City Life Starter

Written by Efe Abbe

The Word

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

Isaiah 53:6 (ESV)

From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Matthew 4:17 (ESV)

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

1 John 2:1-2 (ESV)

Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.

1 John 3:4-10 (ESV)

Reflection

Practice, as the saying goes, makes perfect. 

The more effort and time we spend on any endeavor, whether mundane or extraordinary, the better we become at it to the point of mastery. One only has to drive down any of our freeways in Houston to observe some of the ways that we, as humans, have mastered sin: impatience, self-centeredness, anger, and so on. Without God’s intervention in human affairs by sending Jesus to live, die, and be raised to life for us, we were doomed to go on perfecting our practice of sin, ultimately ending in eternal death. 

Yet God’s gift to humanity in Jesus is not simply a ‘get out of hell’ pass. Yes, we are saved from hell and death and we are saved to new life in Jesus. Receiving God’s gift of our salvation from eternal death and of our new life requires an initial and an ongoing posture of repentance. Simply put, Biblical repentance means ‘I used to go one way but now I’ve turned and gone the other way.’ Repentance from God’s perspective implies that there are only two paths: death or life. If we are not practicing repentance towards God, then we are practicing sin (1 John 1:5-6). 

Application

Repentance is initial and lifelong. It is foundational to following Jesus.

Everyone first has to make the choice, when faced with the conviction of our sinful state, whether to turn and receive the gift of God’s grace through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. 

When we receive God’s gift of salvation, our hearts are made new (2 Corinthians 5:17) yet God in His infinite wisdom does not instantly kill our flesh – that part of us that is hostile to God (Romans 8:7). Rather, He has given us the dignity to choose to kill the flesh and this requires a practice of repentance. 

When the Holy Spirit convicts us about sin, we have an advocate: our Lord Jesus. He is the atonement for our sins, which when we confess, are forgiven and cleaned by His blood (1 John 1:7-9) and then we are to turn from them. We turn from sin in our hearts (James 4:8-9) and also in our minds (Romans 12:2) by submitting to the Holy Spirit who gives us the power to stay turned turned away from sin (James 4:7, Galatians 5:16). As God conforms us into the likeness of His Son, the evidence of our submission to His shaping us is our posture of repentance.

Prayer

Dear Father, please help me to heed Your conviction to turn to You when You mercifully shine Your light on my sin. Thank You that You are faithful and just to forgive and cleanse me from all unrighteousness. Help me to keep turning to You in trust and humility. Amen.