Chapter XV

and he does so of his own desire. Even the sinner does this, the regenerate Christian does this, always in accordance with their own desire voluntarily. The second class, which was last week, we discussed effectual calling and regeneration, two sides of the same coin. One side, God draws effectually, and at the same time, he gives us that new heart, takes away that heart of stone, gives us that heart of flesh, so that we can respond. That was effectual calling and regeneration. Today we are going to depart a little bit. You might have already seen this in the messaging app, but we're going to depart a little bit from the order of the Westminster Confession of Faith, and instead we are going to follow the order of salvation, or the Ordo Saludus in the technical Latin term and theology. The confession largely, I think, this is what is trying to do, largely tries to address the works of God and then transitions to discuss the works of man, so conversion, all that kind of stuff, right? But I think it's more helpful if we take a more logical, sequential approach, though that approach isn't wrong and it's good and it's helpful. I think for our purposes it would be more helpful if I departed from their sequence and followed the more logical order of salvation sequence, which is why today is actually jumping

helpful. I think for our purposes it would be more helpful if I departed from their sequence and followed the more logical order of salvation sequence, which is why today is actually jumping us to chapter 15 in the Westminster, and that is repentance unto life. So I want us to consider, because we talked about it last time, in repentance unto life, or we're going to talk about faith a little bit today as well, are we talking about a work of God, or are we talking about a work of man. I said that effectual calling last week in that man is passive. Man's not changing his own heart. God has to change our hearts. Man is wholly passive, as the confession says. So we ask today, when we're considering conversion, repentance, and faith, is that God or is that man? Well, largely it's man. It's doing yet as a gift, as Ephesians 2 says. In other words, it's man that has to turn. It's man that has to turn in real time from real sins as well. And so, of course, our Armenian and Roman Catholic friends latch on to this, and they draw the conclusion that man must be able to resist God's grace. But it's not true, because last time

conclusion that man must be able to resist God's grace. But it's not true, because last time what we talked about was this relationship between the root and the fruit, especially with regeneration conversion today, it bears repeating. Whatever takes root is going to determine the fruit. Okay? So if you planted a lemon tree, you shouldn't expect to get peaches. You're not going to. You're going to get lemons, Lord willing, right? Is that right? Okay, see, he's on it. Our arborist friend confirms, if you're planting for lemons, you're going to get lemons, right? You're not going to get peaches. So what I want us to see is, last time we talked about effectual calling, that would be like, the root. But what is the fruit that it is going to produce? When God gives us a new heart, the fruit that it's going to produce is conversion. Conversion is a turning from and a turning two. Two sides of the same coin. In repentance, or metanoia, is the Greek word that's used in the New Testament. This literally means a change of mind. It means thinking differently. It It's turning away from autonomy or self-definition. It's turning away from a life without God.

It's turning away from autonomy or self-definition. It's turning away from a life without God. It's unrighteousness. It's depravity. So it's a turning from and at the same time, conversion then is a turning to God in faith. So next time we're going to talk about faith. Today, our main focus is repentance unto life. That is this whole chapter. For the Baptists in the room, any differences between the Westminster, in the 1689, literally all of it. Like, this whole chapter is just completely different. But not really because of the differences between the Cretto Baptist and the Pato Baptist. A lot of it, I think, mirrors the Savoy Declaration of Faith and Order. But it's not because of the rift between our Cretto Baptist and our Pato Baptist, just so you know. So I'm going to be focusing on the Westminster search today, and I think it'll be profitable even for my Baptist friends. For a quick overview, there are six paragraphs we'll be discussing today. We're going to be talking about why repentance is fundamental to the gospel. We're going to talk about the nature of repentance, its effects. We're going to address small sins and great sins. We're going to talk about specific repentance, not just general repentance.

