I read Luke 3 & 4 today, and noticed in chapter 3 that John the Baptist was preparing the way for Jesus, by leading people to repentance and a readiness for what God was going to do. He admonishes them to produce fruit in keeping with repentance, and when they ask what they should do, his answers could all be summed up in loving their neighbour. A repentant heart is one that will pay attention to the well-being of others, and in so doing focus on what is important to God.
If I want to be a godly man, it is imperative that my heart is prepared through repentance if I am to follow Him at all. Without repentance, I'd be trying to blend sin and righteousness as I see fit, a sort of 'pseudo-Christianity' which is really no Christianity at all. It says, "No one can tell me how I should be following Christ. I'm fine the way I am." This issue goes right back to what I read in 2 Timothy 3... verse 5 says, "having a form of godliness but denying its power..." This calling oneself a Christian without being willing to repent denies the power behind salvation - God's ability to remove our sin and redeem us from it - yet how can He if we don't give Him the chance through repentance?
In case anyone's afraid that I'm overstating my case here, 1 John 1:8-10 agrees, and takes it one step further: "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. / If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. / If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives."
The fact is, righteousness and sin are not compatible. Trying to mix purity and impurity never purifies the sin, it only ever sullies the righteousness. That's why we have to "put to death the misdeeds of the body" (Romans 8:13) in order to live. That's why there's a war going on between God's Spirit (and our spirit, if we love Him) and our sinful nature. That's why "God's kindness leads you toward repentance". (Romans 2:4)
Fear of being considered wrong can lead us into stress and arguments and unrepentance, but what a peace comes when we lay that fear down and repent! We open our whole life up to God's blessing, we allow Him to work powerfully to make us more like Christ, we allow Him to give us rest from all of that stress. I love what Isaiah 30:15 says, "...In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength..." Another of my favourite verses is Ezekiel 18:32, "For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!"
There are so many verses that talk about repentance. Jesus and His disciples preached repentance. Why repent? (I love the Bible. I've heard it called God's love letter to us, and this verse is another great example of that.) Acts 3:19 says, "Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord."
I know that I'd rather believe and obey God than have to be right in my own ways and opinions at any cost. His way is life, peace, truth and joy, why would I want to go my way instead?
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