have harmed someone, repentance includes repair where possible.
Guilt versus shame
Guilt says 'I did something wrong'; shame says 'I am something wrong'. Scripture deals with both: forgiveness removes guilt (Psalm 103:12), and God's adoption heals shame (Romans 8:15–17). 'There is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus' (Romans 8:1).
The urgency of today
The first words of Jesus' preaching were a call to act: 'The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!' (Mark 1:15). Paul writes, 'Today is the day of salvation' (2 Corinthians 6:2). The New Testament never invites us to postpone.
The rich foolLuke 12:16–21
Luke 12:16–21
A man plans years ahead. God says, 'You fool! You will die this very night.' None of us is promised tomorrow (James 4:13–15).
Don't presume on God's patienceRomans 2:4–5; 2 Peter 3:9
Romans 2:4–5; 2 Peter 3:9
God's patience is meant to lead us to repentance. Paul warns that treating it as permission is 'storing up terrible punishment for yourself'. Peter explains that God delays judgment because He wants everyone to repent.
The early church
Augustine of Hippo · c. 397 · Confessions VIII.5–12
Described his own years of praying 'Give me chastity, but not yet', and how the words 'tomorrow, tomorrow' kept him bound until he finally turned.
Read the source →John Chrysostom · c. 390 · Homilies on Matthew
Urged hearers not to delay repentance to old age or a deathbed, since no one knows the hour, and the habit of delay itself grows stronger.
Continue with
Theme
What Is the Gospel? →
The good news of what God has done in Jesus to rescue us from sin and death.
Theme
Grace, Faith, and Works →
Salvation as God's gift, received by faith and lived out in love.
Theme
The Holy Spirit and Sanctification →
How the Spirit frees us from sin and makes us holy.
Key takeaways
- Recognize, confess, turn, trust: and repeat as often as needed.
- Effort is real, but the power comes from the Spirit.
- What matters after a fall is where you turn.