웨스트민스터 신앙고백서의 참된 회개와 구약의 제사

True Repentance in the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Sacrifices of the Old Testament

This paper is to examine the correspondences between the teachings on true repentance in the 15th chapter of the Westminster Confession of Faith and those in relation to the guilt offering in the Old Testament. The investigation in this paper leads us to see the several corresponding points between these teachings. First, the Westminster Confession of Faith emphasizes that repentance is of necessity for the atonement of sin. The text on the guilt offering, likewise, stresses that repentance is obligatory for its atonement before the Lord. Second, the Confession proclaims that one has to declare his repentance through a private or public confession. The regulations concerning the guilt offering also requires the sinner to make reparation for his sin and confess his sin before offering his sacrifice (Num. 5:7). Third, while explaining the teachings of the Confession concerning true repentance, A. A. Hodge pointed out that the sinner is clearly "in debt to the man he has injured", so it is necessary for him "to make every possible restitution to his feelings and interests". The guilt offering provides the perspective that sin should be understood as a debt and thereby the sinner should make restitution for this debt. Finally, the Westminster Confession of Faith makes it clear that repentance cannot be "any cause of the pardon" of sin, because its forgiveness is "the act of God's free grace in Christ", yet it is "of such necessity to all sinners, that none may expect pardon without it". The regulations of the guilt offering show us that even after confessing his sin and making restitution, the sinner is still not truly forgiven, until he properly deals with his sin in relation to God. Only after he offers a ram as a guilt offering to the Lord and it is accepted by Him, his sin can be forgiven.