How Do I Repent and Change?

1 April, 201712 October, 2018Marissa

Repentance from dead works is the first of the foundational truths listed in Hebrews 6. But how well do we really understand it and how many of us truly practice repentance?

When I was baptized, the minister asked if I’d repented of my sins and accepted Jesus Christ as my personal savior. I meant it when I said yes, but I’m not sure I really understood how much more repentance is than just an, “I’m sorry I messed up.” It involves a change in our innermost being that manifests in a commitment to turn away from things displeasing to God.

As we prepare for Passover, we ask God for feedback on how we’re doing in our walk with Him. We examine ourselves to see if there are hidden sins in our lives and ponder how we can become better examples of our Lord Jesus. But we can’t stop there. We have to act on what we learn.

click to read article, "How Do I Repent and Change?" | marissabaker.wordpress.com — Photo credit: “Remember this day” by Tim Sackton, CC BY-SA via Flickr

David’s Example

Psalm 51 is perhaps the best example we have in the entire Bible of repentance. David wrote it after committing adultery with Bathsheba and having her husband Uriah killed. There were consequences for those sins, but David was forgiven. He didn’t just “get away with it” because he was king and God wanted to keep working with him. David was forgiven because he confessed and repented from a humbled heart (unlike the previous king, Saul, who made excuses when confronted with his sin). Read more →

Are There Sins Separating Me From God?

25 March, 201713 August, 2020Marissa

There’s a fairly prevalent idea out there in Christianity that our sins separate us from God because God can’t be in the presence of sin. But is it true that God pulls back from us because we’re too dirty for Him, or is there something else going on?

The idea that God can’t be around sin is largely based on a verse in Habakkuk that reads, “Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity” (Hab. 1:13, KJV). When we look at the context, though, we see God just told Habakkuk He planned to work with the vicious Chaldeans, and this verse is part of Habakkuk asking God why He would ever associate with such wickedness.

If we accept the premise that Jesus was and is fully God (as I believe we should), then we know God doesn’t shrink back from sin as if scared to get His hands dirty. Rather, He dives right in among sinners so that He can wipe sin away and replace it with holiness. God gets close to sinful people so He can set things right.

But there are also verses that talk about iniquity separating us from God and revealing that God will not fellowship with evil. While we don’t have to worry that we’re so filthy God wouldn’t touch us, if we want a close relationship with Him we need to figure out what’s going on here. Read more →

“You’re Okay” Doesn’t Help A Sick Man

12 November, 201611 November, 2016Marissa

Imagine you’ve noticed something wrong and you go to the doctor. They run their tests and scans, take their samples, and sit you down with the results. You were right — you’re sick and quite probably dying without prompt attention. But instead of offering a cure, the doctor says he can alter the test results. You’ll still be dying, but you can pretend you’re not and tell all your friends the doctor says you’re fine.

"You're Okay" Doesn't Help A Sick Man | marissabaker.wordpress.com — Photo credit: Luis Llerena via StockSnap

Sounds ridiculous, right? I’m not sure any of us would take that deal. But that’s what churches are doing on a spiritual level if they hold out the idea of salvation without repentance.

Our Western society is uncomfortable with objective morality. It’s unpopular to think certain actions are inherently wrong. We don’t want to acknowledge a higher power with the right to determine what is and is not sin. Yet that’s exactly what you must do when you become a Christian. My decision to follow Jesus means I’m not the ultimate authority in my life. He and Our Father are.

Repenting From What?

When Jesus began preaching, He said, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). It has become popular in some Christian churches to say God’s commands aren’t relevant today. If you accept Jesus as your personal savior that’s it — you’re saved. There’s a measure of truth to this last statement, for God sent Jesus “that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). But Jesus also commanded repentance and that begs the question, “What are we repenting of?” Read more →

Battling Our Thorns In the Flesh

15 October, 201614 October, 2016Marissa

We’ve all “sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23, KJV). We know this, and repenting of those sins in our pasts and accepting Jesus as our savior to wash them away was a first step in becoming Christian. Even after conversion, though, we’re not perfect. God keeps forgiving us when we repent, but we still fall short of perfect obedience. I think it’s also fair to say all or most of us have struggled with some sins more than others.

I’m sure we can all think of someone else like this. Someone who you’d think has been in the church long enough to “get over” their bitterness, or lust, or covetousness, or whatever the particular problem is. But if we think about it, many of us are in the same boat. We’re often more understanding toward our own struggles, but we still have them. Or perhaps we’re even harder on ourselves than we are on others.

So what do we do? How do we deal with our own sin struggles and react to those around us when they come short of God’s commands?

The Simple Answer

There are several ways people with a tendency toward a certain sin might react. They could ignore and hide it, ashamed to have thoughts and desires they know are wrong. They might flaunt it, choosing to live in sin because “that’s just how I am.”

The problem with the first is we have to face our struggles and talk about them with God, at the very least. You can’t overcome something you’re ignoring. With the second, the problem is that people who are openly and willfully sinning can’t be allowed to stay in the church (1 Corinthians 5). If you’re going to follow Christ, you have to stop practicing immorality. Read more →

Anger Is Not A Sin (at least not all the time)

27 August, 201626 August, 2016Marissa

A couple weeks ago, I read a blog post that stated emotions can’t be sins. They just are, and how we act on them determines whether or not we’re sinning. The example they used was anger. For proof, they cited all the times God is described as angry. Because God is incapable of sin, this demonstrates that anger can’t be inherently sinful.