Well, it comes from the Greek word uangelion, which means good news. That's the gospel. When we say good news, gospel, uangelion, evangelical, all of these are pretty much meaning the same thing. So what this text is saying is that even preaching repentance is actually preaching good news, it's fundamental to the good news. So we ask why? Because if you turn from your sin, God will help you. That's good news. Because there is no good news. if you will remain enslaved to your sins. That's not good news. Because if you lose repentance, you also lose true faith. Said differently, if there's no turning from, remember there's no turning to. You have to first turn from before you can turn to, right? That makes sense. It makes sense to us. James chapter four, verse, let's just read verse 8, says, draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. In other words, it's not just faith, but it's repentance and faith. These go together. It also says

In other words, it's not just faith, but it's repentance and faith. These go together. It also says that a pastor or a minister needs to preach repentance and faith. Why does the confession say this? Well, first, repent and believe is fundamental to our message. How can I be saved? Well, it's It's pretty simple. Repent and believe. That's the short answer. Repent and believe. Turn to the Lord. Turn away from your sins. We remember that this is so because God the Father elected in eternity past. The son already accomplished redemption on our behalf in the fullness of time. He said, it is finished for a reason. And now the Holy Spirit is applying that salvation to us in our time. Christ lived a perfect life. So gives us perfect righteousness. And Christ, the sinless lamb, also took on our punishment for our guilt and our shame. Mark, chapter 1, verses 14 through 15, says it like this. Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God and saying, the time is fulfilled. And the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel. So we see that it's fundamental

And the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel. So we see that it's fundamental to our message. And it's fundamental. because Christ has already accomplished redemption on our behalf. So what do you have to do? Well, repent and believe. It's fairly simple. The second reason why I think it says that pastors need to be preaching repentance and faith is because it guards us against this sharp law gospel distinction. Maybe you've heard this thrown around against a sharp law gospel distinction, which is foreign to the Bible, as though the law was merely for conversion, and after that we do away with the law? Like, no, we just turned in faith to Christ. Stop talking about the law. No, a pastor is to have both repentance and faith always on his lips. Always on his lips. Against the Antonomians, we would be wise to remember that deliverance from sin, repentance and deliverance from sin is good news. That is gospel. That is good news. So we can't have this one and done kind of mentality, but instead, repentance and faith means that you're going to have a life of repentance and faith,

but instead, repentance and faith means that you're going to have a life of repentance and faith, continually repenting and turning in faith. Some theologians have described this conversion process just to show you how closely tied these two ideas are. They've described conversion as a believing repentance and a repenting belief. You can see how they go together. A believing repentance, but also a repenting belief, they go together. Conversion, you need both. For those in the room who are married, I think you would readily understand this. Remember that the wedding day, you went up and you had these commitments that you made to each other. And you said, I do afterwards. In sickness and health, for richer, for poorer, from this day forward. So that was a big day. But anyone who's been married for any stretch of time recognizes that that was just the first day. That was the beginning. It's not like I went there, made the commitments and, hey, like we're good, we're gravy for the rest of our lives. But instead, you are recommitting yourselves to one another day after day after

for the right reasons. This is what the paragraph says. By it, that is to say, repentant, by it, a sinner out of the sight and sense not only of the danger, but also of the filthiness and odiousness of his sins, as contrary to the holy nature and righteous law of God, and upon the apprehension of his mercy in Christ to such as are penitent, so grieves for and hates his sins. And hate his sin. as to turn from them all unto God, purposing and endeavoring to walk with him in all the ways of his commandments. Remember what I said before. We're discussing repentance unto life. There is such a thing as another kind of repentance. We need to be specific about this. There is such a thing as worldly repentance, a kind of repentance that leads unto death. The Bible is very clear about this. This is from 2 Corinthians 7 verses 9 and 10. As it is, I rejoice. Not because you are grieved, but because you are grieved into repentant. For you felt a godly grief so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.

