When you go in to have a cancer cut out, you are sent home with antibiotics, diet change, care for the wound, a follow up with your Dr., orders for lab work to make sure all of the cancer has been removed. A maintenance plan.
I guess saying *sorry God* and walking away is not enough. Well, maybe with a passing thought or a silly word that was better left unsaid but with deep disgusting sins it may take more than a quick prayer. I have been repenting every single day for a while over the same stinking sins, Im tired of it. Tired of myself. Ive begged God to deliver me yet here I am in need of deliverance...again.
Someone pointed out to me that repentance needs a plan, so I looked it up and am amazed to find that every one of the below scriptures commands repentance, AND...repentance and something else. Repentance needs follow up, a maintenance plan. A couple of the scriptures talk about how repentace leads to something else....
John the Baptist told the Pharisees to Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. MAT 3:8.
Peter told the crowd at Pentecost to Repent *and* be Baptized ........then...receive the Holy Ghost. Repentance needed a follow up of Baptism before the Holy Ghost came.
Mark1:15 "The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent *and* believe the good news!"
Acts3:19 Repent, then, *and* turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out,
that times of refreshing may come from the Lord..
Acts 8:22 Repent of this wickedness *and* pray to the Lord.
Acts 20:21 I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God
in repentance *and* have faith in our Lord Jesus.
Acts 26:20 I preached that they should repent *and* turn to God *and* prove their repentance by their deeds....
2co10:10 Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.
2TI 2:25 Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that
God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth,
REV 2:5 Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first.
Repentance requires more than confession and sorrow, it takes a plan.
That's if you view repentance as a "sorry I did bad, I'll make it right" act. Repentance is not a New Year's Resolution, an 8-step plan or way we can make ourselves moral.
ReplyDeleteQuite simply, repentance is a turn toward God. It's a turn away from us being our own savior and Jesus being savior. When we realize we can't fix ourselves on our own, and only by the help of the Spirit, trusting God in all areas of life and allowing grace to help us live can we begin to repent.
Finding way to avoid falling into specific sin is important. You may even make a plan. And that's wisdom. But that doesn't describe repentance.
***Repentance is not a New Year's Resolution, an 8-step plan or way we can make ourselves moral***
ReplyDeleteDont mean to trivialize repentance but.... dont see why we cant make resolutions and plans. Only faith in Christ can make us moral, understand that, but repentance plays a part.
Appreciate your comment.
You can make resolutions and plans, but certainly that's not the base definition of what repentance is. Repentance is much more dramatic. It's living for your self and now living for Jesus. It's a heart-change, it's believing, it's turning one's heart to God. This is initiated, followed-up on, and sustained by the indwelling presence of God alone.
ReplyDeleteIt may seem nuanced, but there are so many who have views about their place with God based on what they can do. Many stay away because they "can't give up all that." It's not a work of Grace at all. It's their own work. I know how that worked out in my life, and I always pause, asking them "How's that working out for you? How is it working being your own Savior?"
I actually believe we can make ourselves moral, but not righteous. Many have tried to become righteous through morality. They feel the answer to the world around them is morality. More morality. Jesus is mixed in there for good measure. They fail to realize that Jesus came to make dead people live, not make bad people good. Morality has become an idol in the Church for a long time.
This post doesn't negate being a "moral person" but completely removing it from such primary and fundamental understandings as salvation, repentance, etc.
Forgive me for not making myself clear in the original post. I do not think that repentance or plans or anything else can save us. Faith in Christ alone can save us. Period.
ReplyDeleteI think some of us who have been immersed in a culture that equates morality with Godliness tend to dismiss anything that even faintly smells of legalsim so I understand your comment. Balance. I want to be completely dead, yeilded and surrendered yet I know that faith without works is dead.
GT, thanks for the reply.
ReplyDeleteYou are correct in that morality is not godliness. And you are also correct that good works are not to be sought after.
Good faith produces good works. It's not forcing a square into a circle. Paul's rhetoric often on this subject was "Be who you are." Our message is Christ and Him Crucified. We are freed, forgiven and a new creation. And... we are loved. That makes all the difference.
Always enjoy your posts.