PERSONAL REVIVAL
TeacherÕs Manual
Christians have subjective
experiences from the Holy Spirit. We are Ôled by the SpiritÕ,[1]
and have Ôthe witness of the SpiritÕ[2].
The internal nature of these makes them difficult to describe.
The teacher will try to
concretize these so the student can learn to hear from God personally via the
means of grace, be led by God and grow in faith. This course assumes Christians
in this dispensation can hear from God personally and subjectively through the
Word, prayer and fellowship, without falling into mysticism or extra-biblical
revelation.
Reformed
teachers correctly reject extra-biblical revelation practiced by some groups.
This may cause a negative reaction to the idea of subjective spiritual
experiences. The Bible, however, makes it clear that Christians should expect
Spirit-initiated experiences through which we have communion with God. By
establishing a few biblical parameters, Christians can enjoy walking in the
Spirit without the dangers of extra-biblical revelations and the errors that
proceed from them.
Some
tend to relate more to sound doctrine than to Christ. Doctrine is not God.
Others relate to the church as their primary means of spiritual nourishment
while lacking the personal disciplines of Bible reading and prayer. The church
is not God. Our, ÔcommunionÕ is with God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ,[3]
and this is principally subjective.
A
key goal of the course is to help Christians appreciate their identity as
saints with remnants of corruption rather than as totally depraved sinners.
The teacherÕs goal is to bring the student into a vibrant
communion with the Lord, without mysticism, legalism or similar pitfalls, along
with a new confidence in his walk with God.
Goal: By the end of this lesson, the student will
understand the overall goals and purposes of the course. The teacher may use
the material above under ÒIntroduction to the Teacher.Ó The student will also
have understood the importance and dynamics of a personal quiet time for
applying the principle means of grace, the Word of God.
Materials: One-page course outline for the students// A
skeleton outline of Lesson One for taking notes.
1. What is a
quiet time?
A quiet time is a period of time in the morning dedicated to
communion with God through the Word and prayer.
Show here how various men of God throughout history had a
morning quiet time as a habit of life. Ps..5:5; 63:1; 88:13; Dan.6:10; Mk.1:35
I like to use the texts
below, showing how the Spirit speaks to believers. [The teacher can distribute
these texts either on a separate sheet, or simply refer to some of them as part
of the introduction to the class.]
John 10:27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know
them, and they follow me.
Rom. 8:14 because those who are led by the
Spirit of God are sons of God.
Rom. 8:15 For you did not receive a spirit that
makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by
him we cry, ÒAbba, Father.Ó
Rom. 8:16 The Spirit himself testifies with our
spirit that we are GodÕs children.
1John 5:9 We accept manÕs testimony, but GodÕs
testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given
about his Son.
1John 5:10 Anyone who believes in the Son of God
has this testimony in his heart.
Explain what is an analogy. (This is like that, therefore this.) God has
created our minds to think by comparing one thing with another. ThatÕs why he
gave us stories. The Spirit leads us to biblical principles and shows us the
relationship between the principle and ourselves. We make the connection.
Hearing from God is when the
Spirit makes a comparison between what is in the Word and our own
circumstances. That is an analogy. It is subjective, involving the whole man.
This avoids mysticism because God does not bypass our intellect.
How do we get better? Looking to Christ is the only way. The process is
called sanctification. Later on you will deal with false ways people try to get
better, such as legalism or seeking special experiences. A good text for
teaching us to look to Christ alone is Heb.12:2— Looking unto Jesus
the author and finisher of our faith.
Means of grace. Explain
that God has given us practical means to look to Jesus; The Word, prayer and
fellowship.
During the
course, we instruct the students that they should have their quiet time in
the morning, mainly in the New Testament.
They may not
use commentaries or study notes. The purpose is not a Bible study. It is for
hearing from God.
You
may use some of the verses below to show that men of God throughout history had
a kind of quiet time. Ps.5:5; 63:1; 88:13; Dan.6:10; Mk.1:35. The points in
common were: They did it in the morning. It was habitual.
Explain
the basic elements of a quiet time: Prayer, praise, confession and reading the
Word. The order may vary according to personal taste.
