Repentance is often mistakenly associated with the time when we first come to the Lord Yeshua and ask Him to forgive us. It is often considered a stage in that landmark event of being born again as a new creation in the Messiah after which we are cleansed from sin, sanctified for God and redeemed from the kingdom of darkness to light. Now this is absolutely true, but this act of repentance is not merely a one-time action of coming to the Saviour the first time. It is also much more than just saying, “I’m sorry.”
Repentance from biblical understanding comes from the Hebrew term, “Teshuvah”; which literally means “to return”. Now who returns? Is it not the one who was earlier there? Reflect on this and you will soon realise how the heart of God is constantly looking for a sustained relationship where His eyes are always on the righteous; and as a shepherd who goes after the one that strays, so also the holy influence of the Most High tugs at the one who has lost his devotion, bidding him to “return”. Returning to God is the goal of teshuvah. It is recognition of the fact that we have strayed away and need to return. It is not merely saying, “I’m sorry.” It requires: regret, a decision to cease from that which has caused us to stray and a firm commitment not to walk that way again. The oft-quoted verse from 2Chronicles 7:14 brings this aspect of repentance superbly. Therein we see that those chosen by God—where He has become their God and they His people (Heb. 8:10b)—first humble themselves; then pray [or call on God, the One who alone can save]; seek His face [for grace and mercy]; and turn from their wicked ways. I deliberately emphasize on this definition because much too often, the so called “altar calls” declares you a child of God, forgiven and sanctified, by simply repeating a prayer. One will retort, “Who are you to judge? God would have truly forgiven that person?” To which I respond, “Yes! God who knows the hearts of all men knows the sincerity of the prayer. But one only has to look around at Christians today and their devotion to God, and desire to honour Him, and their life itself stands as a testimony."
It was John the Baptist who said, “Therefore bring forth fruit in keeping with your repentance" (Mt. 3:8). Herein lies the crux of true repentance. There must of necessity be fruit. It must show in one’s love for God. It must show in one’s desire to only want to please God. There should be that undistracted, single-minded devotion just as a betrothed virgin would have to her Bridegroom (2Cor. 11:2, 3). The choices and decisions one makes day after day will bear witness of this repentance.
This is why we need to recognize that when the Bible speaks of teshuvah, in majority of the cases, it is a call to those who already belong to God. When Yeshua was here on earth, His call was: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Mt. 4:17). His instruction to His disciples was to preach the same (Lk. 10:9). This was not to the heathen of the world but rather to Israel who were the chosen ones of God, to whom belongs the adoption as sons; and the glory; and the covenants; and the giving of the law; and the temple services; and the promises (Rom. 9:4). After instructing the disciples to preach the word, Yeshua then went on a tirade against those who did not repent—to Chorazin, Bethsaida, Capernaum, even to all in the land of Israel (Lk. 10:12-16). He said of those who would not make teshuvah, “It will be more tolerable in that day for Sodom, than for that city” (Lk. 10:12).
Repentance is all about turning around and returning to God; returning to your first love. Listen to what Peter said to all those who were present outside the temple when the lame beggar was healed. He said, “Repent therefore and return, that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:19). Returning to the Lover of your soul will not just bring forgiveness of sins but times of refreshing from His presence too.
The child of God needs to always recognize that in turning to His Creator; through the mercy and compassion of his Saviour; and by great grace lavished upon him through Yeshua, the once-for-all sacrifice on the cross has forgiven and cleansed him from his sins with the covenant assurance: “…I will remember their sins no more” (Heb. 8:12). The forgiven child knows that there was a heavy price that was paid for his redemption to purchase him out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of the beloved Son (Col. 1:13). He knows that he is a new creation in Yeshua, the Messiah; and that in reference to his former manner of life, he is to lay aside his old self and put on the new self which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth” (Eph. 4:22-24). The child of God remembers every time he partakes at the Lord’s table that he has entered into a covenant with God and that he cannot take lightly the grace that is shown to him. He knows that his Maker has chosen him before the foundation of the world for a specific purpose—to be holy [or separated for God] and blameless (Eph. 1:4).
Yet, I have seen from my own life that it is easy to slip away from that first love we have for the Messiah. Often, ever so gradually, there is a slow but steady drifting from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Yeshua. Soon the intimacy in the relationship with the living God is missing. The word becomes dry and devoid of freshness. Understanding and insight that the child of God had regularly experienced is conspicuously absent. Every time, especially in the recent years when I have gone through these periods, I have immediately realised that there is something wrong. I reckon that since God is faithful and does not change like the shifting winds, the problem has to be with me. I am a firm believer in the fact that since I serve a living God, and the relationship with Him is a living, vibrant one, then as lovers, as I abide in my Master and submit to all His commandments, the lover of my soul who also abides in me, discloses Himself to me (Jn. 14:21). If this kind of intimacy is missing over a week or more, I know for sure that God has hid His face from me. I almost spontaneously cry, “Restore to me the joy of Thy salvation” (Psa. 51:12). Because my relationship is close and familiar, it does not take long for me to know what it possibly could be that has grieved my Lord. As one smitten, I too proclaim: “Thy loving kindness is better than a strayed, wasted life, Adonai. Show mercy to me and grant grace that I will do these hurtful things no more. Let my life experience the joy that one experiences when Thou turns Thy face towards him.”
The child of God must constantly stay on guard to walk as a child of light (Eph. 5:8-16). Spiritual drowsiness that comes from too much interaction with the world can easily dull the acute sense of alertness that the redeemed child should have. If he is not alert, the clear distinction that marks the behaviour of a separated child of God and that of the world is lost; and while he would still speak the “spiritual language” and quote verses like a walking Reference Bible, the life of Yeshua is not visible in him. Instead of him being a witness like Paul—that it is no longer he that lives but the Messiah that lives in him and the life that he lives, he now lives by faith in Yeshua HaMashiach (Gal. 2:20)—his fruit shows just the opposite.
If this sense of quickly restoring our relationship with Him who loves us and gave His life for us is missing, the resurrected Lord’s words continue to remain applicable just as when He spoke to those in the Book of Revelation. Listen to what He said to the Church in Ephesus. “I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen, and repent…” (Rev. 2:4, 5). His call to repent was not just to Ephesus but to the Church in Pergamum (Rev. 2:16), Sardis (Rev. 3:2) and Laodicea (Rev. 3:19). His call to repent (or return) goes out to His redeemed ones even today. May we not be like Sardis; for they had a name that they were alive, but before God, were dead (Rev. 3:1).
