Back to Basics (Part II)
In our Back to Basics series, we are looking at basic truths that make up the foundation of our Christian faith. Last time we covered the basic truth that we are all fallen creatures, born with a sinful nature and that God loved us so much that He sent His one and only Son to pay the cost of our sin so that if we believe in Him, we may have eternal life. Once we have accepted Jesus’ payment for our sins, then we must face the next basic truth of our faith: confession and repentance of those sins.
“Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away.” (Acts 3:19)
“Therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, God now commands all people everywhere to repent, because He has set a day when He is going to judge the world in righteousness by the Man He has appointed. He has provided proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead.” (Acts 17:30-31 HCSB)
“He also said to them, ‘This is what is written: The Messiah would suffer and rise from the dead the third day, and repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning at Jerusalem.’” (Luke 24:46-47 HCSB)
“Or do you despise the riches of His kindness, restraint, and patience, not recognizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?” (Romans 2:4 HCSB)
“For godly grief produces a repentance not to be regretted and leading to salvation, but worldly grief produces death.” (2 Corinthians 7:10 HCSB)
Repentance is key on our walk with Jesus, and it is essential to forgiveness. Jesus taught about repentance through illustrations, most famously the parable of the lost sheep when He said in Luke 15:7, “In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!” Once we accept Jesus’ payment for our sins we must repent of them—and repentance requires action.
“When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to the place of his baptism, he said to them, ‘Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Therefore produce fruit consistent with repentance. And don’t presume to say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our father.” For I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones! Even now the ax is ready to strike the root of the trees! Therefore, every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.’” (Matthew 3:7-10 HCSB)
“Instead, I preached to those in Damascus first, and to those in Jerusalem and in all the region of Judea, and to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works worthy of repentance.” (Acts 26:20 HCSB)
Doing works that are worthy of repentance requires action and change, and usually this change needs to be drastic. This isn’t new information: if you wanted to go from 50 pounds overweight and 40% body fat to trim and ripped with 5% body fat, it’s going to take a drastic lifestyle change. You would need to do intense workouts for several hours per day for at least three months and follow a strict diet. You’re not going to make a significant physical transformation by sitting on the couch or doing light exercise once per week. But this is how we often treat our spiritual growth: we go to church once a week, barely remember to study our Bibles, and makes excuses as to why we don’t have time for fellowship or devoted prayer time with the Lord. Repentance requires action and usually the action needs to be drastic, but we can’t repent of something we haven’t confessed.
“When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long. Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat.” (Psalm 32:3-4)
“Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, ‘I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.’ And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.” (Psalm 32:5)
“Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight! Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt, whose lives are lived in complete honesty!” (Psalm 32:1-2)
“For you are my hiding place; you protect me from trouble. You surround me with songs of victory. The Lord says, ‘I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you.’” (Psalms 32:7-8)
You can’t say that you will never watch pornography again without first admitting that you watched pornography. You can’t say you’ll never use that drug again without admitting that you used that drug. You can’t repent without confession, and confession is rarely easy but we must remember the truth of 1 John 1:9: “But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.” God wipes the slate clean and we are cleared of our guilt so we have no need to wallow in it or return to it. God forgives completely and we have joy when the Lord has cleared our guilt and we live in complete honesty. This joy from the Lord is so much better than the happiness and pleasure we are seeking when we give into our sinful desires, and God tells us that confessing our sin and living in honesty is what really brings about this joy.
“Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.” (2 Corinthians 4:2)
“So look at Apollos and me as mere servants of Christ who have been put in charge of explaining God’s mysteries. Now, a person who is put in charge as a manager must be faithful.” (1 Corinthians 4:1-2)
Have you renounced your secret and shameful ways? Are you still living with ways that are shameful and secret to those with whom you are closest? Have you confessed your sins and repented of them? Have you turned and left your life of sin? You cannot be an effective manager of the Truth if you have not renounced your secret and shameful ways. As Ravi Zacharias put it, “If in your private life, you are violating what you affirm in public as a proclaimer of God’s truth, then you are living a double life and you are not being a good steward of the Truth.”
As we will see in our conclusion to this series, once we have accepted Jesus’ payment for our sins and we have confessed and repented and turned away from them, we are then called to go and be proclaimers of the Truth, but we cannot be effective proclaimers of the Truth if we are living a double life. Confess your sins! Repent of them! Walk with Christ in complete honesty so that you may be a trustworthy proclaimer of God’s truth, freed and forgiven!
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
—Redeemed
