2014.08.24_Repent

The Groundwork of Repentance Needed to Produce Holy Fruits

God is the holy God. He sanctifies the sinners in order to save them through Jesus Christ. Our spirit came from God and will eventually return to God when He calls. We need to be how He anticipates us to be on that day. We must go before Him as those who have produced holy fruits. However, our fleshly life is a considerable hindrance to our maintaining a state of holiness in our spirit, so that our state of holiness does not even meet our own expectation.

To become a holy saint, one must first receive the forgiveness of sins. After that, he is able to start building up a holy life. But the spiritual efforts of saints are confronted with many obstacles within the harsh environment of this world. Some people prevail over those obstacles while others are blocked by them and struggle. What makes this difference? The people who struggle to overcome share one commonality and that is they do not have a solid groundwork of repentance. Anyone that has a weak foundation of repentance is like a house built on shaky ground and cannot overcome the many stumbling blocks in the world.

When Israel settled in the land of Canaan, God had them build cities of refuge. According to the Law, if anyone committed murder, the family of the victim is permitted to kill him. But if the murderer had the desire to save his life, he was able to escape the revenge of the victim’s family by going into a city of refuge. But to be able to preserve one’s life in the city of refuge, the murder must not have been intentional. Nevertheless, even when people intentionally committed murder, they still went to the city of refuge to avoid being stoned to death.

An important requirement in the city of refuge was that a person had to enter it before sunset. Even if a person had reached the city, he could not go inside the city once the sun had set and the city gate closed. Consequently, he would have to be killed by the hands of the avengers. The city is not open for an unlimited time and hence one must run with all of his life in order to enter it. For him to slow down is equivalent to giving up on his own life, considering that the avengers are coming after him and the sun is setting. Such system of the city of refuge is essentially demanding one to demonstrate a ‘desire to live,’ and this indicates what our attitude of repentance should be like.

When we hear the word ‘repent,’ it is easy to think about the repentance we had when we first received Jesus. However, the repentance that the Lord is demanding is not only that, but rather an eternal separation from sin and the Devil. Repentance should not just be a one-time experience, because all kinds of sin will try to make us fall as long as we are alive.

The original sin is the one that was passed down to our spirit as a result of Adam’s disobedience. Mankind suffered for thousands of years because of it and in the end, Jesus Christ died on the cross for that sin. Anyone that has resolved the original sin through the merits of Jesus Christ must not have a disobedient attitude before God’s word. Indeed, an individual’s disobedience will not become the original sin again. Nonetheless, if anyone’s original sin has been taken care of, then it is proper for him turn away from his disobedient past.

The intrinsic sin or the sinful nature refers to the depravity of one’s character. Man’s body, his heart and mind tends to constantly turn towards sin because of the corruption of his nature. And as a result, he easily falls into temptation and eventually sins. For this reason, we need to fight against our sinful nature throughout our lifetime. We must not relax and slacken in reflecting ourselves with a humble heart and restraining our desires.

Personal sins are when we fail to overcome temptations and transgress with our action. There is no need for despair when we sin. Everyone makes mistakes, whether great or small. Yet, we cannot overpass repentance.

We have to endlessly battle so that we do not fall into sin. But it is certainly not easy not to sin at all if we live in a surrounding that encourages us to sin. That is why we need to repent constantly. True repentance is a form of complete transformation. First, there should be a transformation of the spirit, and then the effort to maintain that transformed spirit thereafter. When that becomes the foundation, our spirit will be able to partake in God’s holy works and produce fruits.

Giving Thanks in Times of Trials

God does not spare His many efforts for us to be saved and be built up eternally. However, there are some things which become a hindrance to God’s way which when left unattended could even bring down the work that God is doing. In such event, God has no choice but to intervene Himself in order for His desired work to proceed. Such intervention is God’s discipline and chastening, both of which could be considered as His reproof. It is important that we understand well about God’s rebuke. Otherwise, we may fall into despair or misunderstand God at times for unnecessary reasons.

The punishment of man for his sin has been reserved for the last day. In spite of this, there are two instances when God disciplines man right away. To ease our understanding, we will call one of them trials and the other, curses.

Trials are God’s punishment given as a penalty of sin to those kept in His hands. What Job had experienced falls under this category of trials. Although Job was in God’s hands, Satan went in and out of his household, snatching away his wealth, health and the lives of the people in his household. However, he could not lay his hand on Job’s life, for God did not permit him to do so. From this, we can see that God allows afflictions to fall upon the people He keeps in His hand.

