Repentance? Been there, done that! Is that it? Do we need to repent only to get in the door of salvation? Or, is there more to it? I believe repentance needs to be a progressive, life-style approach to our relationship with God. Let me explain. Repentance is the turning back from any deviation made away from God and His purpose for our lives. Repentance is the recognition that we have fallen short of God’s best. Repentance is really being sorry for our sins. Repentance is the owning of the consequences that our words, attitudes, and actions have on others. Repentance is not a one-time experience, but an ongoing attitude of humility and consciousness of our sin nature.
Paul recognized the detrimental effect of his sin nature on his desire to live a holy life. In his struggle with the flesh, he cried out: “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24) Early in his ministry, Paul was very confident in the revelations he had received from God. Paul confronted Peter, when Peter was not adhering to his own preaching on gentile inclusion. Paul proclaimed boldly that the revelation he had received had come directly from God. But, as he matured in his faith, he became less confident in his flesh and more in the grace of God alone. Shortly before his death, Paul states: “Jesus came to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.” (1 Timothy 1:15) He was not referring to his sinful life before becoming a Christian. He wrote using the present tense.
Being conscious of our sin nature is not a constant beating of ourselves up, nor is it being under continual condemnation and feelings of guilt. Directly after voicing his frustration over the law of sin and death in his members, Paul states that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1) Condemnation is a denial of the grace of God by which we have been saved. Paul was also not flippant in his attitude about sin, for he recognized that only through the law of the Spirit of God could he triumph over sin. (v.2) Repentance keeps the cross always before us.
My wife grew up in an African culture that readily said “sorry” for any thing negative that happened. If someone was hurt, all would say “sorry”. If you dropped something on the floor, all would say “sorry”. Whether it was their fault or not, it made no difference, the general response was to express sadness by saying “sorry”. I believe there is something divine in this cultural response to adversity. The Bible says that: “godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation.” (2 Corinthians 7:10) It is being sorry, to the point of tears, for the “sin which clings so closely”. (Hebrews 12:1)
The opposite is to be indifferent to sin and its ugly consequences. It is the closing of one’s eyes to the seriousness of sin and excusing it as human weakness or just a mistake. Without a revelation of sin, it is difficult to understand grace.
Being always ready to repent does not deny the fact that we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. It just acknowledges that we are still in an earthly vessel that is subject to the law of sin and death. That is why we must yield the members of this vessel, (body), daily to the Lord as instruments of righteousness. Our tongue can bless and curse. Our feet can walk in the ways of God or not. Although we may desire to please the Lord with the members of our body all the time, we don’t. We do sin, and when we do, we are to confess it and receive forgiveness. The Proverbs say that the righteous fall seven times, and they get back up. (Proverbs 24:16) So, if you fall, repent again. Get up and go on walking in the newness of your life in Christ Jesus.
Scriptures to meditate on:
2 Corinthians 7:10; Luke 24:47; Romans 2:4; 2 Timothy 2:24-26; 1 John 1:9