Repentance is necessary. It draws a person close to God. The further someone has gone from God, the more one has to gain by drawing near to Him.
Start a journey of repentance! To “repent” means to “return” to God’s ways, and begin a path of atonement in Christ. Not sinning is a challenge, and it takes God’s help. If a person has failed and failed again, success in a particular area may seem out of reach; this website teaches a person how to circumvent these mental walls built by self-doubt and shame.
Jeremiah 15:19 says, “Therefore this is what the Lord says: If you repent, I will restore you that you may serve me...” The word “repentance” is “teshuvah,” in Hebrew. The word literally means “to turn.” We regret a mistake or negative action and resolve to never do it again. Repentance is a continual prosses of staying centered on the Kingdom of God.
Repentance takes regret, a confession of sin, and a choice to return to righteousness. A person must attempt to right any wrongs and make amends (Leviticus 26:40-45). As you turn to God, He will turn to you. This is a promise of the “new covenant” originally described by the prophet Jeremiah.
Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord.” (Jeremiah. 31:31-31)
The Choice
Both good and evil are necessary for the existence of free will. God told Adam and Eve not to eat from the “Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil,” and gave them the choice to accept His authority or refuse it. They chose rebellion. They exercised the freedom of choice and chose spiritual and physical independence. We, their children, have each done the same. We’ve chosen independence and it’s become a source of suffering for each of us. With each choice made we are free to accept the will of God or refuse it.
Micah 6:8 says,
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. What does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.”
What does it mean to act justly? In the market place there must be an agreed upon system of weights and measurement—Justus requires law, that’s obvious, but not all laws are applicable to all people at all times.
What Does God Want from Me?
The Bible describes four basic groups of people, there are more, but for now, we can work with these four categories. The 135th Psalm calls these groups to worship before God in Jerusalem saying,
House of Israel, bless the Lord! House of Aaron, bless the Lord! House of Levi, bless the Lord! God-Fearers, bless the Lord!
While each group shares a common faith, their religious practices are diverse. A Jew (house of Israel) is permitted to visit a cemetery, but a kohen (house of Aaron) is not. A God-Fearer is permitted to kindle a flame on the Sabbath, but a Jew is not. In this way, a God-Fearer and a Kohen are similar, but they are distinct in that a Kohen is only permitted to kindle a flame within the Jerusalem Temple. While a path of repentance will be very similar for all involved, each group has been given a distinct job description. Paul says
For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others (Rom 12:4-5)
Paul calls these four groups the “Israel of God.” Christians have not replaced Israel but have enjoined themselves as servants to her king. We have not been called to tolerate diversity, but to celebrate and protect it. Although God is gracious to Israel, a Jew should not live as a gentile. Although Christians serve a Jewish Messiah, becoming Jewish is not needed. We are sailors in one ship and there is lots of work to be done. Each man and woman must know who they are and what God has required of them.
Reflecting on the struggles of adolescence, Paul explained,
I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment was given, sin came alive and I died. (Rom. 7:9)
Childhood is a time of grace. A child is free to run and play. Mistakes are not only expected but, sometimes, they’re enjoyed. “Kids will be kids,” as the saying goes. With the onset of puberty, a Jew become obligated to observe Jewish law. In Christian life, these teenage years are usually accompanied by baptism or confirmation, depending upon the tradition. We recognize that with maturation comes obligation—responsibility.
Paul recognizes the reality of the human condition; the years of responsibility are years of temptation, confusion, doubt and struggle. Nevertheless, this is not all that he is saying.
Moses warned Israel,
I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore, choose life, that you and your offspring may live. (Deu. 30:19)
The law is both a “blessing and a curse.” It’s a blessing when its kept and a curse when its broken. Paul was spot on when he said, “sin came alive and I died.” We can all relate to this. Paul later refers to it as the “curse of the law.” There is a “blessing of the law” but as long as we are trapped in sin we remain under the curse. Paul says,
What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not! For, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” (Rom. 7:7)
God’s desire is for you to know his will in your life and to rule over sin (Genesis 4:7).
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age. (Titus 2:12).
God’s desire is for you to rule over sin (Genesis 4:7), and to transform the ungodliness into godliness (Titus 2:12).