Why did Job undergo such tribulation? The book of Job is comprised of 42 chapters and chapter 1 through 40 depict job’s tenacity on how he maintains his self-righteousness amid all kinds of affliction he was faced with. On the contrary, the last two chapters show him repenting and the changes that follow him as a result. Near the end of the first section in chapter 40 verses 7-8, God says “Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me. Would you discredit my justice? Would you condemn me to justify yourself?” Job repented in response to these words of God, and finally concluded as written in chapter 42 verse 5, “My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.” What God desired from Job was repentance. Yet Job continued to cry for justice and maintained his innocence. He had made justice to be the judge and God the defendant. But when Job repented, God removed the affliction that had befallen him and instead blessed him to have much more than before.

It is clear from Job’s example that God allows trials to befall on some people so as to bring them to repentance, and on one hand He still has certain expectations from them. It could be that God allows for trials to come in leading up to something important and special.

There is one point to note here. One might ask ‘are not afflictions given by the enemy?’ That is correct; the enemy brings about afflictions, not God. The only thing is that at certain times, God keeps silent when the enemy does so.

The other type of affliction that results from sin is curses. Curses are the afflictions that come upon those outside of God’s hand. Once a tree branch is broken by the wind and is not supplied with enough sap from the roots, it will be hard for it to grow healthily. And if the branch is unable to remain attached to the tree and breaks off completely, it will wither and die. The state of the severed branch is a good illustration of the implications of curses. Curses are punishments that come upon those who are severed from God like Judas Iscariot, and the impact is on the spirit.

The tribulations encountered by those in God’s hand do not harm the spirit unlike curses, as they are temporary punishments applied to the flesh. Unaware of this, people in difficulties become despondent and despair thinking, ‘has God forsaken me?’ But that is not the case. God is the One who crucified His Son in order to destroy our curses. If we, who are in God, are experiencing hardships, they are only trials.

There are many reasons why we should not be despondent when faced with tribulations. One of them is that when God gives trials to some people, it is because He loves them. For instance, when children do bad things, parents either scold or spank them. For a moment, they may even feel hatred toward their children. Even so no parent would give punishments that their children cannot bear. Parents still love their children even if they might have broken some expensive porcelain. For children, their parents’ rebuke and discipline would seem like a kind of tribulation. However, it is an expression of love from the parents’ perspective. Even if their children are unintelligent, parents trust that they would improve and work hard for their development. This is the same with God, who is our Father.

Hebrews 12:7-13 says, “Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. Make level paths for your feet, so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.”

When faced with trials and tribulations, the first thought that comes to many people is ‘why is God not helping me?’ But if people are concerned only about whether or not God is helping them, they have not yet rid themselves of the narrow way of thinking they had before they came to believe. In the face of trials, a mature Christian would first think over his relationship with God and reflect on if he is living a life completely transformed as a Christian. We should not resent God in times of trials but rather regard them as God spurring us for our edification and be thankful to Him who remembers us.

First Repent

Sin always comes with a price, which cannot be avoided without repentance. God’s attention is on those who repent, but turns away from the unrepentant ones. Israel’s first ever king, Saul was highly regarded by the people and excelled in many aspects in comparison to David. In spite of that, he was grieved by God’s indifference toward him. That was because he considered himself to be righteous and was slow to repent. David, on the other hand, did sin often but he was tormented by his sins and worried that they would grieve God. He was always ready to repent.

At one time, people brought a paralytic to Jesus on a mat. The paralytic and the people who brought him were seeking healing. But Jesus found that they were suffering from the pains of sin and wanting to cast off the sin within them. Without even mentioning the man’s sickness, Jesus directly said, “Son, be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven you” (Matt 9:2). Everyone who heard Him was surprised. No one had and could not anticipate Him to say that. Yet, Jesus first dug out the problem of sin that was inside the paralytic’s heart and removed his sin. This incident clearly demonstrates that Jesus is interested in those who repent.

When people find out they have an illness, they often think they need prayer and the laying of hands from someone. But before that, what they need to do first is repent. Psalm 103:3 says, “Who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases.” Forgiveness of sins and healing are directly connected. In order to be healed of one’s sickness, a person first needs to repent of the fact that his spirit is defiled and turn, before seeking prayer from other church members or the laying of hands. Repenting and being forgiven is a much faster way to be healed of one’s sickness. Just because a person was not healed after receiving the laying on of hands, he should not blame the other person for having a lack of power. Wanting to be healed in the body without considering the spirit that has been defiled is putting the carriage before the horses.

