1)Confess
Confession is more than talking to a priest or admitting to God that you did something bad. We must confess our sin to one another, admitting that we do not worship Jesus as we should. This part of confession is the admission that we are sinners in need of a savior. As John writes in I John 1:9

Confession is also confessing that Jesus is Lord. This means that we admit that He has defeated sin and death and is Lord over our sin. Confessing Jesus is vital to reminding ourselves of the Gospel that Jesus is glorious because He has power over sin. Otherwise, in our confession of sin, we will be left to think we have to fight it on our own. But we fight sin by the power of the Holy Spirit, which is the same power that rose Jesus from the dead. Without confessing Jesus as our Lord, we do not have the power of the Holy Spirit at work in us. John says in I John 4:15

2)Repent
To repent means to turn around and head in a different direction. Once we have confessed our sin, we must turn from it. Biblical repentance is a result of God's kindness, revealing to us how far from Him we actually are (Romans 2:4



Repentance is more than turning away from our sin. If this is all we do and have no vision for where we are going, we are doomed to make a 360 and head back for sin. That is why Jesus came, to reveal the mysteries of God. He came to save sinners, so that they might have life and have it to the fullest. Paul tells the church in Thessalonica, "you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God." We don't just turn our back on sin, we now live in the power of God serving Him. In repenting from sin, we turn away from it, but then we ask ourselves, "what will I pursue in Christ?" Do we need to trust that He is ultimately good? That He is more gracious than anyone else? That He is greater than all my circumstances? That He is more glorious than everyone else? Turn from sin and turn towards our loving Savior.
3)Forgive
As we turn from our sin and turn towards Jesus, we have to be reminded that we have been forgiven for our sin. As John said, if we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us. Most of us hang on to sin and keep looking back because we do not believe the gospel enough. The gospel is the good news that for God's glory, Jesus died for our sin and was resurrected, so we might move from death to life. We have been forgiven so we might live. Jesus has already saved us from the penalty of sin, so we do not have to punish ourselves. Colossians 1:13-14

We also must seek to forgive others as we overcome sin in our life. Satan will attempt to lie to us, telling us that the blame for sin is laid at the feet of others. But we take responsibility for our own sin. And if anyone has sinned against us, we must remember that we are not their judge. If Christ has forgiven us, how can we not forgive others? To grow in our discipleship means to forgive others, just as we have been forgiven. Ephesians 4:32

4)Reconcile
The end result in all of this is to be reconciled. This is exactly the ministry that Jesus came to do, to reconcile lost humanity to God. His ministry was one of reconciliation. Know that if we walk through confession, repentance, and forgiveness, we will be reconciled to God. God reconciled us while we were His enemies through the death of Jesus. He holds together that reconciliation through the resurrection. Romans 5:10

If we are reconciled to God, we can be reconciled to one another. We are ministers of reconciliation, seeking to bring others into unity through Jesus. The work of Jesus was to save sinners and reconcile them to God. But this has a byproduct as well. Reconciled sinners are also reconciled to one another. And as a reconciled community, we stand as a testimony to the redeeming, unifying work of Jesus to bring peace to all men. Paul says it best in II Corinthians 5:17-21

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Jason, fyi: I've setup a blog; its a work "in-progress!"
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