Repentance; Confession
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
(Mark 1:4-5; 2 Cor. 7:10)—turning from sin toward God with sorrow, faith, and a resolved change of life. Those who came to John’s baptism confessed their sins; Christ gave the apostles authority to bind and loose and, after the Resurrection, breathed the Holy Spirit upon them with the words, “If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained” (Matt. 18:18; John 20:22-23).