4. Keeping a
truth book
We require students to get a notebook. Every day, they
should write the date, the text of scripture they feel God has spoken to them
through and the application. Mention to the students that in the next class, we
will have volunteers who share with the class something they heard from God
during the week.
Lesson
Two: OOPS! (Using without abusing
the Bible)
Procedure:
Give out the dynamic, ÔRight Way vs. Wrong WayÕ. You may
have them divide into groups of two or three.
The main point: We must not read
into the text anything not intended by the writer. This adds to scripture and
is an abuse of GodÕs word.
1. A young man in missionary training, seeking GodÕs
will about which field to go to, found the name,ÒBarzilaiÓ in 2 Samuel 17:27.
Because of the similarity between this name and the word ÒBrazilÓ, he decided
this was evidence that God was calling him to that
country.
Use_____ Abuse___________
Why? __________________________________________________________________
2. A young man was reading the Bible while seeking
the will of God about a possible marriage. He found the story of Jesus healing
PeterÕs mother in law. From this he concluded that he ought to marry.
Use_____ Abuse___________
Why? __________________________________________________________________
3. A lady had been complaining about the ministry of the
pastor and the elders in his church. While he was reading James Chapter 3, she
found the statement, ÒThe tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. She concluded
that God was speaking to here about her misuse of the tongue.
Use_____ Abuse_______
Why?
__________________________________________________________________
4. A missionary was praying and fasting about
evangelizing a neighboring province in which no church existed. He was struck
by the statement of the Apostle Paul in 2 Cor.10:16, Ò...to preach the
gospel in the regions beyond you.Ó From this he began to consider that God was
guiding him to evangelize in that province.
Use_____ Abuse___________
Why?
__________________________________________________________________
Goal: Help believers
learn biblical prayer; to whom we pray, on what authority, for what.
Materials: StudentÕs
notes
Procedure: This lesson is more like a Bible study than the
proceeding. The teacher needs to cover the basics of prayer, without going too
deeply into it. The idea is to get them to do it, not understand it in detail.
Do not forget that before each
lesson, one or two volunteers will share what God has given them out of the
Word that week. This helps the teacher verify if the students are learning
spiritual disciplines.
i. Luke
18, parable of unjust judge.
ii. Mt.7:7- Ask, seek, knock
iii. ÒGod
is Latin.Ó (A favorite saying of missionaries in Latin America. It seems he
always arrives later than we think he ought to, sometimes at the last possible
moment.)
Explain here that we pray to the Father in the name of
Jesus. Use Jn.16:23-28 & Mt. 6:9— LordÕs prayer starts with ÔOur
FatherÉÕ Not Ôdear Jesus.Õ
Clarify it is not wrong to pray
directly to Jesus when requesting things. This is not, however, what Jesus
himself instructed us to do. Jesus came to bring us to the Father. 1Pet.3:18
Our communion with God is first with the Father. 1Jn.1:4 Many Christians pray directly to Jesus
and then finish the prayer Ôin JesusÕ name.Õ This makes little sense.
Worship is a different matter. We worship each member of the
Trinity separately or collectively.
Worship of God (as one entity)— Mt. 4:10
Worship of the Father— Jn.4:21
Worship of Jesus—Mt. 28:9
[The teacher
needs to evaluate the spiritual level of his students and how much time he may
need to spend on it. Among former Catholics this point is vital and takes up a
lot of time. For some students, this may be old hat, so the teacher can brush
over it.]
Goal: Help students
understand the principles of divine guidance. By the end of the lesson the
student should understand:
1. Guidance is a product of oneÕs
communion with God and this communion is by applying the means of grace,
starting with a personal quiet time.
2. Guidance is associated with our
grasp of the essence of divine wisdom and therefore does not bypass the
intellect.
3. Guidance is involved with
evidence.
Materials: Student Notes// SmallingsÕ Article on
guidance as a handout. Available from web site, http://www.smallings.com/LitEng/Essays/GuidedByGod.html
Procedure: Though
the handout covers the same material, there is no substitute for a teacher
explaining the essence in class. The handout is therefore a supplement.
The following is the way I
proceed. The teacher may adjust this material according to personal taste.
I like to start with Eph.5:17 to
show that divine guidance in this dispensation is involved with ÔunderstandingÕ
and not being Ôunwise.Õ Wisdom and understanding are the foundation stones for
us today, not mystical revelations. Though we do not exclude mystical
experiences as means of guidance, these are the not ordinary ways God works.
