When repentance becomes a swear word
When repentance becomes a swear word
A holy standard perverted by my selfishness
Repentance. Ah yes, that “dirty” word that many of us do not want to hear on any given Sunday. It’s one of those words that immediately gets our defensive side up, probably because it echoes inside of us the depth of our brokenness and sin nature. It forces us to realise that our selfish desires to be who we are and do what we wish is stronger than the desire to submit our will to God’s. And yet, the call to repentance is one of love, compassion and mercy; it is one of a Creator and Father deeply desiring to rescue His creation and children from pain, hurt and brokenness both in this life and the one to come.
Part One: Understanding Definitions
Question: Do you feel sincere remorse or regret when you sin against God?
Feeling deep regret and remorse means that we understand that our actions deeply grieved God and we want to do something about it so that we do not continue to grieve Him. There must be a turning away from the sin that hurts the Lord, otherwise, it is not true repentance.
Repentance is a lifestyle. We understand that as believers, we will make mistakes and fall, however, what we do not do is stay in the mistake or keep on repeating the same mistake thinking that God’s grace will cover us each time. True repentance is recognising our mistakes and turning back to God in remorse quickly for the help we need to ensure we do not fall into a cycle of sin.
Part Two: Understanding What He Says In His Word About Repentance
What I have noticed when the topic of repentance comes up, is most people will start deflecting by stating that Jesus did not come to tell people to repent but that He came for us to know God, love Him and one another and, ultimately, live our best lives however we so wish. Scripture, though, tells us a different story, because Jesus based His entire ministry when He was here on earth on telling people to turn away from their sins.
This is the ultimate message of love! That God would come in the flesh to tell His creation to turn away from the sin that was separating them from Him and causing the brokenness in the world. That He did not desire for us to be lost and face His righteous judgement so He came to tell us to repent.
Because God does not want you to lose your soul for the temporary pleasures, i.e. sin, that you are experiencing here on earth; He came to proclaim and demonstrate the extent to which He would go to save your soul, and in turn He wants you to also demonstrate your love for Him by turning away from your heart’s desires(sin) that are keeping you from His presence.
We often think God will cosign our sin and bless it because He just wants us to be happy, but that is not what scripture tells us. God will not bless a sinful lifestyle or, merely, understand that you a human and let you keep on doing whatever you want to do while you follow Him. Instead, He will lovingly call you out of sin so that you can experience the fullness of His presence and all that it brings i.e. joy, peace, hope etc.
There is a warning attached to those who selfishly and proudly cling onto unrepentance and that is God’s righteous judgement. In His righteousness, God must judge sin as it is disobedience/an active breaking of His laws. As humans, we understand that those who break the law must be placed in front of a human judge and receive the punishment for their transgression; well, the same works for God’s laws.
We are not only human but also spirit and, therefore ,we need to live by the spiritual laws that God (who is a Spirit) placed for the harmonious functioning of this universe. Those who break His laws must be judged by Him or else we will declare that He is unfair or corrupt. And so, for us to escape His righteous judgement, He essentially poured it out on Himself in the person of Jesus Christ. But here’s the catch, we need to accept this “get out of jail free” card and live a life of repentance that will keep us out of “jail”. Failing to repent and live a repentant life means that we susceptible to the punishment that comes with actively and continuously breaking His laws.
These words are meant to wake us up and reveal to us, as believers, that the price He paid for us was extremely HIGH and COSTLY. God wants us all to not take for granted the price Jesus Christ paid on the cross for us to gain salvation from sin. Instead, He desires for us to live in humility before Him requesting for help when we need it and turning away from the things that easily make us stumble and sin. The beauty of God is that He understands that this journey of life is not an easy one and so He wants us to come to Him when we fall and ask for His grace that will empower us to continue living a holy life.
Cohen Gadol - High Priest, that is Jesus Christ
Ask yourself the following questions:
What is the sin(s) that your struggle with the most?
Why do you struggle with this sin(s)? Has it become a lifestyle?
Do you place yourself in situations that make it easier for you to sin?
What new habits and patterns do you need to form so that you can break from this sin?
What old habits, patterns and friendships need to be cut off for you to break away from this sin?
Could it be that you need to reach out to a fellow believer for prayer, deliverance and create an accountability system?
Jesus understands and empathises with our human struggle against sin because He lived like us. He wants to help you, but you must first ask yourself whether you truly are ready to give up that sin that you enjoy. The reason sin is so enticing is because it is enjoyable in the short term. However, not matter how “enjoyable” a sin seems to be, a true love for God will result in us hating what He hates and loving what He does. As with any relationship, we cannot intentionally hurt the one we love otherwise we become abusers. We must become intentional in our demonstration of love for Him and it starts by turning away from the thing that grieves Him the most…sin.
