Mens Bible Study: Repentance
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Intro
Intro
Now that we all know a summary of all the books in the bible as Keith encouraged us in his final summary of Revelation
IT IS TIME TO APPLY THIS KNOWLEDGE
As we understand and can look at the bible holistically it should bear fruit in our life
As Jesse talked about last week that will be shown through how we communicate with each other and the words we use.
This week we will look at something that is at the very core of the Christian Life and that is Repentance
One of the things I have been struck by as I study this is how easy it is to say I have repented and not really have repented at all
As we talk about Repentance we look at it in three parts
What is Repentance
Why is it so important
What do we do about it
What is repentance?
What is repentance?
Google tell us
repentance - the action of repenting; sincere regret or remorse.
This is great but how would we define it as christians?
I think to start we should look at the original languages of the bible
HEBREW- Didn't actually have a word that directly translates for repentance
Two words שׁוּב (šûb/shoob/shoov) - to turn away
and נָחַם(nāḥam/Nawkham)- Feeling of regret
These words were used in different context
The fist shoov is the turning away from sin and turning back to god
The physical act of turning or re orienting oneself
The second Nawkham this is the feeling sorry for our sins
Feeling Remorse like we see in Job 42:6
6 therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”
GREEK- μετανοέω (metanoeō) to change the mind or μετάνοια (metanoia) a change of mind or ἐπιστρέφω (epistrephō) turning back.
The concept here is still a reorienting of ones mind away from something to something else
So with this back drop we can formulate the Christian Idea of repentance.
The Lexham Bible Dictionary Repentance
A change of attitude and action from sin toward obedience to God.
I like this definition because it involves two parts
A change of attitude
And a change of action
As we continue to look for the understanding of what repentance is these two things are very important
In order to truly be repentant we must change
Both our attitude and our action
We must reorient our attitude and our behavior
Repentance requires not just believing but action on our part
To often I think we fake repentance with lip service and we dont actually change
How often do we do this with our spouses???
In order for us to understand repentance we must understand that it will require a change in us
This is the very thing that I think keeps men especially from truely repenting
we value consistency being steady
So we have a bit of a working definition of repentance
So we have a bit of a working definition of repentance
A reorientation of our attitude and actions toward obedience to God
Now lets go a little further in the what is it category
Easton’s Bible Dictionary Repentance
Evangelical repentance consists of (1) a true sense of one’s own guilt and sinfulness; (2) an apprehension of God’s mercy in Christ; (3) an actual hatred of sin (Ps. 119:128; Job 42:5, 6; 2 Cor. 7:10) and turning from it to God; and (4) a persistent endeavour after a holy life in a walking with God in the way of his commandments
This definition has 4 parts
True sense of one’s own guilt and sinfulness
An apprehension of God’s Mercy in Christ
An actual hatred of sin and turning from it
A persistent endeavor after a holy life
I think this is the most comprehensive view of repentance for christians
These 4 parts I think give the weight to repentance that it deserves
This first part a true sense of one’s own guilt and sinfulness
This first part a true sense of one’s own guilt and sinfulness
This is as we see in Job 42:6
6 therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”
Job at this point realizes his error
He has regret for it
It is our state as fallen sinful beings that we must recognize first
For us to truely be repentant we must first realize how dire our situation is
We have the entirety of the law for what purpose
Galatians 3:19–26 (ESV)
19 Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. 20 Now an intermediary implies more than one, but God is one. 21 Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. 22 But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. 23 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.
The Law is our Guardian it is to remind us of our dire state
The law would never save us because as Paul would continue on in Galatians to point out we would never be able to fulfil it
We must first realize our brokeness
This comes as a work of the spirit and the word in our life
As we read and we learn about our holy and perfect God
as our view of God is conitunally elevated we realize our forsaken state
and we realize how helpless we are
9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?
Second an apprehension of God’s mercy in Christ
Second an apprehension of God’s mercy in Christ
The second part in truely repenting is realizing if it were not for the grace of God we would all be lost
If God doesnt intervene we will surely perish
Once we realize our forsaken state then we can look for the way out
And if we look anywhere else beside the grace of God we will be left out
This amazing truth is seen in all of those but God passages my favorite
6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— 6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
These verses describe the wonders of slavation
We were weak we were dead we were forsaken
BUT GOD
God intervened on our behalf
He sent his son
It is by nothing else we can be saved but him
There is no way we get ourselves out of the situation we are in except by grabbing onto the promise we are given in Christ Jesus
In order to get to true repentance we must understand that nothing we do will save us just our faith in Jesus and obedience to him
An actual hatred of sin
An actual hatred of sin
This follows from the first two once we realize the burden we carry because of our sin
And we realize our desperate state
Our heart will revial the very thing that got us there
Also once we realize the cost it takes to cleanse us from that sin
When we realize that it was our sin that held him there on that cross
The best of our works have pierced his hands and his feet
Our hatred of sin will grow
And as we are modeled into his workmanship we will begin to see how vial and disgusting our sin is
The closer we get to God the more our relationship grows with our creator the more we will hate that sin
We battle against the fleshly desires
11 Like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool who repeats his folly.
The civil war between our heart and our flesh
I do the thing I dont want to do .... Paul
And finally a persistent endeavor for a holy life
And finally a persistent endeavor for a holy life
This is the culmination of the re orienting of our lives
As our hatred for the sin grows
and our recognition of our brokeness in the face of a perfect and holy God grows
And our understanding of how much grace and mercy we recieve on a daily basis becomes more clear
We realize we only have on option in life and that is to live in submission and obedience to Christ
We must abide in him
1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. 7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 8 By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
The only outcome of a truely repentant heart is and obedient heart
A heart that longs to abide with the christ that has saved it and made it new
Why is it so important
Why is it so important
This is the message Jesus preaches and the message he calls us to preach
15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
3 And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
32 I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
Jesus calls us to repentance that is why it is so important
it is the only way to achieve true forgiveness
and it is the only way we will be truly saved
What will we do about it
What will we do about it
14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? 17 So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. 19 You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! 20 Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 And in the same way was not also Rahab the prostitute justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out by another way? 26 For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.