"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." (2 Cor. 7:10)
Most Christians will concur that repentance is necessary for salvation, but seldom do we see any insistence that one actually turn from their former life of self will. For the most part, we have managed to substitute the idea of being sorry for our failures rather than actually turning from them. There is a big difference, and that difference is Godly sorrow.
The passage above is part of Paul’s response to the assembly at Corinth. He had previously written them about numerous problems and it is obvious that his concerns had brought them considerable grief. We won’t rehearse the details here but they did need correcting (you can revisit 1 Corinthians if you need a quick refresher course).
The Greek word for repentance is metanoia which implies a turning or a reversal. Paul lets us know there are two kinds of repentance. They are determined by that which causes them and they have very different consequences.
A decision to turn from improper behavior can arise from worldly coercion (the civil government or simply others who are able to enforce their demands), or conviction of the heart by Almighty God. Those who must be compelled by the former are on a path to destruction. Those who recognize and submit to the latter truly live.
These days, if you confront someone about an offense you, you are likely to get a quick and unemotional "I’m sorry." The tone of voice and body language will communicate that what they regret is having been caught and/or confronted. Their manner leaves you with no hint that they really regret the action and intend to change their behavior in the future.
Sadly, we usually learn this type of behavior at home where parents compel us to say, "I’m sorry" when we truly are not. We may be sorry for the consequences we are about to receive for our actions, but we are not sorry for the action. Again, this is worldly sorrow, not Godly sorrow. Where most parents fail (especially non-Christians) is in helping their child to see their actions as God sees them.
Do we seek simply to stay out of trouble with "the law" and our fellow man, or do we seek to live in obedience to Him who created and called us? How we answer determines whose we are. Just what are we seeking?
What did we seek when we confessed Christ as Savior? We live in a era of what has been called "easy believe-ism". Millions of contemporary Christians have walked the aisles of countless churches to profess, "I believe." Sadly, they have never been confronted with the need to turn from their former life and the evidence is, for the most part, they do not. Why? They never experienced Godly sorrow.
Godly sorrow is not something you have to wonder whether you have experienced or not. It is heart-rending, life-changing sorrow. It will drive you to your knees or flat on your face before God. It will flood you eyes with tears and fill your heart with remorse. The depths of Godly sorrow would quickly overwhelm us were it not for the grace and mercy which God administers when we are so inundated.
God knows a phony, and we generally do too: except in the mirror. Repentance is not to be taken lightly. When we are wrong, a careless "I’m sorry" is so inadequate that offering only that is probably a mistake. It would be better for us to take the time to get before God and allow Him to show us how awful our conduct is and just how much it grieves Him and brings reproach upon His name. Then, we are in a position to seek forgiveness from Him and the one offended.
In Acts 5:31 Peter recognizes that it is God who grants repentance. It is not something we muster up on our own. God convicts us of our error, gives us the desire to change our path, and empowers us to change. There is no room for self-exaltation here.
When the Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus in John 6, He confronted them with telling words, "You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bring forth fruit in keeping with repentance; and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham for our father'; for I say to you, that God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham." (Matt. 3:7b-9)
What is the problem here? These Jewish elite came in their self-righteousness and Jesus would have none of it. They didn’t see themselves as God saw them and Christ rejected them even though they came out to Him.
People are still coming to Christ in their own righteousness today and the results are disastrous. Our assemblies are filled with people who have never confronted the horror of who they really are before God. All they do is give mental assent that Christ is God’s Son. Mental assent is not faith.
Sharon and I volunteer in a Christian ministry where we regularly see nominal Christians express their faith. All too frequently, they view their acceptability to God as being based on the fact that they have tried to be good.
Having been raised in a tradition that teaches a works based salvation, I understand that response well. But it is a response that demonstrates a failure to understand the human condition. Outside of Christ, we are dead. We are not just dead and we are not just three days in the grave, we really stink!
