Isaiah tells us that
This is the one I esteem: he who is humble and contrite in spirit
(Is 66:2).
Contrition is an acknowledgement of guilt, an acceptance that sin is bad, and being ashamed of it as a consequence. Dictionary definitions of the English word even go as far as to say it means
broken in spirit
,
implying being crushed or devastated. Accounts of past revivals often show that those affected had a heightened sense of their sin. This leads some to suggest that this is what is lacking in today's church. Is this so? Should we work on deepening this sense of contrition in us? Do we need to express prolonged and deep remorse before we can receive the mercy of God? And is this something that we ought to be practising at all times?
Another quotation expands on God's thoughts on this subject:
I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite. I will not accuse for ever, nor will I always be angry, for then the spirit of man would grow faint before me - the breath of man that I have created (Isa 57:15,16).
This is under the Old Covenant, which Paul calls the
ministry of condemnation
.
Yet even here we see grace showing through. God's desire is yes, that sin be acknowledged, that it be seen as bad, and that shame is felt. But it doesn't remain like that. He is not out to completely break man's spirit, but rather to revive it. He does not want that sense of shame to persist into being broken, crushed, and devastated. So biblical contrition does not go as far as the English dictionary would suggest. God offers another pathway, a process to go through, starting from that feeling of shame but ending with a healed spirit.
Lessons From Revival
The New Covenant is the fulfilment of this aspiration. Revivals are about the New Covenant, and they demonstrate this process in practise. There is an account from the Welsh Revival of 1904 of a meeting where the weeping and agony of those struggling with their sin was mixed with the praise and singing of others who had found their salvation:
Order gave place to confusion. Some were shouting,
No more, Lord Jesus, or I die!
Others cried for mercy. The noise of weeping, singing and praising, together with the sight of many who had fainted or lay prostrate on the ground in an agony of conviction was as unbelievable as it was unprecedented.(1)
Onlookers might be nonplussed. They would see agony and ecstasy together in the same gathering. How could one event spark such disparate emotions? There is another, more personal account, which illustrates the transition between these emotions, through a valley of despair to a mountain top of relief:
Among the converts perhaps the most widely known was William Hughes. Driven from home by unemployment, he had roamed far afield in search of work and found himself in the closing months of 1904 working as a miner in one of the Glamorgan pits. Brought under conviction while attending one of Dan Roberts' meetings, he experienced bitter remorse and intense spiritual conflict. There were times of mental torment at the remembrance of past sins when his whole physical frame would be overwhelmed with uncontrollable shivering. He longed to be alone with God, so that he could shout his confession and cry for mercy without restraint. At last the opportunity came when he was working underground on a lonely section of the coal face.
He entered the familiar
(2)
man-hole
- the miner's place of refuge from the coal trucks passing - and he felt as if the air were thick with his own curses of bygone days. Then with a cry and shout, as if his whole nature were being rent, he prayed for God's mercy and help. And as he cried, he felt as if a physical burden were being lifted from him, borne on slow strong wings through the roof of the mine, and away forever. The worst of the conflict was over in that one tremendous moment. Tears came, but their bitterness was gone; songs came, with or without words, but all-triumphant.
This was a revival, revealing the process of salvation in bold relief. We can contrast this with what happens in more
normal
times. A possible scenario is someone living in a carefree manner. At some age his conscience may be awakened and he becomes aware of his failings. These may accumulate over time, causing inner guilt and depression. At some point he encounters the message of Christ, and eventually after a period of cogitation he accepts the message and his burden is lifted.
The two pathways I have described both bear witness to two stages in the salvation process. The first is a troubling awareness of the awfulness of sin, bringing guilt, shame, depression, or even agony. The second is a grateful realisation of God's mercy, bringing relief or ecstasy.
The two-stage process, whether in a revival or not, can be seen as the work of the Holy Spirit. Referring to the
Helper
,
the Spirit of Truth
(John 16:13),
Jesus said
He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment
(John 16:8 NKJV).
Conversion can be seen to relate to these three convictions as follows:
The despair, or shame and depression stage is from the conviction of sin.
The ecstasy or relief stage follows the conviction of righteousness.
The prospect of judgement is what makes all this matter, and of more than academic interest. God is the judge of all the earth.
Concerning judgement, it is of interest that the knowledge of the nature and reality of hell was hardly mentioned in the Old Testament. The nearest reference I am aware of there is the
shame and everlasting contempt
in Daniel (Dan 12:2).
