The Road to Repentance

Until now, we have outlined a progression of realities that fall outside of our human control or input. We are born with a sin nature that makes us transgressors, this separates us from God and condemns us without hope on our own. Finally, God in His mercy provided a means of propitiation where His wrath could be appeased, and hope was made possible. This summarizes a state of “what is” for all humanity. As the common phrase goes, “it is what it is,” and “it” can’t be altered.

However, the next steps, belief, confession, and repentance, involve both God’s initiation (John 6:44) and an individual response on our part that will define our lives, both here and in eternity (Acts 3:19). No one can make this choice for another, and it does not occur casually, by default, or without definitive action.

Believe verb:

be·​lieve

accept something as true

Christian implication ~ believe = faith; acknowledgement and confidence that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who gave His life on the cross, providing the only payment sufficient to free us from the eternal penalty of our sin.

Upon first glance, you might assume the word “believe” doesn’t need defining or further explanation. But Scripture tells us there has been a discrepancy in its understanding since the infancy of the church. This is so much the case that the enemy consistently uses the misunderstanding of this word to confuse people into thinking they’re Christians when, in fact, they are not.

What seems to be the problem?

Scripture tells us that many will grasp on to the message of Jesus for one reason or another, but that not all faith is genuine (Matt. 13:3-8; Mark 4:1-20; Luke 8:4-15). Demons believe that Jesus is the Son of God and know, as eyewitnesses, that He died and rose from the grave to conquer sin and death. But that intellectual assent does nothing for their spiritual state (James 2:19). Many will stand before the throne of God and say, “But, I believed in You,” only to have Him say, “I never knew you…” (Matt. 7:21-23)

Belief on its own is not enough.

Confession noun:

con·​fes·sion

a formal statement admitting one’s guilt

Christian implication ~ confession = fully admitting that one has violated God’s law and stands guilty before Him with no hope of salvation outside of His grace.

When a guilty person stands before a judge in a court of law, knowing that the evidence is so stacked against them that it is futile to fight it, there is a breaking of spirit, an undoing of stubbornness and self-delusion, and a moment of humble truth where they admit their offense and plead for the mercy of the court. It is wisdom that brings the guilty to this moment, for denial only heightens the consequence and lessens the opportunity for grace.

Much the same, when we as sinners truly realize the gravity of our sin, its mastery over us, the chains that bind it to us, and the separation it brings between us and our Creator, our spirits break and we are completely undone in desperation for the only thing that can rescue us from its penalty – the grace of God. The result of this breaking is confession that bares our hearts in full honesty before the Lord, acknowledgment of how far we are from Him that brings us to beg for the forgiveness that none of us deserve.

Confession is only the beginning.

Much like a child who gets caught in the act of disobedience, confession is not always sincere. Sometimes it’s merely a fleeting moment of sorrow, intense emotion, or an attempt to escape a greater consequence.

Sincere belief unto salvation bears evidence.

Repentance noun:

re·​pen·​tance

the action or process of turning away from misdeeds or moral shortcomings; showing sorrow for wrongs done in the past

Christian implication ~ repentance = change; the action of acknowledging our sinful state that separates us from God, followed by a turning away from sin.

Repent verb:

re·​pent

to change one’s mind; to feel sorrow, regret, or contrition; to turn away from sin and dedicate oneself to the amendment of one’s life.

Christian implication ~ choosing to reject sin and pursue Christlikeness. 

Repentance involves a heavy realization.

When we are born, we don’t realize we came into this world strapped with the baggage of a sin nature (Rom. 3:10-12). However, we fall into its trappings as soon as we’re able to formulate individual thoughts and say things like, “No!” Like it or not, even a precious toddler exhibits a sinful little nature on a daily basis. It comes with being human!

Along the way, everyone experiences bursts of guilty conscience. As a child, we knew we weren’t supposed to steal gum from the grocery store…that’s why we did it in secret. While our conscience makes us aware that we “fall short of the glory of God,” it doesn’t necessarily move us to do anything about it. Conviction, however, is an active work of the Holy Spirit which opens our eyes to what sin is accomplishing in our lives and the truth that we need a Savior (John 16:8-11). In other words, God the Holy Spirit, makes us aware that we are imperfect. God, then, reveals the solution to the problem of our eternal separation from Him and urges us to confess and surrender our lives to Him.

Life is choice.