For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. There is a way of repenting where you've done it for the wrong reasons. It even says right in the beginning. It says, not only out of the danger, in other words, there's a way that somebody could say, well, I don't want to go to hell. Okay, that's a good reason, right? That's, okay, that's one step in the right direction. But that too can lead you to this false repentance or a worldly repentance. So the confession is trying to guard us against that. It references the danger. It references the filthiness. It references the oldliness. It references the old. It references the over. It references the And it's disgusting to you. It's contrary to God's law. And they recognize that there is mercy in Christ for those who do repent. That is true repentance. We need to recognize, and I think this paragraph helps us do this, how radical repentance is. If you were to make this break up, and there's some debate over this, whether there's two parts to man, three parts to man or more. But if you were to recognize that man how radical repentance is, if you were to make this break up, and there's some debate over this, and there's some debate over this, whether there's two parts to man, but if you were to recognize that man to turn from, remember that metanoia. He needs to turn from his sins in every area of his life, with every faculty of his being.

to turn from, remember that metanoia. He needs to turn from his sins in every area of his life, with every faculty of his being. You'll see that this is literally top-down kind of repentance. This is full orb repentance, where you're repenting in your reason. You're repenting in your affections. You're repenting in your will. It's all or none. And I'll show you why that is in just a moment. So let's take our reason first. This is your thinking faculty. Romans 12 verse 2 says, do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind. That by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. In other words, it is impossible for a man to say, I have repented, and yet have this hardened autonomy. My way is best. My way is right. Now, it would be impossible. possible. It would be impossible to repent in all areas of life except for in my reason and call that true repentance. Psalm 119, verse 128 says, therefore, I consider all your precepts to be right. I hate every false way. Because we've repented in our minds, we've repented with our reason, with our thinking faculty. Okay, but what about our affections? This is your feeling

our reason, with our thinking faculty. Okay, but what about our affections? This is your feeling faculty. Joel 2, verses 12 through 13, says this. this. Yet even now, declares the Lord, return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning, and rend your hearts and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding and steadfast love, and he relents over disaster. This again is mirroring the confessional language that says that the man who repents grieves for and hates his sin. So it would be impossible for someone to say, I've repented, and yet have this cold dead orthodoxy, where they go up and down the confession and check, check, check, check, check, check, check, check, check, check, I ascribe to that. So I'm a Christian, right? Not so. Without sorrow over sin, without care for the loss who are casting themselves headlong into the pit, how could you say that you've repented of your own sin, that you've turned in faith to Christ, when your own own affections, your own feelings, don't mirror that image. It would be impossible to say that.

sin, just so obviously engrossed in their sin. How could you say, I've repented in my reason? I've repented in my affections, but I just keep on sinning. I'm a slave to sin. no big deal. That's not true repentance. You can't say that. I think that's what this paragraph is helping us understand. Because it says that we turn from all of them unto God, not just a few, not just in a partial way, but we turn from all of them unto God. We have this firm resolve from then on out that we will cut the hand off if we must, metaphorically speaking, of course. So that's paragraph two. Paragraph three, we ask, what does repentance actually do? Is it meritorious for our salvation? What does repentance actually do? It's a logical, good, helpful question to ask. This is what the paragraph says. Although repentance be not to be rested in any satisfaction for sin, or any cause of the part of the paragraph says, although repentance be not to be rested in any thereof, which is the act of God's free grace in Christ, yet is it of such necessity to

thereof, which is the act of God's free grace in Christ, yet is it of such necessity to all sinners that none may expect pardon without it. Okay, so two points, two main points on this one. When we talk about repentance, repentance unto life, we're making it very clear that this is not some kind of satisfaction for our sins. It's not like justice is served because I repented. as if the repentance is the substantial thing that causes my pardon. It's not a meritorious act. It's merely a turning away from your sin. And even then not perfectly, how could you say that that merited anything for me? It's a turning from. But instead, we remember the true cause is God's free grace in Christ, and repentance is part of how we receive the grace offered to us in Christ. Again, we'll hit faith in the confession. We'll have a whole chapter on it next week. Lord welcome. But the second point, yet none may expect pardon without it. So here's a related question. Maybe you've thought about this before. If not, let's just verbalize it here. Are we saved by our