It was Jesus who revealed the truth about this place, as we read his words in the gospels. But knowing only about hell leads to the despair that I have discussed. So it is fitting that once hell has been revealed, God also provided a way out of the despair. This was through the ministry of Jesus, the revelation of the Gospel, and the conviction of righteousness and assurance of salvation by the Spirit. This shows how it is not God's intention to leave mankind in that sort of agony, just as we saw previously in the quote from Isaiah concerning the contrite. Before Christ, the true nature of hell was hidden. When Jesus came, yes, he did teach about hell, but he brought grace along with the truth. His personal ministry of grace was a reassurance. And, since the coming of the Holy Spirit, we can receive complete assurance of salvation in the name of Jesus. Praise be to God for his unfailing love and wisdom!
The three convictions, though disparate, have this in common. They are not natural. Animals know fear and pleasure, but this agony of knowing sin, and ecstasy of finding redemption, are unknown to them. The fact that they occur in revivals, and the fact that, according to Jesus, they are the work of the Holy Spirit, both testify to the supernatural element involved. Those who deny their sin can be self-righteous and proud. Those who accept their sin, but not that there is a God who judges, will likely remain as they are. Those who accept their sin, know of God's wrath against sin, but do not know the Gospel, will likely become depressed or even despairing, and unfruitful. We need to be convicted of sin, and righteousness, and judgement, all three!
So it is the Holy Spirit who convicts of these [unseen] things, but we learn in Hebrews that
Faith is ... the conviction of things not seen
(Heb 11:1 ESV).
The noun
conviction
here and the verb
convict
quoted above both have the same root in the Greek, as they do in English in the particular versions I have selected. So when the Holy Spirit convicts, he is, obviously, bringing conviction, which is exactly what faith is. So the Spirit is actually imparting faith. When we receive faith, that is called believing. We need to believe that we are sinners, and we need to believe in salvation by means of the gospel. We need both.
It may come as a surprise that conviction of sin is by faith. It can be described as a necessary but not sufficient condition for receiving salvation. It is an essential step on the way, and is therefore of great importance. But on its own it can bring depression, unhappiness, misery, or agony. It is knowing the problem, but not the cure. But we
have
to know the problem, before we can value the cure. This is where the law comes in.
Now the law came in to increase the trespass
(Rom 5:20 ESV).
The law can turn what is only a vague sense of unease somewhere deep within our conscience into a strong conviction that we have broken God's law and are subject to judgement. This may be an unwelcome insight, but an essential one on our path to life.
So we should not view a revival, see the weeping, despair and groaning over sin, and conclude that this alone is what we need more of. These are valid emotional responses to the conviction of sin, and evidence of the consequent guilt and shame. But God does not give us that conviction in order to leave us there. His desire is to
to revive the heart of the contrite
.
He has the Answer, his Son, and longs for us to accept him. I would suggest that where there is a preponderance of agony and despair which does not resolve into peace, that there has been a strong presentation of the Law and the demands of God, but a relatively weak presentation of the Cross. We need the conviction of righteousness as well.
The fact that conviction of righteousness, or justification, is also a matter of faith is well attested to in Paul's letters, as already discussed. His gospel message that he received directly and supernaturally by revelation (Gal 1:12)
was to the effect that we are justified by grace through faith, and not by works (Eph 2:8-9).
So we need to have faith in our justification, that is, have a conviction that we are justified, which means being declared righteous. And this is exactly the work of the Comforter, according to Jesus, convicting us of this righteousness.
A righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last
(Rom 1:17).
This righteousness from God is so effective that the guilt and shame element of contrition is completely dealt with.
There is another testimony from the same revival:
he [Nantlais Williams] spent a whole night
to knock and plead at the door of mercy
without any release. At the Saturday night meeting, however, as he joined almost involuntarily in the hymn-singing he felt a heavenly joy in his soul.
Having sat down on returning home I realized, quietly and without any great commotion, that it is by believing we receive salvation; not through effort and anguish in prayer all night on my part, but through the wrestling of Another for me in the Garden, and on the cross; yes, by relying on him and his bloody sweat and dying agony. O! what deliverance! What peace! I believed, because the way of life had been unmistakably revealed to me. Well, well. So simple, so near, so plain, so free! The way of salvation is so endearing in its conditions!
(3)
This seeker sought mercy, because he was convicted of sin, knew that it was bad, and felt ashamed. He was contrite. But he found an effective answer, not through effort or anguish on his part, but in believing, just as Abraham believed God, and was blessed (Gal 3:6‑9). Anything else only helps to the extent that it points us towards this goal of faith.
