I was on my way home from a long day at work last night and turned on the Christian radio station. I usually enjoy listening to a variety of radio preachers with their many different styles of getting God’s word out. But I often get a hold of a preacher who can’t seem to keep his foot out of his mouth. And last night was no different.
This guy kept telling us listeners about the differences between the “real” Christians and the “fake” Christians. He kept going on and on about how we used to repent, and how we no longer care about it. He kept throwing around the words “repent” and “repentance” so often that he finally, at the end of his sermon, got so frustrated he let out a giant “RAHPENT!”
I couldn’t help but chuckle just a little bit. After all, it’s not like the unsaved listener is going to have the foggiest notion of what he’s talking about, let alone care about it. And therein lies the sad part of the story. We beat people over the head about the importance of having a repentant heart, yet we don’t tell them what’s actually involved! The Jews of the Old Testament had repentance down to a science. They would go out and select the best lamb from their flock, lead it to the temple, have a priest bless it, cut it’s throat and watch all the blood spew out of it’s neck, and then burn it on the altar while it was still kicking and screaming. Yuck! If I had to do all that, I would definitely be motivated to follow all of God’s commands also.
But thank the Lord we don’t have to do that anymore. The blood of Jesus Christ is sufficient to cleanse us, ONCE AND FOR ALL. Once we repent of our sins and follow Him, there is no turning back. Our salvation is secure. But somebody please tell that to the preachers out there who try and convince us we can lose our salvation because we are not serious enough about our faith.
So now we get back to the word “repent.” What does it actually mean? The last time I checked the dictionary, it told me the word was actually a verb. Here is Merriam-Webster’s definition:
intransitive verb
1 : to turn from sin and dedicate oneself to the amendment of one's life
2a : to feel regret or contrition
b : to change one's mind
transitive verb
1 : to cause to feel regret or contrition
2 : to feel sorrow, regret, or contrition for
You have to admit, it’s a pretty good definition. It’s an action verb that means to change your mind, turn away, and feel regret and contrition toward your sin. But here’s the problem. You have some pastors believing that if you are too slow to turn from your sin, you’re not actually saved. Some other pastors preach that if you don’t show enough contrition in a timely manner, you’re not saved. Still others believe and preach the notion of having to be a pitiful ball of sorrow and regret for twenty years straight before you can be saved! These silly notions have nothing to do with the Gospel.
I believe in my heart that I was born again into God’s kingdom at the age of twelve. Unfortunately, because the pastor thought he was finished with me when I converted, I was completely alone in my faith for the next 42 years. There was no follow-up by anyone in the church, and so I fell away for a very long time. Was I saved? Who knows, except God. But there are those who would try and second guess the saving grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Incidentally, I do have a close relationship with Him now. Is that enough? Have I fully repented? You’ll just have to pray for me that my conversion was real, not try and condemn me for my actions.
My point here is that we never really reach true repentance on our own. Why? Because we are incapable of it. We will never be made perfect until that glorious day when we meet God face to face. But we rejoice in the truth that the Father looks on us as being fully righteous.
By his will we have been made holy through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all Heb. 10:10
God made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we would become the righteousness of God. 2 Cor. 5:21
Sure the Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin at conversion. But as believers, he convicts us of our righteousness through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I think one of the biggest mistakes we make when we lead people to Christ is assuming that they have the capacity to fully repent when we lead them in the “sinner’s prayer.” I believe repentance is actually a lifelong process. We must not turn our backs on the newly converted. They need to understand that sanctification is also a lifelong process, not a source for condemnation by misinformed pastors.
On the other hand, a very brilliant pastor I heard preach one Sunday encouraged us to confess our sins early, confess our sins often, and to confess them fully. As those of us born into God’s kingdom, we can be assured of our salvation by knowing the truth that our Heavenly Father will listen to our confessions. We don’t need a priest, a pastor or an elder to accomplish this. We have the Creator of the universe listening to each one of us. Hallelujah!
