WHAT ROLE DOES REPENTANCE PLAY IN THE LIFE OF A BELIEVER? Ive felt it on my heart tonight to address the subject of repentance. It is one of those churchy words that gets thrown around so often that I feel in many ways its meaning has been obscured. So let me start this whole thing off with a statement that may confuse or offend some of you. GOD DOES NOT FORGIVE YOUR SINS BECAUSE YOU HAVE REPENTED. Now I know that some of you are ready to get your torches and pitchforks and march over to my little house in Hemingway, but hear me out. Repentance may not mean what you think it means. Let me lay another one on you. REPENTANCE IS NOT ASKING GOD TO FORGIVE YOU. Ready to stone me yet? Before we go any further, lets define repentance by example, and who could model the concept better than God Himself? Genesis 6:6 And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. Exodus 32:14 And the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people. In these two examples from scripture God demonstrates the action of repentance. He regrets having done something and then turns away from that decision. In the first example he regrets having made man and the act of turning away involves destroying the source of that regret and starting over anew with Noah and his family. In the second example God repents his initial plan and turns away from it. So repentance then in the context of our relationship with God means regretting our sin and then acting on that regret by turning away from it and destroying its power in our lives. This does not forgive our sins. Hebrews 9:22 In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. Repentance doesnt do a thing to bring us forgiveness from God because only blood sacrifice can do that. Jesus shed his blood for the forgiveness of our sins. That was accomplished IN FULL at calvary for those who believe and accept the grace of the cross. Hebrews 7:27 Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. Repentance is not us asking God to forgive us; if we are saved HE ALREADY HAS. Every sin we have done or will do has been washed away. He says He has removed our sins as far as the east is from the west and He remembers them no more. So then the role of repenting in our lives is not to seek forgiveness which we have already been given. It is the result of the Holy Spirit convicting us so that we regret when we break Gods commands and we turn away from sin, then in His strength we eradicate it from our lives.
Posted on: Wed, 13 Aug 2014 04:07:51 +0000
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