The quotations above refer to being contrite in spirit. So external displays of contrition are not being called for in those verses. For example, the practice of wearing sackcloth and ashes, or dust and ashes, was common in Old Testament times. It was associated with both grief and contrition. In the latter case I suggest it was used to emphasize the depth of one's contrition to a distant, foreign or angry deity. Daniel used it in on the occasion of his prayer of confession (Dan 9:3). In his case he judged that God was angry with Israel for breaking the covenant, and maybe was distant because he was exiled from the promised land. To repeatedly tell God we are sorry, or deeply sorry, is the equivalent of this practice, but we do not need to take either of these approaches. God has provided a way of salvation, and the door to it will remain shut until we believe what he has done.
Tears did not help Esau when pleading with Isaac. He sought his blessing with tears, but was denied it (Heb 12:17). Climbing the steps of Scala Sancta in 1510 didn't open the door for Martin Luther. Confession to the chief priests did not help Judas Iscariot. He was not restored (Matt 27:4). Confessing all that you can think of doesn't open the door. Shouting louder was advocated by Elijah to the prophets of Baal, but not practised by him. It did not help them (1 Kings 18:27). None of these things work by themselves. Instead they are evidence that there is still unbelief in the work of the Cross. We may try some of them when we don't know God, before we believe in him. We try them because we don't know him, since to us he is a foreign, angry, or distant God. While our faith is in these efforts and struggles they avail nothing. They are works, but according to the Gospel, we are justified by faith, not works (Rom 4:4-6). To feel the need to work on our contrition is to say, in effect, that faith alone cannot be sufficient, that I need to do something. But God is patient, and he does not hold these things against us while we use them.
One prayer that can be used is simply a cry to God for help, whether expressed outwardly or inwardly only. To do that is to admit one's own need. It is an admission of an inability to help oneself. It is the opposite of trying to
do
something to gain God's approval. God hears such cries. The Israelites in Egypt
groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God
(Ex 2:23).
Psalm 107 portrays several groups who
cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress
(Ps 107:6).
Peter cried out
Lord, save me!
when he began to sink (Matt 14:30).
This prayer for help is consistent with the Gospel, in which God offers help to those who cannot help themselves. I suggest that it was such a cry by William Hughes in the coal mine that God answered and brought him through to faith. If we need to plead harder, it is because we don't believe that God is merciful. He does hear our cries, but he is waiting until we believe the gospel message about Christ and his finished work. Then the Holy Spirit completes the transaction by convicting us of righteousness, dropping faith into our hearts. It is essential therefore that we hear the gospel. It is essential that we open our hearts to it. When we do that, then the Holy Spirit can come and impart the faith we need. There is only one way.
(John 6:28-29).
The Father sent his beloved Son to be the way of salvation. There is no other way. All we have to do is believe. This is also the way of humility. We cannot add any of our own work, thinking it will help:
What must we do to do the works God requires?
Jesus answered,
The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent
not of works, so that no-one can boast
(Eph 2:9).
Salvation is not based on self-righteousness, or righteousness based on the Law, or based on our own piety. God has deliberately designed the way of redemption to require just a change of mind and a belief in Jesus, and he did this so that not one of us can boast about our part. Once we do this, our shame is taken away, and our spirit is revived. Let us accept this, be humble and believe.
Guilt
As discussed above, conviction of sin is essential, and some may need a fresh encounter with the Law to bring this about. Without knowledge of salvation it will produce a feeling of guilt, with associated depression and shame, or even groaning and despair. The Gospel is the answer.
After we are saved, we can still sin. Being convicted of sin, and then of righteousness, is not a single event in our lives. The Spirit will continue to convict us of sin as long as is necessary and maybe as long as we live. Hopefully we will grow in the Lord as he deals with us. Someone may for example be violent and overcome that, only to realise later that they can still be aggressive. Then they may overcome that as well, only to realise later that they are impatient with others. After that they may still be judgemental. Considering that whatever is not of faith is sin, then the opportunities for finding more and more areas where we need to improve is quite extensive. The good news is that the Lord knows all of this already, and has made full provision. Where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more. We can continue to live by the gift of righteousness that we received by grace through faith, and our relationship with the Lord is maintained.
