[Pastor Ralph]

Q4. How do confession and repentance fit with self-examination? What is the result of self-examination without confession and repentance? How do confession and repentance serve to bring spiritual health and character change?

[Blessed Me]

Q4. How do confession and repentance fit with self-examination?
Confession must first be done before we can even come to the Table the Lord has prepared for us, because it is how we come to be saved.
1 John 1:19 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. You cannot be saved until you admit you are a sinner and are in need of Jesus Christ the savior. Confessed sin takes us to the full knowledge of what Christ did for us, salvation made it possible for us to stand in the presence of God! Confession is good for the soul, it puts a stop to the work of Satan, the enemy. ---
Repentance means to "change direction" The full value of salvation is found in "repentance" This is not a emotion, it is an action on our part --- change direction! The first message Jesus said was "Repent, the kingdom of God is among you"

What is the result of self-examination without confession and repentance?
Confession brings to us "Salvation" --- Paul tells us "Godly sorrow works repentance, but the sorrow of the world leads to death."
Repentance means you don't return to your old ways, you turn your back on the areas that bring compormise in your walk with the Lord.

How do confession and repentance serve to bring spiritual health and character change?
Confession brings us to salvation, repentance brings a character change in us. Christ does the work, but we must be the willing vessel. Christ do your work in me, change me.

[Jezemeg]

Confession and repentance fall into the concept of self-examination because it is a realistic recognition of one's shortcomings and a resolve to try better. Okay, it's likely we'll never achieve perfection, after all Jesus was divine... we are called to be LIKE Him not to BE Him, but we can strive to attain perfection and this aim is what keeps us focussed.

Those who become obsessed by introspection and start developing unrealistic aims and begin to loathe themselves because of imagined failings are not being addressed with this instruction. Jesus never encouraged anyone to have unrealistic ambitions, nor did He encourage obsessive fault finding, regardless whether it is aimed at self or at others. Jesus recognised our humanity, He realised that we would fail, that is why He promised that God (and of course Himself) would be always with believers and that if we remained true to God, then God would remain true in His promises as well.

[charisbarak]

Whoa! I wrote about this all in the last question!

I pray I will change--that I would be open to His leading to grow closer to Him & more like Him.

[jabarke]

Why do self-examination if the result is not confession & repentance? We spend so much time "hiding in the garden" because we are afraid of what admitting to what sins in our lives will do to our "position" with God or our "position" with other Christians. We might not be as "good" as we would like to think we are. The foundation of our faith is so weak we fight, scratch & claw our way to a delusional thought processes that if we don't self-examine from time to time we will not have to admit we have sinned & thus we are "good" Christians. Avoiding self-examination & the requisite confession & repentance is our way of doing what Adam & Eve did in the garden of Eden when they first sinned & they hid from God. It is how we mentally hide from God. Admitting our sins & shortcomings is always the first step that must be taken to a healthy relationship with God. It is humbling & purifying & a release from the burden of trying to be the "perfect" Christian.

[Helenmm]

Self-examination needs to be followed by confession and repentance, or else it is unfinished and therefore useless. Confession, I believe, includes making amends to any person who has been injured by the sin in any way that will benefit them. Matthew the tax collector, knew this in his heart as he promised to return fourfold any money he had wrongfully taken. How joyful was the company who saw him put this to rights! What magnificent and powerful peace was associated with this act. In this act he reflected the whole spirit of bountiful abundance that is the Kingdom of Heaven, and glorifies Jesus. What joy we can also bring to our communities if we do likewise!

Self-examination without confession and repentance is no better than navel-gazing, depressing and miserable because it brings no value with it, no change in the situation. It only deepens the entrenchment of the sin and its effects on firstly the sinner and secondly the victim/s if there are any. Everything that the Lord commands is good, holy, and brings health joy with it. We are to do nothing by halves, but be complete in every good work. "That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works." 2 Tim 3:17.

Completing the task of confession and repentance replace an unhealthy situation with a healthy, life-giving, joyful, optimistic one with great possibilities for the future. The future then becomes a great land of opportunity to those who will participate fully in God's principles.

