Mark: Repentance and the Way of Salvation
[Index] [Introduction]
Sunday, March 9, 2003
Today (Sunday) in class we talked a little about repentance. I thought you might like some
more information on the subject.
According to United Methodist theologian Thomas C. Oden, repentance comes
from a Greek word implying "a fundamental behavioral reversal." (Cf. Life in the Spirit:
Systematic Theology, Volume 3, 86.) This is very important. Repentance means a change of
mind, a change of direction. John the Baptist, the Lord Jesus, Jesus' disciples, and the
early church (in Acts) proclaimed this kind of repentance. In Acts 2:38 (compare Mark
1:15) the order of salvation is as follows:
- Repent
- Be baptized
- For the remission of sins
- Receive the gift of the Holy Spirit
In Luke 15:10, repentance is a "coming to oneself." Oden comments further on the
meaning of the Greek word for repentance: "[this word] denotes a radical change of mind
and heart followed by a behavioral reformation of a sinful life, a sorrowing for sin so as
to forsake sin altogether." (Ibid.) To sin is to intentionally flaunt God's will,
to act contrary to what God wants from us. Repentance is what we do when we realize that we
have in fact acted badly toward God. Read Psalm 51 as an example of a remorseful
response toward God for one's sins.
For example, have you ever acted in ways that deeply hurt your wife or husband,
perhaps your parent or child? By this I mean a time when you were deliberately spiteful
or hurtful. You knew good and well that your actions and/or words would cause pain to
the other person? Do you remember cooling down and realizing what you had done? Do
you remember when the full weight of your bad acts dawned on you and the need you felt
to make amends, to apologize, or even to try to make it up to the other person? Perhaps
at first you despaired of being able to make amends. If you do, then you understand what
repentance means, except in the Bible our repentance is first addressed to God, and after
Him to any person(s) involved. In the Scripture a hardhearted person does not think of
the pain he or she inflicts on others. Such a person may have a "seared conscience," a
"stiff neck," or a "hard heart." But when someone who wants to please God realizes that
he or she has instead wronged God, then the sorrow and change of heart that follows is
repentance.
By living a life of repentance, early spiritual writers had in mind being so sensitive to
God as to try to avoid anything that displeases God. However, if one should displease God,
then one's conscience (through which the Holy Spirit often works) says,
"You have gone too far. It is time to make things right." This does not mean that one's
life is always depressed or that one develops a poor self-image. It does mean that we
want to do right and we want to change when we do wrong.
Well, there is more to it than this but perhaps you get my drift. Some Christian
leaders have suggested that each night we do a little inventory of our actions for the day.
We might ask these kinds of questions of ourselves. Were we kind? Were we helpful?
Did we encourage someone? Did we neglect anyone? Did we think of God? Were we
strong in the face of temptation? You might try something like this. JLM
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