The Place of Repentance

But what's the solution? How do I break this cycle of destruction? Repentance. After Revelation comes Repentance. You are only required to repent of what's been revealed to you. When I first started, nothing of this had been revealed to me. The Holy Spirit, in His infinite wisdom, reveals these things to us slowly, over time as we are ready. If we learned this all at once it would crush us! I had reached the first stage of glory, but I was starting to get comfortable. God had to say, "Time to move up to the next step." Stage Two took three years for me to work through; more Revelation, Repentance, Restitution. I was using anger to push me, and I had to learn how to be motivated by love. That was difficult and frightening for me to learn. For me James 1:19,20 had to be learned at a deep level.

But God calls each of us to advance from glory to glory. The breaking out of the previous stage of glory begins with repentance, and repentance is much like death. He calls us onward and upward (Philippians 3:8-14). Whenever God calls us to repent, it means letting go of who we were and what we have achieved and saying, "I will let it all go be whoever you want me to be, Lord." That's death! Giving up aspirations and turning ourselves over to God is death! Repentance is very much like death; very hard, very painful. Often we try to escape and settle for something less than the fullness that God has for us. Repentance is fearful, for it asks us to walk where we have not traveled before. Regardless of how may years a person has been in Christ there are new stages to climb, new heights to experience. And regardless of how long we have been in Christ, each new ascent is fearful though exhilerating. Repentance is where our true faith in God will grow.

What is Repentance? Any time you hear someone justify or excuse or shift blame, that is short-circuiting Repentance. Whenever someone says, "That's the way I am, but..." or "You don't understand the kind of life I've had..." that person is not repenting. And over time, that person is not going to advance beyond his current stage of glory. Acknowledging sin is not the same as repenting of it.

At the point in my life where I was at, some three years after I was saved, I had to come to a hard decision that I knew was going to be painful. I had a choice. I could change Christianity to simply actions, to what I did, and forget about motives. But in that case I would have to ignore I Cor. 3:12-15, 4:5). Or I could acknowledge before God that my motives were wretched, to fall on my knees before God and admit that I needed to be transformed--in my actions, attitudes and affections.

I had to make a choice. If I had chosen at that point to say, "I'm going to redefine Christianity," I believe God would have withdrawn His blessing of fellowship from my life. I could have gone through the motions much like David did after sinning with Bathsheba; attending the temple, doing the sacrifices. I could have gone as a missionary to China. But it would have been less than the abundant life He had planned for me. But instead I made the choice that would determine my future; I chose God above myself, His goals above my own.

Unfortunately, I've seen too many Christians who have been saved ten, fifteen, eighteen years still stuck on the first stage or maybe second stage of glory. They've redefined Christianity simply to Actions, a bunch of duties. They haven't been transformed. They have compromised a life of death and obedience for one of convenience and going though the motions. The Devil knows this. He'll keep after them, attacking and tearing apart their foundation, until finally the dam bursts.

I know of too many Christians who were fruitful at some level (not to mention the ones who never bear fruit), only to have their lives collapse because of flaws from which they hid their eyes. How many of those failed leaders had opportunity at an earlier stage to face themselves, and their motives, but they would not. The Bible is clear "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked. WHAT A MAN SOWS HE REAPS. He who sows to the flesh will from the flesh read destruction..." (Galatians 5:7,8).

How many have simply looked at their actions and ignored their motives to their own undoing. We carry within ourselves the seeds of our own destruction. It is our flesh, and we ignore it at terrible risk and destruction! We will not be without our flesh until we go to be with Him (Romans 8:23). No one is mature enough to ignore their flesh. And our flesh will even subvert our good deeds for God (I Corinthians 3:2,3,10-13; 4:5. I urge you to read the whole passage in this light, though I do not have the time to go into this at length).

So Repentance is what is necessary to begin the transforming process. Revelation brings no transformation. Revelation simply exposes what needs to be transformed!

The greatest chapter on Repentance in the Bible is in Psalm 51. David was a man after God's own heart, and yet he fell into sin with Bathsheba. He tried to cover it up, but ultimately could not.

In this psalm, you will find no excuses for his sin. No justification, no shifting of the blame, no begging for mercy according to human standards, but justice on God's terms. David takes full responsibility for what he has done. And this is one of the keys of repentance. He agrees completely with God and His judgment. He pronounces himself guilty (Ps. 51:1-4).