Even at our best moments in the flesh, we are utterly disgusting and repulsive to our righteous, holy God. All the good works in the world won’t change our condition. Only when we recognize our efforts for the abomination they are can we begin to grasp what God’s grace and mercy are all about. As long as we have a shred of confidence in what we are able to accomplish in the flesh, we stand arrogant before God and reject the propitiation He has extended to us in Christ. He is not impressed by our self-righteousness. (Continued on Page 2)
Can you remember when you first saw your life for what it really was? Can you remember the despair when you realized that your deliverance was beyond your own strength? Can you remember when you considered all the wonderful things you thought you had to offer God and you realized that they made Him want to puke?
If not, may I suggest that you spend some time reflecting on just how God sees you. It is not a pleasant thing to do but it is so necessary. We may have accomplished great things in the eyes of the world but outside of Christ, they are, as Paul said, rubbish.
The fruit of repentance is a changed life. Even those who live good moral lives need to repent. Why? First, because no matter how good they are, they are still flawed. And second, because any good accomplished was based on wrong motives. The right motive is to please God and that is impossible outside a saving relationship with Jesus Christ.
Do we have occasion to repent as Christians? Do I need to tell you yes? If so, you probably haven’t been a Christian long! Just because we are God’s own does not mean we always do the right thing in this life. God will see to it that we are confronted with our error because He loves us and desires to train us in righteousness.
When we become aware of our failure, He brings the discipline we need to face it and become more conformed to the image of Christ. That is Christian growth and if we are not growing we are yet dead.
God used Paul to discipline the Christians at Corinth. He will surely use others in our life to provide this loving training for us. May we be open to their instruction and quick to allow God’s work of repentance to bear fruit in our lives
"Forgive Us Our Debts"
Frank Robinson, a Christian friend of some local reputation, has noted that he prefers the above translation to "trespasses" as some versions render it. He says he doesn’t plan on crossing the property of others without permission, but that he has been known to owe them money.
Of course, he says that with a twinkle in his eye that lets you know he has a clearer understanding of the verse in view. Do we? When was the last time we considered the debt we owed? Perhaps we can imagine being credit poor and not being able to pay the bills as they arrive but that is nothing compared to the debt we owed Almighty God.
With financial debt one can, through discipline and careful planning, escape its clutches. Our debt to God is another matter. It is an insurmountable debt that could not be paid if we commit all that we are and have for all the days remaining in our lives. It is so great in fact, that even if our every descendent did the same on our behalf, it would never be paid. It requires a payment of a type that we simply cannot make and no one else can make it for us, save One.
It is in fact a debt that has already been paid but that transaction is dependent on our faith. That, as we have noted before, is a gift of God over which we have no control. It comes simply as a measure of His grace.
If we have seen our predicament and then witnessed our account balance cleared by the atoning work of Christ, we should understand the significance of the rest of the verse above: "...as we forgive our debtors." God grants us what we do not deserve and we are to show the same grace to others. It is a hard but necessary lesson to learn.
That does not mean that we ignore the failings of others. It does mean we are careful about how we handle them. As far as our relationship to God is concerned, we forgive the individual as soon as we are aware of the offense. That is personal forgiveness, but it does not mean we excuse the offense before God.
It is that concern that compels us to confront one another regarding our failures. The scripture teaches that whether we are the offended or the offender, we are to go to our brother seeking reconciliation. God leaves us no room to simply ignore the matter. Relationships are too important.
If one who has offended us seeks forgiveness from us, we are constrained to extend it genuinely. When we are the offender, we should quickly seek to set things right. If we are unaware of our offense and have to be confronted by another, we accept that correction with grace and thanksgiving.
We are quick to insist on justice when others have wronged us and quicker to beg for mercy when we have wronged others. We must be willing to extend to others that which we seek for ourselves.
Any debt others may owe us pales in comparison the the debt we owed God. In Matthew 18, Jesus tells of man who insisted on his debtor paying up. It is a remarkable story because the man had just been forgiven a debt that was 100 times as large as the amount owed to him.