There are some people who particularly experience a lot of failures in either their business or workplace. They struggle hard to find success but miserably fail in everything they put their hands to. Unless their spirit is changed from its defiled condition, their hard efforts to somehow live will only end as futile attempts. We cannot expect our worldly matter to go well while our spirit is suffering. Whatever it might be, it can only succeed and prosper if God gives success and prosperity. It is not right to demand one’s desires to be satisfied whilst not repenting. Solutions to every matter would be obtained much quicker if one first delivers his repentance from sin to God before asking for success in his business. Like a person stuck in a quagmire trying to take one foot out of the mire only to get stuck with the other foot and so on, if the tribulation is a result of sin, it would be meaningless even if the person found a prominent investor and invested a large amount of capital. The first thing to do when trials or afflictions come upon the family is to repent.

We cannot simply overlook our sins as if nothing happened just because others do not know about them. Even the personal sins that are hidden and private must certainly be repented. Moreover, we must not ignore but repent of how the pure heart that we had when we first believed in Jesus and turned away from sin has become numb and the fervent heart before God has grown cold. If anyone has slandered the minister or pastor during their church-life, then he needs to repent and turn. Whoever has any hatred and ill feeling to another saint must repent and turn. They must be determined to consider it a joy to suffer in serving the church. Psalm 103:4-5 says, “Who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.” This is how God works upon those who repent.

In the Old Testament times, God revealed Himself as the fearful One. God’s stance against anyone that sinned was very firm. He especially warned the idolaters that the curse would go down to the third and fourth generations. Just because the person who sinned and even his son and grandson were able to escape the curse, he cannot relax and be at ease. The curse may suddenly come to the great grandson. The reason God dealt with sin so strictly and sternly in the Old Testament was because that was the way to distance man from sin during the time when grace had not yet come to the world.

Our shoulders are very light now that Jesus has carried our sins. For this, God gave up His Son to the cross and waited patiently. This was the groundwork of God waiting for those who would repent. He desired us to repent and sent His only begotten Son ahead of us who would later come to repentance. When Jesus Christ shed His blood on the cross God probably thought in anticipation, ‘they will surely repent!’ We need to treasure and be thankful when the opportunity to repent comes. We must realize that God is bestowing us with His love and grace and willingly take on a humble attitude.

To Form the Church that Pleases God

Repentance is the first correct step in our relationship with God. If the church is looking to succeed in the work it plans to do, there needs to be a move towards repentance. Repentance is required if anyone is wishing to study the Bible in depth. Especially those wanting to learn the ‘Picture of God’s Will’ through Berea Academy need to strive to imitate God’s character as ones who have abandoned the characters of their old self. If anyone is anguishing over, ‘How can I be faithful to God?’ he is qualified to learn the ‘Picture of God’s Will.’ To study the Picture of God’s Will with only the intention of receiving power and being successful, is beside the main purpose of Berea Academy.

Saints ought to love the church and its members with the love they have for the Lord. They must cherish the church like their own home and not slack in the smallest show of care and consideration. The church matters should be treated like that of our own household so that our hands automatically go to pick up any trash we see on the floor. Even if others are not watching, we should seek the benefit of the church by monitoring our own selves as our own police. For example, a person who used to break the rules and park the car in the space designated for the disabled must now make an effort for the betterment of the church environment by strictly applying the rules to oneself. Suffering for the sake of the church in secret is something God expects of us. We provided the cause for Jesus to be punished on the cross and thus are able to handle these things with a grateful heart.

We go to church and worship to see God’s face. In the worship, we present ourselves holy to God asking Him to see us, like a person who just entered the military and is ready for the first inspection. The reason we are able to do so is because we have repented, we are able to repent, and we are ready to repent. We can petition God and receive His holy words because we have repented. If we did not have repentance, we could not have received the Word as God’s words even though we listened to them. Though at times we are faced with tribulations, we can still be sure that God’s glory will not depart from us because we have repentance.

Repentance is not something we can put off to tomorrow. The opportunity is not open endlessly. We need to go forward rather than stepping backwards or standing still. We must humbly present ourselves to God and receive His guidance. Every saint must take the first proper step in their faith in order to form a church that pleases God. As ones who have the spirit from God, we must lay a sound foundation in order to produce the holy fruits that God desires.