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Woodstock Mountain Bike Fellowship

Cleaning Up Your Act (True Repentance)

August 26th, 2008

I'm sure that you've heard it before: "I'll come to church when I clean up my act." Non-Christians are often afraid that if they walk into a church building with a bunch of religious people, they'd stand out like a sore thumb. As such, they feel that they need to "clean up" or put on a lot of "make up" before taking the risk of entering the doors of a church.

Unless they've worked really hard at rationalizing their actions and explaining away their guilty conscience, people are generally aware that they are bent toward sin. Regardless of personal attempts at reformation, everyone will eventually gravitate back towards old, bad behaviors. The Bible is very clear that everyone is a slave to something (or someone) - (Romans 6:16-18). {Pull out the large chain with a weight on the end} There is a problem with our personal efforts to reform our behavior: unless we are set free from our master (of sin), we can never get far enough away to avoid returning.

The devil is a liar (John 8:44), and from the beginning of the world, the devil has been spreading two types of lies:

  1. he wants unbelievers to think they are free to do whatever they want, unshackled to rule their own personal universe (Genesis 3:4,5)
  2. he wants Christians to believe that they are bound by strong chains, unable to escape from sin and death, and too weak to serve God (Romans 6:22,23)

This is really bad news, because the devil has been in the lying business for a long time (and is very good at it). And if anyone is foolish enough to think that they can personally beat him, they are in for a huge disappointment. Fortunately, in the face of this bad news, there is really good news of a great hope: we can change masters. The Bible word for this is repentance.

Starting from where we left off last week, I believe that there are three different audiences to consider when we talk about repentance:

  1. People who have developed a strong, anti-Christian worldview. In their case, they must come to a knowledge of the truth, turn away from their arrogant, Godless direction, and turn to Christ (Acts 17:29,30)
  2. People who have "tasted" of the gospel and its power. Perhaps they have changed some things about their outward appearance, but they have not submitted their mind, will, and emotions to God. It is these who must turn completely to Christ before it's too late (Hebrews 6:4-6; Hebrews 10:26 31)
  3. Real Christians who continue to grow in Christ. Josh once talked about how much he hated "rock pickin" on the farm where he grew up (where they filled buckets of rocks before the final disking in spring). Similarly, as people draw nearer to Christ, He will bring to light new "rocks" that limit growth and require removal (Ephesians 4:30-32).

Before we consider what real repentance looks like, take a look at three examples of false repentance:

Exodus 9:27,28 - After experiencing destruction from the the plague of hail, Pharaoh admits that "I have sinned." But as soon as God removed the consequences of Pharaoh's sin, Pharaoh changed his mind about letting the people go.

1 Samuel 15:24-30 - Saul was caught red-handed in disobedience to God's command to utterly destroy all of the living things in the city of Amalek. He admitted his sin and regretted the consequences, but was not repentant at his offense to God, caring most about the approval of the people (v. 30).

Matthew 27:3-5 - Judas knew that he had done the wrong thing and was overwhelmed with grief. Unfortunately, that regret did not lead him to repentance, but to death (2 Corinthians 7:10).

The story of the prodigal son provides a helpful contrast as we transition from examples of false repentance and view the real thing. You know the story: the younger brother demands his inheritance early, and then leaves home to spend it all in "loose living." (Luke 15:17-19) When he finds that his "freedoms" lead him to the bondage of poverty and starvation, he "comes to his senses." He realizes that he has sinned against heaven and against his father, casting himself totally on his father's grace. It's important to note what he doesn't say: "take me back and I'll work off my debts." The dead son was now alive and the party begins.

The older, religious brother, cannot bring himself to partake in this celebration (Luke 15:28-30). He is so focused on his hard work and personal righteousness that he cannot understand the grace of the father.

Similarly, we see a stark contrast between one who believes that he is righteous and one who realizes the depth of his sin (Luke 18:10-14).

With these thoughts in mind, let's draw out a few characteristics of true repentance from David's words captured in Psalm 51.