Having the righteousness of God as a free gift removes any guilt. One cannot be righteous and guilty at the same time. By faith we forgive and accept ourselves because God himself has forgiven and accepted us. This is unlike those under the Old Covenant, whose sacrifices had to be repeated year after year because the guilt was not permanently dealt with. If it had been, then
the worshippers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins
(Heb 10:2).
So, if our sense of guilt persists, whether for current or past sins, it is a signal that we are doubting the gift of righteousness freely offered to believers. Either we cannot forgive ourselves, or we feel as if we haven't atoned for sin sufficiently. Guilt that persists is a problem. Guilt is like bodily pain. Pain has a purpose, to tell us something is wrong and to sort it out. But when it becomes chronic pain, its usefulness is gone. Instead it becomes harmful in itself to body and mind. Guilt has a similar purpose, to tell us we've
done
something wrong, and that we need to sort it out. If the guilt remains it causes stress in body and mind, the same as pain. So it can actually be harmful to us. Guilt itself is a problem, and we need a solution. But we have the solution! Guilt is a sense of condemnation, and justification is the opposite of condemnation. Justification, freely offered by God, solves our problem of guilt to such an extent that Paul declares that we are holy and blameless in his sight (Eph 1:4).
There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
(Rom 8:1).
God foresaw our need to be set free, and provided the atoning sacrifice, the Lamb, to do just that
(see Gen 22:8, Rom 3:25).
Jesus did not die on the Cross to make us guilty. Exactly the opposite! It's part of God's plan that we be freed from guilt. He said to Isaiah:
your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for
(Isa 6:7).
His guilt was removed so that he was able to say
Here am I. Send me!
.
We have been offered the same promise in Christ -
your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.
A promise of God has no value unless it is combined with faith in the hearer (Heb 4:2).
So what should we do whenever that feeling of guilt returns? How do we
sort it out
?
Acknowledge in our heart any wrong before the Lord, which means to agree with the Lord about it, and then accept by faith that we have already received that blessed gift of righteousness, and that our guilt has been removed. Then let our hearts be filled with gratitude and praise to the One who paid the price with his own precious blood.
Repentance
John the Baptist preached a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Paul also stated
I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus
(Acts 20:21).
So repentance is required. Some say that the Church needs more repentance, especially after reviewing past revivals. This is true, but I suspect that what many mean by this is more contrition, more remorse, more sense of guilt, as discussed above. Contrition and repentance are similar but not the same. The Greek word translated repentance means
change of mind
.
Such a change would usually have a cause, and in our context the cause would be the recognition of sin and the understanding that it is bad, elements of contrition as discussed. Whereas contrition results in guilt and shame, repentance follows a different course: a change of mind, with the aim of correcting the situation. There is a beautiful example during the siege of Samaria at the time of Elisha. Some lepers found that the enemy had fled and they started to plunder their camp. Then they said,
We're not doing right
(2 Kings 7:9).
That is repentance. They changed their mind and went to the city to make a report. Repentance means to change one's mind about actions, thoughts and attitudes that are wrong and seek a better way in future. So it is similar to contrition, in that it implies that sin is recognized and seen as bad. But it is without the aspect of being ashamed, and particularly without the dictionary connotation of being broken, crushed and defeated. Jesus taught a parable about this:
There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said,
Son, go and work today in the vineyard
.
I will not
,
he answered, but later he
changed his mind
and went. Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered,
I will, sir,
but he did not go
(Matt 21:28-30).
Jesus accepted the conclusion of the listeners that it was the first son who did what his father wanted. This son didn't dwell on his wrong initial decision. He changed his mind and went. And that was enough to receive the implicit approval of Jesus. Notice how satisfied Jesus was with him. He did not berate him for not having and expressing a deeper sense of remorse. Jesus likened this to the tax collectors and prostitutes who went to John the Baptist and believed him. They changed their minds, too.
To reiterate, Paul said:
I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus
(Acts 20:21).
This means we need to change our mind, acknowledge our wrong, turn to God, and believe the Gospel. Note that Paul gave this same message to both Jews and Greeks. Jews had the law and were inclined to believe that this justified them before God. So in their minds they needed no further justification. Greeks did not have the law and either justified themselves or felt no need to be justified at all. Until all these attitudes are challenged, the Gospel, which offers justification, makes no sense. We have to change our minds about these truths first, and accept our own wretched condition before a just God. This is why we need to
Repent, and believe in the Gospel
(Mark 1:15 NKJV),
rather than just believe the Gospel. When we do that, the guilt and shame is dealt with, completely. And we are in a position to say with Isaiah
Here am I. Send me!