Repentance and Restoration

This month, we have been discussing how to deal with sin in our lives as believers in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  The following points represent some of the things that we must seek to do to overcome sin and live in the newness of life through the power of the Gospel.

1. Repent with godly sorrow and seek after holiness and righteousness through obedience to Christ.

Do you have sorrow for your sin?  This must be the first step that drives us to Christ and to restoration.  As 2 Corinthians 7:8-11 tells us, there are two types of sorrow.  There is a worldly sorrow that merely seeks relief from guilt and/or escape from punishment.  This is not the sorrow of true repentance.  Then there is godly sorrow, which comes from the gracious work of conviction by the Holy Spirit.  Godly sorrow creates a desire to put the deeds of the flesh to death and to turn from sin and seek holiness and righteousness.

If you struggle with sin and do not feel you have godly sorrow, then ask the Lord in prayer for it!  Turn in the Word of God and read of the enmity of sin…read how sin is contrary to God, to the glory of Christ, to your fellow believers, and it is contrary to your soul.  See that sin is heinous and it is the shameful expressions of hatred of the holiness of Christ.

2. Rest in the Gospel.

Realize that your restoration and your assurance of your faith in Christ must not stem from your ability to personally overcome sin.  You have sinned and no amount of obedience will make up for it.  No amount of tears will cover it.  Your sins can only be covered with the blood of Jesus Christ and your restoration will only occur if you are in union with Him by faith.  As Galatians 3:3 says, “Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?”

Perhaps it is made most clear by Paul in Romans 6:

Romans 6:4-11 Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

It is by the power of the Gospel that we find not only forgiveness of sins, but also the power of sanctification from sin. As Paul states in Colossians 3:1, “Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.”  The rest of the chapter deals with the mortification of sin and the obedience of holiness and righteousness that comes through faith and union in the Gospel with the resurrection of Christ.

– Excursus –

On a related note, I have found that there are many who do not believe in the power of the Gospel to overcome sin.  Many will look at the condition of the masses of people who attend churches and yet their lives are full of unrepentant sin.  They arrive at the conclusion that these people have believed the Gospel and yet the power promised in the Scriptures has not come to pass.   I think this attitude has created a dangerous misunderstanding of the Gospel and a failure to examine the so-called faith of these people.

I have found that in virtually every case where a person’s life is filled with unrepentant sin, with a little bit of questioning, you will find that these are not believers of the Gospel that lack the power of the Gospel, these are people who do not believe the Gospel according to the Scriptures.  Ask them what they believe the Gospel is, and you will find in most cases that they cannot begin to explain it.  If they have a basic understanding of the person of Jesus, the virgin birth,  and the deity of Jesus, ask them if they believe the resurrection of Jesus, His Lordship at the right hand of God, and the coming Day of the bodily resurrection and the Day of Judgment.  Are they still with you?  Ask them if they believe that Jesus alone is the way, the truth and the life and that only those who trust in Him will be saved from the wrath of God and an eternal punishment of damnation.  No other faith will do.  All other religions are false and lead to damnation.

I think when you get to this point, you will find in most cases, a person who does not care to repent of sin and seek holiness will deny the Gospel of Jesus.  Hopefully, you will be there to ask them to repent and believe the Gospel that you have just described to them.

– End of Excursus –

3. Ask for the power of the Holy Spirit and the new life through the resurrection of Christ.

As discussed above, there is no power to overcome sin apart from faith in the Gospel, and there is also no power apart from the work of the Holy Spirit.  Therefore, in order to effectively ask for the power to overcome sin, ask the Lord specifically to defeat the sin in your life through the wonderful gift of the Holy Spirit.  Paul discusses in Romans 8:1-14 that it is only by the Spirit that we can overcome the deeds of the flesh.  In Galatians, it is the Spirit that produces the fruit of righteousness.  This passage does not mean that the Spirit just makes these things possible, it is by the continual work of the Spirit that we live out this fruit in our deeds, words, and thoughts.

I am not saying that Christ’s power will not operate in you if you do not specifically ask for the Spirit.  However, I do believe that we will be better at overcoming sin if we acknowledge the source of power (the Holy Spirit) to overcome sin and we seek this power in faith.  I fear that our tendency to not ask for the power of the Spirit is because we do not realize that it is only by the Spirit’s power that we will find the power to overcome sin.

4. Do not let sin drive you away from participation in the Body.

Apart from all the other things that must be done throughout our struggle with sin, I have noticed over and over again that those who withdraw themselves from the Body of Christ are often overcome by sin. I am not saying that it is hopeless if a person withdraws from the Body of Christ, but it is dangerous.  More times than not, such a person does not end up being restored in the faith of Christ…and they depart the faith.