We find that to be an incredible story, but it should not surprise us if we pay attention to our own lives. As we live out our years in the grace which has been extended us, it is all to easy to forget our former state.
Paul wrote, "Actually, then, it is already a defeat for you, that you have lawsuits with one another. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be defrauded? On the contrary, you yourselves wrong and defraud, and that your brethren. Or do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God. (1 Cor. 6:7-11)
Maybe you don’t find yourself in that list but before you dismiss the possibility don’t forget to search your heart, and do realize the list isn’t all inclusive. Remembering our offenses renews our gratitude to God and finds its expression in how we relate to others.
Paul teaches that we ought to suffer a wrong rather than to let it become a matter which brings reproach on the name of Christ but, to our shame, we regularly see Christians involved in lawsuits against other Christians in the civil courts.
In the early days of Christian history, believers held their own courts and they were well known for their justice. So well known that even unbelievers would forego the Roman civil courts to have their case tried with greater equity. Would to God that we had that kind of influence in our culture today.
God is so gracious to us day by day and yet we balk at the petty offenses that others bring our way. God help us to find the grace to forgive as we have been forgiven.
The Fellowship of the Saints
"And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. And everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles.
And all those who had believed were together, and had all things in common; and they began selling their property and possessions, and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need. And day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness and sincerity of heart,
praising God, and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved." (Acts 2:42-47)
If you want a verse that Christians will quickly declare doesn’t apply to us today, this has to be among the highest on the list (at least in this country). What do the words "church fellowship" bring to your mind.
My earliest experiences associated church fellowship with food plus something else, usually 42 (for the uninitiated, that’s a game played with dominoes that is similar to the card game Spades). At least we got the breaking of bread part down!
But what about the rest? 1 Cor. 1:9 tells us we were called into fellowship by God. That is no small matter. If God has called us together in fellowship with Him, there is a much larger purpose in view than simply eating an occasional meal together. They were "continually devoting themselves" to these things.
Does this mean we are all to go out and sell our property to give the proceeds to others? No, but we should be willing to if the situation warrants. More than that, we should be eager to do so. To be sure, the Christians spoken of here lived in an unique time and in strained circumstances. Their land was about to be overrun by Roman armies and liquidating their assets in accordance with the warning they had been given was certainly in order. But their motives went deeper than that.
The birth of the new covenant assembly in Jerusalem found many Christians far from home who were so jubilant at the salvation they received that they did not wish to part company with one another. This put a tremendous strain on the local community of believers as they attempted to extend Christian hospitality which had its basis in Levitical teaching.
The story of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5 makes it clear that no one was compelled to sell their property to meet the pressing needs. Nevertheless, many did sell off their excess property and others sold sacrificially.
I wonder what would happen today if we as Christians focused on how little we could get by with and devoted the rest to ministering to the needs of others? For example, imagine no need for insurance policies because we are mutually committed to taking care of each other. Should a particular community of believers be hit with more than they can handle, a call goes out to believers in other communities for assistance. What a powerful witness to the world that would be.
Imagine the multiplied billions of dollars that would be at the disposal of Christians to help others instead of lining the pockets of insurance companies that do everything they can to keep from paying up – but I dream. Fellowship really shouldn’t go that far, should it?
In 1 John 1, we are told that a sure sign of one being in fellowship is that they "walk in the light" and have nothing to do with "darkness." It is not surprising then that those first century believers devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and prayer.
This was a daily experience, not a weekly one. Is it any wonder that the vast majority of believers in our culture are essentially ignorant of biblical teaching? All that most get is a few minutes of a sermon on Sunday morning and in many cases that just uses a biblical text for a launching pad to tell a series of feel good stories and/or jokes.
Most Christians make no provision for serious study and it is hard to blame them. They have never been given the instruction they needed in the first place. They simply mimic what they have seen other Christians do and they are never told there is more.
