Repentance

We know that Jesus’ mission is to call us to repentance and conversion, to save us from

our sin. But what is the means by which we receive that salvation? Is it just through faith, belief?

Or is there something more? The Bible is actually quite clear.

In Matthew 28, Jesus tells the Apostles to go out and make disciples of all nations

through baptism and teaching them His commandments. In John 3, Jesus tells Nicodemus that

whoever is not born of water and Spirit cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven. This and many

other passages tells us that baptism is the means of being initially brought into that salvation

from sin.

What happens then if we commit sin after baptism? First, yes, it is possible to commit sin

after baptism; neither the Bible nor the Church has ever taught that it is once-saved-always-

saved. Almost all of St. Paul’s letters are to communities of believers who have committed some

sin or fallen into some error. We know that we can commit sin after baptism. So what happens

then? James 5 tells us to confess our sins to one another in order to bring one back from sin. In

John 20, we see Jesus giving the Apostles the authority to forgive sin. We even see this played

out with Simon Peter in the next chapter.

We see in all of this that baptism and confession being about the forgiveness of sins is in

fact in the Bible and therefore have always been an essential part of our faith. Sin is a turning

away from God through the choices we make; repentance and conversion are about turning back

to God. Jesus has given us the sacraments in order to enable this turning back. We need

confession in order to truly be set free from our sin. And on that note, for the record: confession

is not just something for Lent. As we continue our journey of Faith, may the words of Jesus take

root within us to “Repent, and believe in the Gospel!”