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When someone repents of a public sin or of a sin which had to be reported to the consistory, the latter shall not accept his confession of sin unless the member concerned shows real amendment. The consistory shall determine whether the congregation shall be informed afterwards.
Church discipline is aimed at the salvation of the sinner and the
removal of the offence from the church of Christ.
In case of repentance, after the consistory has started to add
its admonitions, it shall accept the confession of sin if it is
accompanied by sufficient signs of repentance.
It is the consistory’s responsibility to determine whether the
whole congregation will be informed about this confession.
This shall happen if the sin was of a public nature. If the
offence was publicly committed, it must also be publicly removed
from the church of God.
It is really significant that this article on repentance and the
reconciliation of the sinner precedes the articles describing the
continuance of the church discipline procedure. This shows us
again that discipline is aimed at the salvation of the
sinner.
In civil courts a confession of guilt can be the ground for a
conviction. Not so in covenant life of the LORD with His
people!