Hebrews 10:25 is not simply a exhortation to “go to church”, it is a command to be followed, especially in light of those who may stop meeting with others in the Body of Christ and may fall into apostasy.

We are to be encouragements to one another.  This doesn’t mean we just say “Good job!” to each other…it means that we help one another when we are in sin!  Notice the connection with the “confession of our hope” of the Gospel (Hebrews 10:23) and the commands to “stimulate ourselves to love and good deeds and not forsake gathering together.”  The Body of Christ is critical to overcoming sin in our lives.

5. Examine your love.

There are two points that I am shocked to see are often missed in the discussion of repentance and restoration.  The first is to ask the Lord for the power of the Spirit to overcome sin, as discussed above.  The second is to examine your love.  If you are sinning, it is a heart issue and you are not loving the Lord or your fellow brethren in Christ as you should.

1 John deals with sin and even says in 1 John 3:4 that “Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.”  How does this relate to love?  The NET Bible’s exegetical notes for the verse state the following:

The Greek word ανομία  is often translated “iniquity” or “lawlessness” and in the LXX refers particularly to transgression of the law of Moses. In Jewish thought the ideas of sin and lawlessness or iniquity were often equated because sin involved a violation of the Mosaic law and hence lawlessness.  For the author [of 1 John], it is not violation of the Mosaic law that results in lawlessness…The ‘law’ for the author is the law of love, as given by Jesus in the new commandment of John 13:34-35. This is the command to love one’s brother, a major theme of 1 John and the one specific sin in the entire letter which the opponents are charged with (3:17). Since the author has already labeled the opponents “antichrists” in 2:18, it may well be that he sees in their iniquitous behavior of withdrawing from the community and refusing to love the brethren. (NET Bible – Notes on 1 John 3:4)

John 13:34-35:

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.

And Paul states in Romans 13:8-10

Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. For this, “YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU SHALL NOT COVET,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Therefore, if we are struggling with sin, we ought to examine our hearts to see how our self-love is trumping our love of Christ and the love of our brethren.  As we do this, we can deal with the root of our sin that is often clouded by the various manifestations of our sinful deeds.

7. Seek Guidance from the Word of God

There are many reasons to study the Word of God.  In the context of seeking to overcome sin, the Word becomes essential to obtaining wisdom, which is necessary to be victorious in your life.  Search the Scriptures to find the godly things that you should be seeking.  Seek the Scriptures to find the wisdom that has been demonstrated throughout history by the people of God.  Here you will find that the lusts of the flesh, the pride of life, the pursuit of money and hedonism have all been proven to be the vanity of vanities.  You will learn that we must therefore fear God and obey His commandments.  You will see examples of how sin how brought destruction and despair.

Beyond all of the specific exhortations to forsake sin and live in holiness, you will also see the majestic character of our merciful God.  The more you know, the less you will be able to be comfortable sinning against the holy and loving Lord.

8. Implement godly disciplines.

Now, with all of the discussion above still in our minds, we must also seek to implement godly disciplines to help us in our struggle with sin.  Godly disciplines are of tremendous value, but they should never be viewed as a means to conquer sin apart from faith in the Gospel, the work of the Spirit, etc.

Prayer – Prayer is vital, and is involved with almost every step above.  It is beyond just including it as a “step” to deal with sin…it is essential throughout the entire process.  Your prayers must earnestly seek the power of the resurrection of Christ from the source of all life…Christ Himself.

Studies in the Word of God – We have already discussed the value of the Word to overcome sin, but we must also must make this a discipline, and not just a resource.

Service and devotion – Do not simply stop your sin, but replace the time, the energy, and the desire that you once had for sin with time, energy and desire for godly service and pure worship.

Environment – Examine the things that you are surrounded with…who you are with, what you listen to and watch.  Do everything possible to put a shield of protection around you to keep sin from gripping you.  For example:

• If you struggle with anger or gossip, avoid the situations that tempt you to become enraged or frustrated with other people.
• If you struggle with lust, don’t put yourself within arm’s reach and eye’s sight of the objects of your sin.
• If you struggle with laziness or are too tired to exercise spiritual disciplines, avoid the things that drag you down by doing things like getting a good night’s sleep as much as possible, throwing a brick through the television screen, or doing something out of the ordinary to break your bad habits.

Surround yourself with godly music.  Make time  for Christian fellowship.  Replace your television time with a good Christian book.

Accountability – Seek help!  Share your weakness with your spouse, a trusted friend, your pastors, etc.  Seek their prayer and their wisdom.  Ask for them to “check up” on you.  Study the Word together.

The things that you can do go on and on.  I by no means intend to be exhaustive with everything written above.  However, I hope that it helps us all to overcome sin and seek to honor our glorious Lord.  May we bring glory to the name of Jesus Christ!