How strange it must seem to a child, for the parent who loves, to also seem so angry. For the threat of an oncoming car does not concern the unknowing child who is chasing a ball into the street.
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Life and death are in God’s hands. And there is nothing that we can do to deliver ourselves from the grave. The foolish harden their hearts to this fact of life. But the wise are contrite.
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Our ways lead us to certain death. They are low and dusty, clinging to the world and sin. Yet, God is always calling us to the way of life.
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We are in bondage to the flesh: these bodies of death with their natural inclinations that serve the law. We are bound by nature to sin “in thought, word, and deed.”
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It is the height of arrogance for someone to think that justification occurs through the human acts of contrition, devotion, or other acts of love or good works
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Paul speaks plainly about these two parts of repentance. He writes that we are dead to sin, this taking place through our baptism.
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It is not enough to only believe the history of the gospel. One must have faith in the one who is the incarnate gospel. One must trust in Christ for the remission of sins.
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To think of repentance in terms of contrition alone is to act in accordance with the law. This is unstable ground since it depends upon the person who is sorry for their sin.
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God has always been ready to forgive. Proof of his willingness is the ways he has provided for people to have faith and turn to him.
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Here is one of the surest and most obvious ways that the Lord’s Prayer is answered. We pray, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
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The promise of divine grace is received through hearing the gospel. This hearing occurs in many ways. It is received through the reading of the Scripture, both individually and corporately.
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We cannot fear, love, and trust God without faith. In other words, we cannot keep even the first of the commandments without faith, let alone the rest of the law.
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The witless child who does not believe his parents got him a birthday present, will never enjoy the gift. Perhaps he was sorry for having been a disobedient child but just could not accept that his parents loved him nonetheless.
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If repentance is only a matter of sorrow for sin, then human nature tries to appease God. But we cannot appease God by any means.
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As long as we live in this flesh, we will experience all of these feelings. For the law will never cease to accuse us of sin.
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We are very weak. Jesus reminds us if this fact of our human nature. “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
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Simply stated, contrition is when a person, because of love or fear, stops defending sin and confesses it instead.
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Repentance begins with a heart that is moved toward God’s mercy and then has faith that he forgives for Christ’s sake.
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The Lutherans, on the other hand, confessed that the power of the keys was the authority of Christ spoken by any confessor, and dependent upon two things: contrition and faith.
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The fault with indulgences lies not only in who it is that forgives sin, but in what this forgiveness costs. God’s gracious forgiveness is a gift.
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Going to church, doing good works, being president of Council, having perfect attendance, teaching Sunday School, and even knowing all three of the ecumenical creeds by heart mean nothing without faith.
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The Lutherans however, confessed that everything hinges on Christ. He bore our sin on the cross so that we would be made “the righteousness of God.”
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We have to admit that our sins are great in number, that they have gone over our heads as if if we were drowning in our iniquities. Who could confess such a volume of transgressions?
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So today, we ought to be teaching our people that God forgives sins for Christ’s sake, not because we perform certain rituals.
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The power of the keys binds things in heaven, not just on earth. When a “door” is unlocked or locked on earth in the name of Christ, it is done in heaven too.
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So we confess that our holiness, our works of contrition, is insufficient for the remission of sins, while faith in Christ merits forgiveness of sin...
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It is not enough to be sorry for our sin. Nor is it enough to do good. For we cannot assist ourselves. Instead, we must avail ourselves of the mercy of God in Christ Jesus.
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Although we should certainly “fear, love, and trust God” (Small Catechism), these things, including the fear of God (attrition), do not earn grace.
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You cannot reason or work your way into God’s grace. God’s grace is a free gift, something that is given by him for you.
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Since the consequence of sin is death, it is no wonder there is the felt need to confess all sins. Perhaps, we might imagine, if we could confess them all, we might overcome death.
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We confess that we are in bondage to sin, that we cannot free ourselves, and that Christ alone has redeemed us from sin.
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