Introduction:
After Adam and Eve had eaten the forbidden fruit, they were filled with a sense of shame and fear. Their only thought was how they might excuse their disobedience and escape the dreaded sentence of death. In response to God's questions, they demonstrated the spirit of self-justification, which spirit originated with the father of lies. It is the same spirit of self-justification that has been demonstrated by all the sons and daughters of Adam from that time to this. However, a confession that seeks to lessen the guilt by justifying the wrong, is not acceptable to God.

1. What is our natural condition?
Romans 3:10-12________________________________________________________________

2. What is it that has separated us from God?
Isaiah 59:1, 2________________________________________________________________

3. How do we know what sin is?
Romans 3:20____________________________________________________________________

4. How many have broken God's law?
Romans 3:23____________________________________________________________________

5. How many of our sins does God have a knowledge of?
Ecclesiastes 12:14_____________________________________________________________

6. Is it possible to hide any of our sins from God?
Psalm 90:8_____________________________________________________________________

7. Why is it not possible for us to put our lives in order before coming to Jesus?
Isaiah 64:6____________________________________________________________________
Note: The Bible does not teach that we must repent before coming to Christ. Jesus is the Source of every right impulse, and it is only as His Spirit works upon the heart that we are able to recognize our condition and develop a realization of our great need. Every desire for purity and reconciliation with God is evidence that His Spirit is moving on our hearts. It is not for us to say, "I will come to God after I have cleaned up my life." We have been ruined by our hate, jealousy, pride, lust, and selfishness. For there to be any change, our thoughts and actions must be re-created by the power of God.

8. What did the apostle tell his listeners was the first step to be taken in the process of salvation?
Acts 3:19______________________________________________________________________

9. What leads us to repentance?
Romans 2:4_____________________________________________________________________

10. What always follows repentance?
1 John 1:9_____________________________________________________________________
Note: Confession is our admission that things are as they are, with no shading of facts to cover guilt. Once we clearly understand the nature of the wrong, to refuse to admit or confess that this is the case is to imply that the need for forgiveness does not exist, and so long as we feel no need, no forgiveness is received. Self has many ingenious ways of adjusting reality in our minds, to alleviate guilt; but only with open and frank admission of the truth can the forgiveness be received, and thus guilt removed.

11. What will true repentance lead us to do?
Ezekiel 33:14-16_______________________________________________________________
Note: It is the incomprehensible love of God for a rebellious race that melts the stubborn heart and fills the sinner with remorse for the pain that his rebellion has cost heaven. When we look at the dying Saviour, we behold a love that is beyond our feeble comprehension, and we are filled with loathing for the sins that caused His death. Without this enmity for sin, there can be no true turning away from it, and thus no repentance.

12. What is a repentance that leads to a change in life called?
2 Corinthians 7:10_____________________________________________________________
Note: A worldly sorrow differs from true repentance in that worldly sorrow regrets the results of sin, rather than the sin itself. True repentance reflects a change of mind and is accompanied by a reformation--a corresponding change of life.

13. What parallel work often needs to accompany the confession of our sins to God?
James 5:16____________________________________________________________________
Note: While all sins should be confessed to God, only those sins which have directly injured another should be confessed to the injured person. We may have become careless in our dealings with others, we may not have always been careful to tell the truth, or we may have damaged the character of another, and while it takes courage to rectify such wrongs, the willingness to do so is the test of a true Christian.

14. Why is God so long-suffering and ready to show such mercy to men?
2 Peter 3:9____________________________________________________________________

15. In what way did God demonstrate His love and His willingness to accept us?
Romans 5:8_____________________________________________________________________

16. In addition to repentance, what else must be present to obtain forgiveness?
Matthew 6:14, 15_______________________________________________________________
Note: By showing an unwillingness to extend to others the same blessing we receive from our heavenly Father, we show ourselves unworthy of the blessing He desires to give us. See Matthew 18:21-35.

17. What is said of the life of the converted Christian?
2 Corinthians 5:17_____________________________________________________________
Note: God has an inexhaustible supply of grace with which to heal every spiritual disease. It unites human beings with Christ, enabling them to walk in the path of willing obedience. Through the influence of the Spirit of God, man is transformed; his taste is refined, his judgment sanctified, his heart cleansed; he becomes complete in Christ.

18. What takes place if we repent of our sins but do not replace our evil deeds with good ones?
Luke 11:24-26__________________________________________________________________
Note: We must pre-occupy the mind with good if we would not have it filled with evil. "Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." Romans 12:21.

19. For what purpose were we created?
Ephesians 2:10_________________________________________________________________

20. How are we able to live this new life of righteousness?
Romans 8:2-4___________________________________________________________________
Note: Christ came to destroy the works of the devil (see 1 John 3:8), and He has made provision that the Holy Spirit shall be imparted to every repentant soul to keep him from sinning.

21. What is Christ's invitation to us?
Matthew 11:28-30_______________________________________________________________
Note: Jesus invites us to come to Him, and He will lift the weights from our weary shoulders and place upon us His burden, which is light. The path in which He invites us to walk would never cost us a pain or sorrow had we always walked in it. The sacrifices which we must make in following Christ are only the steps necessary, if we are to return to the path of peace and happiness. We may choose God's way, and live; we may choose our own way, and know that sin has entered into the world, and death by sin.

22. What is Christ's promise to those who accept His invitation?
John 6:37______________________________________________________________________
Nothing that in any way concerns us is too small for our heavenly Father to notice. There is no chapter in our experience too dark for Him to read; there is nothing which perplexes us that is too difficult for Him to unravel. No calamity can befall us, no anxiety harass the soul, no joy or cheer, no sincere prayer escape our lips, which our heavenly Father fails to observe, or in which He fails to take an immediate interest. The relation between God and each soul is as distinct and full as though there were not another soul upon the earth to share His watchcare, not another soul for whom He gave His beloved Son.

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