The army has a term for the usual
way of doing things: S.O.P., ÒStandard Operating Procedure.Ó In battle, S.O.P.
often goes out the window. Likewise, God has his standard procedures with us,
but there may be exceptions.
Explain why this is so. Why not
guidance by prophets, through dreams and visions as our spiritual S.O.P.? Answer: These were standard in the Old
Testament dispensation, Heb.1:1-2. Now, all the people of God have the Spirit
and are required to learn wisdom, for themselves as well as for ministry to
others. Even if dreams and visions occur today, they are no longer the norm.
Now use James 3:17 to show the
characteristics of divine wisdom. To keep it simple, I use only the first two,
purity and peace.
At times we are confronted in
life with deciding between two options in something important. How do we know
which option is from God. HereÕs a clue: The one that is NOT from God will
usually have an element of duplicity in it. Satan can duplicate almost all of
the characteristics in James 3:17, except purity.
The Word: What God says in our quiet time.
Col. 3:16 Let the word of Christ
dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and
as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to
God.
Prayer:
Answers to prayer are a pretty good indication.
Phil. 4:6-8 —Do not be
anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with
thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding,
will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Fellowship:
In particular, the godly counsel of the church leadership
Heb. 13:17 Obey your leaders and submit to their
authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them
so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no
advantage to you.
After this, proceed with the
Ôsign posts.Õ You can use various illustrations to show the need of more than
one Ôsign.Õ I like to use the triangulation idea by which navigation is done.
The biblical notion of two or three witnesses works well also. Invent your own illustration
if you wish.
Refer to SmallingÕs article for
explanation of these.
a.
Sign-post 1: Personal leadings from scripture
b.
Sign-post 2: Inner peace Col. 3:15
c.
Sign-post 3: Godly counsel Heb.13:17
d.
Sign-post 4: Open doors (opportunities)
Goal: Most students have misconceptions about faith. Some
think it is a mystical experience over which they have no control. Others
confuse faith with hope or passivity. The teacherÕs goal is to correct these
misconceptions and define faith properly as simple trust in GodÕs ability to
keep his promises. The teacher must also link hearing from God through a quiet
time and growth in faith.
Materials: SmallingÕs article Faith: How to Make It Grow, on our web site.
TeacherÕs resource: Sermon outline on Growing In Faith,
secret URL, http://www.smallings.com/secret/FaithSermon.pdf
Procedure: This
class is like a Bible study. I suggest using Romans 4:16-21 to start. In my opinion, it is better to pass out
the article after the class, because the students may be tempted to read it
while you are teaching.
i. Faith,
in and of itself, is an important virtue that deserves great reward.
ii. Faith
is believing something without evidence.
iii. Faith
is the basis of our salvation, the reason why God accepts us.
iv. Faith
is a spiritual force we manipulate to produce whatever we need.
v. Faith
is a spiritual experience to help us feel better about ourselves.
The best definition of biblical faith, in my opinion, is
Rom.4:21 being fully persuaded that God had power
to do what he had promised.
This shows that faith is
ultimately the strong conviction, fully persuaded, of an ability of God, to do what he had promised.
At this
point, you as a teacher must make it emphatically clear that faith is not faith
unless associated with a promise of God. With a promise from God, we have
faith, but not mere hope. GodÕs promises turn hope into faith.
Paul
uses the example of Abraham who hoped to have a son. But when the promise came,
he had something solid to stand on.
How do we get promises from God,
applied personally to us? From the Word, via our quiet time. This is what
changes mere hope into faith.
Here is where you show the link
between their quiet time and growing in faith.
People often use the word ÔfaithÕ when they should be using
other words. Show here how faith is often counterfeited and may lead to
disappointment.
Biblical
faith does not mean Ôbelieving something without evidence or contrary to
evidenceÕ. This is the worldÕs definition, normally assumed as Christian.
Explain this is not a Judeo-Christian definition. Romans One shows us clear
evidence of the existence of God and his attributes. Romans Four then gives us
evidence to stand on, i.e., promises from God.
