Repentance Part Two
October 12, 2007 – 4:59 am
15:1 After these things the word of Jehovah came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, `and’ thy exceeding great reward. 15:2 And Abram said, O Lord Jehovah, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and he that shall be possessor of my house is Eliezer of Damascus? 15:3 And Abram said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed: and, lo, one born in my house is mine heir. 15:4 And, behold, the word of Jehovah came unto him, saying, This man shall not be thine heir; But he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels shall be thine heir. 15:5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and number the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. 15:6 And he believed in Jehovah; and he reckoned it to him for righteousness.
Genesis 15:1-6 ASV
32:1 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered. 32:2 Blessed is the man unto whom Jehovah imputeth not iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no guile. 32:3 When I kept silence, my bones wasted away Through my groaning all the day long. 32:4 For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: My moisture was changed `as’ with the drought of summer. Selah 32:5 I acknowledged my sin unto thee, And mine iniquity did I not hide: I said, I will confess my transgressions unto Jehovah; And thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah 32:6 For this let every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found: Surely when the great waters overflow they shall not reach unto him. 32:7 Thou art my hiding-place; thou wilt preserve me from trouble; Thou wilt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah
Psalms 32:1-7 ASV
4:1 What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, hath found according to the flesh?
Romans 4:1 ASV
I. One of the reasons we think religious acceptance is so tough today is this: We have a poor understanding of how tough religious acceptance was in the first century.
A. Jewish Christians simply could not accept as truth and fact that God could accept idol worshippers in a forgiveness relationship without going through Judaism, the law, and proselytism.
1. If you will consider a little insight into a huge problem, listen to the difficulty voiced in these three statements from the Bible.
a. Acts 11:1-3 Now the apostles and the brethren who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. And when Peter came up to Jerusalem, those who were circumcised took issue with him, saying, “You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.”
i. This was the manner in which Peter was greeted by Christians when he returned to Jerusalem after baptizing the non-Jew Cornelius.
ii. Cornelius was a god fearer–a devout man who feared God, gave alms to poor Jews, and prayed to Jehovah God daily. This was not a man who worshipped idols and did not know who God was!
iii. The issue was more fundamental than baptism: “You had table fellowship with him–you know no Jew can do that!”
iv. If Jews cannot even associate with them, how can God forgive them?
b. Acts 15:1-5 Some men came down from Judea and began teaching the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” And when Paul and Barnabas had great dissension and debate with them, the brethren determined that Paul and Barnabas and some others of them should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders concerning this issue. Therefore, being sent on their way by the church, they were passing through both Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and were bringing great joy to all the brethren. When they arrived at Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all that God had done with them. But some of the sect of the Pharisees who had believed stood up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them and to direct them to observe the Law of Moses.”
i. Paul and Barnabas returned from their 1st missionary journey [which God directed them to go on] in which they converted gentiles.
ii. They returned to a huge argument in the gentile church who sent them out: the argument was from Jewish Christians from Judea [likely Jerusalem] with Christians [the church] in Antioch [likely the first gentile congregation].
iii. Paul and Barnabas could not settle the argument!
iv. The matter had to be referred to the apostles in Jerusalem.
v. When the matter was discussed, some Pharisee Christians said gentile Christians must be circumcised and keep the law of Moses! Such compliance was not an option!
c. Acts 21:17-26 After we arrived in Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly. And the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. After he had greeted them, he began to relate one by one the things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. And when they heard it they began glorifying God; and they said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed, and they are all zealous for the Law; and they have been told about you, that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children nor to walk according to the customs. What, then, is to be done? They will certainly hear that you have come. Therefore do this that we tell you. We have four men who are under a vow; take them and purify yourself along with them, and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads; and all will know that there is nothing to the things which they have been told about you, but that you yourself also walk orderly, keeping the Law. But concerning the Gentiles who have believed, we wrote, having decided that they should abstain from meat sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from fornication.” Then Paul took the men, and the next day, purifying himself along with them, went into the temple giving notice of the completion of the days of purification, until the sacrifice was offered for each one of them.
