Repentance

We are doing the book of Matthew at church and we were at chapter 3 today where John the Baptist is proclaiming the gospel and asking the people to repent of their sins. Something that stayed back with me was the meaning of repentance. True repentance is turning away from sin and living a life that honors God. Repentance is not the worldly sorrow or guilt that you feel because you have to face the consequences of your sin.

I like how Sam Storms explains it:

DEFINITION

True Christian repentance involves a heartfelt conviction of sin, a contrition over the offense to God, a turning away from the sinful way of life, and a turning towards a God-honoring way of life.

SUMMARY 

Genuine repentance is not simply a “rethinking” of one’s relationship to sin and God. Repentance must be first rooted in the realization of how sinful an action, emotion, belief, or way of life is. Then, one must be grieved by how offensive and grieving sin is to God, not simply afraid of God’s retribution for your sin. In other words, repentance must be rooted in a high value on God, not a high value on oneself. Only then can turning away from sin towards holiness truly be called repentance. The failure to repent is thus a form of idolatry. Refusal to repent is to elevate our own souls above God’s glory, but when one does repent, it leads to the forgiveness of sin, the removal of divine discipline, and the restoration of one’s experiential communion with God.

I have had the privilege to see people make that change of turning away from sin and turning towards a God-honoring life and also the tragedy of those wanting to still cling to sin and their rebellious sinful ways.

I will end by saying what John the Baptist says in Matthew 3:2 “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near”

Deny Yourself

Even as Pride month comes to an end, it seemed appropriate to share this sermon from a person who struggled with homosexuality. Sam Allberry addresses the question of sexuality and its association with sin and what Jesus has to say about it.

A few statements he made on sexual brokenness stayed back with me and I quote, ” In every area of life, we are disordered and broken, which means that every single one of us is broken in our sexuality. All of us have sexual desires that in one way or another are disordered. If I can put it this way, there is no one who is straight. All of us are skewed. Some of us are skewed in a same-sex attraction kind of way. Some of us are skewed in an opposite-sex attraction kind of way. You may be attracted to men. You may be attracted to women. You may be attracted to both, but all of us are broken in this area of life.“

We are all tainted and broken, but to be reminded that Jesus came to save the broken and sick. His death on the cross and His victory over sin, was the proof of his unconditional love for sinners like us. It was encouragement to be reminded of this truth and that it is worth denying yourself and following Jesus.

If you would like to hear full sermon you can find the link here.

Mare of Easttown

Before you start thinking that this is a review of the recent miniseries on HBO, no it is not. I am sure there are a lot of folks out there who are paid quite well to do it and would probably do a better job than me:)

My favorite genre in TV series is crime and drama, so I was not surprised when this one came out, I got hooked on to it. Without giving out much details (in case some of you want to see it) the ‘Mare of Easttown’ revolves around the investigation of the murder of a young girl. Apart from being intrigued by the continued suspense in the plot, I would get quite sad after watching every episode. The depravity of man, the consequences of sin and the grief of undealt issues can leave you quite somber.

We think when an individual sins, that it affects only the person who has sinned. But in reality it affects the family, the friends and even the society. To hide one sin you end up committing another. I was in tears as I watched the finale episode today. It was hard.

It reminded me of the story of David from the bible. 2 Samuel 11 talks about David’s adultery and his plot to kill Uriah. We all know the story and that later David repents and confesses to the Lord and he is forgiven. The consequences of his actions though were severe, not only on him but also on his family (2 Samuel 12:1-23).

They closed the finale episode well. For some it would be the end of a nightmare, for others the beginning of healing. But you could not deny that the amount of devastation caused by one person’s action, will have long lasting effects on the people who were affected by the tragedy.

Photo Credit Wikipedia

I Will Remember Their Sin No More

I understood the true meaning of forgiveness only after I became a Christian when I realized that my debt of sin had been paid at the cross by Jesus. So now that I have experienced grace and forgiveness, I am called to show forth the same grace towards others. Also, God’s word commands us to forgive people when they sin against us Luke 11:4.

