A little while ago I wrote a post on repentance. I don’t want to repeat myself so I encourage you to read that post if you want a clearer understanding of what repentance is and the different parts to it.
Today I want to do a little Q&A regarding repentance. So here goes.
What is repentance?
I will give you my favorite definition (here you will find a more detailed discussion of this definition)
James P. Boyce (1886) gives a simple and accurate definition. He said that “Repentance is sorrow for sin, accompanied by a determination, with the help of God, to sin no more.”
What does repentance do?
As a non believer repentance leads to the forgiveness of God. It is acknowledging that we are sinners and in need of being rescued.
In the life of a believer, repentance keeps our eyes clear regarding what sin is. It also keeps our eyes clear on how bad sin is. Repentance kills pride, keeps our hearts soft so that bitterness or hard heartedness don’t creep in and it acknowledges our need for Jesus.
What is fake repentance?
Sometimes we wonder if our repentance is genuine or fake. Fake repentance is seen in a change of action without a change of heart. It is knowing the right words to say but not really meaning them. Fake repentance makes us feel bad for a minute but then it doesn’t bother us anymore. Fake repentance is thinking that it will earn us points with God or believing that repenting will make God love us more.
Can we repent on our own?
Repentance is a work of the Holy Spirit. First he gives us a new nature so that we want to repent and then he gives us the power to actually do it. At times the Holy Spirit pricks our conscience leading us to repent.
“We cannot muster up our own repentance. Even this is a gift from God and it comes by way of a renewed heart and the moving of the Holy Spirit.”
– C.H. Spurgeon
What encourages repentance?
We think if we focus on our sin that we will feel proper remorse. But what we need to be focusing on is Christ and the cost of his sacrifice. This will encourage repentance and give us hope and joy all at the same time.
Time spent in the word also encourages repentance because in the word we see the beauty of Jesus and ugliness of sin. We also see the power of the Holy Spirit and learn that we are not called to repent or fight sin on our own.
He who died for you can, by His gracious Spirit, make you die to sin; and He who has gone into glory on your behalf can draw your soul after Him, away from evil, and toward holiness.
– C.H. Spurgeon
Repentance is essential to the Christian life. It is a gift of God whereby we are reminded of our frailty and of God’s power and of our inability to escape sin and God’s ability to help us overcome it. Repentance leads the sinner to the ultimate forgiveness of God and as a believer repentance continues to make us thankful and value that same forgiveness.
Looking to Jesus,
Great article, and thank you for linking it up with your past post…I needed the repeated reading on repentance much like Christ repeated himself for emphasis in today’s study passage of Luke 13:3&5 telling us that unless we repent we will all perish.
Praise God that He does have patience and love for us all and that He does repeat himself so that my hard head and heart soften and break for him.
Amen to that, Joann! I needed a ‘refresher’ forbsure.
I loved your post, but, I still have a question. If I have truly repented; have total remorse why do I still feel bad about it. I know God has forgiven me but I can’t let go. How do I move forward?
Amen to that, Joann! I needed a ‘refresher’ forbsure.
Dee, I can’t begin to answer as well as Jen, Whitney, Angela, or another of LGG’s leaders could, but I will take a stab at it. I think though we have “head knowledge” that God has forgiven us and the desire to move forward, we may not have forgiven ourselves. I believe the enemy of our souls uses this lack of self-forgiveness to render us ineffective in our ability to share the Good News of Jesus with others. Satan has lost us for eternity, but he tries–and often does–trip us in the present. The famous author C.S. Lewis wrote extensively about ways satan and his demons seek to hamper Christ-followers in his book The Screwtape Letters. Truthfully, the book is over my head. I’m trying to think of another written in an easier-to-understand way, but I’m not coming up with one. Pastor Max Lucado is a contemporary author who has a gift of making things clear in his books; however, for me, the “best” book is the Bible.
I struggled for DECADES with the inability to forgive myself. It caused misery not only for me but also for my family and friends. Only when I began to study the Bible daily, asking the Holy Spirit to help me see and understand it, did I begin to grasp that I needed to forgive myself. When those thoughts come, I suggest saying outloud (if you’re alone 😉 , “STOP!” Then, begin to read or quote Scripture. A good one for me was John 8:36: “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (NIV) Many other verses and passages are also excellent. Isaiah 61 is beautiful; in Luke 4, after He had been tempted by satan in the desert, Jesus went to His hometown of Nazareth and attended “church” on the Sabbath. When he stood to read Scripture, “the scroll of Isaiah . . . was handed to him” and He read these very words, proclaiming that He came to set captives free.
