However since we can't repent from a sin with a 100% success rate does this view not justify sin? No. Should any of us really practice repentance? Yes. Complete repentance is mandatory. When someone comes to faith in Christ, they will repent from their sinful nature. No Christian has the luxury of choosing which sins to repent from as all sins must be addressed and repented from. We are to repent from all sin and rely on God to help us to stay the course regarding all sin. What if someone is simply not ready to repent from a sin? Nobody can condemn someone a non-Christian for a conscious and willingly unrepentant sin, as that call is only for God to make. A reservation for repentance however should cause themselves and others to call their commitment to Christ into question.
However nobody can repent from 100% of their sins as none of us know 100% of our sins. We are to repent from our sins when they come to light. Some sins are akin to taking out the kitchen garbage, in that its a matter of tying the garbage bag and throwing it into the dumpster. While other sins are akin to spring-cleaning a basement that accumulated 20 years of junk; it takes a long time and persistent effort to overcome these kinds of sins. However everyone's life is like a multi-roomed house where there are many different areas that need cleaning and in each room there are both kinds of sins. The answer is to be ready to deal with each sin as they come to pass. Every time it rises up, and with the Lord's help you take it down. This means repentance from is a day to day, and even a minute to minute duty.
However everyone of us has compromised on chores like taking out the garbage and cleaning the basement. Does that mean then that ones failure to take out the garbage means that they truly want a smelly kitchen? Or if they forget a day to work on cleaning the basement does that mean that they truly don't want to clean up the basement? No on both accounts as we all may want to have the end result such as a clean smelling kitchen and a clean basement; but sometimes our commitment is week (Matthew 26:41). For someone to fall for temptation for a sin they are trying to daily kick does not mean that they really do want to do the sin; it just means that they had a time of failure. What are they to do? Since none of us can gain the past, the only thing that any of us can do is decide to figure out what caused the comprise and pick up where we left off. In the same way if a Christian truly wants to overcome their struggle with a sin, such as pornography, but they fail once or over the course of time they have bouts of failure, each time they ought to repent and keep on going. One's failures does not undermine one's successes but it doesn't justify the sin as they are guilty of breaking God's moral laws.
Why do people repent from a sin? In many cases many people repent from a sin, even when they don't want to because they know how it has hurt them in the past. Many people will still love to eat fatty foods and drink alcohol and watch too much television, but due to experiencing a recent heart-attack they give them up. Other people sometimes quit drugs because of almost overdosing to death. Other people see how their behaviour has hurt others and they feel dreadfully bad about it; they are very apologetic and as a result they decide to not do the act again, or do the thing they should have done. In sum one big encourager of repentance is having suffered a great pain. However why should the Christian repent from their sin? 1) God tells us to. 2) We are to represent God (1 Peter 2:) and 3) God cannot tolerate less than perfectness (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). A Christian does not need any other reason than the first one to justify giving up a sin. Its all about priorities: which is your priority, God or your sin?
To conclude what is the nature of the true repentant Christian? The apostle John highlights that if we say we are without sin we are liars (1 John 1:8). This means that sin is a reality in every Christian. If someone denies they are a sinner they are thusly a non-Christian because Jesus came to bring sinners to repentance (Luke 5:32). Jesus can't bring a non-sinner to repentance. John argues that the person who says such a claim is deceiving themselves, that is they are believing a false view as truth and if they believe a lie then they can't live out the truth.
Furthermore, John states that if we have not sinned we are making Christ into a liar (1 John 1:10). A Christian is an ambassador for Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20). This means we are to represent Him in His views and practices. Jesus asserts that we are sinners and proposing that we are not is making a liar out of Him. Moreover, we make Christ out to be a liar on virtue of denying specific sins that are in fact sins. John is clear in his words: "[if] we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar..." (John 1:10 [my emphasis]). If we do something that Scripture is clear on is a sin, such as any of the wide variety of sexual sins and say "I have not sinned" we are making Christ into a liar by saying: "He is wrong, what I did is not a sin."
John explains why he is writing this to his reader namely so that they will know the truth and thus know how to appropriately respond (John 2:1a). However John highlights the implication of his teaching, namely if we are sinners, we will then sin. A such he offers some good news: 1) If we confess our sins God will forgive us and make us right in His eyes (1 John 1:9) and 2) Christ will represent us in front of the Father, who is the one who we sinned against. He will argue for our salvation from condemnation (1 John 2:1b).
In sum a true repentant Christian is someone who knows that they are sinner, one who agrees with Christ regarding sin and who represents his views on the subject and one who daily turns away from their sin. The nature of the true Christian is one who is represented by Christ.
No comments:
Post a Comment