“So they (the 12 Apostles) went out and preached that people should repent. And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick, and healed them.” (Mark 6:12,13)

What is repentance?

When the Twelve Apostles went out and preached, they weren’t telling the people and us what to do. They were telling the people and us what to believe.

Historically, the first of the 95 Theses, which the Church Reformer Martin Luther nailed to the doors of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, referred to Jesus’ preaching of repentance. We read: ” When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, “Repent” (Matthew 4:17), he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.”

In our Gospel lesson we see that his Apostles were and are commissioned to carry on Jesus’ ministry of Law and Gospel. They were to preach God’s Law to bring about our repentance and proclaim the Gospel by casting out demons, anointing the sick with oil and miraculously healing them.

So what is true repentance? Repentant believers are those who are sorry for their sins (contrition) and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior (faith). Then good works, which are the fruits of repentance, are bound to follow. In other words, strive to change your sinful lifestyle or behavior.

Therefore, at the beginning of Sunday’s Divine Worship Service, we acknowledge our spiritual need of God’s gift of repentance, confessing of our sinful nature, that we daily sin much by our thoughts, words, and actions.

We confess: “Almighty and most merciful Father; We have erred, and strayed from Your ways like lost sheep. We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts. We have offended against Your holy laws. We have left undone those things which we ought to have done; And we have done those things which we ought not to have done; And there is no health in us. But you, O Lord, have mercy upon us, miserable lawbreakers.”

Though we know we sin much daily, and we are well enough acquainted with our sinful nature to realize the tendency to repeat sins already confessed, this does not destroy the validity of God’s absolution. Paul reminds us: “If we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.” (II Tim. 2:13).

In fact, it is the power from God’s forgiveness of sins (his Gospel) which helps every Christian to wage a spiritual war against those pet sins which keep popping up again and again out of our weakness.

On the other hand, the person’s heart and mind that deliberately plans to continue sinning at the very moment confession is made, cannot and will not benefit from the of God’s forgiveness. God’s gift of saving faith always apprehends the blessings offered in the Gospel. The writer of Proverbs reminds us: “He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.” (Prov. 28:13).

Thus, we join the tax collector in the Lord’s temple as he says: “Lord, be merciful to me a sinner” (Luke 18:13) and receive God’s divine healing: “Your sins are forgiven. Depart in peace!”

Chopp is a clinical chaplain emeritus, MDiv, BCC, from Marshall