Repentance - part one
REPENTANCE
I asked a lawyer friend of mine what she thought of when I said the word “repentance” – I explained I was teaching on this and was interested in what she thought.
“Guilt” she said. She was brought up a Roman Catholic although she has now lapsed but her perspective is:
"I do things wrong so I need to confess, be really remorseful and repent. I get the slate wiped clean and can have another go at living without doing anything wrong. I feel guilty, I want to be clean, repentance somehow lets me off the hook".
Many people, including Christians, those who follow Jesus, often get stuck in this perspective: if I say sorry often enough and frequently enough and meaningfully enough – I will be OK.
We understand that there is sin – being in the wrong – and that there is no way to get straight with God except by believing that because of Jesus’ life, sacrificial death and resurrection we can be forgiven. Wonderful, good news indeed. But it is more, much more than simply wiping the slate clean.
- Power to transform is released at the cross
- Therefore we need to get to the cross
- The pathway to the cross is repentance
- Repentance needs to be a posture of our heart
The confessional (whether Roman Catholic or just us confessing our sins at the shredder), where we are sorry and ask for forgiveness, is like a car wash in some ways – the attendant is the high priest of vehicle cleanliness and dispenses warm soapy absolution to make us feel much, much better.
We emerge from the brushes and sponges gleaming clean and then drive straight through a puddle: mud splashes; behind a bus: mucky spray. Nothing for it but to put up with the increasing dirt until you go back to confession next week.
There is truth in this, God’s grace is effective for forgiving us.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. I John 1:9
But there is so much more to it than just a car wash experience. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a way of driving out of the carwash and following a route with no muddy potholes and no vehicles in front throwing up muck? Now we can only pursue this car wash metaphor so far but the fact of the matter is that we are all sinners and live in a sinful world.
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Romans 3:23
When we go to God and ask for forgiveness he does forgive and set us free, wipes our slate clean. At that point there is a natural action and a supernatural action going on at simultaneously:
Naturally – Jesus died for us and we make a decision of the will to ask for forgiveness;
Supernaturally – there is a spiritual transaction where we are made righteous, the slate is wiped clean.
But there is more to be had from this transaction.
The miracle of the cross – Jesus’ sacrificial death to pay for our guilt – is completed in the resurrection where the power of God overcomes death and the enemy.
For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
Romans 5:10
There is power to forgive but also power to change and transform us. When that power, the power that raised Jesus from the dead, that nuclear explosion of grace - when that power explodes there is a supernatural transaction of grace and forgiveness and new life.
And this releases power for new life and victory over death in our lives.
For this to happen we need to understand repentance more comprehensively than just saying sorry and receiving forgiveness. Because even though God does forgive us, reconcile us, as soon as we drive out of the car wash … well, we might as well drive back round and in again. There is absolutely nothing we can do to keep clean, not even trying hard, really meaning it, has any effect.
There is more and there needs to be more because our wrongful behaviour is sometimes so deep seated in our lives we can hardly see it or at least we can only see the tip of the iceberg. It is not good enough just to say sorry regularly and for nothing to change, because there is power to change.
But we all know the struggle which Paul talks about:
I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do – this I keep on doing … What a wretched man I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
Romans 7: 18-24
We are stuck in patterns of behaviours to the point where we just get used to it.
We say to ourselves, “this is the way I am”, “my parents taught me to think like this”, “all Yorkshiremen are tight or rude or blunt”…
1. Anger – I am an angry person, I just lose my temper sometimes, I have Irish blood, I am ginger haired, my dad was an angry person, it runs in the family. No, it’s sin.
2. Going into debt – I will get on top of it soon, it is only reasonable that I buy a more up to date ipod as music is really important to me, I don’t waste it, I don’t live a lavish lifestyle, a bigger house is important for my kids. No, poor stewardship is sin.
3. Theft – it’s not really stealing because they can afford it, it’s only a few pounds on my expenses, that’s nothing to the company, I can’t help it, it’s a compulsion, how else can I pay for food. No, it’s sin.
4. Lust – you can’t expect me to walk around with my eyes closed, I am just a red blooded man, it’s OK to look, it’s the norm now. No, it’s sin.
5. Compulsions – I can’t help it, it’s a disease, I inherited the gene, I am under so much pressure, it’s under control, I just need counselling. No, it’s sin.
6. Laziness – I am just not made with enough energy to work hard, it’s OK to take a break, if someone else is happy to do it, let them. No, it’s sin.
7. Taking offense – it’s not me, they shouldn’t behave like that, say those things, I am in the right, I am not offended – just righteously indignant. No, it’s sin.
8. Bitterness – you don’t understand what they did to me, it really hurt, they haven’t said sorry, everyone has it better than me so I am justified in feeling sorry for myself. No, it’s sin.
