Thoughts On Repentance

In church today, we talked about repentance a little bit and I think that God put some thoughts into my head to share with ya'll...

Our pastor at one time said that he was always confused because a lot of the time pastors would invite a congregation to a time of confession silently to themselves but would then interupt about 5 seconds later. He remarked "I wasn't NEARLY finished asking forgiveness for all of my sins". Ironically, I felt like my pastor then went on to only give us a small few moments to dig into our repentance. If our sins hold back the Lord from blessing us and using us if we don't repent, then why is it not given much more time to? Anyways...I was reminded of some things in a book that I'm reading...

I'm [trying to at least] reading this book called "The Normal Christian Life" by a man named Watchman Nee. This actually is a book that I got my dad for Christmas but it looked pretty good so I thought I'd read some while I am home on Christmas break from school. In this book he talks about the first eight chapters of Romans, and I'll VERY briefly describe what Nee says.
Nee says that in studying the first eight chapters there is a distinctive divide in how the Word talks of sin(s). In the first about five chapters our "SINS" are addressed. Whereas, it is referred to as just our "SIN" in the other chapters leading up to eight. "Sins" refer to the vast aray of sins that we commit each day and need ask forgiveness for. On the other hand, "Sin" is in reference to that which is within us. This is the sin nature inside of us that can hold us captive often. Nee then goes on to talk about the salvation from each. Christ's blood covers our "sins". Since Jesus really died for us, our sins are looked at by God (not overlooked, says Nee) as covered in His Son's blood (which God is satisfied with). "Sin" needs to be dealt with by "the cross". The blood is for forgiveness of sins, and the cross delivers us from sin.

I don't know if any of this strikes a chord with any of you, but it certainly did for me especially this morning. Sin is THE THING that creates a gap between us and God. We sin so often, too, don't we? I realized this morning my stance on repentance: our sins simply CANNOT just be dealt with by saying "I'm sorry, God, I'll try to never do that again". Don't get me wrong, there IS truth in that! There DEFINITELY is truth in that. Jesus died so that if we just confess our sins and believe in Him, that we will have eternal life. but consider this...what about that awful feeling that you can have some mornings when you wake up? You ask forgiveness but still feel consumed with guilt and just live on, because we KNOW that the Lord has forgiven us but just settle by thinking that this feeling is normal and how it is supposed to be. This is how it is supposed to be: WE ARE SUPPOSED TO EXPERIENCE VICTORY OVER THINGS LIKE THAT! We are supposed to have rest, and peace, and joy, and power! I honestly think that in repenting of our sins, we should (1) take the time and cry out to God in asking for forgiveness, and (2) get some prayer and pray for deliverance from the hold that sin has on you (and I)...what if this begins to break down "sin" and its power and hold on us. What if we begin to truly feel forgiven and feel joyous? What if repentance is more than just apologizing and moving on without asking for help with what is happening inside?

God is real.
real good, too.


sfk