Reason
comes into play here when we evaluate GodÕs power in creation and deduce the
obvious. If God can create a universe, he can surely keep a promise.
Bible
faith has three components: Data, reason and trust.
The
data refers to the information we already have about GodÕs abilities and
character. Reason shows us the correlation between the data and our lives
relative to his promises. Trust means at some point we must decide to stand on
the promise regardless of circumstances.
(For a fuller explanation of these, you may refer to Chapter Six of
SmallingÕs book, Joyfully Justified, on their web site.)
Some
think proceeding in a project without careful planning is faith. That is not
faith. This thinking comes from a dualistic assumption about the real world,
which puts faith into an upper-story, non-rational category. A good text
against this is Luke 22:35-36, where Jesus sent out the disciples with nothing.
Upon their return, he established a new modus operandi, ÒNow I say to youÉÓ
A good text for this is James
Chapter 2
Tele-evangelists or preachers from
certain groups may show a brash confidence or great charm. New Christians can
be deluded into thinking this is faith, when it may be nothing but personality.
You may add other elements as you
see fit, depending on the needs of the students.
3. Summarize: Faith is dependence
on God to keep his promises. How do we get promises? From his word.
Goal: In this lesson, the teacher will show the student
his status before God as a saint with remnants of corruption, rather than a
sinner with some degree of grace. This should give a new boldness in prayer and
witness.
Materials:
Handout— SmallingÕs article Quit Calling
Yourself a Sinner
The first half of Ephesians
Procedure: [Note:
This lesson is extensive will take at least two classes and probably three. Its
importance justifies this.]
Christians may have a negative
self-concept because our awakened conscience makes us more aware of our faults
and the seriousness of sin. We perceive the remnants of our corruption more
clearly than we see Christ.
The world around us considers itself normal and is not. The only normal people
on earth are Christians. Yet the world will try to make us feel that we are the
abnormal ones. We are the one-eyed men in the valley of the blind.
Certain religious influences may
exacerbate this tendency. Converts from Catholicism may have a tough time
accepting they are saints before God.
Reformed churches often have an
unbalanced emphasis on our sinfulness, while ignoring our positive standing
with God. This may be a product of their rejection of Catholic pietism and the
self-righteousness of Arminian theology.
A key point the teacher needs to
2.
Use Ephesians 1-3 to show our new status in Christ.
3. Show why sin does not identify
Christians as sinners
Sin does not define us as sinners
any more than it condemns us. Likewise, moral excellence does not define us as
saints because the righteousness in which we stand is not our own.
An effective way to do this is to
use the first three chapters of Ephesians to list all the things Paul says we
are and have in Christ. Around 20 exist. Have the students find them as an
exercise, using the first chapter, which has about ten.
Ask some rhetorical questions:
ÒAre you a saint with remnants of corruption, or a sinner with a smattering of
grace?Ó ÒDo you feel like a saint?Ó Of course
they donÕt. They feel like sinners.
We notice that the first half of
Ephesians is positive, the wonderful things we are and have in Christ. The
second half starts with an exhortation to live according to that status. Eph.4:1— I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you
have received. Then follow
exhortations. We repent because we do not live according to our high status.
Group
exercise here: Have the students divide into small groups and read the first
three chapters of Ephesians, gleaning out of these chapters the things Paul
says we have and are in Christ. Then have the students share what they found.
Encourage them to do their own list and paste it in their Bibles. Do not tell
them you have a list already made to hand out if they want it. Tell them that
at the end of the class.
The New Testament makes it clear
that our acceptance with God is based on our union with Christ, not our moral
excellence. ÒIn ChristÓ or Òinto ChristÓ occurs 93 times in the New Testament.
Romans 8:1 is sufficient to show this, without going into it too much.
New believers think they are
accepted with God because they are forgiven. This is not quite right. Our union
with Christ and his imputed righteousness, is the grounds of our acceptance.
To describe this status, the
apostles used a variety of metaphors. You may choose any of these according to
the needs of the students and time available.
—Jn.5:24Éhe has crossed over from death to
life.
—1John 3:1 We know that we have passed from
death to life,
—Eph.2:1-3—
Were dead in sinsÉnow made alive in Christ.
—
Col.1:12Éin the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.