But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous, forgiving us our sins and cleansing us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9
I think we should just leave it at that and let God do all the talking. We would all be much better off if our church leaders would engage in a little less preaching and a lot more disciple-making.
This guy kept telling us listeners about the differences between the “real” Christians and the “fake” Christians. He kept going on and on about how we used to repent, and how we no longer care about it. He kept throwing around the words “repent” and “repentance” so often that he finally, at the end of his sermon, got so frustrated he let out a giant “RAHPENT!”
I couldn’t help but chuckle just a little bit. After all, it’s not like the unsaved listener is going to have the foggiest notion of what he’s talking about, let alone care about it. And therein lies the sad part of the story. We beat people over the head about the importance of having a repentant heart, yet we don’t tell them what’s actually involved! The Jews of the Old Testament had repentance down to a science. They would go out and select the best lamb from their flock, lead it to the temple, have a priest bless it, cut it’s throat and watch all the blood spew out of it’s neck, and then burn it on the altar while it was still kicking and screaming. Yuck! If I had to do all that, I would definitely be motivated to follow all of God’s commands also.
But thank the Lord we don’t have to do that anymore. The blood of Jesus Christ is sufficient to cleanse us, ONCE AND FOR ALL. Once we repent of our sins and follow Him, there is no turning back. Our salvation is secure. But somebody please tell that to the preachers out there who try and convince us we can lose our salvation because we are not serious enough about our faith.
So now we get back to the word “repent.” What does it actually mean? The last time I checked the dictionary, it told me the word was actually a verb. Here is Merriam-Webster’s definition:
intransitive verb
1 : to turn from sin and dedicate oneself to the amendment of one's life
2a : to feel regret or contrition
b : to change one's mind
transitive verb
1 : to cause to feel regret or contrition
2 : to feel sorrow, regret, or contrition for
You have to admit, it’s a pretty good definition. It’s an action verb that means to change your mind, turn away, and feel regret and contrition toward your sin. But here’s the problem. You have some pastors believing that if you are too slow to turn from your sin, you’re not actually saved. Some other pastors preach that if you don’t show enough contrition in a timely manner, you’re not saved. Still others believe and preach the notion of having to be a pitiful ball of sorrow and regret for twenty years straight before you can be saved! These silly notions have nothing to do with the Gospel.
I believe in my heart that I was born again into God’s kingdom at the age of twelve. Unfortunately, because the pastor thought he was finished with me when I converted, I was completely alone in my faith for the next 42 years. There was no follow-up by anyone in the church, and so I fell away for a very long time. Was I saved? Who knows, except God. But there are those who would try and second guess the saving grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Incidentally, I do have a close relationship with Him now. Is that enough? Have I fully repented? You’ll just have to pray for me that my conversion was real, not try and condemn me for my actions.
My point here is that we never really reach true repentance on our own. Why? Because we are incapable of it. We will never be made perfect until that glorious day when we meet God face to face. But we rejoice in the truth that the Father looks on us as being fully righteous.
By his will we have been made holy through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all Heb. 10:10
God made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we would become the righteousness of God. 2 Cor. 5:21
Sure the Holy Spirit convicts us of our sin at conversion. But as believers, he convicts us of our righteousness through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I think one of the biggest mistakes we make when we lead people to Christ is assuming that they have the capacity to fully repent when we lead them in the “sinner’s prayer.” I believe repentance is actually a lifelong process. We must not turn our backs on the newly converted. They need to understand that sanctification is also a lifelong process, not a source for condemnation by misinformed pastors.
On the other hand, a very brilliant pastor I heard preach one Sunday encouraged us to confess our sins early, confess our sins often, and to confess them fully. As those of us born into God’s kingdom, we can be assured of our salvation by knowing the truth that our Heavenly Father will listen to our confessions. We don’t need a priest, a pastor or an elder to accomplish this. We have the Creator of the universe listening to each one of us. Hallelujah!
But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous, forgiving us our sins and cleansing us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9
I think we should just leave it at that and let God do all the talking. We would all be much better off if our church leaders would engage in a little less preaching and a lot more disciple-making.