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10 Responses to “Repentance – A Question”

1. on 13 Apr 2010 at 7:30 am1 Dustin Smith

   Why do those two answers have to be mutually exclusive? I think that it is a fundamental flaw to see a change of mind as something distinct from a change of behavior. Both are one and the same.

   Repentance without the change of beliefs or ethics is no repentance at all!

   Dustin

2. on 13 Apr 2010 at 9:11 am2 Matthew Janzen

   I agree with Dustin, but at the same time believe that repentance is most properly defined as first being a change of mind out which flows a change in behavior. A person must be given a new heart and new spirit first (Ezekiel 36:26-27) and this leads the person to think differently and in turn act differently for the better.

   Matthew

3. on 13 Apr 2010 at 9:47 am3 Matt Elton

   Both a change of behavior and a change of heart/mind are essential to repentence. Repentence requires a change of behavior. But a change of the mind and heart is necessary to properly motivate that change of behavior. Outward change is very difficult without inward change to motivate it, and without inward change, repentence wouldn’t really come from the heart. So both are essential.

4. on 13 Apr 2010 at 1:34 pm4 Valerie

   Pr 6:23 For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:

   If reproofs of instruction are the way of life, then repentance is also the way of life. But we all know, that you can have a change of heart, and take quite some time before it plays out in our lives.

   Several times Jesus chided his disciples for their “little” faith. I believe this is “short-lived” faith. When you really get to the point of believing something is wrong in your life or heart, your behaviour starts to change. Change is always from the inside out, and often, change takes time. Neither is it always permanent. Remember Jesus’ words of the the dog and the sow. Practicing righteous living, and being transformed into his image are lifelong pursuits.

5. on 13 Apr 2010 at 2:22 pm5 Sean

   Victor,

   If we take an example it may help to see how the process works. Let’s say that someone thinks having relations outside of marriage is normal healthy red-blooded behavior. Then this person becomes a Christian and reads the words of Jesus which teach him that lust is a serious sin to avoid (even in thought). At this point, the person repents–changes his mind on the matter. Now he knows that it is wrong. However, he still has his flesh spurring him on since it has been trained to lust after women. This is why, even though his mind is changed (i.e. he has repented) his behavior is still in the process of changing and he will likely do what he knows is wrong for a time.

   This begins a cycle where he knows what he should do but sometimes does the opposite. When he sins, he now feels bad for having broken faith with God. This, is when the next ingredient must enter in if he is to overcome. His motivation to do right must sufficiently overpower his desire to satisfy his lust. So, he must both learn what is right and also learn why he should do right. (We could also add, if this person has a low self-esteem that he must also believe it is even possible to overcome w/ God’s help). Returning to motivation for a moment, we have to help him to see the significance of his righteousness–why it matters. This is where the concept of testifying to the kingdom comes to play a vital role.

   If our friend conceives of his own life as well as that of his church-community as a reflection of the coming kingdom, then suddenly he realizes his desire to satisfy his lust is subordinate to the grand vision of giving the world (and each other) a foretaste of God’s kingdom. In this way, I think we can integrate the gospel, which includes with it a call to repentance, with the motivation for doing the right thing.

   I think we can also incorporate Piper’s notion of Christian hedonism here (the idea that we are most satisfied when we glorify God). In the kingdom we will experience the greatest level of joy in God possible. Thus, as a testimony to that, in the present, we also experience joy in God. Once we realize that our obedience to God is worship and that we can find greater joy in such sacrifice than in satisfying our lusts, then it is not only doable but also desirable to do what is right.

6. on 13 Apr 2010 at 6:47 pm6 Doubting Thomas

   Sean
   That was beautifully written. I totally agree.

7. on 27 Apr 2010 at 9:36 am7 Randy

   I guess the next question would be, “What do you think of these, ‘walking the aisle experiences?’” Are these just responses to verbal, emotional stories by an evangelist seeking to fill a quota? Does one have to make a public profession of faith, so to speak, in order to gain salvation? Or can this desire to repent occur in solitude and the quietness of prayer? Personally, I dislike going to a church where there is always an “altar call.” Where one hears a sermon about how the preacher’s golf game went the previous week and other typical stories, and the service is then ended with a 4 stanza song altar call to “get saved.”

   I also agree wholeheartedly with Sean’s very descriptive words. It is a work in progress, a coming to the realization of living for the Creator and not for self interest or pleasure. For many who have been held captive by the porn industry, that, like so many self-pleasuring horrors, (i.e. drugs and more) is a tough habit to break. Perhaps it is like the sin described by Christ as needing “prayer and fasting” to rid oneself of the demon.

8. on 27 Apr 2010 at 11:01 am8 Xavier

   Sean

   This is why, even though his mind is changed (i.e. he has repented) his behavior is still in the process of changing and he will likely do what he knows is wrong for a time.

   Sounds like every Christian’s predicament bro. As Paul states in Rom 7.21-25.

   I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another law within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me…So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.

9. on 27 Apr 2010 at 7:12 pm9 Ray

   This is a battle all of us go through as Christians. Sin is something we have to overcome.

   I remember reading of the man in the iron cage who said that God had taken away his repentance and that there was nothing for him to look forward to but judgment in the end. This was in The Pilgrim’s Progress, something Christian was shown at the house of the interpreter.

   But he also was shown such grace, how the Lord kept pouring oil
   on a fire that Satan was trying to drown. The fire was burning against a wall and Jesus was on the other side.

10. on 17 Aug 2010 at 6:50 pm10 Paul

    I believe that repentance is both a change in behavior and a a change in mind. To take for a example faith without works is not really faith is it and works without faith isn’t really possible. Yet when you combine both of those you have something.

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