God not only forgives our iniquity but he does not remember it (Jeremiah 31:34 – For I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no more). I never understood the gravity of this verse until recently when I was reminded of my wrongdoing, even though I had sought forgiveness for it. I was apparently “forgiven” for the offense, but the person could not hold back from bringing it up – multiple times. This incident convicted me of how many times in the past, I have treated someone in the similar fashion. It made me even more thankful unto the Lord that He does not bring up my sin as it has been once and for all paid for at the cross.

I like how Charles Spurgeon explains Jeremiah 31:34, “When we know the Lord, we receive the forgiveness of sins. We know Him as the God of Grace, passing over our transgressions. What a joyful discovery is this! But how divinely is this promise worded : the Lord promises to remember our sins no more! Can God forget? He says He will, and He means what he says. He will regard us as though we had never sinned.”

He goes on to say, “The Great Lord will not remember our sins so as to punish them, or so as to love us one atom less because of them. As debt when paid ceases to be a debt, even so does the Lord make a complete obliteration of the iniquity of his people”

Needless to say that I was quite hurt to be constantly reminded of my past actions. I know that as long as I live, I will battle with remaining sin. Apostle Paul explains the struggle with sin in Romans 7:17-20 ; my desire of wanting to do good and the flesh fighting against the Spirit.I am thankful that I can go to the throne of grace every single day and confess and He forgives and remembers it no more.

You Can’t Catch Sin Like a Cold- by Barnabas Piper

It’s my favorite time of year. That time when we send our children off to slap five, share books, and suck on the same water fountains as hundreds of other little germ carriers at the Petri dish we call “school.” Every time one of my daughters comes home and says a classmate went home sick or missed school my wife wants to boil her in bleach, wrap her in Clorox wipes, and lock her in a hyperbaric chamber. If only we could quarantine them to keep them safe from all those nasty germs.

Sadly school is a necessary evil so we have to expose them to the ills and ailments. This is much the way many Christians think of “the world” – that necessary evil that we must be exposed to full of evil and vices and insidious temptations. If only we could quarantine ourselves from that too.

And many Christians do live in cultural quarantine, shutting themselves off from what they see as sinful influences. They avoid “bad” people and even places. They talk about those people and places like they are disease carriers – “We can’t have them around” or “We couldn’t go there.” They act like someone can sneeze sin onto them, that they will catch the bad decisions and guilt of another through physical proximity. What does his shunning communicate to those we have labeled “unclean”? Exactly that, Christians think they are unclean. Not the ideal way to draw people to Jesus. But sin is not an infectious disease

We don’t “catch” sin. It’s in us from birth. We are sin carriers. It’s only by the grace of God that we can become immune to the virus that lives in us, that we can live a life without its symptoms oozing and coughing and exhaling out of us onto others. Because of the work of Christ we are able to choose whether or not to sin. It is a decision, one that we often have a very hard time making, but a decision nonetheless. Sin is a theology too. It is a belief, or lack thereof, in the goodness and work of Jesus. It is this theology, this belief that informs our decision and drives us.

So, when we are around obvious sin, those people and places, we can’t catch their sin. We can choose their sin, but that is a matter of decision, of belief, of theology. If we hold fast to Jesus there is no risk of that sin invisibly taking hold of us like a flu bug might. How freeing! We no longer have to keep our distance or live in cultural quarantine. We can engage those people with grace and freedom without fear. Because we are near Jesus we can be near to anyone without fear that they will make us more like them than like Him.

But it would be nice if they used Purel and covered their mouths when they sneeze.

When Sin starts to look Normal

My sister and I need our regular dose of series and we usually like the detective/ behavioral analysis  kinds. The cases in Criminal  Minds can sometimes be quite disturbing. On many occasions I would turn to my sister and say, how can they be so cold and commit such murders or evil deeds. The answer obviously is the depravity of man. But also these perpetrators come to a point of committing such heinous crimes, where they start thinking it is pretty normal. 

For example: When you lie for the first time, it stings you… a lot .. but then later when you indulge in it more, it really does not bother you as much. This is when a lifestyle of sin starts looking normal. Its sad but true.

My prayer is always that I keep God’s word close, and dwell on what is true, know and recognize my sin and continue to confess unto the Lord.