[JustJeff]

Once I have examined myself and I find that I have transgressed, I need to be cleaned up. I need to openly confess my sin or my bones will roar (thank you David). I can do this to a brother or sister, particularly if it is against them that I have offended or appeal directly to the Savior who will righteously forgive me. Then, however, I must repent. I must work diligently to not repeat the same mistake and crucify Him all over again. If I do not take these steps after I have examined myself it is rather like going to the doctor, being diagnosed with cancer and not doing anything about it. Eventually the cancer will eat me alive and so too does my unrepentent sin.
When cleared of a sin new spiritual growth occurs, through more humilty and a closer move toward maturity as a Christian. This clearly reflects inwardly in your spirit and outwardly as your character is perceived by others, as well as you yourself, as becoming more like Him.

[Blessed Me]

Q4. How do confession and repentance fit with self-examination? What is the result of self-examination without confession and repentance? How do confession and repentance serve to bring spiritual health and character change?

I must say "coming to the knowledge that I am a sinner, and coming to the knowledge that I must confess this to God, and confess that Christ has come and He died that I may be set free from sin, that I am saved."

Repentance is Christ in me, I can go get off the broad way, and go through the narrow gate. This is a complete turn around, change of direction. That is what repentance is. If I am always in "repentance" something is very wrong with the direction I am going and with my confession.

I do not see confessing and repentance is needed each time I go to the Table, but it is to be done in my daily walk! I will stumble as a walk that narrow road, but He is there with me to help me up, and to stay in the correct direction. He isn't there to tell me because I goofed, tear up His invitation to dine with Him, but He is saying, "come, be nourished, I am here to remind you - You Can Do It, I left the Holy Spirit to guide you, that is why I want you to come and be reminded, do your best, feed on my word, for I am coming for you. This isn't just another ritual for you to do, if you truly believe in Me, come dine at my Table and see what I have for you."

Satan is the accuser of the brethren, and I refuse to have him stop me from fellowshipping with my Lord and Savior and with my family in Christ. I will always dine with Him, for I know what He did for me on the Cross, He made me part of the Family, I can go directly to Abba, for my Father sees me covered by the blood of the Lamb.

From the confession I made in Christ, now there should be fruits seen in my life, you may see me at various stages of my growth, some days are better than others, but I am growing, I am learning. Are you also growing with me? Somedays not as good as other days? That is why we need to lift each other up. Our prayers for each other is our way of helping that brother up when they stumble, we are walking the same road together. Lets keep on keeping on, for it won't be long and we will dine together at the "Wedding Feast" saying, "Worthy is the Lamb!"

I

[masika]

When we repent , God Promises not only to cleanse us our sins but to bring Spiritual refreshment .Turning away from sin may at first seem painful because it is hard to break old habits and give up certain sins.
Many people want the benefit of being identified with Christ without admitting their own disobedience and repenting . The Key to Forgiveness is Confessing our sinand turning from it .This is done as an individual since everyone know how he/she is infront of our God .
GOD BLESS HIS WORD .
AMEN

[haar]

Confession and repentance fit with self examination in the sense that the three together form a complete process of spiritual development. Self examination should lead to confession and repentance and the repentance in turn results in a renewed relation with God (sin severes lelationship).

Self examination without confession and repentance amounts to a futile exercise. It could only lead to self condemnation and rejection as it is devoid of peace that follows confession and repentance.

Self examination followed by confession and repentance will lead to peace within us, peace with one another and peace with God. This in turn leads to spiritual growth.

[Lisa Rupert]

Q4. How do confession and repentance fit with self-examination? What is the result of self-examination without confession and repentance? How do confession and repentance serve to bring spiritual health and character change?
Confession and repentance are a form of self examination because it allows us to cleanse our sins and make amends not to do them anymore before receiving the Lord's Supper. Jesus was clean when he was here on this earth. He was sinless. So we must follow in his example to cleanse ourselves of all sins before taking of the Lord's Supper. If we don't confess and repent we bring this sin back upon ourselves. If we don't when we partake of the Lord's Supper we are merely saying that Jesus' death was in vain. So it is important to cleanse oneself before taking the Lord's Supper so that we can give Jesus his rightful praise. Confession and repentance can serve to bring about Spritual growth because it is a reminder to us that we are sinners and it keeps us mindful of the sins we need to work harder against. The sins that defile us. It clenses our spirtual health and keeps us mindful of our journey with Christ.

[carroll]

Q4. How do confession and repentance fit with self-examination? What is the result of self-examination without confession and repentance? How do confession and repentance serve to bring spiritual health and character change?

