True Heart of Repentance
Notes
Transcript
“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;
What is repentance?
What is repentance?
The Greek word for repent is “metanoeo”
Meta - means movement or change
Noeo - thoughts, perceptions, disposition, and purpose
The word REPENT or repentance is to change our thoughts, our perception.
How we actually go about repenting
How we actually go about repenting
Isn’t it true that after we “repent” we so easily fall for the same sin again and again?
Why is that? It’s because we actually don’t hate the act.
True repentance cannot happen in the absence of actual abhorrence of what we just committed.
What is the evidence of this?
After the so called repentance, we go about our day exactly the same.
Lets say a certain friend is your cause of sin. You repent of it but you keep committing it whenever you’re with them.
Yet, you go about your life still hanging out with that friend. There is no active choice to change.
We fail to think
When I first heard someone say this to me, I was honestly bit offended. It felt like I was being told that I was dumb and stupid.
But to be honest, there is no better way of saying it.
We make decisions based on our emotions rather than rational thought. What’s worse is that most of the times we don’t do things because we “feel” like it but it’s just automatic. Without giving it a single thought, we just do. Like a mindless robot.
What does true repentance look like?
What does true repentance look like?
It actually takes a lot of brain power.
2 Corinthians 10:5
We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,
Paul says take every thought captive.
Taking every thought captive.
It does sound bit difficult to understand at first, take every thought captive? What does that even mean?
But if you think about it for a moment, it’s quite simple. When you have a thought, “I want to do...” Take it captive and interrogate it. Why do I want to do …? What is the purpose? What will I gain? What will I lose?
When you realize that a certain action or thought pattern is sin, you repent! You change your thoughts and direction.
“Repentance is a discovery of the evil of sin, a mourning that we have committed it, a resolution to forsake it. It is, in fact, a change of mind of a very deep and practical character, which makes the man love what once he hated, and hate what once he loved.” - Charles Spurgeon
Repentance starts at the discovery of ones sin. It starts with you discovering that what you have just done or thought of is sin.
It is next followed by true mourning that we have committed it.
Luke 18:13
“But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’
A resolution to forsake it.
Luke 19:8
Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.”
After repenting, it’s not “Okay I said I was sorry, lets go and not care about it.” But it’s actually taking practical steps and setting up rules so you don’t repeat it.
Ever had a person “apologize” to you about something, then they turn around and do it again? And again? Clearly we know they aren’t actually sorry. Or perhaps they fail to follow through with how they said they’ll make amends?
This is exactly how a repentance should not look.