Looking At It God's Way

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Repentance Bible Study | Acts 17:11 Home Page

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Looking At It God's Way

So how can we break out of the death-spiral of the way of sin seeming right, creating desire, and leading to destruction? We must repent; we must turn or perish. But to what? If we turn to just another of "man's ways" we have just set our sights down another road to death. Instead, we must find out what God's will, God's way, is and turn to that.

Ephesians 5:15-17 (NIV) Be very careful, then, how you live, not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is.

Back to our example of bitterness, if we turn from fantasizing about actually hurting the perpetrator in some vengeful way to just wallowing in hurt, pain, and pity instead; this is not repentance. Repentance is taking in God's point of view; looking at it His way.

Ephesians 5:8-10 (NIV) For you were once in darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord.

Note that if God by His grace reveals something to us that we can turn to, it may not make sense right away. In our example of bitterness, God's will is forgiveness! "Ridiculous, that would not be right," is our first reaction. (Again, any sin will do as an example.) But if we do not allow our eye to flinch as we take in God's perspective, if we keep staring at it, we will find that it is good, pleasing, and perfect. Beyond "seeming right", it really is right.

In our example, if we move from bitterness to forgiveness, we find out that God's way is the best "revenge", that forgiveness is like "pouring coals over the heads" of our enemies. If we forgive instead of wallowing in bitterness, the perpetrator's grip over us is broken, and we find that we were only hurting ourselves. If we continue to take in God's point of view, then after time we will look back at the old way and say "What was I thinking? Ridiculous!" So do not grow impatient if God's way does not immediately appeal to you; keep staring at it.

James 1:25 (Phi) But the man who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and makes a habit of so doing, is not the man who hears and forgets. He puts that law into practice and he wins true happiness.

Ps 34:5,8 (NIV) Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame... Taste and see that the Lord is good.

The Gift Of God That Goes With Repentance: New Appetites

1 Peter 2:2 (NIV) Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Ps 119:104-105 (NIV) I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore, I hate every wrong path. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.

Ps 16:11 (NIV) You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

2 Peter 1:3-4 (NIV) His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

Rom 12:1-2 (NIV) Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is, his good, pleasing, and perfect will.

Warnings To Those Who Hanker To "Look Back"

Isaiah 30:15 (NIV) This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it."

Philippians 3:19 (NIV) Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is their shame. Their mind is on earthly things.

2 Peter 2:21-22 (NIV) It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. Of them the proverbs are true: "A dog returns to its own vomit," and "A sow that is washed goes back to wallowing in the mud."

Luke 9:62 (NEB) To him Jesus said, "No one who sets his hand to the plow and then keeps looking back is fit for the kingdom of God."

The Urgency Of Repentance

Isaiah 55:6-7 (NIV) Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

Rom 2:4 (Phi) Are you, perhaps, misinterpreting God's generosity and patient mercy towards you as weakness on his part? Don't you realize that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?

Acts 17:30 (NIV) In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.

James 5:19-20 (Phi) My brothers, if any of you should wander away from the truth and another should turn him back on to the right path, then the latter may be sure that in turning a man back from his wandering course he has rescued a soul from death, and in so doing will "cover a multitude of sins."

Rev 3:3 (Phi) "Remember what you were taught. Hold to those things and repent."

The Object Of Desire

1 John 2:15-17 (Phi) Never give your hearts to this world or to any of the things in it. A man cannot love the Father and love the world at the same time. For the whole world-system, based as it is on men's desires, their greedy ambitions and the glamour of all that they think splendid, is not derived from the Father at all, but from the world itself. The world and all of its passionate desires will one day disappear. But the man who is following God's will is part of the permanent and cannot die.

Matthew 6:32-33 (Phi) That is what pagans are always looking for; your Heavenly Father knows that you need them all. Set your heart first on his kingdom and his goodness, and all these things will come to you as a matter of course.

Col 3:2 (NIV) Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

Ps 101:3a (NIV) I will set before my eyes no vile thing.

Rom 13:14 (NIV) ... clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of your sinful nature.

Ps 105:4 (NIV) Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always.

Ps 119:36-37 (NIV) Turn my heart toward your statutes and not towards selfish gain. Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word.

Acts 2:38 (TEB) Peter said to them, "Turn away from your sins, each one of you, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, so that your sins will be forgiven; and you will receive God's gift, the Holy Spirit."

Turn Or Burn

2 Tim 2:19 (NIV) "The Lord knows those who are his," and "everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness."

When at first we hear "repent or perish", it seems harsh. But as we turn, we see that it is an incredible gift to have something to turn to. If not for God's love, our only option would be to perish. But the grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has appeared. To have the option to turn is sweet indeed.

Acts 3:19 (NIV) "Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord."

Hebrews 12:2a (NIV) Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.

