From: http://www.downshoredrift.com/downshoredrift/2007/07/all-of-life-is-.html
(Excerpts below. The article also includes some practical, Bible-based steps to repentance. Hope you can check them out :) )
True repentance means that we turn AWAY from sin and turn TO faith in Jesus.
Repentance means to turn around. A man might say, "I was headed for a cliff, but I repented. I turned around and went the other way and lived."
Repentance is more than just being sorry. It means that we turn around - we forsake our sinful thoughts and activities. It is not a burdensome thing, but rather, it is extremely lifegiving. When we repent, we step into who God has truly made us to be as we place our faith in Jesus.
Who needs to repent? Paul, in Acts 17:30 says that repentance is for everyone...Turn around from the direction you were going and turn to Christ. Even Christians.
We all need to be in an attitude of repentance all the time. We never become so holy or perfect that we do not need to continually realign ourselves with God's work, will, and purposes taking place around us. Who do we think we are?
Well, I am here to confess that I need continual repentance. I need to consistently realign my life with God's will and purposes. I am not ashamed to admit that, because that is a place that I find refreshing, life giving, living water from Jesus. Sometimes it is difficult for us to admit that we need to keep turning our lives over to God, but it is true. And, there is life in recognizing the we still need a Savior each and every day.
"True repentance" is easily described by the Church as having a "contrite heart." See the definition of contrition here. Since all have sinned, we all need to repent with a contrite heart.
ReplyDeleteA contrite heart acknowledges the need for God's grace to be able to live as Human as designed originally for us. We cannot ask that grace if we don't become brothers of his Son, Jesus Christ. Graces flow through material things and human actions (the Church call these, Sacraments). As an example, Jesus did his miracles through these material things and some kind of ritual (e.g. use of clay to heal sight). Finally, there are specific people who are given the power to do the Sacraments to protect it from abuse.
Hello Jrob :)
ReplyDeletegeekborj: "Graces flow through material things and human actions (the Church call these, Sacraments). As an example, Jesus did his miracles through these material things and some kind of ritual (e.g. use of clay to heal sight)."
God can work through things and processes but the all-powerful one does not need these channels. Many other times Jesus simply said, "Be healed!" or "Walk." or "Be cleansed."
geekborj: "Finally, there are specific people who are given the power to do the Sacraments to protect it from abuse."
God is all-knowing and sovereign (in complete control). If someone intends to use His name and authority, surely He is aware of it and He will act correspondingly. (i don't think you meant that divine power would accidentally slip from His grasp without His realizing it, but the quoted statement implies it.)
We must be careful and check our hearts if we are continuing to trust directly in the God of all, or if we are being distracted by the "bridges" to Him.
Objects and rituals are practical means for us to commemorate God and celebrate what He has done for us. As you said, "graces flow through" them --- these material things and processes are not the source of grace. Let us trust in the Source of grace and remember that He is able and has already worked through other means, and sometimes without them.
"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." (Ephesians 2:8-10)