question. Maybe you've thought about this before. If not, let's just verbalize it here. Are we saved by our obedience to the law? Are we saved by our obedience to the law? Obviously not. I hope you're tracking along with me there. saved by the finished work of Jesus Christ. And how do we receive that finished work? Repentance and faith. So is, is it necessary? Is obedience necessary? Well, yes. But is it meritorious as a work? Absolutely not. Okay? We need to have this category still in our minds that something can be necessary. In other words, you still need to turn from your sin. Yes. To receive. grace and Christ. Without that meaning, we do it somehow meritoriously. John Calvin gave this helpful picture just to kind of have in your mind. If you were to picture like a vase and you had a picture of water, you take that picture and you're pouring it into the vase. The vase has done nothing but receive, right? The vase hasn't done something meritorious to really earn that water, right? But the vase was there. The vase received. it. In a similar way, and I'll probably use that illustration again when we get to faith

it. In a similar way, and I'll probably use that illustration again when we get to faith next week, in a similar way, repentance hasn't done something meritorious. It merely receives. It turns from, and in it's turning from, it's turning to, behold Christ in faith. There's an excellent book, if you haven't read it before. It's called The Mortification of Sin. John Owen wrote this. He basically combines two texts in the Bible, Romans 8, verse 13, and Colossian 3.5. Let me just read those for you and we'll get the principle that he draws from it. Romans 813 says this, for if you live according to the flesh, you will die. But if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. And then Colossians 3, 5, and 6 says this, put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you. Sexual immorality, impurity, impurity, impurity, passion, evil. desire and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these, the wrath of God is coming. So when you combine these two texts, we'll recognize we have a very clear instruction from the Lord, especially as it concerned repentance. You have two choices in life. You are either killing sin

James chapter 2, verses 10 and 11 says this. For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point, has become guilty of all of it. For he who said do not commit adultery also said do not murder. If you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. In other words, you can't say, but look at all the good I've done. Why are you focusing on that little piece? I'm a good person. Because that's not how the law works. A previous pastor of mine, friend, use this, this image. He said the law is like a really, really, really thin piece of glass. Like imagine it went basically from ceiling to floor in this room all the way across. And I came up, or my son came up, or my daughter came up, because you know they would, came up and just tapped it. Just a little tap. Just a little tap. What do you think is going to happen? The whole thing's going to shatter. The whole thing's going to come. The whole thing's going to come crashing down. That is what the law is like. So that is why it says, there is no sin so small, but it deserves damnation. If you're guilty for one little part, you're guilty for the whole.

but it deserves damnation. If you're guilty for one little part, you're guilty for the whole. Remember, it only took Adam one sin, one small little sin, one small little bite, and he proved himself a transgressor. Okay, so no sin so small. Yet, the encouragement here, no sin so great. well. No sin so small, yes, but yet, no sin so great. No sin so great that it can bring damnation upon those who truly repent. So you might think of examples. You might think of David and the completely wicked and immoral thing that he did with Bathsheba and her husband, utterly wicked. You think of Paul and his persecution, not only of Christ generally, but of Christians sending them to death, standing right there holding the robes, approving, do it. He deserves death. Paul did that. David did that. We have done wicked things. People in this very room have done wicked things. So the encouragement is, regardless of how sinful, all who repent of their sins will be accepted by the Lord,

very room have done wicked things. So the encouragement is, regardless of how sinful, all who repent of their sins will be accepted by the Lord, forgiven for their sins. First John chapter 1 verse 9, you hear this pretty regularly. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. But you might be thinking, kind of like I was thinking, to be honest, as I was preparing for this paragraph. Is anyone thinking the same thing? The what about? what about the unforgivable sin? Right? There's always the what about. I was saying, I was thinking through this too. This comes from Matthew 12 and Mark 3. Mark 3, 28, and 29 says this, truly I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man and whatever blasphemies they utter. Okay, so making sure that we have that context. All sins will be forgiven, whatever blasphemies, they utter. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin. For they were saying, he has an unclean spirit. So you might be asking yourself, well, we have the confessional language. That seems clear, but the what about?