While God is all-powerful and provided a way for all of mankind to be at peace with Him, He is the ultimate gentleman and will not force this choice on a single soul.

He made the way; the choice is ours.

Once we recognize ourselves in the mirror of reality, we see our imperfections and where we fall short of God’s standard. It’s much like looking in the mirror and realizing we have a piece of broccoli in our teeth. Not only that, we can’t remember the last time we ate broccoli and realize we’ve been carrying it around in our teeth for quite some time without addressing it or cleaning it up.

Our sin nature isn’t something that sneaks up on us out of the blue. We’ve been living with it all of our lives and by the time we realize it’s an issue that keeps us separated from God, not only is it apparent to us, but it’s also something others have been observing and may have “smelled on our breath” for quite some time!

So, what are our choices?

1. Turn our back on God and continue pursuing a sinful life.
2. Turn our back on sin and pursue Christ.

We have two choices. We can look in the mirror, see the rotten broccoli and decide we don’t care to deal with it, or we can realize the far-reaching implications of not tackling it and change our perspective concerning what is, and isn’t, important enough to address (James 1:22-24).

Since we’re not dealing with actual broccoli, what are we really seeing in the mirror and why do we need to clean it up? We’re recognizing our sin and realizing that if we continue in the same sinful trajectory, we cannot have peace with God and that will result in an eternity separated from Him in hell when we die.

What does it look like to choose option #1?

What if I like my sinful life? What if I don’t want to change?

Actually, we all have the opportunity to choose to turn our back on God and continue pursuing a sinful life. We don’t have to accept the gift of salvation from hell that Jesus provided when He paid for our sin on the cross. But, if that’s the trajectory we choose, we have to accept the consequence.

The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. (Romans 6:23)

We enjoy getting paid for a job well done. In fact, we feel entitled to receive previously agreed upon wages and fully believe that we deserve positive payment for our hard work. Interestingly, as adamantly as we feel about beneficial wages for our positive actions, we’ve somehow convinced ourselves that we can avoid the negative wages God has promised as the outcome of rejecting Him.

We like to convince ourselves that our opinions can change reality. If we don’t believe there are consequences for our sin, then surely hell won’t be the penalty for them. I’m not sure how Satan convinced humankind that their opinion can change hard-fast truth, but it’s a lie of the enemy which costs people their eternity every day. If I pull out of my driveway and turn left, I will be driving due west. If I turn right, I will head east. No matter how hard I try to convince myself that west is east, or east is west, reality and truth won’t change. If my destination is in the west and I head east, believing with all my heart that it will still get me where I want to go, it’s me who is wrong and I’ll never arrive where I’m convinced I’m bound.

The Reality of Choice #1: We have every opportunity to reject God and continue our trajectory toward death. Death in this context is eternal separation from God in hell. He doesn’t want that for us, but He doesn’t force eternal life on a single soul.

So what does it look like to turn my back on sin and pursue Christ?

Repentance

Repentance occurs when we recognize our sin, decide that holding on to that sin is not worth eternal separation from God, sincerely confess our sin to Him, and accept His gift of salvation, making Him Lord of our life. Instead of continuing in our trajectory toward sin and death, our very hearts and minds choose to make an about-face, turning our backs on sin and heading toward a life in Christ (Heb. 12:1).

The Reality of Choice #2: We have every opportunity to respond to the conviction of the Holy Spirit, to change our mind concerning sin, to turn away from it, and to alter our life trajectory. Life in this context is eternal security in heaven with God. God desires for everyone to choose this life and graciously grants it to all who repent and place their trust in Him (1 Tim. 2:4; 2 Pet. 3:9; Titus 2:11; John 3:16, John 10:28).

When we choose to repent, our repentance itself doesn’t save us. Salvation is accomplished when the Holy Spirit makes us a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). However, when we repent, we come to the foot of the cross to lay our lives before the Lord, surrendering our sinful lifestyle and desires and committing to obey and follow Him with our lives. At this time, He promises He will provide salvation through His grace.

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Eph. 2:8-9)

Cleansing us from all unrighteousness is the gracious, saving work of God that He is waiting to lavish on everyone who confess their sin and choose to live for Him through a repentant life.

Choose you this day who you will serve… (Joshua 24:15)

Continue Back to Basics – Signed, Sealed, Delivered – I’m His!

Angie Ward

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