How many times has someone told you that you must repent of your sins? If you have been a Christian for any length of time I am sure you have heard it more times than you can remember. Or, you have told somebody that they need to repent of their sin. Repentance, by definition is a "deep sorrow, compunction, or contrition for a past sin, wrongdoing, or the like." Now, any Christian, worth their salt, would definitely feel deep sorrow after they commit a sin. After all, they know that whatever sin they commit is not a reflection of who they are in Christ. For many, they struggle with certain sins that haunt them their entire lives. No matter how sorrowful they are, and no matter how hard they try, they never seem to rid themselves of this certain sin. For many of them it hinders their growth as a Christian because they live in fear that because they struggle with this sin they may not truly be a Christian or that God harbors some sort of resentment towards them. Granted, God does not like sin, but He also is not surprised when we commit a sin, either. Nevertheless, there is an element within the Body of Christ, that sits in judgment of these individuals and lays a heavy burden on them in regards to their sin and repenting of it. Case in point is the following statement made by a Christian regarding repentance.
Today my dad did something that bothered me, which really should not have bothered me at all....I was just way too wound-up and OCD-like. Anyways, I said 'moron' angrily in my head. And immediately after I said 'sorry, God, I didn't mean that', having realized that I had just broken the 5th commandment. And then realized "sheesh....that was not a repentance." It was more like a situation where you curse in front of your teacher by accident, and quickly say 'woops, sorry!'. More of a woops, not really a sorry. So it got me to thinking, what is true repentance, and how do you know if you truly are sorry or if you're just saying it? Does it need to be said out loud with eyes closed and hands folded? I usually pray/repent in my mind, but sometimes that makes me feel like I'm just thinking thoughts rather than truly praying or repenting.
I responded to their dilemma.
"You actually touched on something quite significant here. Many Christians "apologize" to God for their sin and think that is a sufficient sacrifice for sin. Although, we call it confession booths, short accounts, altar calls, you name it. None of it gets us forgiveness or is accepted by God in the first place. True repentance is only realized when it comes to turning from our unbelief in Jesus to our belief in Jesus (Mark 1:15). Unfortunately, many Christians try to repent of a particular sin, only to repeat it again at another time. Besides, even if you never repeated a sin, you will sin again on some level. Does that mean you didn't really mean you were sorry the last time you committed it? You see how ridiculous this gets? You end up so focused on whether or not you really meant something and then look for signs that you have truly changed your mind. Well, then you spend the rest of your life focused on trying not to commit that sin or other sins. That is not a life of rest and peace in the Holy Spirit.
True repentance is only realized when it comes to the Gospel. Once you accept Christ as your Savior, you are sealed by the Holy Spirit, and are a child of God for all eternity. You then spend the rest or your life allowing the Holy Spirit of God to live His life in and through you. As you learn to trust Him with your life, you will begin to see a diminishing in the sins you commit, but never a total end to them. If you could stop sinning, you'd be God. And we know we aren't God. At least I hope we do. The goal of the Christian life is to learn to trust God, not to stop sinning. Nobody has ever accomplished that, nor does God expect us to do so. Jesus took our sins away from the eyes of God at the cross for all eternity (Hebrews 9:12). Now, when we sin, we approach God in our time of need to see where it was we weren't trusting Him with our lives (Hebrews 4:16). Approaching Him is only possible because our sins and lawless acts are remembered no more. You can't approach God if you still believe your sins come between you and Him. There is nothing wrong with being sorry for a sin and seeking to restore any relationship with that individual you sinned against. That is what Christians should do (James 5:16).
True repentance is realized when we believe God and what He did with our sins. "Then he adds:
"Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more."And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin." Hebrews 10:17-18"
A few individuals agreed with my summary about repentance. However, one of the individuals who agreed with me was carrying on a separate conversation with a pastor on this subject. This pastor, in my opinion, is an example of the "element" I mentioned earlier who like to sit in judgement of other Christians as if they are not truly repentant of a sin if they commit it again. Here is what he said on the subject. "The common usage of "Repentance" in today's Churchdom realm is to say I repent when what is meant is "Whoops". There is no change in the person's thinking or in their heart towards the sin they committed; it is more of a "Confession" or acknowledgement of the sin they committed. I still maintain a person can only repent of a particular sin one time. If they commit the sin again, then they did not repent; they lied." Who on earth is this pastor who believes he knows what is going on in the mind and heart of another believer and to say they are lying to God? This is self-righteous religious pride at its best. The last time I got drunk, in fact the last time I consumed alcohol, was July 11, 1999. That is nearly ten years ago. By this pastors own definition, if I get drunk again anytime between now and when I died, I lied to God. Please! As I mentioned, previously, this is how Christians stay immature in their faith and unable to receive the love of God. Their entire Christian life is about what I am doing and not doing rather than what Christ is doing through me. Not only does one man not know the heart of another, God is not judging them for their sin any longer anyway.
"All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." 2 Corinthians 5:18-21
God is begging us to be reconciled to Him because the sin issue no longer separates us from Him. A misunderstanding of this truth is what is behind trying to nitpick and play with words when it comes to whether one has truly repented of their sins or not. Nobody can say they will never commit a certain sin again. Nobody. Not only do we not know the future, we also are told not to put any confidence in the flesh. The minute we think we have gotten ahold of our flesh, is the moment we prove we never had control of it to begin with. Now, don't get me wrong, like with my past drunkenness, I am glad I haven't fallen back into that sin. I would not encourage anybody to imitate me in that regard. But, the reason I haven't fallen back into that sin is not because I truly "repented" of it. The reason is because I learned that, as a child of God, getting drunk is not consistent with who I am in Christ. Does a child of God abuse alcohol? No. Should a child of God endeavor to be controlled by wine or the Holy Spirit? Of course, the Holy Spirit. Besides, normally, we focus on those sins that are outward that everybody can see. How many Christians have "repented" of lust, coveting, worrying or fear? Don't answer that. The Christian life is about trusting the Holy Spirit, not trying to stop sinning. He is not going to lead us into sin, but we will never be free from it until we pass on into eternity.
"For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith."" Romans 1:17
Christians live by faith in Jesus to live His life in and through us. We don't live in fear of, and preoccupation with, sin. True repentance is turning from our unbelief in Jesus to a saving faith in Him. The reason we can't go back on this act of repentance is not because of our self-effort, but because God is faithful to keep us until the end. Therefore, we should be aware of the fact that we do not live a life focused on sin, but focused on Jesus. We live by faith in the only one who lived a sinless life and now wants to live that life in and through us. Do not let anybody put you under guilt or conviction that you are lying to God if you commit a sin a second time or more. Rather, go to the Lord in humility and thankfulness in order to learn why you weren't trusting God when you sinned. His grace is sufficient for us, His forgiveness eternal and His patience endless. He has not and will not repent of His promises to us. Therefore, we need not worry about the perceived truthfulness of our repentance of our sins in the eyes of others.
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