So you might be asking yourself, well, we have the confessional language. That seems clear, but the what about? What about this? There are many interpretations of this verse. Let me just tell you that kind of right out the gate. My read of this verse, and this would agree with many other theologians as well, is because of how clear the rest of the Bible is about if you repent of your sin, however heinous, the Lord will accept you and receive you back, because that is true, the way I interpret this blaspheming against the Holy Spirit is it's somebody who has seen the light, has seen the truth, has been in the church, has received the Lord's correction over and over again, and so hardens themselves that they go to the grave, blaspheming the Holy Spirit. Again, I'm not going to bind a conscience on that, but that's my take of that specific verse. Because we remember that the glory of the gospel. And this is a reminder for all of us. One of the major glories of the gospel is that you are not holy lost until you give up. You are not wholly lost until you said, I don't need to repent of my sin. That's why it's especially dangerous when we have people who have been in our midst, who are locked in,

also need to recognize that true repentance is a specific repentance. We need to repent of particular sins, particularly. We need to name individual sins. And the reason this is so helpful for us is because it pushes us past this quick and easy, nonchalance about our sins where we say, God, I'm a sinner. Please forgive me. And then you just keep on trucking, you know. That's good too. We need that. We need a general repentance, but we need to push past. This is really helpful because it keeps us accountable for actually walking in repentance as well. You remember in Matthew 3, verse 8, when Jesus is talking to and about, to be honest, the Pharisees and the Sadducees. He says, bear fruit in keeping with repentance. In other words, it's very specific. It's not just bearing fruit generally, but repenting. of specific things specifically and walking in specific repentance after that. Let me just give you an example, and I think this will help solidify the principle for us. Let's say you have a boss. You're working heartily as unto the Lord. And for whatever reason, you come on hard times,

You're working heartily as unto the Lord. And for whatever reason, you come on hard times, and, you know, you have some money back in the vault. You know the code to it. And you stole $10,000, from your boss. 10 grand, you know, which is a decent bit, depending on what business you're in. Is it enough in that situation to ask God for forgiveness generally? God, like, please, I'm a sinner. Forgive me and keep on walking. Is it enough even to go past that and to ask the man for verbal forgiveness? It's, it's not. What about restitution? Leviticus 6-5 says that the man who has stolen, and it gives all these different ways that you could have stolen from somebody, if a man has stolen, he shall restore it in full and shall add a fifth to it. Shall add a fifth to it. You stole $10,000, you actually need to give $12,000 back as you ask for forgiveness. Or if you can't do that at the moment, you say, hey, I'm good for that money, I messed up big time, I am going to make it up to you. Here's my word. We have to consider restitution as well, because it's not just about a general repentance,

Here's my word. We have to consider restitution as well, because it's not just about a general repentance, but we need to actually walk in specific repentance as well. So yes, you're asking the Lord to forgive. Yes, you're asking that man to forgive you, but you're also walking in repentance. And sometimes that's going to be hard. Sometimes that's going to be restitution. And if you had to steal $10,000 in the first place, it's probably going to hurt if you had to pay back $12,000. That's kind of the point. To show how serious you are about your repentance, you're going to walk in that repentance. But lastly, because I think it needs to be said, and the confession says it too, it uses the language where it says, it's every man's duty to endeavor to repent. That is to say he's going to make his best effort to repent of all of his particular sins, particularly. The reason this is important is because you're not going to catch every single one, and we're not trying to say that you're not forgiven because you forgot about that little sin. That's not what we're saying. You need to endeavor to repent of these sins. It is, not completely, but substantially, about your heart and demeanor towards sin in those moments. Remember, 1 Corinthians 13 says that we see in a mirror dimly here, then face to face.

