A Spiritual Autopsy - part III

A Spiritual Autopsy - part III

The reduction of repentance. The concept of repentance has been largely marginalized until it is usually assigned to original conversion or certain sins. It is safe to say that there is no rampant move of repentance within the western church. Rarely is the altar call for believers to repent of their sins. But in a true Biblical sense, repentance is a Spirit led cleansing of the mind. The word itself means to change your mind, and preceding that change must be a spiritual revelation of our own sins.

Metanoia, the English transliteration of the Greek word is to change one’s mind. We somehow get this impression that if you sincerely repent of a sin you will never commit that sin again. That is false and unbiblical. If that were true than all of us could repent of all our sins and never sin again, and all of us know all too well how false that is. In fact, the Lord Himself offered to us as prayer that asks God to forgive us our sins. Jesus knows us so well.

Well, if we all sin every day, then what is repentance? Repentance is a state of mind and an attitude of the heart. It is, as I have said, a cleansing of the mind. Until we are eternally released from this body of sin we will be engaged in a war within ourselves. There is a battle going on inside us. Sometimes it is more vicious and sometimes it is more subtle. Like the old American Indian believer once observed, “Inside me are tow dogs. Black dog fight white dog, and white dog fight black dog”. When asked which dog wins, the wise old Indian replied, “The one I feed”.

And there is the spiritual key. Recognize that there is a battle inside your heart. You do have two natures until your old nature is once and for all eradicated when you go to meet Christ. Your sin nature desires to be allowed free reign. It will even act religious in order to manifest itself in a clandestine manner. We all know the usual suspect sins, but our fallen nature is much more sophisticated than just that. Perhaps the most potent sin is that of self righteousness, for in that cesspool we begin to trust in our own strength. And our own strength is destined for failure and is spiritual death.

But an attitude of personal repentance is like doing spiritual sentry duty. We are on guard concerning our own sins, and instead of waiting until they fully manifest we repent within our own hearts. So often we let things fester within our hearts and because they have not been actively exposed we think ourselves right with God. As Jesus taught us, thoughts are sin.

II Cor.10: 4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)
5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

You see, thoughts can be an enemy of Christ. We must be vigilant against any and all thoughts that seek our own exaltation and not the exaltation of Christ. That requires a short lag time between the thought and repentance, and that requires a constant awareness of Christ. If we set our minds on things above and not things upon this earth, than any worldly and sinful thought will be easily and immediately recognized. And God has given us a weapon of grace called repentance.

The western church has all but forgotten repentance. We command the gays to repent or the drug addicts or the adulterers, but we are blind to our own desperate need of personal and inward repentance. The word has become a doctrine argued over as it concerns salvation. But like all things spiritual, it is a work of the Spirit given to us by the Father of Lights. It is leveraged by a submissive will and a dedicated heart. Millions upon millions of believers live every single day without repenting of anything.

And because we have neglected and ignored repentance, professing believers speak with caustic rhetoric about sinners, they hoard money, they watch questionable entertainment, they severely neglect the prayer closet, and they hardly ever consume God’s Word. And yet they can still go to the gathering and pretend to worship God. Now to be clear, I am not speaking of legalism and an Old Testament approach to the faith. That is self righteousness.

What I mean is a grace filled life that seeks to please our Master and our Redeemer through a pursuit of holiness and love. That pursuit will eventually find it fulfillment when we see Him, and He will rightfully receive all the praise and glory. But He has given us a gift called discipleship. God could have saved us an left us to practice our sins just as effervescently as before. But He has called us to follow and exemplify Christ, and He has given us the tool of grace to pursue that.

Let us live in the spirit of repentance and seek to glorify Christ in our mortal bodies.