The Power of Mercy and Forgiveness in Marriage

A couple great quotes from Dave Harvey's book, When Sinners Say 'I Do'.

"Mercy sweetens marriage. Where it is absent, two people flog one another over everything from failure to fix the faucet to phone bills. But where it is present, marriage grows sweeter and more delightful, even in the face of challenges, setbacks and persistent effects of our remaining sin." 

"Mercy takes people who are capable of open warfare over toothpaste tubes and toilet seats, and enlarges their vision to include a Savior. Mercy confronts a sinner wrapped in self pity and protected pride and shows him the way out of the darkness into the light. Mercy inspires us to move beyond the power and government of self love back to the nobler and benevolent principles of our new nature" 

"Forgiveness and repentance is the powerful tool that repairs the damage done to sin-torn marriage relationships. And where forgiveness is employed, and repentance is lived out, it transforms. Forgiveness humbly sought, and humbly given, profoundly expresses the glory of God. Why? Because forgiveness is at the heart of the gospel-the true demonstration of God's love for those who deserved his wrath....We have all been forgiven the greatest debt. Let's learn how to forgive the debtor we married." 

Dave Harvey, When Sinners Say 'I Do' (Wapwallopen, PA: Shepherd Press, 2007) 80, 82, 113,  

Wealth and the Gospel

 A certain ruler asked him (Jesus), “Good teacher, 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: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’”  

“All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said. 

When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 

When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy. Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

Luke 18:18-25

For anyone who reads the Bible with an open heart, these are extremely hard words to swallow, especially for those living in the present Western World which is considered by many to be the wealthiest context in all human history. What does Jesus mean in this passage? Does he mean that if you are rich, you cannot enter the Kingdom of God unless you literally sell everything you own? 

As I've been going through the Gospel accounts, I am amazed at how frequently and directly Jesus approaches the topic of wealth and possessions. Jesus gets right at the heart and holds no punches back. At first glance, most of us (myself included) will mistakenly read this text in either a moralistic or relativistic way. What I mean is this: In a moralistic reading, we take Jesus' command to "go sell everything and give it to the poor" as a universal rule that must be literally followed by anyone who truly considers themselves to be a Christian. The story is then a direct moral imperative to be followed literally and universally. The other end of the spectrum many of us will fall on (especially if we have great deal of wealth), is a relativistic reading. We read Jesus command and instantly think that there is no way this applies to me or actually demands a change from me. Jesus didn't really mean what he said. In this reading, we relativize the text in such a way as to protect our self from being faced with our own sinfulness. I think it is important that we examine our hearts and be honest with ourselves in regards to where we fall on the spectrum. Like I said, for those who hold on tightly to their wealth, and are consumed with building their own little kingdoms of comfort, you are probably going to fall on the side of relativism. On the other hand, for those who are often discontented with the status quo of 'safe, individualized, lifeless, consumeristic Christianity', you might find yourself imposing pharisee like rules on people. For the person who struggles deeply with self-righteousness (like me!), you might read the text in a moralistic way as a way to justify yourself. 

At the end of the day, both of these ways (relativism and moralism) are incorrect ways to understand what Jesus is really getting at. The proper way of understanding this text is a third way, lets call it a 'gospel' reading of the text. When we read this text in light of the whole gospel story, it is evident that Jesus is getting at something much deeper than a simple moralistic formula for how to deal with wealth and possessions. Rather, Jesus is getting at the radical way in which the gospel completely reorientates everything in our lives. In other words, Jesus is saying "the gospel changes everything." Being in the Kingdom of God is a complete reordering of everything in our lives. 

The story of the Rich Young Ruler is piercing because along with the heart of the young man in the story, our hearts are also revealed. In the story, the young ruler goes away sad because he realizes that the cost of following Jesus is too high; he is not willing to sell all that he has to follow Christ. The problem here wasn't so much that the man had possessions or power, but that he loved and trusted his wealth above God. His hearts orientation was out of whack. His life was out of order. The purpose for this story isn't ultimately that we might all sell our possessions, but that we may see the way we, like the young ruler, trust and love things (like wealth) more than God. We put other things (in this case, wealth) at the top of the pecking order. When Jesus says that you can't enter the Kingdom of God if you are rich, this means that only way you can enter the Kingdom of God is if you are living under the loving and righteous reign of the King. For a disciple, or a person living under God's reign, all other compartments of life fall under this ultimate allegiance. Money, possessions, relationships, work, family, time, energy, food, religion, they all must be orientated under God. They all must be submitted. We can see by the rich young ruler's response that this is a hard pill to swallow. Here was a man who kept all the rules and who zealously tried to live for God, but there was just one area of his life that he trusted and loved more than God.

So, the take away isn't so much a moralistic rule to follow, but a paradigm shift. The gospel of Jesus Christ brings us into a completely new worldview. Wealth is no longer something that needs to grip our hearts affections, but is something to be freely given to our God. This story is a way to ask ourselves, "what is it that I trust and love in more than God," "what do I look to in order to gain significance," or "what compels or controls me?". For this man, it was his wealth and power. That was the barrier between him following Jesus. Is this true of us? How we respond to Jesus' challenge, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it," (Luke 9:23-24) reveals where are hearts are at. 

To close, there is good news in all of this. Just thinking about this now, I realize all the ways I fail to orientate my life completely under Christ's Lordship. It seems impossible. The crowd following Jesus thought the same thing. Read how the story finishes:

"Those who heard this asked, 'Who then can be saved?'

Jesus replied, 'What is impossible with man is possible with God'"

Luke 18:26-27

The good news is that Christ died in our place, and resurrected, that we, along with him could be resurrected to new life. Jesus lived, died, and rose that in him, we might receive a new heart, one that is orientated toward God. In our own strength and religious zeal, this is impossible. With God's supreme power and unfailing love, this is possible. 

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.

Checking Yourself In

Then David confessed to Nathan, 

"I have sinned against the LORD."
2 Samuel 12:13

These are David's words following his horrendous actions in committing adultery with Bathsheba and then essentially killing her husband. To top it off, David lied and tried to cover the whole thing up before coming clean. 

This verse is also a bite-size preview of Psalm 51, wherein David confesses and repents to the LORD. The reason I love this story is because I think it gives a good snapshot of what Christianity is really about. This story shows one of the Bible's most Godly characters (David) fall into complete and utter sin and despair. It shows a hero of the faith fall.

But herein lies the beauty of the gospel. Where the seeming "hero" falls (David), the true Hero of the story is brought to center stage. The gospel is not about cleaning yourself up, hiding your sin, covering up your brokenness, or your own personal spiritual strength. Quite the opposite actually. It is about how we are all like David; ruined, broken, weak sinners who are in need of a divine act of grace on our behalf. The gospel is about us being honest with our sickness, sin, evil, and brokenness, and then turning and clinging to the only one who can actually save us. It is about looking to the true Hero for forgiveness and new life.

Think about it terms of a drug addict. It would simply be stupid for a drug addict,who is obviously addicted to keep living their lives as if they don't have a problem. It would be futile for them to attempt to clean themselves up on the outside, so they appear to be 'clean', but on the inside, they are still sick and addicted. The only solution is for them to ditch their delusion, be honest with themselves and realize they are jacked up and desperately need help. The solution is to check themselves in to rehab. Likewise, we are addicted to sin. We might not have killed anyone of committed adultery as David had, but I have absolutely no doubt, that if you look at your life honestly, and compare it to God's standard of love, truthfulness, compassion, and justice, you will cringe at your sickness. Like a delusional drug addict, our tendency is to live our lives as one big cover up. We try so hard to hide the inner sickness of sin that is ruining our lives. We try to cover up our inner brokenness with big houses, fashionable clothes, successful careers, relationships, alcohol, sports, the latest gadgets, and the list goes on and on. Our tendency is to cover ourselves up and save face, rather than be real with the situation.

The beauty of the gospel is that we no longer have to save face. You no longer have to cover up all the crap in your life. There is healing. There is redemption from this addiction and enslavement of sin. There is a solution. The solution is Jesus. Christ's death and resurrection on our behalf is the only solution.  All it takes is being honest with yourself, and checking yourself into rehab (yes that's a Lecrae reference :). All it takes is knowing your absolute need for him. Like David, when he was finally honest with himself, and turned and confessed to God, it was there he experienced what Christianity is really about.

Do Not Presume

"Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, 

'we have Abraham as our Father,' for I tell you, 

God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham."

Matthew 3:9

In this passage, John the Baptist is speaking to the Pharisees and Sadducees as they came to him to be baptized. John's message to the religious leaders was clear (like it was clear to the other people he preached to in Matthew 3:1-2). They needed to repent. In this case, it meant repenting from their presuming upon God. What exactly was their presumption ?

According to the passage, the Pharisees and Scribes assumed their position with God based on their religious heritage. They presumed that they were children of God because they were from the same bloodline as Abraham. They were good with God because of their tradition.

I love the gospel because it speaks to each of us in our self-inflated efforts to gain God's acceptance. It bids us to repent; to literally turn from trusting ourselves, to trusting in Christ. To those who think they are good with God because they are moral people, the message of repentance is that we could never be good enough to earn God's acceptance. In fact, the only one who did that was Jesus. Therefore, we must turn from our own moral record and trust Christ's moral record on our behalf. To those who try to be their own god, the message is repent. Turn from trusting yourself as god and turn to the one true and living God. To those who think they are good with God because they come from a rich religious tradition, God's message is repent. Your religious heritage cannot save you; only I can. So, stop trusting in yourself and turn to trust in me. Don't assume you are a true child of Abraham and thus a child of God because of your families religious tradition.

This makes me ask, in what ways do I presume upon God? In what ways do I think my self-efforts earn my acceptance with God. To me, I can imagine this passage saying something like, "Do not presume to yourself that you are a child of God just because you go to seminary, or because you are an active member at a church, or because you are in ministry."None of those are bad things. However, when we trust in these 'things' to give us acceptance before God, they are wrong. The gospel is that we are only accepted by God by grace through faith. It is Christ's finish work that gains our acceptance. There is nothing we could ever do to earn it. To attempt to do so, is to minimize Jesus Christ as our Savior. This is what this passage demands we repent of. Join me in doing so. 

The Inseparable Companion of Faith

"Repentance is the inseparable companion of faith. All the time that we walk by faith and not by sight, the tear of repentance glistens in the eye of faith. It is not a true repentance that does not come from faith in Jesus. It is not a true faith in Jesus that is not colored with repentance. Faith and repentance, like Siamese twins, are vitally joined together. We repent in proportion to our belief in the forgiving love of Christ. We rejoice in the fullness of Jesus' absolution in proportion to our repentance of sin and our hatred of evil. You will never value pardon unless you feel repentance. You will never taste the deepest portion of repentance until you know that you are pardoned. It may seem like a strange thing, and so it is. The bitterness of repentance and the sweetness of pardon blend in the flavor of every gracious life and make up an incomparable happiness."

- All of Grace, C.H. Spurgeon

Confession and Community

Following text is from Defiant Grace by Dane Ortlund...

"The fundamental distinction between churches is not that some of them have sinners and others do not. The fundamental distinction is that some churches have honest sinners and other churches have self-protecting sinners. The question is not whether we are sinful or not, but whether or not we are honest about it. James 5:16 was not written to a segment of the church but to all members: 'Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.' "

....

I think the more fully we know the Lord's loving desire to forgive us, for the sake of Christ's work on the cross, the quicker we will fall on our knees in confession and repentance. I believe it is in that place where His grace manifests itself most complete in our lives.

Let us pray to that end.

Are You A Smuggler?

HT: Itsabeautifulgospel

A great post from Dan Orr. Thanks Dan, I needed to hear this. 

Are you a smuggler?

Answer:  Yes, you are a smuggler.

Psalm 62:2 says, “He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress;  I shall not be greatly shaken.”

He only…  

If you are anything like me, and you are (because you are human), you do not fully believe that He only is your rock and salvation.  We all smuggle something else into the equation.  For example, I may say that He only is my rock and salvation, but really it’s He + me being a good dad.  Or, it could be He + being able to pay my bills (+ knowing the future…  + having a husband/wife…  + having your dream job, etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc etc).  We are master smugglers.  We smuggle in anything and everything into the He only equation, and thereby rob ourselves of experiencing the only great treasure – God Himself.  So, if you recognize you are a smuggler, pray like David did in Ps. 61:2, “Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.”  Repent of your additions and ask God to give you a heart that treasures Christ alone. 

Why Jesus Came

"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 must preach the good news of the kingdom of God..."

Luke 4:43

"I have not come to call the righteous, but to call sinners to repentance"

Luke 5:32

A Prayer for Gospel Snobs and Scribes, Like Me

HT: Scotty Smith

A Prayer for Gospel Snobs and Scribes, Like Me

And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.” Mark 7:5-8

Dear Jesus, we tremble at the thought of you speaking these words to us. What could be more sobering and painful than to hear you say, “You talk about me a lot—using multiple Scriptures and well crafted theological language. You’re quick to recognize and correct false teaching, and you’re quite zealous to apply what you know to others. But your heart is far from me.”

It would be one thing to garner such a rebuke for mimicking the worse Pharisees and the Galatian Judaizers (Gal. 2:11-21)—putting people under the yoke of performance-based spirituality, and failing to acknowledge your work as the sole and sufficient basis for our salvation. But it would be an altogether different thing to be chided for being a gospel snob and scribe. Have mercy on us, Jesus, have mercy on me.

Forgive us when our love for the truth of the gospel and the doctrines of grace is more obvious than our love for you… as impossible as that may seem.

Forgive us when we enjoy exposing legalistic, pragmatic and moralistic teaching more than we crave spending time with you in fellowship and prayer.

Forgive us when we invest great energy in defending the imputation of your righteousness but have very little concern for the impartation of your transforming life.

Forgive us when we are quick to tell people what obedience is not, but fail to demonstrate what the obedience of faith actually is.

Forgive us when we call ourselves “recovering Pharisees” or “recovering legalists,” but in reality, we’re not really recovering from anything.

Forgive us when talk more about “getting the gospel” than we’re actually “gotten” by the gospel.

Forgive us for being just as arrogant about grace theology as we were obnoxious about legalistic theology.

Forgive us when our multiplied uses of the word “gospel” in our conversations does not translated into multiplied evidences of the power of the gospel in our lives.

Forgive us when we don’t use our gospel freedom to serve one another in love, but rather use it to put our consciences to sleep.

Forgive us for creating gospel-fraternities and gospel-posses which taste to outsiders like ingrown tribes or “clubish” elitism.

Forgive us for having a PhD in the indicatives yet only a kindergarten certificate in the imperatives of the gospel.

Forgive us when our passion for the gospel does not translate into a passion for holiness and world evangelism, and caring for widows and orphans.

Lord Jesus, with convicted and humbled hearts, we ask you to change us, by your grace and for your glory. So very Amen, we pray, in your magnificent and merciful name.

Till He Has Mercy On Us

^"1To you I lift up my eyes,
   O you who are enthroned in the heavens!²Behold, as the eyes of servants
   look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maidservant
   to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the LORD our God,
   till he has mercy upon us.

 ³ Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us,

   for we have had more than enough of contempt.⁴Our soul has had more than enough

   of the scorn of those who are at ease,

   of the contempt of the proud."

Psalm 123

Receiving restoration or forgiveness requires two things. First, it requires that we acknowledge our need for mercy, our brokenness, our spiritual sickness. Second, it requires knowing who alone can grant this mercy, and turning to them. We do not receive mercy by trying hard to make up for  mistakes. Rather, it is simply coming to God, knowing that we have nothing to offer, that we are poor sinners who are in desperate need of God's restoration, and laying ourselves before him in repentant helplessness. Take an example from the faith of the Canaanite woman in the gospel according to Matthew, and the repentant tax collector in Luke 18. Notice both their recognition of their need for mercy/healing, and their recognition that God alone could provide this. Not their own effort, not their own goodness, not what they deserve. Only grace.

"And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon." ²³But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, "Send her away, for she is crying out after us." ²⁴He answered,  "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."²⁵But she came and knelt before him, saying, "Lord, help me." ²⁶And he answered, "It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs." ²⁷She said, "Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table." ²⁸Then Jesus answered her, "O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire." And her daughter was healed instantly." Matthew 15:22-28

^"9He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: ¹⁰"Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.' ¹³But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' ¹⁴I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other." Luke 18:9-14

Philippians 3:12-16 (part 1)

"¹²Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.¹³Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,¹⁴I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. ¹⁶Only let us hold true to what we have attained"

In Paul's letter to the Philippians, he encourages his readers to press on in this Christian life using himself as a personal example. This idea of progress or growth in the Christian life can seem a bit overbearing. For some, it brings conviction as to our lack of growth. We've been stuck in the same spot now for some time. For others, it may make us cringe at the idea of having to 'do' something. It may create a legalistic burden. Isn't salvation by grace alone? Either way, the Apostle exhorts us to press on in this Christian life in the same manner he has (vs. 15). But how has Paul pressed on? Specifically, Paul says he presses on by forgetting what lies behind, straining forward to what lies ahead, and by holding true to what he has attained. But why does Paul press on? And, how are we to press on?

In verse 12, Paul spells out the two very connected reasons why he presses on. First, Paul knows he has not yet arrived. He has not obtained his inheritance. He is not perfect. Therefore, he must continue towards the end goal. Moreover, Paul's foundation for pressing on, for growing in this Christian life is the indicative truth that he has been made God's own. The only reason Paul is able to go forth, fervently pressing on, is because he has been gripped by God. He is in the hands of His redeemer. He can run the course because he has been set on the course by God himself.

Continuing, the first way the Apostle says that he presses on is by forgetting what lies behind. In verses 4-9, we see Paul give a testimonial account of what it means to forget what lies behind. In this account, Paul considers his past life of righteousness, cataloguing his past successes and obedience. He then compares this to the righteousness he's received from Christ himself. His conclusion.....

"Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing

worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered

the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order

that I may gain Christ and be found in him" (vs. 8-9)

To forget what lies behind is to repent of all but Christ. It is to count ALL your past as loss compared to being found in Christ. It means forsaking both our past acts of righteousness and our sin stained past. Paul described himself as blameless according to the law. He followed all the rules. If we compared our lives compared to Paul's, they don't even come close. Our obedience is pathetic compared to his. Yet, he willingly forgets what lies behind. Our past obedience and personal righteousness does not serve us going forward. Our self-righteousness does not lead to knowing Christ. A runner who is constantly looking behind him to see how great he's doing is quickly passed up. When thinking of forgetting our past, our instinct is forget our past failures that weigh us down. This is true. But we also must realize that our past acts of righteousness can prevent us from pressing on from knowing Christ just as much. We must take Paul's example. In this Christian life, to press on, to grow, to know Christ, is to forsake our past righteousness and to cling to Christ, whose worth surpasses everything.

The more obvious application of forgetting what lies behind, is to forget our sin-stained past that weighs us down in this life. While Paul was mainly listing his past acts of righteousness in verses 4-9, he mentions that he was a persecutor of the church. Think about it. Here is Paul, a leader in the church. Wrote 13 letters in the New Testament. Planted churches throughout Asia and Europe. Yet, it wasn't too long ago that Paul murdered Christians for a living. People he know calls brothers and sisters, he once murdered their friends. He had an atrocious past. Imagine the shame of such crimes. Yet, Paul did not let this hinder him from the life God had called him to. He was resolved to forget his past righteousness, but also his past life of shame. I imagine it was hard for Paul to forget this shame. I imagine there were times where he thought that there was NO WAY he could be a minister of the Gospel to the gentiles after the horrible things he had done. But this is a prime example of how, if we are to press on, we must forget what lies in our past. This raises the question, how and why are we able to forget what lies in our past?

As Christians, we forget what lies behind because Jesus died for our past, both our past sin and past righteousness. Jesus lived the perfect life we should have lived. He was perfectly obedient. So we no longer have to hold on to our past obedience, as if it might earn us something. Rather, belonging to God, we possess his perfect righteousness. And, this perfect righteousness makes everything else look like rubbish. More so, Christ died for our sin stained past. Most of us, to some degree, live with the burden of past failures. In the deepest, darkest parts of our souls, we hold on the to shame. And this is the exact thing that weighs us down on this journey. This is what prevents us from pressing on. Past failures leave us paralyzed in fear, unable to get up and move. However, most of us go through our days with the appearance of progress. We put on a facade of 'doing well'. We wear a mask. But, we know the truth. We are sinking. We aren't pressing on. We are just getting by. We're dying inside. It could be the shame of failure in relationships. Failure in being a good husband, wife, son, daughter, friend. It could be the deep-seeded pain of addiction. Or the condemnation from sexual sin or sexual abuse, leaving us feeling perpetually dirty. Whatever it is, every person on this earth has a messy past and deep down is broken in sin....regardless of external appearance.

But, this is not living in light of the Gospel. This is failing to trust in what Jesus accomplished. The Gospel tells us that there is NO MORE SHAME. Christ has taken our guilt. He has taken our condemnation. He died for the secret, hidden shame that no one knows about. At the cross, Jesus carried our sin and shame. He took the curse upon himself so that our brokenness can be restored. This allows us to take off our masks, to shine radiantly as God's beloved children, forgetting our past failures and successes and to press on.

So, Paul's first lesson in pressing on is forgetting what lies behind. This means to repent of all but Christ. And, we are able to do this only because we belong to God. Because of what Jesus did, we can forget what lies behind.

Confession of Our Righteousness

O Lord, we confess our righteousness

Those thoughts, words and deeds that have taken our eyes off of Christ and His finished work

And put them on ourselves.

We have fooled ourselves into seeing our obedience as a substitute for your perfection.

We have failed to see that even our best works are as filthy rags in your sight.

Father, we confess that we have deserted your Gospel.

We have made a mockery of the Cross.

For the sake of your great name,

have mercy on us.

Refresh us with your love,

that we may remain fixed on Jesus alone.

Repentance

"The repentance that really changes your heart and your relationship with God begins when you recognize that your main sin, the sin under the rest of your sins, is your self-salvation project...We try to prove ourselves by our moral goodness and through achievement or family or career. Even diligent involvement in the church and religion may need to be repented of once we understand that it was all a way to put God and others in our debt. Repentance, then, is confessing the things beside God himself that you have been relying on for your hope, significance and security. That means we should repent not only for things we have done wrong (like cheating or lying), but also for the motivations beneath our good works."

- Tim Keller, The Reason for God

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