Remember, 1 Corinthians 13 says that we see in a mirror dimly here, then face to face. we don't all see clearly right now. We're not going to catch every little sin, yet you are still forgiven, even when you didn't catch all of those, because you are repenting generally, because we remember that general repentance is necessary and good, but we should endeavor to push past that. That's the whole point of that paragraph. And paragraph six, okay, I'm good on time. I was worried there. Paragraph six, how should we handle sin? against a brother and against the church. And when I say brother, I mean brother or sister. How should we handle sins against a brother, and how do we handle sins against the church itself? This is what the paragraph says. As every man is bound to make private confession of his sins to God, praying for the pardon thereof, upon which and the forsaking of them, he shall find mercy.

What happens if this was private? What do we do if this was public in some form or fashion, right? Public doesn't always mean fully public. It can mean just more than privately. Well, it says that you are to declare repentance and ask, for forgiveness. So as I was thinking through this, I realized maybe it would be helpful to kind of dwell on this idea or this question of when should this happen publicly? You probably haven't seen this happen very often, right? Like a public repentance before the whole church. So we ask, when should this happen publicly? And this is my advice to you. This is what I think would be right, drawing from the principles in scripture. With the publicity of the sin, so goes the publicity of the repentance. With the publicity of the sin, so goes the publicity of the repentance. This sounds mean, maybe. If you're picturing yourself in that moment, right? What if I messed up? It sounds mean, it sounds kind of embarrassing. But you have to recognize that in those moments, whoever it is, they brought it on themselves. One thing that I learned in the military, especially as an officer, but this is general

But you have to recognize that in those moments, whoever it is, they brought it on themselves. One thing that I learned in the military, especially as an officer, but this is general business acumen as well. You should chastise in private and you should praise in public, right? You chastise in private behind closed doors. You don't need to air dirty laundry in front of other people, but you should praise in public, right? That's a good thing. But, and I've had this happen. I had this happen in the military. You have those awkward moments where somebody totally brings it on themselves. I would love to chastise privately. But now you've had this happen. But now you just sinned in front of everyone. You stuck your own foot in your mouth. It's not my fault. It's not my fault that you did that. But we remember that if that happens, sometimes it needs to be addressed immediately and sometimes it needs to be addressed publicly. It's not the fault of the offended party. It's not the fault of the offended party. It's the fault at that point of the the sinner, of the person who committed the sin. So they shouldn't get bent out of shape if they also need to declare repentance more publicly. Another way of thinking through this that I think is practical and helpful. Let's think of how this works in a family. So let's say

also need to declare repentance more publicly. Another way of thinking through this that I think is practical and helpful. Let's think of how this works in a family. So let's say that the husband is unloving to his wife. This is literally God's commands to husbands. Love your wives. So let's say he's not doing that. Let's say he's sinning against his wife because he's not loving her. Obviously, not loving her. So what should he do? Well, he should repent to her private. I mean, it's fairly clear. But what if he committed that sin in front of the kids? Maybe you were all sitting down for dinner and he blew up. He was not loving to his wife. Is it enough at that point simply to apologize to his wife? I hope you would say no. The answer is no. Because that happened. That sin occurred. That offense occurred in front of the children as well. So what he should do is he should privately reconcile with his wife. And after that, he should come back to the table and say, kids, I messed up. I sinned against your mom. Please forgive me. That was wrong. I shouldn't have done them. Okay? I think that's a good example of how we should think through this in the church as well, which is a family. This church

good example of how we should think through this in the church as well, which is a family. This church is a family. So as we think through it, we need to to recognize that this is also the teaching of the Bible. It's the teaching of the Bible. If you think of excommunication, I'll come back to this in a second. We'll come back to Matthew 18. But if you think of excommunication, that's somebody who has gone all the way up, church discipline, and then has been told, by all accounts, you've been given every opportunity and you are stubbornly sinning against the Holy Spirit. Remember what I said before? Where we would say, I don't think a Christian. You're not welcome back here. You've been given opportunity after opportunity after opportunity. You won't even be treated like a brother or sister anymore. Please don't come back anymore. You're excommunicated. That's that's like the height. That is the height of church discipline. Hoping, though, we remember, hoping that they would come back in repentance. But when it has elevated to that point, it started privately, but it elevated all the way to that point, and now they're excommunicated. if they were to come back, would it be enough to simply come to the pastor and say, hey, I messed up, please receive me back? Well, no, because everyone else would say, like, how am I supposed to interact with this person now that they're back?

