Repentance Isn’t a One Time Deal, It’s a Lifestyle of Gratitude

If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land- 2 Chronicles 7:14

Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.-Revelation 3:19

I think there’s some confusion as to what it means to be a follower of Christ. This idea is informed by the world, who though they don’t follow Jesus, LOVE to tell us who Jesus is, and what we should be, even though they never plan on doing it themselves. As Christians, we are not called to be better versions of ourselves. The only way that we could find out who we’re supposed to be is through God’s word and the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.

The God-Breathed Scriptures and the Holy Spirit work in conjunction, as the Holy Spirit was the one who “breathed out” the Word through the prophets and apostles, and so “God told me” will never contradict “the Bible Says.” And, according to the Scriptures, we are not called to be comfortable, nor are we called to be okay with sin in any form. This isn’t to say that we won’t sin (we will), but we should be absolutely disgusted by that which separates us from God and that which Jesus died for! Plain and simple, all of Scripture calls the people of God to Holiness.

Loved ones, all too often, we make excuses, such as “I’m only human,” or “no one is perfect” for the sins we commit and are caught in. But let us remember that, to the woman caught in adultery, Jesus said “I do not condemn you. Go and sin no more.” We should absolutely hate sin in any form, and begin by looking at our own, and looking toward the Cross that Jesus bled and died for sin on. Consider, in all things, what Jesus did: He lived a life free of sin, choosing the Father’s will over His own desires. He suffered and died for sin, bearing the weight of the curse of sin and the wrath of God for sin on Himself so that, by His blood, His Grace and Mercy, sin was, once and for all atoned for, and we would never have to suffer the wrath of the Father.

So, when we do sin, we confess, for He is faithful and just to forgive, and we repent (turn away from it, and toward His righteousness). Repentance isn’t a one-time thing: it’s a lifestyle in which we show our gratitude for Christ. And in living that life, seeking God’s holiness and righteousness, we point others to repentance, and the freeing power of Christ from sin.

Romans 1:16-2:11

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.”

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.  For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

Chapter 2- Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.

He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality.