Encountering Jesus: The Only Authority Over Evil

Here is a post from the ministry I work with, Rebirth: East St. Louis. This is a recap of the latest Bible study we had this past Wednesday night. Mark 1:21-28 is an amazing passage with much to teach us. 

“And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered into the synagogue and was teaching. And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the religious teachers. And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an evil spirit. And he cried out, ‘What do you have to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are-the Holy One of God.’ But Jesus rebuked him, saying, ‘Be Silent, and come out of him!’ And the evil spirit, convulsing him and screaming, came out of him. And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, ‘What is this? A new teaching with real authority! He commands even the evil spirits and they obey him.’ And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.”

Mark 1:21-28

One of my favorite things about teaching Bible studies with our guys is the opportunity to be personally amazed by the passage of Scripture we are going through. This week, we continued our“Encounters with Jesus: How God Changes Everything“ series by going through Mark 1: 21-28. Even now, as I reflect on this passage, I am amazed at the Bible’s inexhaustible nature. There is so much great stuff jam packed into these 8 short verses. When considering the length of the entire Bible, Mark 1: 21-28 can seem quite miniscule. Yet, this passage tells us so much about who Jesus was, what He came to do, and how encountering Jesus is the only hope for the world.

After going through the story, I asked our guys, “why were the people so astonished and amazed at Jesus’ teaching and actions?” One of our students hit the nail on the head, “Because they had never seen anything like that before.” And that is exactly right. This story is much more than a vivid look at spiritual warfare or a story that proves that demons exist. Much more than that, this passage tells us that Jesus is the eternal, long awaited solution to the evil that exists in the world.

This scene would have astonished people not because they hadn’t seen or experienced evil face to face. No, that is something we all see and experience every single day. Jesus’ actions were astonishing because He is the only one in the history of mankind that had exercised such authority and power over evil.

Further, this authority over evil is something we all inherently long for. We all desire a day when we don’t have to live in fear of disease and death. We all long for the day when we don’t have to fear abuse and pain. When I asked our students about the evils they see and experience everyday, they had no problem identifying some. They are surrounded by death and poverty. And just like the rest of the world, they desire a day when evil no longer has the final say. Together, we long for someone or something to save the day.

In Mark 1:21-28, the people who were watching Jesus would have had the same hope and desire. They were astonished at Jesus because they had never seen someone who could actually fulfill that hope. Since evil entered the world, humans have tried again and again to find a solution. Whether it be trusting in political powers to bring peace, or a personal zeal to overcome evil, all man made attempts to defeat evil have come up short. Jesus is the only solution to our problem of evil and sin. He is the only authority over evil. Whether it was 2000 years ago in Capernaum, or present day East St. Louis, Jesus invites us to trust in him as the Holy One of God who has defeated all the powers of evil.

Poverty and The Gospel: Part 2-Gospel of the Kingdom

Before we start digging into how the gospel relates to poverty, I want to start with a bigger question, "What did Jesus come to do?" What were the intentions of his ministry? Most of this will be based off of a post I wrote a little over a week ago, The Intention of Jesus, which lays this out a little more thoroughly. I'm going to try and be brief.

The reason many of us don't see poverty as a gospel issue is because our view of the gospel is too small. Either we (reformed folks) limit the gospel to justification by faith (which don't get me wrong, is absolutely central to the gospel. Yet, the gospel is bigger and effects more than just our individual standing with God) or, we forget this central tenant of the gospel (justification) and move on to the social issues that Jesus cared about. Last post we saw that both extremes are misconceptions.

To look at what Jesus came to do, I want to let him answer the question himself.

"Jesus came into Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, 'The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.'" Mark 1:14-15

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." Luke 4:18-19

I'm going to try and be brief here. A couple big picture takeaways.

First, Jesus came proclaiming the gospel of the Kingdom. In other words, the good news is that God's kingdom is at hand. God is reclaiming his rule and reign. He gives the call to repent and believe, because in reclaiming God's Kingdom, he is calling us to turn from our own little kingdom of self-autonomy. Jesus came inviting us to be a part of God's rule and reign, wherein we live under the love and righteousness of our Creator.

Second, as seen in Luke 4, under God's rule and reign (The Kingdom of God), all things are being set right. Look at all the comparatives he gives in Luke 4. The poor are receiving good news, the captive is set free, the blind see. At the heart of God's rule and reign is the restoration of humanity. Under his rule and reign, all things are being made right again. This is because under our own rule and reign (self-autonomy), we are really ruled and reigned by sin. Under the curse of sin, everything is distorted. And when I say everything, I mean EVERYTHING. Therefore, if under our own self-autonomy, everything is jacked up, I propose that under God's rule and reign, EVERYTHING is being made right. In other words, Jesus came to restore life.

To get a glimpse of what God intends life to be like, we need to look at Scripture. The place we will look at primarily will be the Creation account, because this was the only time when life was unhindered by the Fall. Genesis 1 and 2 are the only times in human history where humanity itself wasn't distorted by our own self-autonomy.

The Resolution to a Man-Centered Self-Perception

"If we do not see ourselves as Christ sees us-as self sufficient and broken as well as exceedingly loved and precious to God-we will be disciples who Jesus' core call. He calls us to repent in an ongoing way from our autonomy and to turn to ever-increasing dependence on him in the midst of his ongoing love in all areas of our lives. If we do not learn to see ourselves as Christ sees us, we will merely 'do' Christianity without radical, sustained inner change. That is exactly the plight of the orthodox Pharisees at the time of Jesus, who are so close to-and yet so far from God's purposes. 

If we do not see our true selves, we will be disciples who do not really need the Jesus of the Gospels. All we really need is a wise teacher of some aphorisms. If we do not see our true selves, we will not enter into the crisis of our God-perception to accept the necessity of the incarnation of the eternal Son of God for our rescue. We must ask ourselves: do we really sense the dire need for Jesus' rescue, or do we merely render lip-service to his call and work"

Bayer, Hans F. A Theology of Mark: The Dynamic Between Christology and Authentic Discipleship. (Phillipsburg, N.J.: P&R Pub, 2012), 82-83.

Why Keep it Hidden?

"Because of Jesus' sacrificial love, we are safe to begin a process of being completely truthful about ourselves. We are met by a capable physician who comes to us and says, 'I already know.' When Jesus asks the disciples questions, he is not seeking to gain information. Rather, by asking, he seeks to trigger a process of self-understanding. When Jesus asks, 'Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear?' (Mark 8:18), he confronts them with themselves. He pursues the ultimate purpose of cleansing their hearts so that their inner eyes and ears would open and be amazed by two things: how sick they really are and how powerful and good Jesus really is. We are called to full honesty because the One who has power to heal us already knows our condition. We can rest assured that we will not surprise our Master with anything he will discover in our souls. So why keep it hidden? Why live with it anymore? Why continue a divided life between the outside (pretense) and inside (reality)? Why continue the hopeless battle when, in fact, the One who calls us has power to overturn our self-centeredness?"

Bayer, Hans F. A Theology of Mark: The Dynamic Between Christology and Authentic Discipleship. (Phillipsburg, N.J.: P&R Pub, 2012), 71-72. 

Jesus' Call to Discipleship

From Hans Bayer's, "A Theology of Mark".

"Jesus' call to discipleship reverses the fall of man and involves a renewed dependence upon God. Jesus' arrival triggers a culminating process of God's pursuing his people and calling them to himself. Discipleship is thus a reality both in the context of creation and fall as well as in the context of redemptive-historical renewal. Jesus arises as the climatic fulfillment of God's redemptive plan that was inaugurated in Genesis 3:15. He calls his disciples into a dependent relationship which reverses the primeval fall of man away from walking with God. The ultimate antidote to such autonomy and resistance is dependent upon God's grace, based on Jesus' atonement (Mark 10:45). The call to discipleship is thus a call to reliance on Jesus for restoration of life with God rather than on autonomous human effort."

Bayer, Hans F. A Theology of Mark: The Dynamic Between Christology and Authentic Discipleship. (Phillipsburg, N.J.: P&R Pub, 2012), 61-62. 

You Are That Very Person

Good post from Erik Most, not to mention, a great quote from Charles Spurgeon's blog inspiring book, 'All Of Grace'. 

Spurgeon:

I have no gospel to preach to the self-righteous, no, not a word, Jesus Christ Himself came not to call the righteous, and i am not going to do what he did not do, No, I ask you rather to look at that righteousness of yours till you see what a delusion it is. It is not half so substantial as a cobweb. Be finished with it! Flee it!

"They that are whole have no need of a physician, but they that are sick" (Mark 2:17). Is it not equally clear that the great remedies of grace and redemption are for the sick in soul? They cannot be for the whole, for they cannot be of use to such. If you feel that you are spiritually sick, the Physician has come into the world for you. If you are altogether undone by reason of your sin, you are the very person aimed at in the plan of salvation. I say that the Lord of love had precisely such as you in his eye when he arranged the system of grace.

He that is a dirty sinner is the kind of man that Jesus Christ came to make clean, Come in your disorder. Come to your heavenly Father in all your sin and sinfulness. come to Jesus just as you are: leprous, filthy, naked. Come, though despair is brooding over you, pressing upon your chest like a horrible nightmare.

Being Clean

"It's not what goes into your body that defiles you; 

you are defiled by what comes from your heart."

Mark 7:15

One of the many reasons I love Mark's account of Jesus' life is the way Mark depicts Jesus as confrontational. From the very beginning of Mark, Jesus comes proclaiming the Kingdom of God. In doing so, he confronts our tendency to make ourselves the king of our own little kingdom. He challenges our reality by confronting our misconceptions of who we are, and who we think God is. 

One passage in which Jesus does this is in Mark 7:1-23. You see, going all the way back in the Old Testament, there is a big problem. Because humankind fell into sin, we cannot come into the presence of God unless we are clean (spotless, without blemish, blameless, without sin). In fact, this is a very big deal to God. That is why in Leviticus there are extensive rules about cleanliness and purity. That is why  there was a day of atonement once a year, and the high priest who was to go before God and atone for the sins of the people had to spend a week preparing himself, washing himself, making sure he was clean. 

This may seem odd, but think of it this way. When we go to meet an important person or have an important event, we also prepare for it. We will take a shower, get a haircut, put on make up, wear our nicest clothes, etc... The same goes for how we are supposed to approach God.

Imagine you own a house. It is perfectly white. It is painted white on the outside, the carpet is white, all the couches are white, the walls are white, the tables are white; everything is bright shining white. Now imagine a person covered in mud comes to your door and wants to come in. It's not going to happen. This is also a reality between us and God. This is why there were the Old Testament purity laws. 

And this is where Mark 7 comes in. Jesus, interacting with the pharisees, confronts their misconceptions. In this passage, the Pharisees had a problem because Jesus' disciples weren't following the traditional purity laws. For example, they weren't washing their hands before they ate, they don't wash their cups and plates the proper way. For the pharisees, this was how we maintained our purity before God. 

I love how Jesus challenges the Pharisees. He doesn't come at them attacking their zeal to be pure. Rather, he gets at the heart of the problem (literally and figuratively). Jesus quotes the prophet Isaiah and says to them, 

"These people honor me with their lips, 

but their hearts are far from me.

Their worship is farce, 

for they teach man-made ideas as the commands from God" Mark 7:6-7

The problem was that the pharisees thought they could make themselves clean by their own actions. They thought they could be pure before God through religious acts. Jesus confronts this by stating the real problem. The real problem isn't that on the outside they are unclean or impure, it's that their hearts are jacked up. The real problem is a heart problem. The pharisees may have performed religious acts of cleanliness, but their hearts were filthy. 

At this point, it's easy to point at the pharisees and jeer at their ignorance. However, we are not any different. We may not look to Old Testament laws to save face before God, but in some way, shape, form, or fashion, we are all trying to become clean before God. We all look to 'DO" something in order to make us right, to give us worth, or to give our existence significance. 

And this is is where Jesus speaks to us. By confronting the Pharisees, Jesus is telling us that the thing that really makes us unclean is our heart. The problem isn't the externals as much as it is the internal. Further, this is a problem we ALL have. It isn't just the Pharisees. It is us! And as long as we are looking to "DO" something to fix it, it will never work. We could never possibly clean ourselves up enough to be perfectly pure before the eyes of God. 

Back to the white house example (not the presidents home, but a house that is purely white). What Jesus is saying is that while we are standing outside the house that is sparkling white, we could never scrub hard enough to make ourselves worthy for entrance. It doesn't matter what we try to use (religion included), it won't work. What we need is a heart transplant from the inside out. 

This is where the good news of the gospel comes in. When Jesus came to earth and died, he essentially came and lived the pure, clean life that we should have lived, and he died the death of someone who was impure. He did this is substitution for our uncleanliness. Further, because he was the only one who lived a truly pure life, he offers to us his very life. He sees us sitting outside the white house, scrubbing hard, and says to us, "That will never work. But receive me. I will make you clean from the inside out. I can get you on the VIP guest list into the white house." And with one touch, we are made clean. Further, he stays by our side, continuing to transform our hearts from those of stone, to those who desire to walk with and worship the living God. 

Life's Most Important Question

"And on the way, he (Jesus) asked his disciples, 'Who do people say that I am?'

And they told him, 'John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.'

And he asked them, 'But who do you say that I am?'

Peter answered, 'You are the Christ.'"

Mark 8:27-29

This is the most important question of life. Who do you say Jesus is? Who do you actually claim him to be? Many say he's a good teacher. Many say he's a wise man. Many think he's their 'homeboy'. Many think he is a nice religious figure.

But is He your Christ? Can you say that He is your Savior? Does the deepest conviction of your heart scream out that He is the one and only Savior who is the Son of God? What does your life show? How does the life you live answer this question? Does it proclaim that Jesus is your Christ? That He is your everything. Or does it reveal that Jesus is really just a percentage on a pie chart called your 'life'?

Questions worth considering. 

Two Things Jesus Knew

"Now John's disciples and the Pharisees were fasting. And people came and said to him, "Why do John's disciples and the disciples of the Pharisee's fast, but your disciples do not fast?" And Jesus said to them, "Can the wedding guests fast while the bridegroom is with them? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast in that day." Mark 2:18-20

Some people like to think that Jesus was just a good moral teacher; a really nice guy who was a great leader. This passage reveals a couple things that Jesus thought about himself. He knew who he was, and that he was going to die. 

Figuratively, Jesus knew he was the bridegroom. He was the Son of God and the awaited Savior. He also knew the reason why he came. He came to die. The culmination of his mission was to defeat death by dying a substitutionary death for his people. When you read the gospel's this way, listening to what Jesus thought and knew about himself, the stories make much more sense. His whole life,  his eyes must have been fixed on his mission. He wasn't aimlessly living life trying to help people when he could. He was on a mission; he had a purpose. He was much more than a moral teacher. He was and is the Savior of the world. 

And They Ate and Were Satisfied

"In those days, when again a great crowd had gathered, and they had nothing to eat, he called his disciples to him and said to them, “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have been with me now three days and have nothing to eat.  And if I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way. And some of them have come from far away.” And his disciples answered him, “How can one feed these people with bread here in this desolate place?"  And he asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven.” And he directed the crowd to sit down on the ground. And he took the seven loaves, and having given thanks, he broke them and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and they set them before the crowd.  And they had a few small fish. And having blessed them, he said that these also should be set before them. And they ate and were satisfied. And they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full."

Mark 8:1-8

A couple quick thoughts on this passage:

As I read, I was struck by the crowd. Keep in mind these are real people. Four thousand people are following Jesus for three whole days. I'm sure they had jobs, things to do at home, and friends to see. Think of what it would be like to leave everything behind for three days to follow someone around on foot. Not to mention, they hadn't yet eaten during these three days. I'm sure they were tired. Yet, they were willing to follow Jesus. 

These 4,000 people weren't following Jesus out of comfort and convenience. Quite the contrary, they were following Jesus out of faith. When they were following him, they had no guarantee that he would provide a huge meal for them, thus satisfying their hunger. Yet, they followed anyways; because they had faith that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. And if Jesus is who he says he is, he's worth following. If he is the one who can bring salvation, he's worth being hungry for three days, getting blisters on your feet from walking miles, being away from the comfort of your home. 

I love verse 8, "And they ate and were satisfied". Wow! These people did not know Jesus would satisfy them: but, their faith was rewarded. I'm amazed at the provision Jesus makes for his followers. Following him wasn't easy, as these 4,000 knew. They were almost at the point of fainting! Yet, because they had faith, Jesus satisfied them, and on top of that, provided in abundance. What does this mean for us?

Doesn't Jesus call us to follow him in faith? Doesn't he say that being a true disciple of his will take you out of comfort and convenience? Doesn't he say it will be hard? Doesn't he say that he will take you places you may not want to go? Yes and Amen. And so we are called to follow Jesus as the 4,000 did. 

Further, we have the promise that Jesus will satisfy us and provide for us. Jesus called himself the 'Bread of Life', who will bring true satisfaction. He called himself 'The Life', who comes to bring true abundant life. Jesus gives assurance that he will never leave nor forsake us. Where these 4,000 didn't even have the full revelation of these promises, they still had faith. Now, we, who have God's word, and have read and heard of all that he has done, have the promise. We have the promise of the word. We know that 

he lived, died and resurrected for our salvation. We have the promise that when we follow him, though it may be hard, and may leave us to the point of fainting, Jesus will provide and satisfy us in a supernatural way. He has compassion on us and cares for us. He offers us true life in Himself, and invites us to partake in this true life by following him in faith, and trusting in him for everything. 

His Dying Breath

"then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and them an became a living creature." Genesis 2:7

"And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last." Mark 15:37

The very same breath that God breathed into us, God then gave up for us, in order to redeem us. His dying breath has brought us back to life.

Characteristics of our Lord

Mark 12: 14a

"And they (Pharisees) came and said to him, "Teacher, we know that you are true and do not care about anyone's opinion. For you are not swayed by appearances, but truly teach the way of God."

....

The apostle Mark recorded some neat information regarding the person of Jesus. What I think is most interesting about these words is that they are from the mouths of Pharisees. Now, I don't know whether they were said in pretense or sincerity, but at the end of the day, they pin-point the character of this man, Jesus, dead on!

1. Do not care about anyone's opinion
2. Not swayed by appearances

How practical are these descriptions. I think about both of these things, other people's opinions and appearances, way too often. How subtly they can creep into my mind and rob me of peace and joy during the day. They are symptomatic of a chronic disbelief in where my identity lies. Throughout the book of Mark, Jesus knows his identity as the Christ, the Son of God, the Messiah, and everyone else refuses to see it and believe. As each chapter progresses, it seems bits and pieces of his identity are revealed to us, when in chapter 8, Peter declares He is Christ, and chapter 15, when the centurion declared He is the Son of God. Amidst all the animosity and hostility, Jesus perfectly remains true to his identity in every conversation and every teaching. Even the Pharisees saw it!

The two things listed above finely depict the culture we live in today: one that upholds truth as relative and appearance as something to be sought after. It actually might not be too different from the Pharisaic culture Jesus was surrounded by each day. Anyway, the story of the gospel is that we are handed, guaranteed, and already have been given the identity of Christ as our absolute truth and our real appearance, through faith in Jesus's life, death and resurrection, which we read about in Mark. Jesus walked through life for us already, so that when we do encounter similar situations that threaten our identity, we may have hope that the hostility we are sure to receive has already been defeated on the cross!

Embracing Our Sickness

Here is a brief recap of our Bible study last week @ Rebirth ESTL.

"Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 

I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."

Mark 2:17

This week in Bible study, we looked at the passage of Mark 2:13-17, specifically highlighting this last verse. What strikes me about this passage is just how counter-intuitive it is. The God of the universe, perfect and holy, calls an ethnic outcast named Levi. He then chooses to “kick it” with moral outcasts. To top it all off, he declares that he came for those who are sick. Jesus came not to call the righteous, but sinners. The reason I say this is counter-intuitive is because I believe the default mode of every human heart (whether you're from East St. Louis, South Carolina, or Chicago) is religion. In other words, we spend a great deal of energy just trying to cover up the fact that we are sick. We attempt to 'patch up' our sinful heart, or 'clean up' our shame. We think we can solve the problem of sin by making ourselves good enough. I think with many of the kids in East St. Louis, this is the case. There is a genuine desire to know God, or follow Him, or to change. But this is most often pursued by trying hard to clean oneself up enough so that they are acceptable to God. 

This is where the radical nature of the Gospel comes in. Religion says, 'you can clean yourself up, all you need is a little behavior modification, if you do enough external acts of righteousness you can patch yourself up.' But the Gospel tells us quite the contrary. It tells us that we are sick, and we can't make ourselves right. It tells us that the only thing that qualifies us is knowing the fact that we don't qualify. It tells us that we don't need behavior modification, we need a heart transplant. Finally, it tells us that there is One (Jesus), who himself became sick in our place and for our sake, so that through Him we might be made well. The Gospel tells us that our patch up work will never do, but Jesus came to give us completely new life. 

Our study this week concluded by looking at the response of Levi. It says Jesus called him, and in response, Levi 'rose, and followed him.' Jesus didn't call Levi because he was a righteous person by earthly standards. Levi was a sinner. Levi was sick. Yet, Jesus invites him to know him as Savior. He invites him to follow him. He invites him into this unique relationship. The answer wasn't for Levi to make himself look better externally, or try to be more like the religious people of the day (the Pharisees), it was to simply rise and follow Jesus. It was to acknowledge that he is sick, that he can't save himself, and to believe that Jesus could. Being a Christian isn't about patching ourselves up. It is recognizing our sickness, and coming to Jesus as we are. To be made well, we must know we are sick. And for those who know they are sick and turn to Jesus, there is an overwhelmingly amazing remedy. 

My hope and prayer is that God would continue to work in the lives of these guys, causing them to see just how sick they are, yet how complete and marvelous the remedy is.

The New Regime

"Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God.

 “The time has come,” he said. 

“The kingdom of God has come near. 

Repent and believe the good news!”

Mark 1:14-15

"Through Adam's rebellion, a rival regime establishes a beachhead in God's world. While God is the rightful King, the fallen sons of Adam (us) refuse to swear allegiance to his rule or follow his commands. Yet in his grace, God commits himself to reclaim lost allegiance and to deliver man from the awful regime of sin and death. "

Mike Williams, 'Far as the Curse is Found'

When Jesus came proclaiming the kingdom of God, he was proclaiming the good news of this new regime. In God's gracious initiative, the Son came to earth to redeem his creation that had been enslaved by the regime of sin. The Gospel is that the kingdom is here. God has come to restore his regime. He invites us to turn from our allegiance to sin, and turn to the One and True God, who has ushered in the new kingdom through Jesus. 

The Rich Young Man and Repentance

"As Jesus started on his way, a man ran up to him and fell on his knees before him. "Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
"Why do you call me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.'
"Teacher," he declared, "all these I have kept since I was a youth."
Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give it to the poor, and you have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
At this, the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.

Mark 10:17-22


This passage in Mark's Gospel contains a very peculiar interaction between Jesus and the rich young man. It provides us with an excellent depiction of exactly how not to connect with God. Specifically, the character of the rich young man is an inverse example of the true nature of repentance.

Repentance in its simple definition means to 'change one's mind' or to 'turn away from something'. In a Christian sense, I think we (or atleast me) immediately think of repentance as turning from outward sin. This is true. However, in turning from sin, it is important to realize the importance of turning from our own goodness and wholly clinging to Christ's. Therefore, I think repentance includes both the confessing and turning from our outward sinfulness (acts of the flesh), but also turning from trusting ourselves and our own accomplishments as the grounds for our acceptance/justification and instead, trusting in Christ and his accomplishments.

The rich young man's initial question "what must I do to inherit eternal life", shows his complete misunderstanding of the Gospel. He is trusting in something he can 'do' in order to earn God's favor. The question in itself seems silly. An inheritance is something you receive. It is something given to you, so to presume that one can earn it is ridiculous. This question reveals the heart of the rich young man. This interaction shows us that we cannot 'do' anything to merit eternal life, we can only turn to what Christ has done and receive eternal life.

In the back and forth interaction between Jesus and the rich young man, Jesus is trying to show the man both the enormity of his sin, and also the feebleness of his own efforts. Jesus does this by bringing God's unique holiness into the picture. When Jesus answers, "No one is good except God alone," he does this to bring the man to a point of recognition. It's as if Jesus is saying, 'look, God is the only one who is good, he is infinitely and uniquely holy, nothing you 'do' can ever bridge the infinite gulf that exists between you and Him. Stop trusting in your accomplishments, and trust in God. There is no one like him. He is perfect, your obedience does not measure up'. This was a perfect opportunity for the young man to realize the absurdity of his previous question in light of God's holiness and to repent.

Furthermore, true repentance always starts with God's holiness. It's only when we see God for who He really is, that we can begin to see our sin for what it really is. When we see just how vile we are in comparison to God's perfection, it will lead us to repentance. More so, our own obedience and accomplishments will pale in comparison to the awesome reality of God's complete holiness. Take for example the prophet Isaiah. In chapter 6, when he gets a glimpse of God's holiness, his only reaction is, "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have see the King, the LORD of hosts!" (Isaiah 6:5)

The rich young man was unable to repent because he had no revelation of the holiness of God, and as a result, had no idea of the enormity of his sin. Therefore, he had no need for God's grace. He literally thought he was as good as God, as implied by him stating that he had kept all the commandments. However, we know that 'no one is righteous, not one, no one understands, no one seeks God, no one does good' (Romans 3:11-12). Jesus reveals the truth about the man's sinful heart by telling him to sell all he had and give it to the poor. While the young man thought he had kept all the commands, his unwillingness to sell his possessions reveals his failure to keep the very first commandment. The repentant heart is marked by a increasing awareness that there is no one who is righteous, and there is no one who truly seeks God.

Continuing, repentance is not supposed to be a one time thing. Rather, repentance should be a lifestyle. The mark of a maturing Christian should not be that they keep looking 'better' and doing more 'good', rather it will be marked by an increased awareness of sin and an increased awareness at the unworthiness of their own obedience. Both of these lead to increased repentance. They lead us to turn from ourselves, and turn to God.

Lastly, the nature of true repentance is marked by a longing for God's grace and results in an overwhelming joy. As stated before, an increase in the knowledge of God's holiness completely crushes our self-righteousness and convicts us of our own personal wickedness. It brings us to our knees in humility just as it did for Isaiah. However, the true nature of repentance does not end there. As we are made aware of our inability to 'do' something to merit God's favor, we will instead long for God's grace. We will long for Christ's righteousness, not wishing to establish a righteousness of our own, but rather trusting in Christ and the perfect righteousness that only He can provide. God bringing us to a point of brokenness allows him to pour grace and mercy into our lives. Only when we are broken by our sin can God restore us. The Gospel and the grace of God is only good newswhen we recognize our shortcomings. God desires mercy and not sacrifice, and when we repent, we will experience God's amazing grace. We will taste the glories of the Gospel in a fresh new way. God does not leave us in a state of despair. Rather, He restores His children, and richly lavishes His grace upon them. Experiencing God's grace and pardon and knowing our position as beloved children in Him will be marked by peace, rest, and joy unspeakable.

"If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
1 John 1: 8-9