I knew the verses they were talking about, but just out of curiosity I ran a word search to see how often God is described as angry. 208 verses. That’s out of 268 verses in the KJV containing the word anger in any context. Anger is only used 60 times that it’s not in reference to God, and this isn’t even counting words like fury and wrath.

click to read article, "Anger Is Not A Sin (at least not all the time)" | marissabaker.wordpress.com — photo credit: “Angry” by Rodrigo Suriani, CC BY via Flickr

Wow. That’s far more than I’d expected. The sheer number of verses wasn’t the only interesting thing, though. There’s also a marked difference in how the Bible talks about God’s anger and human anger. God’s anger is always righteous, ours not so much. Read more →

Struggling With Questions For God (Lessons from Habakkuk)

1 August, 20156 September, 2024Marissa

As I study the minor prophets, I’m struck by how relevant their messages are today. Habakkuk wrestled with much the same questions that trouble believers in our own culture.

O Lord, how long shall I cry, and You will not hear? Even cry out to You, “Violence!” and You will not save. Why do You show me iniquity, and cause me to see trouble? For plundering and violence are before me; there is strife, and contention arises. Therefore the law is powerless, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous; therefore perverse judgment proceeds. (Hab. 1:2-4)

Why would God let a country founded on His law get so bad? How can He stomach the violence and corruption and rampant sin? Why isn’t He listening to us?

Struggling With God

The entire short book of Habakkuk is a back-and-forth between God and His prophet. After Habakkuk opened with his familiar questions, God responded. It wasn’t what Habakkuk was hoping for, though.

Look among the nations and watch — be utterly astounded! For I will work a work in your days which you would not believe, though it were told you. For indeed I am raising up the Chaldeans, a bitter and hasty nation which marches through the breadth of the earth, to possess dwelling places that are not theirs. (Hab. 1:5-6)

Habakkuk was understandably confused. He wanted action from God, but not this. The Chaldeans were a cruel people and God confirmed that their invasion would be “terrible and dreadful” as they “all come for violence” (Hab. 1:7, 9). Did the punishment really have to be so bad?

Are You not from everlasting, O Lord my God, my Holy One? We shall not die. O Lord, You have appointed them for judgment; O Rock, You have marked them for correction. You are of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on wickedness. Why do You look on those who deal treacherously, and hold Your tongue when the wicked devours a person more righteous than he? (Hab. 1:12-13)

I find it encouraging to read this and other stories where men of God struggled to understand His will. God is not obligated to explain Himself to man, and yet sometimes He does. He isn’t threatened or irritated by sincere, searching questions.

God’s Answer

What follows in chapter 2 answers Habakkuk’s question about why God would use a heathen nation to punish His own people. It is also a general statement about how God responds to wickedness.

Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. (Hab. 2:2-3)

God basically starts out by telling Habakkuk to follow His instructions and be patient. Even when we don’t understand, God expects obedience. He doesn’t just leave Habakkuk with the answer, “Because I said so,” though.

Behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him; but the just shall live by his faith. (Hab. 2:4)

The Lord gives Habakkuk a guide we’re still using today, and which Paul quotes twice (Rom. 1:17; Gal. 3:11). “The just shall live by faith,” but that is not how Israel was living. Earlier, Habakkuk asked why God would punish Israel’s sin using a nation that was even more sinful than they. God points out here that no matter what Habakkuk thought about the Chaldeans, Israel’s sin still deserved judgement.

Chapter 2 proclaims “Woe” to people who are drunken, proud and never satisfied (2:5), to the violent (2:8, 17), to the covetous and those who plan to escape God’s wrath by their own strength (2:9-12), to those who scheme and take advantage of others (2:15-16), and to the idolaters (2:18-19). These problems were not limited to Israel or to a specific time, but God could not let His chosen people continue in such sin.

All For Us

Chapter 3 records a prayer that my study Bible notes was intended for singing as a Psalm and isn’t part of the exchange between Habakkuk and God. Given the subject matter, though, I suspect Habakkuk did write it after mulling over his talk with God and the answers he was given.

O Lord, I have heard Your speech and was afraid; O Lord, revive Your work in the midst of the years! In the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy. (Hab. 3:2)

Though he accepted God’s answer and knew his nation deserved punishment, there was nothing wrong with Habakkuk asking for mercy. We can do that today as well. His mercy is abundant (1 Pet. 1:3), and He has a long history of pardoning iniquity and holding back His wrath if we come to repentance, and of protecting His people in the midst of trouble.

If you have some extra time, click here to read all of Chapter 3. It’s an interesting picture Habakkuk paints of God — one full of power to execute vengeance, as well as one of a God full of glory and worthy of praise, who always acts for the good of His people even if it’s not how they expected.

You marched through the land in indignation; You trampled the nations in anger. You went forth for the salvation of Your people, for salvation with Your Anointed. You struck the head from the house of the wicked, by laying bare from foundation to neck. (Hab. 3:12-13)

No matter how bad it gets, Habakkuk says, “Yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation” (Hab. 3:18). We can do the same thing, secure in the knowledge that God is committed to saving us who stay committed to following Him.

The Lord God is my strength; He will make my feet like deer’s feet, and He will make me walk on my high hills. (Hab. 3:19)