True Repentance (Part 1)

Reflections from the continuing testimony of Jesus Life living in and through Ron Browning
(Mark 1:15…John 1:12… Acts 11:18… 2 Corinthians 5:21; Isaiah 36:26-27)

There are many times and for many reasons people repent. Repentance, in its simplest terms, is a turning away. There seems to be a sorrow, a heavy sadness, even a depression of some sort over some consequence for some bad thoughts and/or some bad choices and/or some bad feelings. Some words or actions considered wrong in some way. Things we do can be offensive. Not only to ourselves but to those closest to us at home, at work, or amongst friends.

For me repentance came heavily when I went to prison for fraudulent crimes and a sex crime. Yes, I was sorrowful. Torn up inside. Even scared. All because my life was being disrupted from friends and family. But is this type of repentance true? Yes, it was and is real. But is it true biblical repentance? No.

True repentance is a turning around to go a in a different direction. It’s doing a 180. Turning from one thing to another. However, in a biblical sense, true repentance is:

turning from sin to Jesus, as our risen Lord and forgiving Lamb, in order to get saved—to be forgiven and made righteous. It's the Great Exchange! It's an exchange of identity; exchanging our sin condition of being sin (NOTE: that's what a sinner is: someone who is sin) for the One Who forgives and is Righteous. It's exchanging our heart of sin (i.e., our fallen and broken core identity of sin) for the NewHeart of Jesus' righteous Life living within; a NewHeart of holiness—a perfect heart (Romans 5:1; 2Corinthians 5:21; Hebrews 10:14; 1 Peter 1:14)... then our repentant NewHeart is always about—

turning from sins to Jesus, as our righteous Life and rescuing Liberator, in order to live saved and righteous (obedient) — i.e., exchanging our sin struggles for Jesus' righteous Life of obedience; consider:
- before salvation, God identifies all of humanity—including you and I—by our various sin struggles (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)
  - e.g., before my 1994 salvation, God idenified me as a liar, thief, and homosexual because those sins characterized and domaintated my day-to-day living—my thinking, choosing, and feeling... but—
- once (I) we become children of God, Father God then begins to identify us by His Son Jesus' 33 years of obedient living on Planet Earth.
  - It's a GIFT! ...you nor I can ever live the obedient Christian Life successfully. It's IMPOSSIBLE! Because the Christian Life is Jesus' Life and only He can live it! ...yes, Jesus lives His Life in and through us, even for us, as we learn to live from Him (Ephesians 4:17-24)... for me that exchange of identities looked something like this:
    - exchanging the liar I was for the truth-teller I am; that Jesus made me to be
    - exchanging the thief I was for the generous man of integrity I am; that Jesus made me to be
    - exchanging the gay man I was for the pure and faithful man I am; that Jesus made me to be

...and finally, the repentant heart is consistently—

turning from sinning to Jesus as our all-wise Leader and Light-Source of Grace & Truth, in order to live as more than conquerors (that's our new destiny! ...our old was sinning)... our new Life empowers us for right living to overcome sinning... with intenional pursuit of:
- turning from (putting off) the sinful thoughts, choices, and feelings of the old dead life... i.e.—
  - we are to put off (consider it dead) the self-life—the flesh—screaming for sin's atttention—
    - our personal sense of right and wrong
    - our default patterns (both the good and the bad / the screams and the ugly)
    - our worship of idols (i.e., created things, including ourselves—our fake identities & false intimacies with people, places, and/or things)... while—
- turning to (putting on) Jesus' Life of righteous obedience—His thoughts, choices, and feelings of the new Life... i.e.—
  - we are to put on the freedom and creativity of Jesus' Life (our true identity) living within our hearts... producing a:
    - continuing salvation (the Gospel leads to getting saved; the getting saved leads to living saved; the living saved leads to an exciting saved; and an exciting saved leads to doing saved... with the—
    - a God-given Life dominated wtih Jesus' Life actions, ambitions, and attitudes—i.e., our new identit
    - with sole focus and devotion of baking in Jesus the Perfect Lover of my Soul

True repentance is turning to Jesus as Lord, This repentance is then the means by which we believe and are saved (i.e., born again). The means by which we are forgiven and given new life. By which we are born of God into a forever Life with Jesus. The begining of our Eternal Life! The means by which we become heavenbound.

Every true Christian has been granted God’s gift of repentance. That’s right, true repentance isn’t something we can just muster up. It’s supernatural! Something we can’t achieve or earn. For true repentance is God-given and ignites a Life of saving faith in Jesus Christ within our hearts (John 17:3; Acts 11:18; Romans 4:20—5:11; Ephesians 2:1-10, 1 John 1:1-10; 5:1, 11-13; and v20)

This turning initially saves us from sin (the condition) and hell (the sinner's consequence in the here-after). But this repentance is also the means by which we believe to live saved in the here-and-now.

Continuously saved for right living, growing up in the faith. Repentance ignites a Life of living saved—i.e., for living the Christian Life successfully.

and turnign to Jesus as Life continuously saves us from ourselves in the here-and-now, for our own spiritual growth and wellbeing.

There came a day, God confronted me with true repentance. And my heart flamed with a Life of saving faith. I got saved. And overtime, my understanding grew. I was set free from sin. My nature to sin was exchange for a new nature. Jesus’ righteous nature. And I learned three things about God’s rescue of me.

God no longer sees me as sin (i.e., as a sinner captured by the sin condition with a nature to sin) for Jesus exchanged my sin nature for His divine nature (2 Peter 1:1-4). Given a NewHeart, I now partake in and share Jesus' righteous nature--Jesus' Life!
God no longer identifies me by my sins (e.g., as a liar, a thief, a gay man, etc.); I was given a NewHeart with new and right desires for obedience. Father God no longer sees me through the lens of my sin; rather He sees me through the lens of Jesus’ righteous Life—Jesus’ obedience.
God no longer destined me for sinning. Jesus set me free, rescuing me from sin and sins, to empower and teach me how to overcome sinning. A journey that takes a lifetime.

Pastor Peter summed it all up in God’s Word:

This letter is from Simeon Peter, a loving servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ. I am writing to those who have been given a faith as equally precious as ours through the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ. May grace and perfect peace cascade over you as you live in the rich knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

Everything we could ever need for life and godliness has already been deposited in us by his divine power. For all this was lavished upon us through the rich experience of knowing him who has called us by name and invited us to come to him through a glorious manifestation of his goodness. As a result of this, he has given you magnificent promises hat are beyond all price, so that through the power of these tremendous promises we can experience partnership with the divine nature, by which you have escaped the corrupt desires that are of the world (2 Peter 1:1-4, the Passion, emphasis mine).

True repentance ignites the heart with a Life of saving faith. By which our sin is exchanged for Jesus’ righteous Life. It’s these gifts that carry the Christian in continuous repentance and faith, from rebirth into Eternity.

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the Gospel” (Mark 1:15, ESV).

“But to all who did receive Him, who believe in His name, He gave the right to become children of God ” (John 1:12, ESV).

“When they heard this, their objections were put to rest and they all glorified God, saying, “Look what God has done! He’s giving the gift of repentance that leads to Life…” (Acts 11:18, the Passion).

“For (Father) God made the only One (Jesus) who did not know sin to become sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God through our union with Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21, the Passion).

“And I (the Sovereign God) will give you a NewHeart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations” (Ezekiel 36:26-27, NLT).

NEXT: True Repentance Demonstrated (Coming Soon)