For a believer, repentance means a changing of the mind and heart away from sin and fleshly desires. The new believer turns his back on all that God hates, realizing he is a sinner and begins to do the things which are pleasing to God because of a changed heart that results in changed behavior. The believer’s mind, will and affections are pointed toward a love for God and His Son.
Upon repenting and putting his faith in Christ, the new believer’s sins are forgiven by God. Peter says in Acts 3:19-20, “Therefore, repent and return so that your sins may be wiped away in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you.” In Psalm 32:5, David says, “I acknowledge my sin to You, and my iniquity I did not hide; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord;’ and You forgave the guilt of my sin.”
While all our sins are forgiven in an eternal sense and we are justified in the sight of God, we still have sin within us (Romans 7:17), and we commit sins every day that need to be repented of and cleansed (Psalm 51:2). While on earth, we are not completely free from sin and the Christian life faces attacks on three fronts: our own flesh, worldly influences and Satan’s temptations. Throughout our Christian lives, we will need to continue to confess and repent of sins we have committed against God and others. God is faithful to wipe them away when we prayerfully repent of them. Proverbs 28:13 reads, “He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion.”
Repentance Is Commanded
Repentance is essential in biblical counseling for a few reasons. First, repentance is commanded by God. Jesus said in Luke 13:5, “I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” As noted above in Acts 3:19-20, Peter, commissioned by Christ, commanded people to repent and turn to God. If a counselee wants to turn away from his sin, he will show the fruit of repentance by obeying and loving God. I believe that progress can be seen in a counselee’s life by how he views repentance.
Repentance Is Sincere
Which brings up the second point of the importance of repentance. Repentance is not feeling sorry for getting caught in sin. That is what worldly remorse looks like. Remorse is dangerous and does not produce the same results as repentance, mainly a genuine sorrow for the sins committed against God. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 7:10, “For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.” If a counselee has been in continual sin and will not turn away from that sin, one has to question if he is genuinely saved, and the approach to counseling may need to be altered. Giving him the Gospel may be the best way to get through to the counselee as the path he is on would lead to eternal death.
Throughout our Christian lives, we will need to continue to confess and repent of sins we have committed against God and others. God is faithful to wipe them away when we prayerfully repent of them.
Repentance Is a Gift
Finally, the counselee should be shown that repentance is a gift from God. When we are first converted by the grace of God, repentance allows us to see what depraved sinners we are and that we need to turn to God and away from the wickedness of our old lives. It should be seen as a gift from God, being saved from His wrath and eternal punishment. Romans 2:4 reads, “Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?” God’s mercy and kindness can be viewed as having tolerated our wicked ways with patience so that He would save us at an appointed time of His choosing. Post conversion, repentance allows us to go to God in genuine sorrow and confess what we have done so that we may restore our fellowship with Him. This is amazing hope for the counselee who may see his sin as too awful for God to blot out completely. God is faithful to forgive. Christ intercedes for us on our behalf (Hebrews 7:25). This should come as a great comfort to counselees as they seek to do what’s pleasing to God and become more conformed to the image of Christ.
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0 comments On Everyday Repentance
Part of the problem, though, lies in the fact that in Western thought, sin is a noun. “You have sin within you” and “You are a sinner.” These things had a different meaning to Eastern Hebraic thinkers. Sin to them is a verb. It’s the difference in describing a pencil–the Westerner says it’s a skinny stick that often is yellow with a piece of rubber at one end and sharp point at the other. The Hebrew thinker says “I write with it.” The difference then in the Western idea of repentance and the Hebrew teshuvah is that of doing. The Hebrew would have laughed at that whole “change of mind” thing. He knew it was a change of direction, literally a 180 BACK to YHWH. We have the example in front of us with the prodigal. He didn’t just way “Well this hasn’t worked so well. I’m gonna straighten up my act.” No, he went home and placed himself under his father’s authority. Those are two very, very different things. Because Christians threw away the commandments, what do they go “back” to? Some idea of being a good person? The commandments they chose to keep (9 out of 10 for starters)?
Hi jennacar,
Thanks for the comment. I think I’m tracking what you’re saying. Maybe I wasn’t as clear in my post as I could be and I can go back and review. I agree with the thought, if this is what you’re saying, that Western Christianity has put too much emphasis on “doing.” Sermons today seem to be preached on topics like “Five ways to…” or “10 things you can do…” Sermons these days are more like self-help lectures than expounding on Scripture and pointing people to the Gospel of Jesus. Or a lot of churches seem to be going in the other direction where it’s all grace and no conviction of sin. I believe churches need to have a balance of presenting sin for what it is, but also showing people that Jesus paid that price for sin. There’s nothing they can do, but it’s all of grace from God. To your question, which I think is rhetorical, what do Christians go back to should be the Gospel. It’s important for Christians to remind themselves of the Gospel daily. We should go back to wanting to be more like Christ. If someone is truly regenerate, they will have a love for Christ and seek to follow Him. The 10 Commandments, or the Law, is a mirror to show how sinful we are and that we can’t achieve the standard God set, But there is one who did it for us, who kept a perfect life and whose righteousness we are now cloaked in. The Law says, “Do.” The Gospel says, “Done.”
Blessings,
John