Repentance- Doctrine Talk

Recently, my 2 year old was hitting her sister. I removed her from the room and put her into time out. I told her that she was in time out because she had hit her sister and she needed to sit there until the timer went off as a consequence for her action.

At that point she immediately starts yelling “I’m sorry, I will say I’m sorry…”

It wasn’t until the consequence kicked in that she decided she was sorry.

In that moment my daughter was not truly sorry of her sin…in this moment, she felt wordly grief and sorrow over the consequence of what her sin had caused.

In our scripture this week, John the Baptist prepares the way for Jesus, for the kingdom of God, by calling people to repentance. Repentance is a godly grief over sin, not a worldly one.

Repentance begins with conviction of sin- which the Holy Spirit lovingly reveals to us in our lives.

The conviction of sin should lead us to sorrow over it. When we realize the impact of our wrong choices and the cost for our sin, suddenly, saying sorry doesn’t fix the problem.

When we are convicted it should lead us to confession and that confession will lead to fruit.

The fruit will be a transformation of our souls to be more like Jesus. It doesn’t mean we will never sin again or that we won’t struggle with the same sin over and over…

but, with the power of the Holy Spirit we can have victory over our sin and when repent and truly feel the weight and impact of our sin-

slowly but surely we will see our lives being transformed- and that sin that used to have power over us no longer does.

God did not leave us in our sin- he sent his son Jesus- to heal our brokenness- to fix what we could not.

Repentance requires us to change our thinking…to live with Jesus as King over our lives.

Salvation is a one time event- we are sealed forever with him no matter what…And as believers our identity is in Christ- we are no longer defined by our sin

but, we do need to daily walk in repentance, b/c as long as we are still on this earth sin breaks our relationship with God, BUT as we repent of our sin we draw closer to him.

You keep repenting because the kingdom of God is now but not yet. It is a constant drawing back to Jesus.

When we don’t walk in repentance and make it a regular routine in our lives- our relationship with God grows distant, we become hardened and struggle to hear his voice because we are too busy running our own kingdom instead of walking in his.

When we run our own kingdom- it leads to chaos, turmoil, and destruction ..we were not meant to rule over ourselves. That is not why we were created.

We were meant to live under the rule and reign of Jesus Christ- because this is where we find life.

2 Corinthians 7:9-10

2 Corinthians 7:9–10 ESV

As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.

Repentance feels messy in the moment. It’s a constant reminder that we are not God…a constant reminder that we desperately need him.

When we are convicted of sin we can rejoice- because that is evidence of the Holy Spirit working in us.

One day the full kingdom of Heaven, the reign and rule of Jesus on earth will come and there will be no more sin.

But for now, we walk in that tension- asking God to convict us of sin asking him to transform us- to draw us closer to himself…

Where is God convicting you today? Where do you need to respond to his call and repent?

Has God convicted you of something to which you have yet to respond? How can you turn to Him with a soft heart of repentance…a heart that is ready for change?

When our hearts are prepared for Jesus- when we have repented, He is faithful to transform us- and draws us into his presence…How is your savior drawing you into his presence today?

Repentance is a radical change of mind and a turning to someone else.

It requires insight but also results in action.

The insight needed for repentance beings with an acknowledgement of our sin.

As believers our identity is in Christ- we are no longer defined by our sin but we need to daily walk in repentance.

An acknowledgment that we are not the center of the Universe

In Luke 1, we learn

His Father was a priest—> Zechariah

Angel appeared to Zechariah telling him that he would have a son that he was to name John

In Luke 1:17 the angel tells John’s Father Zechariah: that John… will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah...

So when John’s father Zechariah is told that John will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah- God is telling him that John is going to fulfill that prophecy.

Remember, Zechariah was a priest, he knew the prophecies....God had been silent for 400 years…he was anxiously awaiting the Messiah....he was looking for Elijah, b/c he knew that Elijah would be the one to prepare the way for the Messiah- for the coming kingdom of God.

The second part of Isaiah 40:3 says, “Make straight paths for him…”

This is a metaphor, saying- repent!

In those days before a king or dignitary would come, the people would repair the road…

Matthew is reminding us that someone important is coming.

And before he can come, we have some work to do- Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near- prepare the way for the Lord- the road friends is your heart- set your heart straight so that he can come- so that everything is ready.

He points out that he was eating locusts because John was Jewish- he hasn’t broken any Jewish laws, locusts were kosher and in the Law in the book of Leviticus are considered ceremonially clean foods in which Jews were free to eat. \

and believing that his death and resurrection covered our sin, forever.

(obedience) 2nd: When Jesus died on the cross, he took the sin of the whole world, past, present, and future upon himself. Through baptism- Jesus is walking in perfect obedience to the Father, submitting to his will.

(symbol) 3rd: Jesus came to wash away their sin. That was the Father’s plan…in this moment, he is symbolizing what he will later do on the cross.

When Jesus goes under the water that is a symbol of him taking on sin and then dying on the cross, as he comes up out of the water that is a picture of his future resurrection.

So ladies- this is it…the time has come....the way has been prepped and it is time.

Jesus’ ministry is about to commence and we see each part of the trinity involved in this process.

Jesus- the son, submits to the Father’s will

The Holy Spirits descends on Jesus like a dove

and God the Father speaks- telling the world that this is His son…He is the suffering servant…Jesus is the true Israel...

At 1st glance, this seems like a loving statement from a Father to his son, and it is that, but it is also so much more..let’s unpack this for a moment:

“This is My son” is from Psalm 2:7, which says “You are my Son; today I have become your father.”

“Whom I love” is from Genesis 22:2: referencing when God asked Isaac to sacrifice his one and only son..

And finally, “with him I am well pleased” is from Isaiah 42:1- where God promised to put his spirit on his son, and that he would bring justice to the nations.