Repentance and Obedience
by
Aaron Budjen
What role does repentance and obedience have in the Christian life? When considering the implications of the complete forgiveness we have, the inheritance we have in Christ and the freedom from the law, it is common for a person to begin to ask this question. In most cases, the message propagated in churches is to live a life of continually turning away from sin and doing the works of God. Pastors and Priests proclaim a message on a weekly basis that often sounds something like, "come to me and I will teach you how to stop sinning." On other occasions the message is, "I am now going to tell you all of the things you should be doing." We are so accustomed to hearing the messages of repentance and obedience, that we can become concerned when we begin to live in the freedom and abundance of what we have in Christ.
When it comes to repentance, what role does repentance have in your life? Answering the question with a similar question is not always the best way to respond. However, in most cases, people ask me this question because they want me to teach them and others something that I do not believe is true. In other words, their question is normally an accusation, not a sincere desire for an answer. If I was to ask you what role repentance has in your life, how would you respond? Would you feel confident in saying that you repent from your sins? Perhaps you can if you have a different definition for the word. The word for repentance, to repent, means that you have a total and complete change of mind. You turn away from one thing, towards another and never return to what you turned away from. This is what the word repent means in the Scriptures. Therefore, if a person is honest with respect to this definition, obviously repentance has no role in their life. Why would I teach people to repent from their sins when they won't repent from their sins? Would you like me to threaten them by telling them that God will punish them if they don't stop sinning?
The message of repentance is normally presented as stop sinning or God will punish you. If you don't like the word punishment, then consider the word chastise or discipline. Either way, the intent is to say that God will intervene and cause you to experience suffering because of your sin. When we understand the complete forgiveness of sins, and understand that our God does not hold our sins against us any more, it is natural to ask why we should no longer turn away from our sinful desires?
Consider an example with a husband and wife. What would it sound like if I was to approach my wife and tell her something like the following: Sweetheart, I want you to know that I was looking over the ten commandments recently and I noticed that adultery is a sin. Certainly, as a man I find myself being tempted on occasion to commit adultery. However, I want you to know that I believe God will punish me if I commit adultery against you. Perhaps He may not punish me, but He will discipline me or chastise me at the very least. Therefore, because I am afraid of what God will do to me, I will not commit adultery against you. How would that make you feel if you were married to me? Would you feel comforted and secure to know that I will not violate our marriage because of my fear of God? Is that the kind of person you would want to be married to? I would hope not. You would want to know that I would not commit adultery because I don't want to. You would prefer that I would not commit adultery because I am a man of character and integrity. Out of pride you might also want me to say no to the temptations of adultery because you are so beautiful, you are such a nice person, and I am deeply in love with you. That could be a little risky though considering the effects of aging and occasionally you might be a viscous and cruel person. If that happens you would certainly have cause to feel insecure and afraid. Regardless of the specific exceptions, a person sins because they want to. If a person is not going to sin, it will be because they do not want to sin.
A person will never turn from sin when admonished to repent. A person will only turn from sin when their heart is changed from the inside. For this reason I am very careful to focus on the issues of a person's heart, not their flesh. If I find ways to make us feel as if we are able to get our flesh under control, nothing will be accomplished by that. If we turn to our God and receive all that He has for us through the Lord Jesus, the deepest needs of our heart will be fulfilled. When the deepest needs that we have are met, our life will be a living expression of the peace we have in our hearts. The temptation of sin will dissipate, and we will live a life that appears to be a life of repentance. In truth, our life will be a transformational experience from the inside when we grow in our relationship with the living God.
Obedience is normally presented as doing what the Lord wants you to do. In contrast with repentance, which is not doing what the Lord does not want you to do, obedience is the decision and activity of doing the works of God. Just as repentance is often based on the threat of punishment, obedience is often encouraged with the offer of blessings and rewards. When a person understands that the Lord is not going to punish them for their sins, they will question why they should not pursue a life of sin. In a similar way, when a person begins to discover what they have been given already in Christ Jesus, they will question why they should pursue a life of obedience.
Consider the example of ministry. I personally consider the proclamation of the Gospel and discipleship of believers in the Lord Jesus to be the highest form of public service. What would it sound like to you if I said that I am so thankful for the opportunity to devote my life to the ministry because God is going to bless me and reward me in unimaginable ways. How would it be perceived if I told a person that I was counseling them through the deep pains and sufferings in their life because God was going to bless me for my obedience to Him. If this was true, it would be a clear description of selfishness. In addition, it would be a profound expression of pride that I was doing something for God, and as a result He would definitely owe me. In 2002 the Lord gave me a clear directive that from that time forward I was to devote my life to the work of the ministry. I did not respond to this directive out of obedience. I responded to what the Lord directed me to do because He prepared my heart in such a way that I would do this because I want to, more than anything else in the world. My decisions and activities are direct acts of the highest form of public service, and I don't do them because I expect to be blessed or rewarded. I live a life of service towards others because I want to, and am thankful that the Lord has opened many doors for me to walk through and be a part of what He is doing.
If we lived a life according to repentance and obedience, we would consistently be devoted to living a life we would never live. If this is how our God wants us to live we will never be repentant enough and we will never be obedient enough. When would we ever be at peace? When would we ever be at rest? The answer is obvious. You will never be at peace or at rest in your own heart if you sincerely believe that your life is to be a life of repentance and obedience. For this reason, and many others, people will continue to hang onto something in the world with hope they will experience peace and rest because they know they will never experience peace and rest with their God. The result of preaching repentance and obedience is an increase of sin and disobedience in a person's life. The reasons why a person sins and disobeys are not only ignored, but further barriers are built to prevent a person from knowing their God.
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