9. Uncontrolled speech – my mouth works quicker than my brain, it just pops out before I get to think about it, I was just trying to be funny, it doesn’t mean anything. No, it’s sin.
10.Stress – you would be stressed if you had my job, it’s only until I get a break, I need some stress to help me hit deadlines, I am under pressure, give me a break. No, it’s sin.
It becomes our identity, we get used to that person in us who behaves like that.
As Robbie Williams sings, "Lord make me pure, but not yet".
These forms of behaviour get forgiven from time to time when we ask God to forgive but eventually become a habit – part of our identity. We almost enjoy them, there is something succulent about giving way to our weakness.
In due course our expectations adapt so that we assume that this is OK, this is what we are always going to be like, we will just have to put up with it until we get to heaven. In some cases we even build our finances and lifestyle around these behaviours – which then reinforces it, creates a scaffolding to hold it up.
So how do we get the power to break these behaviour patterns, these strongholds?
Repentance does not mean:
o Conviction – you may come to a realisation that what you are doing is wrong but that is not repentance either.
o Sorry or remorseful – you may well wish you had not done something because you got caught but that is not repentance.
o Making a promise – you may decide never to do it again, and say so. But that isn’t repentance either.
o It isn’t a feeling – you don’t feel repentant as opposed to unrepentant.
Repentance is a verb, an action word, which means, to change.
I am walking in that direction, a direction that represents a sinful behaviour, suddenly I realise what I am doing, conviction. That’s good but it not repentance, nothing has changed. I am still walking in that direction. I may feel really sorry about the direction I am taking but that isn’t a change either. I may promise to stop walking in that direction. Good, but that isn’t much of a change either.
Repentance happens when I stop, turn around and walk in the opposite direction.
1. Anger turns to being gentle.
2. Going into debt turns to spending less than you earn
3. Theft turns into earning and giving. Give some money that you have earned away.
4. Lust turns to avoidance of internet, magazines, TV that doesn’t help. Accountability
5. Compulsions turn into self control.
6. Laziness turns to thinking of and serving others.
7. Taking offense turns to love and being fun to be around.
8. Bitterness turns to forgiveness.
9. Uncontrolled speech turns to silence or encouraging words.
10.Stress turns to making better choices.
Whatever it is turns to the Christ-like opposite.
I know it isn’t as easy as just turning round when you are walking but this is where we come back to the wonderful power of the cross and resurrection. As we seek a change in the natural – in our will and behaviours – a spiritual transaction needs to take place.
And this is what happens when we repent: we look to the cross of Jesus, we come to conviction, we are sorry, we make a promise and then we change direction. And as we make this transaction in the natural world there is a supernatural transaction with power beyond nuclear bombs or tectonic plates. Power to transform death into life.
As Jesus died, bleeding for us and as he then conquered death and came back to life, he beat, once and for all, the power of the enemy. As we repent we come to the cross and that power is released into our lives to transform and to make the change. The enemy’s power in our life is broken, a supernatural event, a miracle takes place.
Repentance is a sacrament:
Repentance connects a supernatural action with a natural action.
In the natural we choose to change our minds, change our directions.
In the supernatural God releases forgiveness and the breaking of the enemy’s power
It’s a free gift, amazing, and it’s a promise, stunning.
We then choose to live differently – we identified the sin in our life, we have repented, we believe God has forgiven us, his power has been released into our life – we seek to walk out our lives following Jesus and different to what went before.
- Power to transform is released at the cross
- Therefore we need to get to the cross
- The pathway to the cross is repentance
- Repentance needs to be a posture of our heart
How do you look at repentance?
Do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience not realising that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?
Romans 2:4
Repentance is not the preacher pointing his judgemental finger at you.
Repentance is a wonderful gift.
Repentance is a free offer of transformation.
To repent is not a sign of weakness, accept it, we are all there – wake up, smell the coffee. To repent is a sign of wisdom, an acceptance of God’s kindness to forgive and transform our lives.
Let us adopt postures of repentance. Let us be quick to repent.
Let us be known as a repentant people.
Let us not hesitate to run to the cross, release his power and choose a different way.
Sometimes it seems hopeless doesn’t it? We echo Paul’s words. But that isn’t God’s plan for you. I don’t know about you but I don’t want it to always be like that. I want to be come more like Jesus day by day, not give up and settle for living in a state of sinful squalor, resigned to our pet sin, which does anything but reflect well on our Lord.
As you repent, the miracle of transformation in your life will begin to pull out those deep weeds right from the ends of their roots. You can become more like Jesus, the enemy’s plans can be torn up, you can experience change, you can be set free.
David Flowers, 04/01/2008