Repentance is much more than an emotion, or “feeling sorry.” Repentance is a decision to change your mind about sin, which results in a change of lifestyle. In fact, the Greek word for repentance used throughout the New Testament is “metanoia” which literally means “a change of mind.” Paul compares godly sorrow to worldly sorrow by saying that “godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.” (2 Corinthians 2:7.) Godly sorrow is a true and pure conviction that causes you to change your mind about sin, not just an emotion or a sense of “sad I got caught.”
Once this decision is made, true repentance becomes a direction, not perfection. John the Baptist and Paul both said to “bear fruits worthy of repentance” and to “do works befitting of repentance” (Matthew 3:8 – Acts 26:20.) Repentance isn’t a one-time event, but a lifelong commitment. In Romans 6, Paul says that when we were buried with Jesus Christ in baptism, we died to sin and should no longer live in it. Romans 6:12-13 says “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.” Paul warns us not to put ourselves around sinful situations, and to “abstain from every form of evil” (1 Thessalonians 5:22.) We know that we will still sin occasionally, but we cannot continue in it. Thankfully, 1 John 1:9 tells us that “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
So why is it that we often want to dance close to the fire? Why are there certain areas where we sometimes want to get as close to the sin line as we can? Have we died to sin if we want to get as close to it as possible without feeling like we are sinning? The truth is that you can be hurt by the heat emitted from the fire without ever touching the flame. True repentance is a realization of that truth, and a desire to stay as far away from it as possible.
Romans 6:1-2 “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?”
-Caleb Westbrook
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