  1. Repentance begins with an understanding of wrongdoing (Psalm 51:3,4). We must know that we have truly offended the holy God. But it's not enough to just recognize that we have sinned (e.g. Achan in Joshua 7:20).
  2. Understanding of sin must be accompanied by a deep, heartfelt remorse over the offense to our holy God (Psalm 51:10,14,17).
  3. True repentance realizes that genuine change will only come about by grace (Psalm 51:1,2). The more that we think we are capable of, the less likely we will be to completely fall on the amazing grace of God. It's even good to recognize that repentance itself is a gift of grace, not the result of our pious efforts (2 Timothy 2:25,26 makes it very clear that the true repentance that allows a sinner to "come to their senses" is a gift of God (Acts 11:18).
  4. Genuine repentance is demonstrated by urgency to change, leaving behind the old master of sin and serving the living God (Psalm 51:13). More than just a change of mind, true repentance is always accompanied by a change in lifestyle.
  5. True repentance isn't just about turning away from sin, it is about turning our attention to God with an overwhelming passion to know Him (Psalm 51:11,12,15). I believe that Glenn Meldrum is right when he says that our "only hope of overcoming habitual sin is to replace [our] love for sin with a consuming love for God." (Psalm 141:8) Every time that we fall into sin, it's because we have taken our eyes off of Jesus. That's why the devil is constantly trying to get us to doubt God and his love.

In summary, I would challenge us to each follow the exhortation of 2 Corinthians 13:5 - examine yourself to see if you have truly come to Christ and repented. How sad it will be for many to arrive at the very throne of God and find that they had failed to heed Christ's call for repentance (Revelation 3:19,20).

If you are a believer, I would encourage two things. First, begin every day with the prayer of Psalm 139:23-24, asking God to search your heart and reveal anxious and hurtful thoughts and ways. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Remember, he can rattle the chains, but he can't attach them to you. Second, develop a closer walk with Christ and keep your eyes on him. You won't overcome sin by trying to stare it down. He is your life source - trust what He says, embrace His word of truth, don't listen to the liar.

In his little booklet "My heart Christ's home", Reverend Boyd Munger takes the reader on an imaginary tour of the "house" of their life, showing each room to Jesus who had been just invited in as a guest. As He progresses from room to room, Jesus enacts improvements and replacement. One day, the author describes an encounter with "the hall closet."

One day I found Him waiting for me at the door. An arresting look was in His eye. As I entered, He said to me, "There is a peculiar odor on the house. Something must be dead around here. It's upstairs. I think it is in the hall closet."

As soon as He said this, I knew what He was talking about. There was a small closet up there on the hall landing, just a few feet square. In that closet, behind lock and key, I had one or two little personal things that I did not want anyone to know about. Certainly, I did not want Christ to see them. I knew they were dead and rotting things left over from the old life. I wanted them so for myself that I was afraid to admit they were there.

Reluctantly, I went up with Him, and as we mounted the stairs the odor became stronger and stronger. He pointed to the door. I was angry. That's the only way I can put it. I had given Him access to the library, the dining room, the living room, the workroom, and now He was asking me about a little two-by-four closet. I said to myself, "This is too much. I am not going to give Him the key."

"Well," he said, reading my thoughts, "if you think I'm going to stay up here on the second floor with this smell, you are mistaken. I will go out on the porch." Then I saw Him start down the stairs.

When one comes to know and love Christ, the worst thing that can happen is to sense Him withdrawing His fellowship. I had to give in. "I'll give you the key," I said sadly, but You will have to open the closet and clean it out. I haven't got the strength to do it."

"Just give me the key," He said. "Authorize me to take care of that closet and I will." With trembling fingers I passed the key to Him. He took it, walked over to the door, opened it, entered, took out all the putrefying stuff that was rotting in there, and threw it away. Then He cleaned the closet and painted it. It was all done in a moment's time. Oh, what victory and release to have that dead thing out of my life!

Waiting their turn Bike Limbo! Derailleur clinic