They miss the blessing experienced by those early believers – that "feeling of a sense of awe" at what God has and is doing in their lives. Fellowship is reduced to food and fun and the opportunity for deep relationships with one another gets pushed into the background.
We were called to a common life in Christ (fellowship). Are we living it out or neglecting it? Chances are, your most treasured relationships are with those few Christians who are living their calling. May we always be among their number.
The Apprentice’s Journal
For those who enjoy the ongoing saga of the critters in my backyard here’s a quick update. The pileated woodpeckers seemed to be settling in now. The male finally finished the cavity in the dead pine tree. One afternoon near the end of the job, I was watching him through binoculars. He stuck his dust covered head out of the hole and rested his neck at the bottom of the opening. I know how he feels. After a long day of woodworking, you reach a point where you think, "If I have to do this one more time ...." But his work paid off and he enticed a lovely female and we hope to see young ones in the near furture.
The other morning, I was in the kitchen and heard a commotion on the deck just outside the sliding glass door. I looked up to see a roadrunner standing there with a lizard in his mouth. He seemed pleased with himself and strutted over the to rocks above the waterfall on the pond by the gazebo before moving out to the garden to gulp down his breakfast. He’s been back a couple of times but I don’t know if he will hang around.
The bluebirds have been checking out a house I put out this year. They don’t seem overly excited about it and they haven’t started to nest but I am still hopeful they will settle in.
The frogs have begun to make excursions into the ponds and stream at night but so far I haven’t seen any toads. I’m not holding my breath. I have a feeling they will be along sooner or later (for those new to the newsletter, I have suffered a plague of toads in the past of almost biblical proportions. Do roadrunners eat toads?).
Everything is in bloom and the grass is growing. I enjoy the glorious colors against a backdrop of green but tending to the yard is not something I really enjoy. Nevertheless, this year promises to be less physically strenuous than last year and I’m grateful for that. Still, there is a lot to be done.
My thoughts and prayers are with those family members and friends who are caught up in the present conflict in the mid-east. As I feared, overtures are now being made about the need
for Syria to cooperate. I don’t expect them to, and I do expect we will soon extend the campaign into that sovereign nation’s domain. Sooner or later we will probably find ourselves in Iran as we seek to secure our supply of mid-east oil.
I’m amazed at the response of Christians to this unconstitutional "war." One pastor responded that he didn’t care about whether it was legal or not, or if it was right or wrong. He concluded that since we’ve put people in harm’s way and gas could be approaching $3 a gallon, we have to do something. How sad.
King George’s buddies are getting huge war contracts and in the end we’ll get control of the oil. Not wanting to miss an opportunity Congress included themselves about a $20,000 raise in the Wartime Supplemental Appropriations Bill. Ain’t war grand? Wave your flag and send in your check. Happy April 15th.
When will we ever learn that violence begets violence? Forget the propaganda you see on TV. Do you understand that you only see what they want you to see? Find a few Iraqis celebrating and play it up. Ignore the ones who are plotting even now to get even. The ill will we are breeding around the world is just not worth what we will gain in this action.
As good friend Daniel New pointed out in a recent article, we should at least be insisting that the government we install in Iraq is friendly to Christianity. Without the underlying principles of the Christian faith, any attempt to establish a system that protects the rights of individuals is futile.
But then, why would we insist on establishing those principles abroad when we are ripping them out of our own system root and branch? As I watch these events unfold, I become more convinced than ever that God’s hand of judgment is heavy on our country.
Instead of repentance, I see arrogance. Instead of sorrow, I see self-justification. The grief for my past failures as a citizen of this country haunts me. How might things be different had I taken my responsibility seriously much sooner?
I accept my part of the blame for where we are today, but I pray that others will repent of their lack of diligence and rise to make their voice heard. Sooner or later, all will object to the oppressive government which is arising before our eyes.
Please don’t wait until we are utterly powerless. Use the time we have remaining to be diligent. Time may be short, but there is time. God is able to preserve us even yet, but we must be willing to submit to Him. I pray we will.