repentance

It doesn’t take long when reading the Scriptures to see that a key component to a true relationship with God is repentance. Peter reminds us that God is patient with mankind (even delaying judgment) because He wants to see all come to repentance.

“The Lord does not delay His promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance.” [2 Peter 3:9 HCSB]

To repent is to change our minds and direction. It is a change that happens in the inner man. Where once we shook our fist at the will of God, repentance brings an acceptance of it. It is turning in the opposite direction we were headed and turning to God instead.

We must come to repentance to enter a relationship with God as His child. That is accomplished through the cross of Christ Jesus.

But there are also times when we must again approach God and repent of things we have done, or things we did not do that we should have done.

John reminds us that “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” [1John 1:9 HCSB]

Thankfully, when we sin, we can come to God immediately, repenting, knowing He is faithful to forgive and set us back on the path of His righteousness.

More on Repentance tomorrow.

There is something about that three-letter word “but.” “But” is used to introduce a phrase or clause contrasting with what has already been mentioned. In other words, the word “but” negates or cancels everything that goes before it. It is generally accepted as a signal that the really important part of the sentence is coming up.

One of the things I learned from Pastor Laura at The Way Middleton as we studied the reasons why God removed the anointing from Saul, is that King Saul hedged his repentance.  He would say, “I have sinned,” but then would explain, rationalize, or justify his sin.  [1 Samuel 15]

To give Saul grace, we have to admit he was not the first one to hedge his repentance with “but.”  When Adam and Eve succumbed to the temptation in the Garden of Eden, they did the same thing when God confronted them.

Genesis 4:12-13: “Then the man said, ‘The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.’ And the Lord God said to the woman, ‘What is this you have done?’ The woman said, ‘The serpent deceived me, and I ate.’” [HCSB]

Eve disobeyed God, “but” blamed the serpent.  Adam disobeyed God, “but” blamed God – “The woman whom You gave to be with me….”

When we repent, we need to stop with “I have sinned,” and never include a “but.” Sinning is never justified. Sinning can never be explained.  Sinning cannot be rationalized.  Sinning is simply sinning.  And repentance is always to be repentance.

There are no “buts” in repentance. 

Someone once said: “The preacher came to call the other day. He said at my age I should be thinking about the hereafter. I told him, ‘Oh, I do all the time. No matter where I am – in the parlor, upstairs, in the kitchen, or down in the basement – I ask myself “What am I here after?”’”

It had been 400 years since the prophet Malachi spoke of a prophet coming in the spirit of Elijah.  “Look, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome Day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers.” [4:5-6 HCSB]

In those 400 years God had been silent. It had been a long time since the people of Israel had been prompted to think about the “hereafter.” Then as Luke tells us “In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar” (and a bunch of other rulers), “God’s word came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the vicinity of the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” [Luke 3:2-3 HCSB]

God was no longer silent. His word was coming through a fiery prophet, John, the son of Zechariah and Elizabeth. John was reminding people of the “hereafter” and their need of repentance for sins. He was, as Isaiah prophesied, a voice crying out in the wilderness, preparing the way for the LORD so that everyone would see the salvation of God. [Isaiah 40]

We know John’s message was incomplete. He acknowledged that he was not the Messiah to come. He conceded that he baptized using water and that the One to come would baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire. He also probably had no idea that Jesus, the Messiah, would have to die on a cross and be rejected by the religious leaders in order to secure the forgiveness for the repentance he proclaimed.

One thing I always note though, no matter how incomplete John’s understanding of repentance was, as he spoke of repentance he also tied repentance to a change of behavior. The people who flocked to him in the wilderness asked him what they had to do, he told them that a change of behavior was associated with their repentance.

Repentance is so much more than “feeling remorse” for something we have done or failed to do. True repentance that seeks the forgiveness God offers through Christ must always be accompanied by a change of heart and a change of behavior.