In the movie “Just Friends,” a comedy that was released a
number of years ago, the star female character sings a song she wrote where the
chorus is, “Forgiveness—it’s more than sayin’ sorry.”
Aside from the ditsy personality of the character, the song
was funny because of the obvious blunder she’d made in understanding the nature
of forgiveness. Less comical, is the reality that within the church, we’ve
misunderstood the nature of repentance, and this misunderstanding often has
disastrous consequences.
We might consider singing our own song: Repentance—it’s more
than sayin’ sorry.
In Judges 10:6-18, we find the nation of Israel once again
caught up in the cycle of idolatry. Despite all that the Lord had done in and
through them, they turned away from God to serve and worship the false gods of
local nations. In response, God raises up neighboring people groups to fight with
and oppress Israel.
Israel then begs God to forgive them, and to deliver them
from the hand of their oppressors. The Israelites confess their great sin, and
the Bible records that they even put away their false gods and served the Lord.
But, apparently, God was unmoved by their confession and supposed acts of
repentance.
Was the nation of Israel truly repentant, an essential
element of biblical faith and restoration, or were they merely lamenting the
fruit of their disobedience? The record seems to doubt their sincerity.
This is a biblical example of the places in which we are
tempted to avoid repentance. In order to evidence true repentance, a genuine
admission and acknowledgement of sin in total is required.
For the human heart, puffed up with pride, and self-serving
motivations, this can be a repulsive experience.
Recognizing without caveat that our sin is always against God (Psalm 51:4), frequently against
our neighbor, and always leading to some level of relational fracture, the
essence of biblical repentance calls us to “turn away from” the originating
sin, and back to the righteousness of
God.
This is the Spirit-empowered birthplace of biblical
redemption and restoration, made possible by the cross of Christ. This is where
peace between God and man, and a man and his neighbor are found. Without it,
the roots of the dilemma will only grow deeper, and hope for healing will
continue to fade.
Fortunately for us sinners, the foundation of repentance
isn’t found within us, but in God. The grace of God makes repentance possible
for us, whereas unregenerate hearts would never choose the true and lasting
path of peace in Christ (Genesis 6:5).
Cornelius Plantinga wrote in his book, “Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin”, that, “Human sin is stubborn, but not as stubborn
as the grace of God and not half so persistent, not half so ready to suffer to
win its way.”
These great truths provide us with hope in the midst of our
struggle with sin, and its resulting effects.
They make clear for us that repentance is about much more than saying “sorry.”
In repentance, God gets the glory, and we get the joy.
In repentance, God gets the glory, and we get the joy.
