Repentance

As Christians, we must deal with sin. In John’s First Epistle, we read:

 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.   (1 John 1:8-9)

King David was a man after God’s own heart, yet King David sinned. He was an adulterer and murderer. When the Prophet Nathan placed him under conviction for his grave sin with Bathsheba he repented. David saw his grave sin but he remembered the character of God who is willing to show mercy and forgiveness to all those who truly repent of their sins. David prayed this beautiful psalm:

Have mercy upon me, O God,
According to Your lovingkindness;
According to the multitude of Your tender mercies,
Blot out my transgressions.
Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
And cleanse me from my sin.

For I acknowledge my transgressions,
And my sin is always before me.
Against You, You only, have I sinned,
And done this evil in Your sight—
That You may be found just when You speak,
And blameless when You judge.   (Psalm 51:1-4)

Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me away from Your presence,
And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of Your salvation,
And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.   (Psalm 51:10-12)

David said that his sin was ever before him, but he had hidden his sin from himself. We are also capable of doing that. That is why we need to pray another psalm that deals with unknown sin and willful sin:

Who can understand his errors?
Cleanse me from secret faults.
Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins;
Let them not have dominion over me.
Then I shall be blameless,
And I shall be innocent of great transgression.

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.   (Psalms 19:12-14)

Willful or presumptuous sin may be the most dangerous sin of all for the Christian. The Book of Hebrews reminds us:

If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.   (Hebrews 10:26-27)

Lastly, we need to be proactive about our sins. We need to seek the conviction of the Holy Spirit continually:

Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties;
And see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.   (Psalms 139:23-24)