— Rev. 1:6 and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to
serve his God and FatherÉ
— Acts 26:18 to open their eyes and turn them from darkness
to lightÉ
d. Slave
or son?
— John 8:34 Jesus
replied, ÒI tell you the truth,
everyone who sins is a slave to sin.
35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs
to it forever.
—Gal. 4:6 Because you are sons, God sent the
Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ÒAbba, Father.Ó 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a
son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.
e. Which
power?
—Eph.2:1-3
—Acts 26:18
f. Who
is your ancestor?
—Rom.5, the
Adam-Christ parallel. We are no longer considered the offspring of Adam, but of
Christ.
g. To
what are we joined?
—Rom.6:5
If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will
certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.
h. Sinner or saint?
—Eph.1:1&Rom.8:1
cf the rest of the book.
Show that sinning does not define a
Christian as a sinner, any more than sin condemns us. Paul calls the Ephesians
ÔsaintsÕ and ÔfaithfulÕ and then exhorts them to stop doing certain bad things.
[Note: It is not wrong to call ourselves
sinners if we are simply admitting our remaining corruption in this life. It is
not biblical, however, to take that remaining corruption as our identity before
God. Only two verses in the New Testament seem to apply the term ÔsinnerÕ to a
Christian: James 4:8 &1Tim. 1:15.]
Use this chart if you think it is useful
|
Alienated from God |
GodÕs household |
|
Dead |
Alive |
|
Kingdom of darkness |
Kingdom of light |
|
Spirit of Satan |
Spirit of Christ |
|
Not people of God |
People of God |
|
Unsanctified |
Sanctified |
|
Enemy of God |
Friend of God |
|
Sinners |
Saints |
You may give out the ÒIn Christ I
AmÉÓ list as homework to attach to their Bible, if you wish. Or, have them
create their own list at home.
With formal classes, I require
the students to recite this list once a day during the course. Therefore they
may earn three points per day: one for reading the Bible, one for writing in
their diary and one for reciting this list.
The purpose of reciting this list is because it takes a
number of weeks for people to start believing it.
Handout for Lesson Six: Identity in Christ
In Christ I amÉ
A saint and faithful believer
Blessed with every spiritual blessing
Chosen in Christ
Holy and without blame
Loved by God
Predestined as his child
Adopted by God
The praise of his glory
A trophy of his grace
Redeemed by his blood
Forgiven
Partaker of the riches of his grace
Heir of God
Sealed with the Spirit
Alive in Christ
Seated in Heavenly places
Saved by grace
Created for good works
Heir of the covenant
Access to the Father
Fellow citizen with the saints of God
Member of GodÕs household
GodÕs dwelling place
Bold access to the throne of God
Sealed for redemption
A child of the light
A member of ChristÕs body
Goal: Teach new
believers how to live a life of repentance biblically, without morbid
introspection, legalism or pietism.
Materials: SmallingÕs essay, ÒQuit Calling Yourself a SinnerÓ
contains elements useful for this lesson also, if you wish to refer to it.
Also, you may use the handout at the end of this lesson, ÒOn RepentanceÓ. You
may give this as a handout. Or, select a few aspects and discuss them in class.
Suggested texts: IJn.1:5-9; Heb.4:16
Procedure: Build upon the previous lesson using Eph.4:1,
showing that Christians repent for different reasons than do sinners.
1.
Why do Christians repent?
a. Because
we do not live up to our legal status in Christ, as explained in the last
lesson. Show that God is no longer our judge, but our Father. Nevertheless he
is a ÔholyÕ Father and disciplines us. Heb.12:7-11
b.
Because we have broken GodÕs law, even though the law cannot
condemn us.
c.
Repentance means Ôchange your mindÕ. We always do what we
think is in our self-interest. We change our mind about believing that sinning
is the best way to meet our needs. (Example: Prodigal son)
2.
When do we repent?
a.
The Holy Spirit may point out through our quiet time something
we need to repent of.
b.
The Holy Spirit may speak through a sermon, an exhortation
from a friend or simply by speaking to our conscience.
3.
What repentance is not
a. Feeling
sorry. This may exist but is not repentance itself.
b. Not
saying ÔIÕm sorry.Õ We can and should say this, but this is not repentance
either. Repentance is a change of mind about our conduct and resolving to do
things GodÕs way.