Like, yeah, like, that sucked. You shouldn't do that again. I'll hold you accountable, but I love you. And you're a brother, right? That's how we should treat someone who has gone even all the way up the ladder, all the way to excommunication, yet come. back and repent. That's how we should treat them. You who are spiritual should restore them in a spirit of gentleness. Okay, another practical thing just because as a pastor, I think we need to hit on this at our church. This is not unique to our church, but I think this will be a helpful way of thinking through sins that are common to people in general and to churches in general. And these are the two twin sins of gossip and slander. And you'll see how this relates in just a moment. One way I've heard this described and I think it's helpful is gossiping is telling other people about things that they don't need to know that weren't their business. That's gossiping. But telling true things to people who didn't need to know. That's gossiping. Slander, though, is telling untrue things to other people who obviously didn't need to know because they're untrue, right? So gossip is telling true things. to other people that didn't need to know. Slander, though, is even worse because it's spreading

because they're untrue, right? So gossip is telling true things. to other people that didn't need to know. Slander, though, is even worse because it's spreading false things to people who don't need to know because it's not true. This is where it comes in. So I was giving you that principle. With the publicity of the offense comes the publicity of the repentance. Okay? So this is where gossip and slander can destroy a church. And it's, it just, honestly, not fun. It's painful for everyone involved. Slander, especially. But this whole publicity thing cuts both ways. You might see somebody else sinning or you might think they're sinning or you might just disagree, right? There's going to be a natural sinful tendency instead of going directly to them and private. There is going to be a tendency to kind of circle the wagons, right? To talk to everyone else except that person and to spread lies about that person or to say things about them that other people don't need to know. That's gossip. That's gossiping. This is the part that kind of sucks, though, is when we're thinking about the publicity of the offense and the publicity of the

kind of sucks, though, is when we're thinking about the publicity of the offense and the publicity of the repentance, if you have done this to somebody else, you've gossiped about them, you've slandered because, I mean, this literally happens with even pastors in the church where somebody says, well, well, they believe this or they're doing this and this is their intention. Literally not telling them, just telling everybody else, right? If you were to be caught in that, slander, let's say, what do you think should happen if you did that? Well, once you were caught and once it was really clear that you had gossiped or you had slandered, at a minimum, you cannot just apologize to that person. You need to go to the same extent that you sin. and you need to make apology because that's part of restitution, making sure that their name is cleared. If you said something about somebody totally wasn't true, you realize now it wasn't true, okay, I sinned then, that's slander. Now I need to not only go to them and say, I'm sorry, I should have done that privately, and you would have just corrected me and told me I was wrong, but now it needs to go publicly to all those people that you gossip to, all those people that you slandered to. Keep this in mind. This, again, is why we're warned so many times against gossiping, so many times against slander.

to go publicly to all those people that you gossip to, all those people that you slandered to. Keep this in mind. This, again, is why we're warned so many times against gossiping, so many times against slander. It's because it damages somebody else's name, and if you are to make it up, recognize that you should go as public as you did with the offense, okay? But this is why. This is the instruction that we have in Matthew 18, verses 15 through 17. We're going to see that the duties of church discipline, and church discipline, by the way, can even be like, brother to brother, brother to sister, where I say, hey, I think you have sinned in this matter, privately, directly, but I think you've sinned in this matter. Can we talk about it? Maybe they'll see the error of their ways and they'll repent to you and boom, like that was it, that was done, right? It could be literally that easy. That's the first rung in church discipline in a way, or it can go all the way up to excommunication. We're going to see that right here. So Matthew 18, verses 15 through 17. if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone, okay? Directly, privately. Tell him his fault between you and him alone. Don't go telling everybody