Self-examination is a process in which believers should continually be engaged. This self-examination must be based on a knowledge of what God requires of those who have accepted the gift of salvation. This then leads to confession and repentance if it is recognized that sin has tarnished the relationship between the believer and God.

Self-examination without confession and repentance is an exercise in futility that leaves the sinner in the same state of sinfulness as before the examination. It is the same as if no self-examination were done, resulting in non-acceptance of sin and therefore no confession and consequently no repentance or forgiveness. Sin in that case wins!!!

After self-examination and determination that sin has come between the believer and God, confession and repentance should lead to a determination to walk closer to God by consciously resisting sin through spiritual growth by studying God’s word and seeking greater knowledge of HIM.

[PCHRIS]

Q4. How do confession and repentance fit with self-examination? What is the result of self-examination without confession and repentance? How do confession and repentance serve to bring spiritual health and character change?

These 3 things fit together as a hand fits into a glove. Thats why self examination goes with confession and repentance, its a time of looking at ourselves and being humble enough to come clean before God and fellow Christians.

We would be like 'white washed tombs' ! We show nice on the outside but inside we are harbouring filth. God wants our whole total being, we are called to love Him with all our heart, mind, soul and strength. W/out confession and repentance we are making a joke of what Christ did for me.

I agree with another comment made that this should be a continual thing not just left to when we come to the Lord's Table. We always should be going through this cleansing time of confessing and repenting otherwise Satan has a foot hold in our lives and will use any unconfessed sin in our lives
For me this brings joy, peace, and humility knowing I have come clean with my Lord and that's what He loves is us to come to Him with open hearts willing to change.

[charity]

I believe that I touched on the importance of confession, repentance and self-evaluation in the previous question. Confession is the by-product of self-evaluation and precedes repentance. Without confession, one becomes discouraged and fainthearted with feelings of guilt and unforgiveness. Here is a very good illustration given by an author, Ray Neu. “For example, when you say something to your spouse, you do not expect to be divorced from them and hope that they might take you back. Yet, we often see our relationship with God in this way. We think that each sin causes us to be condemned and that because of this, God could not possibly want anything to do with us. Thankfully, God is not like this. What does God expect from us when we offend Him? He expects the same as your spouse- a sincere, heartfelt apology. This is the function of washing(cleansing by confession); making sure that our relationship with God is clean and that there is nothing standing in the way of clear communication with Him… Once we have accomplished this reconciliation(through repentance) with God, we can move on to more intimate communication. But if we neglect to do this, then try as we might, we will just be going through the motions of worship.”

We have been given the power of the blood and God’s promises to see us overcome any hindrances that may interfere with this intimacy with Him. He has definitely proven His commitment to us through His Son.It is our responsibility to “study to show ourselves approved” in order to exercise this application. This study, for me, has proven to be an invaluable means to do just that.

[steve.c]

Pastor Ralph, on Jun 23 2006, 10:31 AM, said:

Q4. How do confession and repentance fit with self-examination? What is the result of self-examination without confession and repentance? How do confession and repentance serve to bring spiritual health and character change?

Self-examination is not sufficient by itself. We must not simply examine our sinfulness and seriously and accurately particularise it; we must confess it and repent it. What does that meant to me? It means I must be truly sorry for our sins and to say so. We must take steps not t repeat the sins and to avoid sinning. Repentance must be a genuine sorrowfulness for our sins and a genuine effort not to repeat the sin. Confession and repentance are active responses to sin. They are a sincere acknowledgement of our sins and an attempt not to sin and certainly not to sin in the same way. Also, if we can make amends for a particular sin, then we should. This requires discipline and self-control. It requires effort and being always alert and vigilant. It means we attempt to model our actions on those of our Lord. Sincere repentance brings us closer to Jesus. His presence in us is more prominent. We have a deeper spiritual life as a consequence and our charcter is shaped by Him. This cannot but improve the way we interact with others and our lives as disciples.

[linda bass]

How do confession and repentence fit in with self-examination?
We need to confess our sins before coming to the Lord's Table. Self-examination is useless if it doesn't lead to confession and repentence of sin. James talks about the man who looks in a mirror at his dirty face, then leaves without doing anything about it.

What is the result of self-examination without confession and repentence?
I pretty much answered this in the previous question.

How do confession and repentance serve to bring spiritual health and character change?
When we confess and repent of our sins, new spiritual growth occurs, we become more mature in the faith, the fruits of the Spirit become manifest in our life, and best of all, we enjoy a closer intimate relationship with our Lord.