4.
How we know when repentance is not taking place.
(See handout
ÒOn RepentanceÓ, below.) The moment we shift blame to something other than our
own corruption, we prove we are not repentant. Genesis Three makes that clear.
We are all experts at blame shifting and it takes time to unlearn it.
5.
Traps in repentance
a.
Majoring on it
We find little in the New
Testament about Christians repenting. This is not the primary focus for the
biblical Christian. One would think it should be, considering how much we sin.
However, just as sin does not define us as sinners, so repentance is not the
primary focus of a Christian.
Our focus is freedom. ÒIt is for
freedom Christ has set us free.Ó Ga.5:1 Freedom from what? From condemnation in
any sense. Free to do what? Approach God Ôwith confidenceÕ as a Father not as a
judge.
This approach is not to
trivialize the seriousness of our remaining corruption. It is to exalt the
grace of God through the finished work of Christ on the cross.
Is it wrong to contemplate our
remaining corruption? It depends on how much we do it. God provides a time and
place to do that once in a while. It is called ÒThe LordÕs SupperÓ which Paul
calls a Òmemorial.Ó This is not something we do every day.
A good illustration: We drive a
car by looking forward through the windshield. Once in a while, we glance in
the rearview mirror to see where we have been. If we focus mainly on the
mirror, we will crash.
b.
Looking at the cross from the wrong side
When unregenerate sinners come to
Christ, they come as law-breakers before a judge seeking mercy. After we are
saved, we come as a child with a problem, to a father.
We have heard people teach, Òwe
always have to go back to the cross.Ó This is confusing. Why go back to a
finished work?
No, we do not return to the
cross. We look back to see why we go
forward to the throne room of the Father with confidence. Heb.4:16 Let us then approach the throne of grace with
confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time
of need.
c.
Thinking we must apply the work of the cross to ourselves presently as a means
of forgiveness
It is the Holy Spirit who applies
the work of the cross to us. He does this continually and automatically. If it
were otherwise, we would have no time for communion with God.
1John
1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with
one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from
all sin.
A friend said, ÒIf you are not experiencing freedom and
fun, then you need to talk to the Lord because you have a problem.Ó[4]
Handout
On Repentance
1. How to tell when a
person (including yourself) is not truly repentant.
2. Blame shifting:
a. The other person: He
did such and such and so I reacted such and such. Or, I repent but the reason I
sinned is because you did so and so to provoke me.
b. The circumstances,
caused me to do it. The fact of the case is that the only ÔcauseÕ that God
recognizes is our own sinful hearts. Another slick way is to indirectly blame
God.
c. IÕm only human. (God
made me and so if I sin He is responsible. God is the sinner, not me.)
d. Calling sin something
else.
i. Wrong choice (The fault is really and ultimately a
lack of understanding on my part rather than a sinful heart.)
ii. Immaturity (The fault
is a lack of growth, not my sinful heart. This actually blames time for our sin rather
than ourselves. Time is not something that I control, therefore the blame is
shifted to something that is not me, and I am not therefore responsible.)
iii. Misfortune (I fell into. Sin was
therefore like a hole in the ground that I did not see, i.e., cannot be held
responsible for it because I did not put it there. The reality is that was
attracted to the hole in the first place because there was something in the
hole my heart likes.)
iv. A Trial (Calling
sinful conduct a trial rather than a sin. The Bible never does this.)
3. Self-pity. Acting
like a victim of sin rather than a sinner.
4. Excuse making
5. Trivializing
a. The sin I committed
is an isolated act non-typical of what is in my heart.
b. The consequences are
benign and therefore the sin is important. (All sin is important, although not
all acts are equally sinful.) My sin of gossip is not murder...therefore my
sin of gossip is trivial.
6. Generalized confessing.
(Asking forgiveness in vague terms for wrong-doing or sin in a very general
sense. As in ÔIÕm sorry I offended youÕ; rather than ÔI am sorry that I
committed the sin of XYZ against you.Õ)
7. What to do when a
Christian ÔapologizesÕ to you for offending you in vague terms. Two questions
to help both parties see the need of repentance.
8. Exactly what sin did
you commit that caused you to ask my forgiveness?
9. Exactly what sin did
I commit that provoked you to do that?