Apology or Repentance?

Ted and Betty found this on the internet. Thanks, Ted and Betty.

Christians in the rut of sin

By Rev.Dr. John Senyonyi, 03-11-2010

I heard the late Bishop Festo Kivengere preach many times. Once in 1987 at the Makerere University Main Hall. Bishop Festo preached at the final service of our mission. The message was so captivating that I found myself sitting on the edge of my chair midway through the service! The atmosphere was electric.

I did not have the privilege of hearing Mr. William Nagenda preach. I am told that he was an even more spellbinding preacher. One time Bishop Festo was on a mission with Nagenda. After one of their preaching sessions, and Nagenda having done his bit rather alluringly, Festo felt a tinge of jealousy. So when they got back to their room, Festo repented and apologized to Nagenda of this jealousy.

Today this is a rare occurrence among preachers; even worse among Christians. People have come to me to apologies and are so vague that I cannot tell what they are apologizing about. They are probably not clear of their sin and they apologize because it is a Christian thing to do.

It is no wonder that in our day and age the preaching of repentance is considered archaic. As a consequence, the bulk of our Christians live below God’s best for them. Their satisfaction is sought in tangible things. They are Christians living in the Rut of sin. They are defeated in their private life which eventually becomes their public shame.

Without repentance, it is impossible to make spiritual or character progress; it is impossible to begin anew.

Repentance is recognition of our sinfulness, and that it is impossible to free yourself from your sins. Jeremiah says that no soap can suffice to wash away our sins. The only detergent strong enough to deal with sin is the blood of Jesus, and that wash is appropriated through repentance.

What is repentance? I must make this distinction: we apologize to man, we repent to God. Repentance is a deeply spiritual discipline but must not be separated from putting right with man where we have hurt another. Jesus taught us to pray, “Forgive us our sins as we forgive our neighbors,” indicating that the sin that separates you from your neighbor separates you from God.

Repentance has three aspects to it: the intellectual, the emotional and the volitional. I want to focus on these without sounding academic.

The Intellectual is the change of your viewpoint. “Through the law we become conscious of sin;” we are made aware of and know our sinfulness. It is healthy to have the knowledge that distinguishes right from wrong, to know we have sinned and that God knows what we have done.

One of the secularizing influences in our world today is the ‘gelatinizing’ of sin. It goes something like this: “There are no moral absolutes. Right and wrong are the preserve of a community.” Therefore what is wrong in one community may be right in another. The knowledge and judgment of right and wrong are localized. This is unbiblical and anti-biblical.

Worse still, even those who espouse this fallacy cannot be consistent with it. If all morality is relative, then killing or adultery or corruption would be virtues in one society and vices in another.

The biblical position gives a consistent worldview that there are universal values that are true for all people everywhere and for all time. Therefore when we know what is wrong and we do it, we are struck with guilt. This is an important first step for real repentance to happen.

However, knowledge alone is not enough for repentance to happen. In fact knowledge causes fear of punishment; it aggravates insecurity in the heart. I am sure you are familiar with this feeling. At the human level you may sense alienation from the one you have wronged, and be gripped with the fear of punishment for the wrong committed.

Second is the Emotional part of repentance. When sin is not attended with shame about what we have done, it tends to be repeatable. This is the positive side of shame – the sorrow about the wrong we have done. It is usually called guilt; when remembrance of your sin causes you to feel unworthy.

David knew about this feeling at different times. He poignantly expressed it in Psalm 51. He committed adultery, lied and then murdered the husband of Bathsheba. But he had no peace. We hear him cry for release from the bloodguilt of his sin in that Psalm. Elsewhere (Psalm 32) he talks of the drain of sin.

Guilt takes a toll on your health. Grieving over sin can be dangerous. Indeed Paul talks of two different kinds of sorrow over sin; the worldly sorrow and godly sorrow. The former leads to remorse and despair. People overtaken by worldly sorrow sometimes commit suicide or descend into lunacy.

This is what happened with Judas. Both Judas and Peter denied Jesus; they both were remorseful. Peter however, had godly sorrow and went up to the third step of repentance while Judas halted his steps at feeling emotionally defiled. Emotional sorrow may not see hope and that is why it can be catastrophic.

Similarly, Esau (the brother of Jacob) sinned when he despised his inheritance. Later he wept before his father, Isaac, for the blessing of a firstborn. When he did not get it, he sunk into more ungodly relationships in the hope that he would appease his parents. He did not repent.

True and genuine repentance must finally become Volitional. This means a change of purpose, a turning away from sin to seek God’s pardon and cleansing. True repentance issues forth into real active life.

The Samaritan woman was living with a man she was not married to. Her repentance meant she could not return to the man because he was not her husband. Present day preachers soothe adulterers and fornicators into remaining in such relationships but this is not the Gospel of Christ. It is not also the Gospel of the East African Revival.

Repentance without a change of life is impenitence. Authentic repentance is what we see in Peter, David, the prodigal son, St. Paul, and many others. True and genuine repentance never leaves a sinner wallowing in their sin; it results in salvation.
I stand in a long line of saints to proclaim that when a sinner repents, it entails intellectual understanding and acknowledgement of their sin. It leads to contrition and shame over what they have done. And finally the sinner commits to a change of direction and thus of lifestyle.

Go and do likewise. Amen.

Rev.Dr. John Senyonyi is the Vice Chancellor, UCU.