Embracing the Transformative Power of Repentance

We saw also that there's an imprisoning or a pain or a weight that comes from not being willing to say, I forgive you. This week, we highlight that there's a similar weight, pain, or imprisonment that comes when we don't say, please forgive me. And this is a statement that everyone will need to say at some point in their lives. Why? [00:02:39]

When we don't live life according to God's way that he has set up and designed for us through his word, we're going to end up lacking joy, because there's freedom that comes from living in the gospel. You know, the way that things work here in this life is that there's someone who designs things for us, and there's someone who designs things for us, and there's someone who designs things for us. [00:05:22]

And when we do it his way, he tells us that there's a certain freedom and joy that comes with it. Freedom from weight and weight. Pain, frustration, hurt, shame, guilt, bondage. All the things that come from doing it our own way. The same as you would probably have some frustration if you did try the whole taco meat in your gas tank thing at some point. [00:07:14]

See, this passage here is telling us that those who receive forgiveness from their repentance will live a blessed life. Now, I'll go on and not spend too much time here, but that blessed life we believe here is talking about the joy that comes from living in the gospel. The joy that comes from living a life of loving God and others. [00:09:39]

Because of the gospel, theologically speaking, it separates our identity from our actions. We've got a graphic for you up on the screens here for this one. Because of the gospel, who I am down at the bottom there separates what I do. The gospel and salvation in the Lord has given us one of the greatest exchanges of all time. Amen. [00:11:01]

When we think about Jesus' perfect blood covering us when we become his child, his perfect blood just covers us. And your identity as a person becomes permanently pleasing to God. What a privilege The next slide we have for you here spells this out a little bit more. Down below the line, you're going to see that our identity is that we are pleasing to God. [00:12:01]

When we sin, it affects God in a way. When it grieves him, when he's not pleased with what we do. And sometimes, unfortunately, our sin also affects others around us. There's a ripple effect. Living with unconfessed sin to God and unforgiven sin with others, will end up wearing on us and having our relationships wear down over time. [00:15:53]

Our heart is broken up into multiple areas. The Bible teaches us that our hearts, our inner being, is responsible for our thinking, our desires, and our will. You'll notice that the roots of that little tree in the top of the graphic, the roots go down into the heart. That's because roots lead to fruits. Healthy roots lead to healthy fruits. [00:19:27]

So the application then at this point is, man, we realize from the graphic that if sin's pushing its way in on all these areas, we realize that our life can be totally dominated by sin, then we want to repent. We want to turn from that and turn to God's way of doing things. Since none of us probably want to have relational issues with God or others, we must fight sin through point number three. [00:21:49]

Look what Spurgeon had to say about repentance up on the screens. He said this, repentance is a discovery of the evil of sin, a mourning that we have committed it, a resolution to forsake it. It is in fact a change of mind of a very deep and practical character which makes the man love what he once hated and hate what he once loved. [00:28:09]

You want to know why you should hate your sin? Go on the next slide up here. Number one, sin wants to rule you. Romans 6, 12 says, let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body to make you obey its power. It wants to rule you. It wants to be your boss. Number two, sin wants to take you out. [00:33:04]

1 John 1 .9 says, If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. The best way to deal with your sins today is not by covering them up yourself or hiding them. The best way to deal with your sin today is to repent, to turn away from what you were doing and to go God's way because he covers with absolute perfection of his son. [00:37:21]