Applications of Repentance:

Man's Way	God's Will	Scripture
Works/Law	Grace/Faith	Heb 7:18; Rom 6:14,9:30-32; Eph 2:8-9
Self-Worth	Bought with a Price	Mat 10:29,31; 1Tim 2:5-6; 1Cor 6:20
Self-Image	Conformed to Son's Likeness	Rom 8:29; 2Cor 3:18; Prov 6:18
Self-Righteousness	Christ's Righteousness	Phil 3:9; Rom 10:3-4,3:19-28
Live for Self	Die to Self	Rom 6:2-11; Gal 5:24; 1Pet 2:24-25
Please Men	Please God	Gal 1:10; 1Th 2:4,6; Jn 5:41-44,12:43
Get Even/Revenge	Bless Enemies	Mat 5:44; Rom 12:14,19-21
Bitterness	Forgiveness	Heb 12:15; Acts 8:22-23; Mat 6:14
Sexual Lust	Abstinence or Marriage	1Th 4:3-5; 1 Cor 5:9,6:18
Mag/TV/Movies	Imitate Good	1Th 1:6-10; Eph 5:1; 3John 1:11
Worry	Rest	Mat 6:25-34,11:28-30; Heb 4:3-11

Repentance Issues From Marriage Group Version

Man's Way	God's Will	Scripture
Wives - Manipulation	Submission	Eph 5:22-24,33b; Col 3:18; 1Pet 3:1-6
Men - Selfishness	Service	Eph 5:25-33; Col 3:19; 1Pet 3:7
Sex as Bargaining	Sex as Needed	1Cor 7:3-5
Re-Marriage	One Flesh, One Chance?	Lk 16:18; Mk 10:2-12; Mt 5:31-32; 1Cor 7:10-13
Mag/TV/Movies	Imitate Good	1Th 1:6-10; Eph 5:1; 3Jn 1:11

Misunderstandings About Repentance

If God speaks of Himself as repenting, from blessing and judgment, then maybe our religious ideas of what it means to repent are wrong.

Jeremiah 18:10 (KJV) If it do evil in my [God's] sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.

Joel 2:13-14 (KJV) ...For he [God] is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. Who knoweth if he will turn and repent,and leave a blessing behind him...

The words "repent" and "turn" are used by English translators interchangeably, as will be seen. Thus, the above verses (and many more) make sense if repent means to turn, to look in the opposite direction, to change the view of the mind and heart.

From Robertson's Greek Commentary on the word "repent" in Mt 3:2: "Repent (metanoeite). Broadus used to say that this is the worst translation in the New Testament. The trouble is that the English word "repent" means "to be sorry again" from the Latin repoenitet.

 John did not call on the people to be sorry, but to change (think afterwards) their mental attitudes (metanoeite)... 

The Old Syriac has it better: "Turn ye." The French (Geneva) has it "Amendez vous." This is John's great word (Bruce) and it has been hopelessly mistranslated. The tragedy of it is that we have no one English word that reproduces exactly the meaning and atmosphere of the Greek word. 

The Greek has a word meaning to be sorry (metamelomai) which is exactly our English word repent and it is used of Judas in Mt 27:3"

Elementary Education?

Repentance is 1 of 6 "elementary teachings" as defined by Scripture.

Heb 5:12-6:2 (NIV) In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again... Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, instructions about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment.

Sandy Gregory: "Repentance is the underlying process that characterizes all movement towards God. Throughout the Old Testament, repentance was the theme of all preaching. John the Baptist preached repentance. Jesus, in Matthew and Mark, opened His ministry by preaching repentance. In Luke, Jesus says: "If you do not repent, you will all likewise perish", and Luke concludes with the directive of Christ to go and preach repentance. Peter preached repentance at Pentecost. 

Paul preached repentance in Acts 17. To five of the seven churches in the Revelation, Jesus says "Repent", and the book concludes with the directive that those who do not repent will continue in an evil way. And so it seems that repentance is of the utmost importance."

The Kind Of Sorrow That Leads To Repentance

2 Cor 7:8-10 (Phi) ...I can see now that the letter (1 Cor) did upset you, though only for a time, and now I am glad I sent it, not because I want to hurt you but because it made you grieve for things that were wrong. In other words, the result was to make you sorry as God would have had you sorry, and not to make you feel injured by what we said. The sorrow which God uses means a change of heart [NIV: repentance] and leads to salvation without regret--it is the world's sorrow that is such a deadly thing.

The Ministry Of Repentance

2 Tim 2:25-26 (NIV) Those who oppose him [the Lord's servant] he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading to knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will.

Our Reaction To Repentance In Others

Luke 17:3-4 (NIV) "...If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, 'I repent,' forgive him."

Repentance and Desire

A.W. Tozer: "Right desires tend towards life and evil ones towards death. That in essence is the scriptural teaching on the subject. Whatever a man wants badly and persistently enough will determine a man's character... When our desires are bad the whole life is bad as a consequence, when the desires are good the life comes up to the level of our desires, provided that we have within the enabling Spirit.

"At the root of all true spiritual growth is a set of right and sanctified desires... We can have whatever we want badly enough if, it hardly need be said, our desire is according to the will of God. The desire after God and holiness is back of all real spirituality, and when that desire becomes dominant in the life nothing can prevent us from having what we want. The longing cry of the God-hungry soul can be expressed in the five words of the song, "Oh, to be like Thee!" While this longing persists there will be steady growth in grace and a constant progress towards Christ-likeness."

The Pleasures Of The Lord

Ps 16:2-11 (NIV) I said to the Lord, "You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing."... The sorrows of those will increase who run after other gods... Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup... The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance. I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I have set the Lord always before me... Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices... You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.

Ps 17:15 (NRS) As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness; when I awake I shall be satisfied, beholding your likeness.

Ps 36:8 (NIV) They [the high and low] feast in the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights.

Don't Miss The Chance!

Heb 12:16-17 (NRS) See to it that no one becomes like Esau, an immoral and godless person, who sold his birthright for a single meal. 

You know that later, when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, even though he sought the blessing with tears.