The mission of John the Baptist is described in the New Testament as the “voice of one crying out in the desert,” proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins (Mk 1:4; Is 40:3). In fact, these three words—sin, repentance, and forgiveness—indicate the entire focus of John’s mission, a mission that Jesus himself reaffirmed when he said, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mt 4:17). These three words have meaning for us today as well, because sin is part and parcel of the human fabric. Thus, the need for repentance and forgiveness persists to this day.
Sin itself is a matter of going down the wrong road, embracing something that takes us away from the one true God. To sin is to follow and imitate a false god. We get an idea of what a false god is in the Psalm that reads: “Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands…Those who make them become like them; as do all who trust in them” (Ps 115:4-8). In other words, false gods are those things with no lasting value, the illusions we treasure and prefer. We know what those illusions are because we know what captures our attention, and how we devote our time and energy. We know what matters to us.
For that reason, the god we worship—whether the true God or a false god—always motivates and energizes our decisions about what to pursue and how to live in the world (CCC 1782-89; CCC for Adults, p. 315). There is a spiritual line that separates the two possibilities, with legitimate attention and effort on one side, and the illusion of idol worship on the other. No rule of religion or theology draws this line for us. Each of us knows where the line is and when we cross it.
All of this is to say that sin is not simply a matter of breaking rules by doing this, or not doing that. Rather, sin is a mindset, a choice to turn away from the true God of love toward a false god of illusion. It follows that repentance is a decision to go back on the right road. What triggers a decision to repent is perhaps different for each of us, but St. Paul attributes the underlying motivation to God himself.
For Paul, the loving kindness of God leads a person to give up sinful ways and once again live with integrity, to live in a manner consistent with the values of God (Rm 2:4). In this sense, repentance is more often a process of transformation that begins with an awareness that we have crossed the line, that we have gone down the wrong road. Acknowledging and owning this error in turn leads to a desire for forgiveness.
Forgiveness is a standing offer from God, always available, without reserve, to those who ask for it (1 Jn 1:9). In fact, the word “pardon” first appears in the golden calf story when Moses says to God, “If I find favor with you, Lord, please…pardon our wickedness and sins, and claim us as your own.” God does just as Moses requests, thus revealing himself to be a God of mercy and forgiveness (Num 14:20).
This exchange between God and Moses shows that God does not deal with us according to our sins, but with his mercy. God is therefore our hope because he is gracious and slow to anger, a God of second chances who is eager to forgive our unfaithful behavior (Ps 103:8-10). Awareness of our loving God is often the inspiration we need to repent and remain steadfast on the right road.
