Repentance

Repentance is a core or basic relational grace that we need in order to reconcile a broken or neglected relationship. Whether we rebel openly against God, ignore him and go our own way, or continue to feed some sin—however small—our relationship with him will be damaged. The writer of Psalm 66:18 NLT declares, “If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.” (NIV – “If I had cherished sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.”)

We must repent of sin in order to enjoy God. If we cherish some sin in our lives, we can only do so by pushing God out. No harmony exists between enjoying sin and enjoying God. If we enjoy sin, we become fearful of God—a fear associated with dread of judgment. We cannot dance with sin and enjoy God.

I grew up with great parents who loved me and always sought the best for me. In spite of that, at times I behaved defiantly and rebelled against their leadership. On more than one occasion, I remember my mom warning me that if I didn’t change my attitude and behavior, I’d have my dad to answer to when he got home. That warning put a fear in me that made me want to avoid my dad when he came home that evening.

Fortunately, I often heeded my mom’s warning and repented of my sin. The result was forgiveness and reconciliation, which made everything right between me and my parents. I could now look forward to (or enjoy) my dad’s home coming. But notice that it was my rebellion, not my dad’s character that caused me to fear him. Putting fear in me was not my parent’s objective or delight. But when I rebelled, I forced my dad to take a role with me as judge or punisher that he did not like or want to take. The same is true in our relationship with God.

Genuine repentance exhibits three elements. When we knowingly sin, or discover that we’ve been holding on to sin in our lives, we need to first admit our wrong-doing to God. This admission of sin and guilt is what the Bible calls confession. Proverbs 28:13 NLT explains, “People who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy.” And 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” As followers of Christ, our primary motivation for confession is a restored relationship with our heavenly Father.

Second, true repentance exhibits genuine sorrow and humility over sin. If we get stopped for speeding and the police officer writes us a ticket, we may be sorry we got caught. But that kind of sorrow will probably not keep us from speeding again. Our sorrow over getting caught may just motivate us to be more careful how fast and where we speed! In fact, this kind of sorrow is arrogant and impudent and does not involve repentance.

In contrast to that kind of sorrow, godly sorrow over our sin demonstrates remorse and brokenness for what we’ve done. When a disobedient child becomes truly repentant over his/her naughty deed and rushes into mom’s or dad’s arms with a burst of tears and confession, there is cleansing and restoration of what was broken in the relationship. So it is in our relationship with God when we express genuine sorrow over our sin.

The third element that attends genuine repentance is changing the way we live. Repentance literally means to turn around—to stop going in the current direction and go another way—God’s way. Sorrow over sin without life change is hypocrisy.

During John the Baptist’s ministry he called people to repent of their sins and to turn to God. In Luke 3:8 (NLT) he challenged them, “Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God.” When the people asked him to be more specific, he told them to abandon their greed, dishonesty and lying and to replace them with contentment, generosity, compassion and honesty. These virtues all exhibit God’s character. He wants our character to reflect his.

I mentioned earlier that repentance is a fundamental relational grace in our relationship with God. Listen to God’s plea for Israel who had rebelled and turned their backs on him: “I thought to myself, ‘I would love to treat you as my own children!’ I wanted nothing more than to give you this beautiful land—the finest possession in the world. I looked forward to your calling me ‘Father,’ and I wanted you never to turn from me.” (Jeremiah 3:19, NLT)

That’s the kind of love and relational longing God extends us. In fact, repentance is a relational grace needed by both the unsaved and the saved. We need to repent of our sins when we initially trust Christ for salvation (Acts 2:37-38). But as followers of Christ we also need to continually repent of our sins and turn back to him when we sin and rebel. In the letters to the churches in Revelation 2 and 3, Jesus asks five of the seven churches to repent and turn back to him.

In Revelation 3:20, Jesus uses the picture of sharing a meal with him in our home to describe the quality of relationship he desires with us. In that culture, one would often restore a broken relationship with a friend by extending hospitality and eating together. Once invited in as a guest, the host extended his guest the honor of being the lord of his home.  When we have sinned and rebelled against God, Jesus initiates the restoration of our relationship by asking us to invite him to share a meal with him.

© Rob Fischer 2008