Sin
I do not like it when someone tells me I am wrong. I don’t like to be wrong.
To admit that I am a sinner is to admit guilt. I am guilty of disobedience. Disobedient to One for whom I owe my eternity. I must begin a journey to makes things right with God. The first step is confession. I must admit to myself to identify the sin and at the same time, to Christ, in prayer. I must recognize sin in my life and turn from it. Change direction. I cannot physically travel to two different destinations – the same goes for my journey towards Christ and sin.
Confess
Psalm 32
1 How joyful is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered!
2 How joyful is a person whom the Lord does not charge with iniquity and in whose spirit is no deceit!
3 When I kept silent, my bones became brittle from my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was drained as in the summer’s heat. Selah
5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not conceal my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah
Repent
The word repentance comes from the Greek word metanoia. The prefix meta can mean “with”, “beside”, or “after”. The root noia is the verb form of the noun the we frequently find in the bible as nous. This is simply the Greek word for “mind”. In its simplest form, the term metanois has to do with “the mind afterward”, or, as we might say, “an afterthought”. In the Greek language, it came to mean “a significant changing of one’s mind.”
This is not just a matter of intellectual judgement, such as changing my approach after trying to solve a problem. It has to do with changing my mind with respect to my behavior.