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Confession therefore serves a dual purpose: it brings forgiveness and frees God to chasten us without bringing accusations of inequity or injustice upon Himself.

If this sentence says what it appears to say, that chastening follows confession, it is dead wrong doctrine when talking about how God operates.

The most pertinent verse dealing with this is 1 John 1:9, as follows:

"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

When one has transgressed God's rules of behavior (including thoughts), The Indwelling Holy Spirit brings the sin and sinful intention to the regenerate mind, usually much sooner than would occur to an unsaved worldling. There are three ways that the child of God can respond to the warning from God's Spirit concerning his sin:

(1) to deny the occasion and ignore the summons of The Spirit to accountability at the bench of judgment, the Mercy Seat
(2) to admit of the instance, even being sorrowful, hoping for forgiveness, but without intent to repent from the behavior or the thought behind it
(3) to fully admit the occasion and the thoughts from which the behavior came, that confession bringing a godly sorrow that results in a full reversal of course and a full intention and commitment to abandon both the thought patterns, as well as the actions that resulted from them.

So what does this mean, in context?

In the verse quoted, "to confess" is in the Greek ὁμολογέω (hom-ol-og-eh'-o) which means "to say the same as"; that is, to acknowledge, agree with, or confess. From other scripture, it is God's Will that a child of His not sin. So in this verse, the word "to forgive" means something more emphatic. That word, in the Greek, is ἀφίημι (af-ee'-ay-mee), which in this context has the sense of "to give up a debt without demanding payment for it" (Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament, 1889 ed., pp. 88-89, 1.d.), that is, to forsake the instance without laying any further claims to it; to abandon, and forget a debt. When, as in 1 Jn. 1:7 it is Jesus' Blood that cancels it, it is fully paid; and when the person is in the path of repentance (a reverse of mindset) it is forgotten (Is. 44:22,23; Ps. 103:12).

With this in mind, considering Circumstance (1) above, for God's child to attempt to deny or ignore the transgression, he/she can expect chastening (1 Jn. 1:8,10; Heb. 12:5-10) until one has at least proceeded to Stage (2) above, where one may assent, even with a worldly regret, but without intent to firmly reject the offensive-to-God behavior and mindset (2 Cor 7:9,10). In this case, the chastening may be even firmer, even to the point of physical death, until one comes to terms with The God, summoned by The Spirit, and says the same as God has said, to wit:

"Most Holy and Reverend Father, Thou hast said that when I have come into full admission of the warning of Thy Holy Spirit, and I have truly been wholly sorrowful such that I wish to totally abandon my past behavior with no intent or desire whatsoever to revisit it, that Thou wilt also forgive my sin debt, which has already been paid for by the Blood of Thy Precious Son, as well as abandoning any further claims or reference to it, forgetting as if it never existed, and will throughly cleanse me of it. This is my earnest plea."

Having instantly performed as He has promised, with foresight knowing the repentance has taken place, The Father responds with:

"Forgive you . . . for . . . what?"

Does the reader not see that allthe chastening of God's child takes place before the moment when God The Judging and Just Father has forgiven and cleansed from ALL unrighteousness, through the Blood of The Messiah? And when The Father has forgiven and forgotten, though men may not, there will be no further chastening from Him?

Hopefully, after some 25 more years of spiritual growth, John MacArthur will have come to a different opinion than the one expressed in the sentence from 1993 as quoted above.

But for you and for me, the time to be alert and instantly respond to the Guiding Voice of The Holy Spirit is always Now, eh?

God has blotted them out, I'm happy and glad and free.
God has blotted them out, you can turn to Isaiah and see:
Chapter Forty-four, Twenty-two and -three;
God has blotted them out, and now I can shout,
For that . . . means . . . me!"