i. Paul and his company were well received by the leadership of the Jerusalem church–the leader obviously had an understanding of evangelism among gentiles that many of the typical members did not have.
ii. The leaders also had a problem: how were they going to dispel false rumors about Paul’s work among gentiles?
iii. They encouraged Paul to demonstrate his Jewish ways [which he did not bind on gentiles] to try to dispel false accusations believed by the Christian community among the Jews and in Jerusalem.
iv. Paul did as they requested, and there is no note of objection.
v. Jews did not have to stop being Jews and gentiles did not have to stop being gentiles [culturally] for either of them to be Christians.
B. In his letter to the Christians living in Rome, Paul affirmed there was [and always had been] a relationship with God in which God ignored some people’s sins.
1. That had been the case in the lives of two of the most prominent Israelite ancestors the Jewish nation celebrated.
a. It was true in Abraham’s life before he was circumcised.
b. It was true in King David’s life when he had his affair with Bathsheba.
c. It was true in David’s life when he had Uriah killed.
• Leviticus 20:10 If there is a man who commits adultery with another man’s wife, one who commits adultery with his friend’s wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.
• Leviticus 24:17 If a man takes the life of any human being, he shall surely be put to death.
d. Yet, the prophet Nathan told David:
• 2 Samuel 12:13 Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has taken away your sin; you shall not die.”
i. ”Wait a minute! We are talking about adultery and murder here!”
ii. Yes, but it clearly stated God took his sin away, and he would not die.
iii. Were there consequences from his act? Absolutely! And they were severe!
iv. Yet, God forgave him.
v. God can forgive an offense against Him [and does!] but the offense can set in motion consequences in the world that continue even when forgiveness is given.
e. If you doubt God’s ability to forgive by refusing to acknowledge sin, take note of two facts.
. David kept Bathsheba as a wife.
i. The next king of Israel was Solomon who was the son of David and Bathsheba.
2. There is a relationship with God in which God ignores a person’s sins [which is what forgiveness is basically about!]
a. Rules keeping is not relationship.
b. Relationship is much deeper than rules keeping.
c. Obedience involves much more than keeping some rules.
3. Repentance is about relationship.
a. Repentance involves the realization of an injustice that hurts and offends the God who loves you.
b. Repentance involves returning love to Someone who loves you dearly.
c. Repentance is not about ‘jumping through hoops’ to complete some divine obstacle course.
d. Repentance is about loving enough to regret offenses, about redirecting life because ‘I have been offensive to Someone who has treated me kindly.’
II. Who needs this forgiveness in which God does not hold us accountable for a sin committed?
A. We all do!
1. Do you actually think you are aware, fully knowledgeable of every way available to you to offend God?
2. Have you never learned something in which you did evil that previously you did not realize any evil was involved?
B. John acknowledged God’s solution to our sinfulness in 1 John 1:5-10 when he declared that God cleanses us from ALL sin through Jesus Christ and cleanses us from ALL unrighteousness if we confess our sins (that which we know to confess).
1. Who needs God’s solution?
a. We all do!
b. Thank God He forgives me of matters I am yet to realize! If He did not, none of us would stand a chance!
2. Does that give me a license to knowingly be irresponsible in matters of evil?
a. No!
b. It gives me hope as I seek to follow God’s will.
c. I cannot be perfect, but I can be honest when I fail God.
C. To whom does God attribute righteousness?
1. To the person who in faith repents!
2. We do not live as we please deliberately remaining in ignorance so we can do as we please!
3. We seek God’s will!
4. Life for every Christian is a constant redirection as we understand more completely what a godly life is about.
5. Only people who understand God brings the best out of them repent!
God has a special appreciation for the man or woman Christian who assumes a sense of personal responsibility when he or she fails guilt. Is honest about his or her failure, confesses the mistake! and learns from the failure, redirects life, repents. That special appreciation from God is expressed in His forgiveness that refuses to acknowledge the sin.
Our commitment must be to develop that type of relationship with God!
Used with permission from David Chadwell, West-Ark Church of Christ
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