[pickledilly]

Holy Spirit-led self-examination that reveals hidden sin should always lead to repentance and confession of that sin. Recognizing my failure to live up to God's standard of holiness and my transgression toward Him should always break my heart. That grief compels me to confess my wrong and gives me the genuine desire to turn away from the iniquity. I have to realize that in admitting and confessing my sin, I'm releasing it - giving up the guilt, giving up the bondage to it, and giving up any obedience to its call to indulge in it again. To examine myself but not confess is somewhat like realizing the presence of a poison but allowing its destruction to continue by holding onto it. It hurts me, others, and God.

If I engage in self-examination that does not lead me to confess and repent, it will probably cause at least 2 things, related but different. First, I will likely end up becoming that neurotic person we discussed in Question 3 - battered and beaten with condemnation by the devil and my own mind. I'd eventually start believing that I can't be forgiven or delivered of the burden. This type of guilt and self-loathing is responsible for much physical and mental illness. Second, I would never receive the blessed forgiveness and cleansing from sin promised in 1 John 1:9. I could never enjoy the peace and joy of a fully restored relationship with my Father.

When I realize some iniquity within myself but don't admit it to the LORD and accept His forgiveness, my spiritual health definitely suffers. When you wrong someone and never try to make it right, you know how you suddenly just don't feel the same about that person anymore? It creates distance and coolness in the heart of the offender, shame and embarrassment in the mind that make you pull back. We just can't afford to do that with God. We need Him too much, and that's the point of our greatest need! His work of transforming our character to the character of Christ cannot be accomplished when we don't confess and be rid of sin. You can't place something in the space that's already occupied by something else!

To confess is to be cleansed. To be clean is to be rid of the burden of that sin that only creates guilt, perverts thinking, stresses the physical body, steals victory, stagnates spiritual growth, cripples meaningful service, and fractures your relationship with the Father. It's pretty obvious that the need for self-examination and confession is paramount - to the individual believer and to the Body of Christ.

The LORD desires the best for His children. He longs to free us from condemnation and suffering. He yearns for a close, unbroken relationship. No wonder He calls us to repentance.

[sahala p.s.]

Pastor Ralph, on Jun 23 2006, 04:31 PM, said:

Q4. How do confession and repentance fit with self-examination? What is the result of self-examination without confession and repentance? How do confession and repentance serve to bring spiritual health and character change?

Self-examination is making a critical examination to see if we are in sin or not, to see what sin or sins we have done, to whom we have sinned, where and when we have sinned, etc. We conduct self-examination to continue it with confession. We cannot make an effective confession without self-examination; we must know the detail of our sin or sins. However, we do not stop here, because our problem is not finish yet. God wants us not only to confess our sin or sins, but also not to do the same sin or sins again. As known, God wants to form us in his image. He wants us to repent of our sin or sins, correct our action, and make amends, if we are able.

Without confession and repentance, our relation with God and another human with whom we have problem is not back to normal yet. Our sin or sins have not been forgiven yet. In this condition we stagnate, falter, and will get God’s discipline.

By making confession and doing repentance, our sin or sin is forgiven and we get back on the right path. We have no hindrance to pray and worship God. In addition, God has no hindrance to bless us and bring us to higher level of our faith and spirituality. We feel closer with God and are more energetic to serve God. By making confession and doing, repentance means we allow God to form our character according to what he wants.

[Don W]

They are all what we need to do as the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin in our lives and that is all a part of the self-examination process. If we leave either part out (either confession or repentance), then we have not obeyed the Lord in doing exactly what He wants us to do, and we may be disciplined (chastised) in that area of our life until we do both confess the sin of disobedience as well as truly repent of it. Then we can claim 1 John 1:9 for the forgiveness of our sins by the Lord, and this confession, repentance, and forgiveness serves to bring spiritual health and character change to us because we know that we are walking and growing in the Lord Jesus closer and closer to Him, and someday soon we will be as He is when we are with Him forever and ever in eternity in heavenly glory! Amen!

[Debra]

If we just examine ourselves each day without confessing our sins, it will damage our spiritual health. So each day, especially before the communion service we should examine ourselves, confess and repent of our sins before God. Then we should accept and believe in God's promises of forgiveness. This will keep us in the best of spiritual health!