In a culture conditioned to instant everything, perhaps we would do well to pause and consider these words from John Newton, author of the hymn Amazing Grace:
“A Christian is not of hasty growth, like a mushroom, but rather like the oak, the progress of which is hardly perceptible, but in time becomes a great deep-rooted tree.”
-from The Letters of John Newton
Today is Ash Wednesday. That does not mean much to many in my theological circles. But for many other Christians it is a day that launches the Season leading to Easter – the Season of Lent. This day is designated Ash Wednesday because of an ancient practice of marking believers with ashes as a symbol of repentance.
Hopefully it is more than symblolic, but is also a reminder that, as Martin Luther said, “When Christ said ‘Repent’ he called for the entire lives of Believers to be lived out in repentance.”
Repentance is a lost art. Repentance is also a neglected practice. I suspect that many assume repentance is someting to be avoided; that repentance is what we must do if we have sinned; but if we can avoid sin we have no need of repentance.
Seems logical. Except it mischaracterizes the nature of sin. Sin is not what we do, sin is the condition we have, whether we are aware of it or not. I find helpful the old saying: “We are not sinners because we sin. We sin because we are sinners.” Thus, as Luther suggested, the necessity of life lived out in repentance.
Perhaps a better way of putting it might be that our lives should include repentance. I say that because repentance never stands alone. Repentance should always accompany Faith; and Faith should always accompany Repentance. They are two sides of the same coin of Gospel Christianity.
I like the way the old Puritan Thomas Watson says it:
“Faith and Repentance are the two wings by which we fly toward heaven.”
I love the imagery. It shows us that our salvation involves not only our conversions (which, by the way, requires both Faith & Repentance), but is a sanctifying journey which requires us to grow in our awarenss of both our ungodliness and the greatness of the Gospel. To have one wing longer than the other; or worse, to have only one wing, would be disastrous. Try it for yourself. Try flying one of those balsa wood planes, with one wing longer than the other and see how it flies. But this is life without both Faith & Repentance.
Three books I have found helpful in shaping my understanding and appreciation of the need of ongoing repentance:
Repentance & 21st Century Man by C. John Miller
The Doctrine of Repentance by Thomas Watson
Repentance: The First Word of the Gospel by Richard Owen Roberts
Here is a helpful insight from D.A. Carson, in his book For the Love of God, that reminds us that while, as Christians, we are Justified and freely forgiven by God through Faith alone in Christ alone, we grow in Spiritual maturity by God’s grace AND our diligent faithfulness:
People do not drift toward holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward godliness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith, and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated.
A sobering reminder to avail ourselves in the means of grace.
People don’t earn God’s approval or receive life and salvation because of anything they’ve done. Rather, the only reason they receive life and salvation is because of God’s kindness through Christ. There is no other way.
Many Christians are tired of hearing this teaching over and over. They think that they learned it all long ago. However, they barely understand how important it really is. If it continues to be taught as truth, the Christian church will remain united and pure — free from decay. This truth alone makes and sustains Christianity. You might hear an immature Christian brag about how well he knows that we receive God’s approval through God’s kindness and not because of anything we do to earn it. But if he goes on to say that this is easy to put into practice, then have no doubt he doesn’t know what he’s talking about, and he probably never will. We can never learn this truth completely or brag that we understand it fully. Learning this truth is an art. We will always remain students of it, and it will always be our teacher.
The people who truly understand that they receive God’s approval by faith and put this into practice don’t brag that they have fully mastered it. Rather, they think of it as a pleasant taste or aroma that they are always pursuing. These people are astonished that they can’t comprehend it as fully as they would like. They hunger and thirst for it. They yearn for it more and more. They never get tired of hearing about this truth.
– Martin Luther
GRACE & PEACE 