Another helpful thing for me was to think about this astounding fact: God, the Creator of all things, Who is my Father, has forgiven me. His Son, Who died and rose again for me, has forgiven me. His Spirit, Who is my Counselor and Guide residing in my heart, has forgiven me. Who then, am I to continue NOT forgiving myself?
Wow, I don’t know if this is helpful, but I hope so. Father God, Lord Jesus, Holy Spirit, I pray that this very day, this very moment, You will help Dee see and fully understand that You have forgiven her and that she needs to forgive herself. Flow over her, Holy One, wrapping Your arms of grace and love around her so that she not only knows this in her head but accepts it in her heart and gut. Lord Jesus, please cover Dee with the protecting power of Your blood. Help her to fight off all attacks against her that make her feel unforgiven. Thank You, Mighty God, for Dee’s heart to know, love, and serve You. Bless her this day and all her days, I pray in the Name of Jesus with all praise to You, amen.
Deb, I think you did a beautiful job answering Dee’s question. I, too, struggle with forgiving myself from time to time. I think we will do that until the day we meet Jesus. Dee, I’m praying for you. Deb’s prayer is so beautiful. I would recommend printing it out and placing it somewhere you’ll see it often. Have a blessed day, ladies!
Thank you, Trina, but as I said to MJ below this, it’s all God. I am a wretch. Your kind words and those of MJ mean more to me today than you can know. I sat down for a minute (my hubby’s birthday; have been running since early morning) for a bite of yogurt and rest and couldn’t resist coming back to the blog. Jesus knew I needed to hear from you and MJ today. Praise His Name! Isn’t He good to us?
Dee, if you’re reading this, too, He is holding you today and all days 😉
Deb,
Thank you for taking the time to answer my question and praying for me. Your answer was exactly what I needed. I am telling Satan “Stop” whenever the guilt crops up. Thank you to everyone who has/is saying a prayer for me. I am extremely touched. Blessings and prayers to all. I have printed out a copy of this to hang on fridge (thanks Trina for suggestion).
Wow… I really liked your answer, especially when you shared real-life and practical “tricks” to recall what we all should know. Sometimes it is difficult to let go of other people’s sins but I often feel that the one whom I cannot really forgive is myself. But thank you for sharing those parts from the Scripture. I will try to read then instead of mauling myself with the feeling of guilt and self-pity.
Oh, what a great article on ‘Fake Repentance’, I didn’t know there is a fake repentance. Father God, may my heart not have a fake repentance, may You make me a woman who loves to speak for truth, and hate what is evil, in Jesus most Holy name the name above all names, Amen.
Deb, I’m going to print out your reply to Dee and keep it in my Bible! I too struggled for many years with not forgiving myself. Like you, it greatly affected my life and the lives of others close to me and perhaps even all those I might have served as God’s hands and feet on this earth. I isolated. I felt unworthy to have fun or feel joy, unworthy even to go to church! Even though I really did know in my head that God had forgiven me. What finally helped me let go was something you mentioned… A Christian friend who said to me something like ‘You know God has forgiven you. Not forgiving yourself is essentially saying your opinion is greater than God’s. Who are YOU to argue WITH GOD??” For some reason, that resonated for me and from then on I truly had the joy and immense gratitude that comes with accepting God’s free gift of forgiveness and salvation. I believe God wants His forgiveness to lift our guilt so we can live joyfully and thankfully, loving Him and loving others, and SHOWING others what forgiveness and salvation look like! I pray that Dee, reading Deb’s wonderful post, gets the same relief and joy that I did hearing my wonderful Christian friend. Praising God for both of you!
Thank you, MJ, but I have to say, “Soli Deo gloria”–to God alone be all glory. It is only because of Him. Bless you, dear. I’m glad you’re no longer isolating yourself. Been there; done that; still do sometimes! My bad 😉
The comment about focusing on Christ and not our sin was encouraging.
So happy you found encouragement from the blog post. It is wonderful when we come across truths that reinforce what God has revealed through his word.
531968 863042There is an ending. Just remember that I meant for this to be an art game. I do feel like I spent an inordinate amount of time on the much more traditional gameplay elements, which might make the meaning with the game a bit unclear. If you mess about with it though, you will discover it. 177462