A thorough repentance will include an evaluation of motives as well as actions. The disciple needs to understand that there are reasons why he sins. We were brought up in ways where we chose these sinful ways, and they worked for us. We need to realize that we need to break these old patterns by repenting (a change of mind) of the suppositions which led to the actions. The man who says, "I repent of those ways and the motives behind them; the actions were wrong, and the motives as well" is the one who will experience Renewal.

Repentance must first be directed toward God. "Against Thee and Thee only have I sinned." (Ps. 51:4) Repentance is not directed toward ones' self--it is a not primarily a person feeling sorry for himself. It is directed towards God. We stand before Him. In order to repent, we must be God-centered. A self-centered man looks to himself, directs his repentance toward feelings of remorse for himself. God-centered people climb up to where God is and make judgements based on how God sees us! Repentance is directed towards God. Remorse is very different from repentance (2 Cor. 7:10). Witness the difference between the remorse (sorrow) of Judas verses the sorrow which leads to repentance of Peter around the events of the cross.

The general sign of true Repentance is a change in Attitudes. There is usually a new humility, a desire for relationships to be restored, not holding onto "rights." (Ps. 51:10-12). This will lead naturally to Restitution--a desire to make restoration for damages done (Ps. 51:13-19). Generally, if Restitution does not follow repentance, the Repentance was not authentic. It may have simply been an act of sorrow.

If a person is to repent they need to accept full ownership for their sin. Any justification, any excuse, short-circuits repentance. Repentance involves choosing. Repentance calls on a person to make a decision. It treats the person as an agent who can choose, whose choosing reflects his soul, and ultimately affects his eternal position. Repentance is a choice to rely on God’s provision and no longer on himself (Cf. 2 Samuel 12:7-8).

Oftentimes I hear the adage, "God loves the sinner but hates the sin." I am not sure that's true; God condemns sinners to Hell, not sins. God hates sinners; they are at war with Him. Once sinners come to a place of Repentance and throw themselves in His mercy, God receives them as Children in His kingdom. God loves His children, but not all are His children (John 10:26f).

We need to be very careful who we encourage as to whether or not they are children of God. There are those who have turned to darkness; are allies with God's enemy, and engaged in the war against the establishment of His Kingdom. They are not God's children, but the devil's (John 8:42-47). But those who remain in the fight, those who remain in the light, are His children. We choose, and we will pay for our choices. For the Christian, even he will pay. Those who sow to the flesh will reap to the destruction in this age (though they will be saved by fire) those who sow to the spirit will reap eternal life along with great rewards (Cf. I Cor. 3:14f).

We need to realize that the cycle of destruction will continue even after we are saved until we find the way out, and exercise our agency in accordance with God's provision. We're not going to be renewed in five easy steps. It took me twenty-four years to get to the end of myself and surrender to the Lord. It took me four years to get up to a place where I could serve God with some degree of purity of heart (I fear my first years of service will be found mostly wood, hay and stubble). But God is gracious; four years to lay a new foundation and break up twenty-four years of self centeredness. That's not bad!

An important aspect of Christian community is encouragement (Hebrews 3:13f, 10:24f, 12:11ff). Healing will not be quick, but if one has truly repented, it will progressively occur. But it is up to him. He is responsible for beginning a sin habit, he's responsible for continuing a sin habit, and he is responsible for ending a sin habit. And he is also responsible for rejecting the help and provision that God offers. God will not force obedience. He wants it chosen freely. Love requires it. And God want obedience motivated by love (John 14:15).

An illustration might be helpful here. If a person jumped off of the Empire State Building he is responsible for jumping, but he finally says, "I repent!" He can't stop his fall, since he is trapped in the laws of Gravity. But suppose God provides a brother with a net partway down the descent. That brother catches him in the net. After a while he realizes that this is harder than he thought, and jumps back out of the net again. As he does so, he's more accountable now than before, especially when we explain: "I threw out the net to you as God’s provision. You rejected it, and the a vital relationship with God. You cannot have God on your terms." Good counseling makes the person doubly accountable.

We should never ever work with people in a way which allows them to reject God's provision still say, "That was a good experience." If they reject God, they ought to in the process get a little taste of what the fire they will likely encounter on judgment day (Hebrews 10:26-31).