Growing up I heard a song that was designed to teach us the skeletal structure of our bodies. It was related to the story of the dry bones in Ezekiel. The words went like this:
"The knee bone connected to the thigh bone, the thigh bone connected to the backbone, the
backbone connected to the neck bone, the neck bone connected to the head bone, Oh, hear the
word of the Lord...!"
What we learned was that we are a connected species, not made up of loose parts, but dependent parts such that if one bone is damaged it can impact the activity of another. This is a good picture of what I mean by repentance as a whole life reality. If we think or live like one area of our life that is not yielded to the Lord will not impact other areas we are mistaken or worse, deceived. David learned this lesson which was the focus of yesterday's article. Today, I want to go in another direction and show what the aftereffects of repentance must be.
Some believe that repentance, saying we are sorry for our sin, is the end of the process, but it is not. The scripture says that we should show fruits that prove our repentance (Matthew 3:8). In other words, how we live after we repent is the proof of whether or not our repentance is genuine and Christ-centered. When we repent, do we merely focus on not sinning again in that one area or, in understanding the whole life reality of repentance, do we create a plan that locks every potential door in which the thief can re-enter? Too often this is not how we think. When we repent we focus our attention on the sin and the situation that produced it so that we are not deceived by it again. This is right, but not enough. The whole life must be changed. Let me illustrate.
If a person commits fornication with their boyfriend and then repents of her action this is a right, first, step but more is needed from a whole life perspective. She would not only have to deal with the act of fornication (and the relational aspects that created it) but she would also need to evaluate every area of her life that could, potentially, incite sexual desires. The shows she watches (entertainment), the friends she hangs around (relationships), her conversations (communication), where she goes (environment), etc., - all of these areas and more, must be evaluated and Christ-centered guards posted around them. If she only corrects the errors in her relationship with her boyfriend she will be missing (or ignoring) the interconnectedness of sin's influence.
As the knee bone is connected to the thigh bone and thigh bone connected to the hip bone, so too is the presence of sin in one area connected to other areas of our life. Just as we cannot isolate one or more areas of our life from Christ neither can we isolate sin to one area. Therefore, when we repent of an act or thought we must then evaluate the whole of our life to prevent sin's eventual and purposeful bleeding into other. Repentance is not simply about stopping a sin as much as it is about guarding the whole heart (mind, feelings, affections) against sin knowing that if it gets in one area it will show up in another.
Repentance, then, is whole life saturation of hunger for the Lord. This is the fruit of genuine repentance: a heart and mind determined to live with Christ at the center. Repentance is not merely the changing of our mind but the conforming of the whole of our being around the holiness of God. We know this because the David we came to know after Psalm 51 is a different, more whole-life focused, David. In fact, the power of Psalm 51 is due to the reality that David’s life after his repentance was proof that his repentance was genuine. This teaches us something that is powerfully transformative and comforting:
It is important that we engage in whole life repentance because our failures can be lessons for
others if we walk in it.
Have you ever stopped and considered the fact that we find so much comfort in another man's (David’s) failure? Yes, I know that Psalm 51 is where we find the solace but, if David had not sinned with Bathsheba there would be no Psalm 51 in the Bible! But we have this beautiful and life-giving Psalm because David walked in whole life repentance and became an example of gospel repentance for us. We know David was changed because, after restoration, he was determined to teach men of God's character: "Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you" (Psalm 51:13).
This is tremendously encouraging because it teaches us this lesson:
Whatever I am going through and however I have or am failing, God can use this (and me) for
His glory and others' good, but only if I walk in whole life repentance.
Is it not amazing - a wonder of mercy - that God can take our mess and turn it into an example of mercy for someone else? This does not happen just because, however. My mess becomes another man's mercy only when I, in whole life repentance, prove my repentance by moving towards holiness - showing fruit in keeping with it. Sin did not and will not have the defining word over us: Christ does! Sin is never justified but the mess of sin is always recycled into the beauty of mercy.
So, after you repent, look at every area of your life, examine it and set a Christ-centered guard around it. Christ is only the Lord of my life when He own’s and rule’s every area of it.