Why is repentance so important in our relationship with the Lord? Repentance is necessary in our relationship with a Holy God because sin and idolatry have become so pervasive and accepted in our lives, culture and our Churches. When we fail to listen to the Word of God and the Holy Spirit, the lie starts to become so comfortable to us that it becomes more acceptable to us than the truth. If we become comfortable in that state too long, we allow sin and idolatry to harden our hearts so much that it becomes difficult to see, hear or understand the truth. Jesus explained to His disciples that He spoke in parables because the people had hardened their hearts to the truth:
The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?” He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. This is why I speak to them in parables:
“Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand.” In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:
“‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’ But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.” — MATTHEW 13:11-16
The secrets of the kingdom of heaven were revealed to the disciples because they saw, heard and understood Jesus and they turned to Him when He called and were healed. By turning toward Jesus they had to turn away from their old lives to follow Him. In essence, once they understood the truth, they repented of their old life to follow Jesus and whole-heartedly devote themselves to Him. Of course, we don’t have the amazing privilege of daily walking and talking with Jesus in the flesh. However, whenever we spend time in His Word and in prayer, we are spending time in His presence because He is with us in Spirit to help us see and understand the truth and to reveal to us the secrets of the Kingdom of God.
Therefore, once we understand the truth through the Word and the Holy Spirit through prayer, repentance essentially means to turn around—to turn away from our own desire and turn towards the Lord in obedience to His will and way. This is a very simple concept, so why is it so hard to do? We must read the Word to see the truth and understand why it is so easy to harden our hearts and refuse to repent. According to James, it is our own desires that Satan uses to lure us and tempt us to turn away from the Lord to sin.
“Let no one say when he is tempted, ‘I am being tempted by God,’ for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.” — JAMES 1:13-17
The truth is that repentance means that we choose to turn away from our own desire and Satan’s temptation to sin and turn toward the Lord in righteous obedience to our true King and Lord. Unfortunately, most view repentance as simply turning from one path to walk down a different path that we choose according to our own wisdom. The problem is that we never actually surrender our control to the Lord. Unfortunately, it usually results in an endless cycle of back and forth down the same old paths we choose for ourselves. However, the results are different when we truly understand the truth about repentance. True repentance is different because it requires our submission—a true surrender to our Lord and King. The choice we must make is to die to ourselves. In order to truly repent, we must surrender our will and our choice to our Lord Jesus Christ to turn toward the Lord, which means we also must turn away from our own desires.
This truth is very difficult for us to understand in the United States because we have been raised to literally worship our liberty and freedom, and we feel entitled to our freedom to choose for ourselves as an “inalienable right.” We are so comfortable with our liberty, we even have a hard time seeing and hearing this truth, much less understanding it. However, if we want a closer, more intimate relationship with Jesus, we must learn to submit to Him as our Lord and King. This is very uncomfortable for all of us, but the more intimate our relationship becomes with the Lord the easier it is to submit as we learn to trust Him and His love for us. Therefore, do not harden your heart. Instead, repent first and then find freedom and life in the Lord.
Repentance is a natural and necessary part of our relationship with Jesus Christ, our Lord and King. As we learn to truly repent, our relationship will get stronger as we learn to know Him better. The better we know Him and His holiness, the more we are aware of our sin and the need for repentance, which makes it even easier to repent. This continuous cycle of repentance is how we as believers grow in our faith and love, and experience the life that we have in Him for eternity. In fact, Jesus declared “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent”—John 17:3. Repentance then is a necessary part of experiencing all of the life that our Lord offers us in truly knowing Him. So humbly turn to Him daily and spend time in His Word and in prayer, so that you may continue to have the daily blessings of eternal LIFE! He will also bless you with eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to truly understand Him and how much He loves us. After all, knowing Him is by far the most precious knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven we can have!
Part of Dan Waters’ four-part Reset & Repent study, read in order. Continue reading: Intro Part 2 — The Revelation of Jesus Christ to get the whole study.