GENUINE REPENTANCE
By Glenda Ward
McDowell County
Is there a particular sin you keep struggling with, repeatedly confessing, wondering why you can’t overcome it?
Things of the Spirit of God are foolishness to the unbelieving natural man. Man in the flesh cannot know them because they are spiritually disregarded or ignored. No one can know or understand God (Romans 11:34) but by His Spirit. Individuals who have come to know Jesus can begin to have insight into some of God’s plans, thoughts, and actions in their life – that it might be known to them the things that are freely given by God and expect God’s answer to prayer.
Psalms 51
In this Scripture, countless broken sinners have found expression of their deeply felt need for God’s mercy and forgiveness. It has helped people examine their excuses, half-hearted repentance, and lack of sorrow over sins committed that keep them from experiencing pardon. Our natural inclination is to please ourselves. We must ask God to cleanse us from within (51:7), filling our hearts and spirits with new thoughts and desires. Doing the right thing in life can come only from a clean sanctified heart and spirit through Jesus Christ.
Do you feel stagnant in your faith? Has sin separated you from God making God seem distant from you as if you are just going through the motions? In David’s prayer to God he cried, “Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation” (51:12). God’s desire is for us to be close to Him and to experience a complete life that only He can provide. But when sin remains, unconfessed or lacking genuine repentance, sin makes this relationship with God impossible. God wants, “The sacrifices of a broken spirit; and a broken and contrite heart” (Reference 51:17). When God forgives our sins and restores us to a right relationship with Him; the more we experience God’s forgiveness, the more we desire to be in His Will and a closer personal relationship with Him.
If you are feeling worthless and that confessing your sin and repenting is a negative experience for you; feeling as if nothing has happened and perhaps in turn you doubt your salvation, you are not alone. The thing that is missing, the thing that will help you get out of this repetitive cycle is Genuine Repentance. In Romans 7:15 we see we need to fleshly understand what to do. Paul gives us three lessons that he learned in trying to deal with his sinful desires. (1) Knowledge of the rules is not the answer. God’s Law makes people realize that they are sinners. Sin is real, and it is dangerous. But the Law doesn’t get rid of
the sin in our life. The temptation is still there, and we have a choice. God gave us a way out. Sin through Satan deceives people; as in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3) the serpent deceived Eve by taking her focus off the freedom she had and putting it on the one restriction God had made. The thing God said she couldn’t have! Sin looks good to us precisely because God has said it is wrong. When we are tempted to rebel against God, we need to look at the Law of God from a wider perspective – in the light of God’s grace and mercy. If we focus on His great love for us, we will understand that He only restricts us from actions and attitudes that ultimately will harm us. The Spirit gives victory over sin (Reference Galatians 5:17, Romans 8:2). (2) Self-determination (struggling in one’s strength does not succeed). People find themselves, just as Paul did, sinning in ways that aren’t even attractive to them. (3) Becoming a Christian does not stamp out all sin and temptation from one’s own life (Reference Romans 7:22-25).
Being born again takes faith, but becoming like Christ is a lifelong process. No one in this world is innocent; no one deserves to be saved. We must all depend totally on the Work of Christ. We must never underestimate the power of sin; our “Fleshly Nature”; the “Flesh” refers to the principle and power of sin. This is our vulnerability to sin; it refers to everything within us that is more loyal to our old way of selfish living than to God. Any Christian struggling against sin or trying to please God by keeping rules and laws without the Spirit of God can never fight sin in their strength. Satan is a crafty tempter and we have an amazing ability to make excuses. Instead of trying to overcome sin with our human willpower, we must take hold of the tremendous power of Christ that is available to us. This is God’s provision, for us, for victory over sin. God sends the Holy Spirit to live in us and to give us the power to overcome. When we fall, and we all will, He lovingly reaches out to help us up.
The Word of God (The Holy Bible) both celebrates His perfect nature and reveals to us our faults so that we can understand our need for His Grace. All of us can relate to ourselves succumbing to sin even though we want to honor God. But until we stand in the presence of Jesus, we will all experience this battle. The only way to win is by dying to ourselves so that Christ can live through us and by submitting ourselves to the Spirit of God’s power.
Merely confessing our sins may not bring us total victory over a sin we keep struggling with. First John 1:9 assures us that if we confess our sins, God will forgive us. Jesus told His apostles to proclaim repentance and remission of sin
for the forgiveness of sin in His name (Reference Luke 24:47). If we miss the significance of history’s greatest event in our repentance of sin because we are too focused on our disappointments and problems, we in fact will not recognize Jesus when He is walking beside us as described to us in Luke 24:12-16 of the two disciples from the village of Emmaus. We are to remember where we have fallen from God’s grace and Truly Repent. The thing that is missing, the thing that will help get out of this repetitive cycle is Genuine Repentance, A Mental Agreement with the Truth, God’s Word.
David was truly sorry for the audacious sins he committed. He knew his hideous actions had hurt many people. But God is merciful to those who agree with His Truth – “God’s Truth”. God can and will forgive you of any sin. No sin is so great as not to be forgiven! But one must come humbly to God with a sincere heart and mind confessing the sin and asking His forgiveness, repenting and turning away from that behavior. God will forgive that sin so that you can have a right relationship with Him. Sin in any form offends God because the one sinning is in rebellion against God and His Truth.
The place of hope lies within confession to God for sins committed. Psalm 51 is a good starting point when dealing with a sense of distance or guilt that is affecting your relationship with God our Heavenly Father.
Ask God to create in you a clean heart and renew a right spirit (Reference Psalm 51:10).
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Glenda Ward is a member of Grand View Baptist Church in McDowell County and is a Christian writer/author of “Something to Think About” – weekly Christian Articles. She finds purpose and joy in writing Church Programs & Bulletins, VBS Material, Christmas and Easter Programs, Memorials, and now expanding to include weekly articles to other churches, as well as writings to include Christian-based articles on Relationships in Marriage; all material based on the KJV of the Bible. From personal experience, I hope to set an example of how to serve a risen Savior and live by the Holy Spirit with joy. My goal is to help people partake of the better option in life to experience the transforming power that is available in Christ Jesus today. You can read more, good, Christian news from Glenda HERE.
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