Continual Repentance for Personal and Practical Holiness
By Dr. Sajan Mathews
Have you seen a tract in which there are two mountain precipices with a deep chasm in between and the crossbar of the cross connecting the two precipices, which is then the only way for a person to cross from one precipice to the other without falling into the bottomless chasm. One precipice, let’s call it A, represents the eternal, living, holy, just, righteous, merciful, gracious, and loving God. The other precipice, let’s call it B, represents the world, dominated by evil, the lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, including Satan and his demons. The deep chasm represents eternal death, separation from God, and everlasting hell.
On God’s part, He has done everything needed for humanity to cross from precipice B to A by sacrificing His Son on that cross in order to cancel the sin debt to God that no man can ever pay. Thus Christ became the way, the only way, the truth, and the life, to come to God the Father, John 14:6.
From a human perspective, though it is by the work of the Holy Spirit, a person has to cooperate with God to cross from B to A, and that cooperation is called repentance. This is repentance unto salvation, and all true believers at various times and manners had to repent of sin and believe in Jesus Christ in order to cross over from B to A. This is in theological terms, positional sanctification. A person is now saved from the penalty of sin. That person, in God’s eyes, is a saint in and through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, for all believers, let’s change the description of the two precipices slightly. Precipice A, still represents the one true, eternal, living, holy, righteous, and loving God and His dwelling place, the Father’s House. The chasm represents, not death and hell, but the distance between God and humans in essence and character and signifies the need for “pilgrim’s progress” or spiritual growth in a newly “born again” believer to become more like God (Christ) and ultimately to be with God. Precipice B is still the world in which all believers are living. We are in the world but to be not of the world. Our eyes need to be fixed on God and eternity and doing God’s will, (fixed on precipice A), while living day to day lives in this world. This focus leads to practical and progressive sanctification or holiness. Included in practical holiness, is the need to increase in personal holiness, to become more and more clean or pure of inward (secret sins – filthiness of flesh and spirit, 2 Cor. 7:1, pure in thoughts, motives, and intentions) and outward sins of all kinds and degrees, in relation to God, humanity, and the created orders.
From God’s perspective, there is no more sacrifice for sin. Everything that needs to be done for canceling sin and reconciliation with God has already been accomplished. The blood of Jesus Christ is efficacious to wash us and purge us continually from all sin, past, present, and future.
But from a human perspective, for a believer, we know from Scripture, conscience, and experience that we get tangled in sin of various kinds and degrees. Our only remedy for all persisting sin is continual repentance. We need to crucify all our day to day sins, put to death our sins, one by one, by continual repentance. The cross that bridges the chasm between precipice A and B in the practical life of a believer is repentance. True repentance is therefore of paramount importance and it must be fully understood and rigorously practiced.
When many people repent, indeed the people of this world, and may I say, even for believers, their repentance can be described as worldly sorrow. Worldly sorrow does not lead to true repentance, but it leads to death, 2 Cor. 7:10. We hear people confessing and “repenting” and then going back and doing the same sins over and over again. This kind of repentance can hinder the salvation of an unbeliever, and for a believer, it does not restore true fellowship with God. What a tragedy!
There are at least 4 kinds of worldly sorrow. Worldly sorrow is:
- The sorrow expressed out of the fear of being found out. Oh the fear of all the shame and loss that can arise out of the sin being exposed.
- The sorrow of wounded pride when sin is found out or rebuked. There is a licking the wounds here. It results in a smoldering anger and thoughts of revenge, a waiting for the day to get back.
- Expressed in good works. People think that my good works will outweigh my bad works and thus earn for me forgiveness of sin, acceptance with God, and attainment of heaven.
- Sorrow or remorse without true repentance, example, Judas Iscariot. He was so sad for betraying the Lord that he returned the 30 pieces of silver, and then hanged himself.
As the Bible says, all these and perhaps more kinds of worldly sorrow leads to death. All such instances of worldly sorrow does not constitute true repentance.
So, what are the elements of godly sorrow that works repentance to salvation? In other words, how does a sinner rightly repent? This can be considered on two levels.
Level One: A Necessary Repentance
The following is applicable in many scenarios, including marriage (the underlined words below represent 12 amazing words that work wonders in many marital problems).
The first action of all sinners from birth is walking away from God or hiding from God because of sin, John 3:19-20. This is what unbelievers, and some believers, living in sin do on precipice B.
The second action is godly sorrow or repentance towards God. This happens in many ways and always by the “nudging” or “prompting” of the Holy Spirit, usually on reading or hearing the word of God. This action consists of three parts. This repentance begins by a change in mind or in Gk. a metanoia about God, His word, and one’s own life of sinfulness, see Luke 15:17-21 “and when he came to himself,” v.17a. This leads to:
1. Acknowledgment of sin to God. O God, I am a sinner. I am wrong. I am absolutely lost and dead in sin. Many try to blame others, beginning from Adam, or the system, or the environment. For this to happen, there is the need for humility and brokenness, acknowledgement of total inability to do anything to satisfy God for sin.
2. Confession of sin to God. I now realize that my sin was so grievous in your sight that for its forgiveness, your Son, Jesus Christ, had to die on the cross. I am sorry, very, very, sorry, O God. Many people weep when 1 and 2 happens.
