(Read Romans 10)
My good friend Derald and I went for a nice, somewhat long run around our lake the other day. It took us about an hour, and we talked about many things; thankfully, he led us through some prayers on our uphill climbs. Derald is bubbling over with his faith. He doesn’t shy away from these conversations with anyone. He is like a running brook swollen by spring rains, barely able to constrain himself. I joke with some of my other friends that there are different kinds of encouragement — earnest, kind, and authentic, versus outwardly kind, smiley, with a twinge of sarcasm. I bridge both types. Derald is the former.
In our small group, we often talk about repentance. While many churches place a lot of emphasis on the action, some more than others, most don’t attribute it as a condition for salvation. In my way of thinking, there is worldview repentance and biblical repentance. One is sorry for getting caught; the other is admitting guilt, taking an about-face, learning, changing, and growing from it.
Derald said, “True repentance comes from the heart and soul. For a person to be saved from God’s judgment and receive the promise of eternal life, a person must repent.”
“I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one can come to the Father except through me.”
John 14:6
Putting Jesus’ words in perspective, Derald continued, “A person must acknowledge they are a sinner who needs a Savior, believe Jesus paid for their sins on the cross, confess their sins in prayer, and ask for forgiveness — and they will be saved.” Weaving our way halfway up the hill, Derald cited Romans 10:9-10.
If you openly declare Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.
Romans 10:9-10
This guy is amazing, I thought. He’s reciting, teaching, thinking, talking — all while running. Derald explained, “When a person is saved, they receive the Holy Spirit, the supernatural living God. The Holy Spirit convicts a person who is saved when they sin, comforts them, guides them, and changes their heart and soul to be more like Jesus. Even after salvation, I still choose to sin and choose to suffer.” He reminded me of Paul’s warning: do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live.
Should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it?
Romans 6:1-2
“Unfortunately, people often continue to abuse God’s love and grace after they have professed denying themselves and accepted Him. If a person is truly saved, they will be miserable when they sin and hopefully will quickly repent with a sincere heart, praying for God to forgive them.” Like me and everyone else I know, Derald also struggles with sinful behavior. Whether looking too long at a beautiful woman or being proud of his accomplishments as a senior analyst, he admitted he’s powerless to face these weaknesses on his own. “I don’t lust in my heart. I ask the Holy Spirit to forgive me. I ask the Holy Spirit to help me resist temptations. I repent. I pray God will give me love and compassion for people who think differently than I do socially, politically, or spiritually.”
“Cover your sin, and God will expose it. Expose your sin, and God will cover it with his mercy.”
Pastor J.D. Greear
“When a person continues to sin without true repentance, the heart and soul become hardened and rationalize the sinful behavior, obscuring God’s grace. If a person willfully decides to sin, thinking they will later ask God for forgiveness, they have the wrong posture towards repentance.” To this statement, I wondered aloud whether someone who carries themselves this way has truly accepted Christ’s grace and mercy — or if it’s just lip service. It might look good on the outside, but the heart says otherwise.
In his 1933 book, The Church and the Jewish Question, written in prewar Germany, Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer questioned well-meaning Christianity, which made me think about Derald’s take on repentance. Bonhoeffer was an anti-Nazi dissident who exposed the heart of American Christians tolerating racism, and those in Germany who acquiesced to a changing society that had accepted violent Jewish persecution as the norm. He wrote that Christians have a duty to respond and resist to protect church members — that, rather than bending to societal pressures, the church is obligated to take action and intervene.
If we confess our sins to God, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.
1 John 1:9
Derald concluded, “But we must not abuse God’s word to fit our sinful nature. If you do not truly repent of your sinful thoughts and actions, you need to evaluate whether you are saved. I believe a saved person will have a heart that seeks to please God and will cry out when they have sinned, asking God to forgive and cleanse their soul from sin.”
The concept of repentance came from a military word. It is a decision to turn 180 degrees around — a complete about-face. It’s an inside-out change. “A person must daily ask the Holy Spirit for victory over sin. If a person continues to sin, the danger is that they will eventually love sin more than being right with God. If there is no internal life-change and you are not sincere about turning from sin, then you’re only experiencing worldly sorrow and might be spiritually dead.”
“Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.”
Matthew 3:2
“As we yield to the Holy Spirit, He will do the heavy lifting. He changes our character to make us more like Jesus. The Bible says we must walk habitually in the Holy Spirit and abandon the desires of our sinful nature.”
Before we had a chance for a cooling glass of water, Derald capped our run with another prayer. “I pray God will forgive me for all things. I pray the Lord forgives me when I judge people who are hoarders, complainers, and those who act differently from me — as they may have various mental issues. These are only some of my sins I bring before our Holy God and ask for complete repentance. Lord Jesus, I pray you will change my mind, heart, and soul, because I am tired of sinning and desire a clean, purified soul. Just trying to be real with you.”
But the fruit of the Holy Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Galatians 5:22-23
Life Application:
- Repentance is not a one-time transaction at the altar. When the Holy Spirit convicts you, don’t negotiate or delay — turn around, confess, and trust that God is faithful to cover what you are willing to expose.