if something's going to be addressed, don't gossip to everybody else, don't slander to everybody else. Unless you're ready also to repent to everybody else, which you should be, either way. But you go directly and privately. That's the first thing. The second thing that we see is that all of these sins, especially in the body, we're a family, right? These sins should be handled at the lowest level. The lowest level possible. So if it's, you know, you saw your brother do this, saw your sister do this, you go privately directly. That's lowest level. You don't need to go tell the church, we're not there yet. Right? Pump the brakes. We're not there yet. So handle at the lowest level, because again, maybe you get to that other point where you bring two or three with you and they go, wow, this is really serious. I'm going to think on this. They give it a night. They think about it and they say, you know what, you're right. I didn't intend that, but I think I was sin. That happens. It does happen. Trust the Lord. Trust his wisdom. This is how God would have us learn how to do church discipline and just how to live in a family, to be completely honest. Okay. There's one more thing I could say. I'm going to stop there because we have just a few minutes. And I want to open it up for questions. As you guys are thinking through this, the six paragraphs we went through repentance.

And I want to open it up for questions. As you guys are thinking through this, the six paragraphs we went through repentance. Remember we're covering faith next time. So we'll come back to that. Yes, sir. Okay. So yeah, so, okay, good, good question. So the question is how if somebody has sinned, are you saying as somebody coming in initially as a Christian or somebody who's a Christian and has sinned. Okay. Sometimes there's a distinction there because it is a little, because my answer is going to be a little different. Okay, I'll come back to it. So the question is, what if somebody sins from a pastoral perspective, how do we say, well, yeah, that's genuine. That's genuine repentance right there. I can see that. Let me say two things. One, we don't know the heart perfectly. Okay, so just let me say that first. But yet, even Jesus himself, for my red letter friends. Even Jesus himself is the one who said that you'll know them by their fruit.

for my red letter friends. Even Jesus himself is the one who said that you'll know them by their fruit. So from a pastoral perspective, the expectation would be someone who is truly repentant, we would say, that's good, that's glorious, I love that, that's what I want to see, right? You've been condescending and trespass, you recognize it. But now begins the hard work of actually walking in that repentance. So again, let's say that you were in the church, Christian slandering left and right. We're talking about that example. It's helpful, right? Okay. Well, somebody says, yeah, you're right? I guess that was a lie. And I guess that was slander. Sorry, man. Okay, like, there's a little more than that. Like, this is what it would look like. Like, you need to apologize to these four people that you slandered to as well. And just make sure that everything's right, that you don't actually believe that. And you're clearing my name or his name or whoever it is. And if they go do that, you would say, I think that's legitimate. I really do. Or the man who stole $10,000 from his boss. If he said, why, I repent, you know, I really, really did mess up, I would say, okay, good, glorious. I like that. That's what you need to do. You need to say, God, please forgive me. And hey, pastors, like, what do I do in this situation? And I wouldn't just say, leave it verbal. I would say, well, now walk in repentance. Now walk in

That's what you need to do. You need to say, God, please forgive me. And hey, pastors, like, what do I do in this situation? And I wouldn't just say, leave it verbal. I would say, well, now walk in repentance. Now walk in obedience. And you would say, you'll know them by their fruit. Is this repentance going to produce the fruit of restitution? Where you say, hey, care. That's an extra $2,000. On top of the $10,000, I already spent it. But I'm going to make it right. I would say, wow, that's hard. I think that's genuine, right? You'll know them by their fruit. So again, can you determine 100% with that from man's vantage point? No, because I don't have God goggles. I don't have that. But at the same time, if you were to say, I repent, but I'm not willing to do the work, I would say that's probably not legitimate, right? Does that help answer the question? Or is somebody coming into the church initially, that's another, that's a little more radical. As far as my encouragement, that's a lot more of the chopping the handoff. When somebody comes into the church, like if you were to say, hey, I repent and I think I'm a Christian now, I want to get baptized, but like, I'm still cool with sleeping around. I'm still cool with the way I used to talk. I'm, you know what I mean? Like, I would say, no, you actually need to leave those behind as you turn from and turn two.

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