3. Ask forgiveness of God and then humans. Please forgive me. Oh God, thank you for sending your son, the Lord Jesus. I believe that He died on the cross to pay the penalty for my sin, for the forgiveness of my sin, Acts 4:12. Send your Holy Spirit into my heart, Lord Jesus. I give my life to you, unconditionally, now and forever, at all costs. These three parts together constitute, from a human perspective, the process of being “born again.” For the believer, I John 1:9 applies. The believer needs to specify the sin committed and ask forgiveness from God and humans.
4. Response of God and humans. God forgives and gives the gift of salvation and lavishes the riches of His grace on the person, including the gift of the Holy Spirit. But when one human sins against another human, depending on the offence, the offended person may need time and may say, no, or not so soon. For the believer, when God forgives, the fellowship with Him is restored.
5. Change in attitude and action towards God, His word, sin, fellow humans, and the created orders. This is like saying to one’s spouse, I love you. Point 5 shows that points 1-3 expressed by the repentant was genuine. In biblical terms, this includes the principle of restitution (remember Zacchaeus) or actions that exhibit fruit worthy of repentance.
All of the above constitute necessary repentance. Though a person is now born again, she or he still has a sin nature and is often tempted and commit sin many times, Rom. 7:22-25.Though the power of sin in canceled by salvation, the new believer has all the resources of God, and the power of the Holy Spirit indwelling him or her, yet the believer lives a defeated life often struggling with sin. This is when, in Puritan language, sin needs to be mortified or put to death so that the “pilgrim” can progress victoriously towards precipice A. This is what it means to crucify the flesh with its affections and lusts, Gal.5:24. This is living in the Spirit and walking in the Spirit, Gal. 5:25. This bring us to level two, a deeper and continual repentance.
Level Two: A Deeper and Continual Repentance
Level Two is a continuation of points 1-5 above. Level Two is fully described in one verse, 2 Cor. 7:11. When believers repent like this, they are surely marching from precipice B towards precipice A. This is what true repentance looks like and how it needs to practiced, for any and every sin listed in the Bible.
The context in 2 Cor. 7:9-12 is clearly about sexual sin. The occasion is described in 1 Cor. 5 where a believer was involved in sexual immorality. When the Corinthian church received the letter - 1 Corinthians, from the Apostle Paul, they were made sorry, v.9. They sorrowed to repentance, a godly sorrow that leads to salvation, a salvation from the guilt of sin and which breaks the power of sin.
What are the marks of godly sorrow?
There are seven marks of true repentance mentioned in 2 Cor. 7:11. Let’s look at each phrase of the verse, which has often been misunderstood or misinterpreted. Let me be clear here, a believer can repent like this only with the power and enablement of the Holy Spirit.
Here are the seven marks of true repentance.
- What carefulness it wrought in you.
All the careless excuses for sin have gone and carefulness or sober-mindedness arrives in a person. The unrepentant ones boast or find excuse, saying, that sin is no big deal, that sin had no bad motive, that was too great a temptation, or I did only what others are doing, etc. But the true repentant or penitent says like Job, “I abhor myself, I repent in dust and ashes.” What carefulness about the ugliness of sin before God, about any and every sin! What circumspection about all things that has even an appearance of sin!
- Yea, what clearing of yourselves: Before they lived with the sin, now they have repudiated it. This means, a desire to steer clear or separate themselves from the sin and to renounce it. Clearing of yourselves can also mean now having a clean conscience about no longer living or associated with that sin anymore.
- Yea, what indignation: Though the sin is renounced, for a true penitent, this indignation is aroused against that particular sin, an indignation or anger towards the folly and pain associated with indulging in that sin.
- Yea, what fear: Fear of being entrapped in that sin again, fear of offending God again or divine displeasure, and fear of divine chastisement, Prov. 9:10.
- Yea, what vehement desire: Vehement desire for the approval and favor of God, for the approval of the people of God, and for peace in the conscience. A good example is David in Ps. 32:2-5.
- Yea, what zeal: Zeal for God’s honor, to do the right thing, for going the extra mile, and zeal for remedying the effects of sin, see 1 Tim. 6:11.
- Yea, what revenge: This revenge is not against self as in self destruction, or against other people as in worldly sorrow, or against God, which is the height of folly, but a revenge against Satan who held the person in bondage, blind to the truth, and prompted to commit deeds of destruction. This is a godly revenge which urges the repentant person to redeem lost time, opportunities, energies, and lost resources, etc., to now fulfill God’s plan and purpose for the person’s life, to rescue others from bondage to Satan, to advance the Kingdom of God, and to live for God’s glory.
Hear, hear, apart from true repentance, no sinner will ever be saved from the penalty of sin. Likewise, apart from true repentance, no believer will be saved from the guilt and power of sin, but can be plagued by it, and can also face the chastening of the Lord, Heb. 12:5-11. When we pilgrims focus on precipice A, mortifying sin through continual repentance, we will keep on progressing, till one day, we will be taken up to the Lord from the presence of sin and we will be like Him.
A Puritan prayer from the book, Valley of Vision, serves as a fitting conclusion:
O God of Grace,
You have imputed my sin to my substitute, and have imputed his righteousness to my soul,
clothing me with a bridegroom’s robe, decking me with jewels of holiness . . .
But in my Christian walk I am still in rags . . .
I need to repent of my repentance; I need my tears to be washed.. . . . I am always standing clothed in filthy garments, and by grace am always receiving change of raiment . . .
Grant me never to lose sight of the exceeding sinfulness of sin,
the exceeding righteousness of salvation,
the exceeding glory of Christ,
the exceeding beauty of holiness,
the exceeding wonder of grace.”
Soli Deo gloria!