1 - Introduction - Living like a real Christian City - The World That Is | Page 12

Saturday
Romans 8 v 1 – 8
1 John 1 v 9
Galatians 2 v 17 – 21
There are two different ways to go about repentance—religious repentance
and gospel repentance.
In “religion,” the purpose of repentance is basically to keep God happy so he
will continue to bless us and answer our prayers. So, in religion we are sorry
for sin only because of its consequences. Sin will bring us punishment—and
we want to avoid that, so we repent.
The gospel, however, tells us that as Christians sin can’t ultimately bring us
into condemnation (Rom. 8:1.) Its heinousness is therefore what it does to God:
it displeases and dishonours him.
Thus in religion, repentance is self-centred; the gospel makes it Godcentred. In religion we are mainly sorry for the consequences of sin, but in the
gospel we are sorry for the sin itself.
Also, religious repentance can easily turn into an attempt to “atone” for one’s
sin—in which we convince God (and ourselves) that we are so truly miserable
and regretful that we deserve to be forgiven. In the gospel, however, we know
that Jesus suffered for our sin. We do not have to make ourselves suffer to
merit God’s forgiveness. We simply receive the forgiveness earned by Christ.
Moreover, in religion our only hope is to live a life good enough to require God
to bless us, so every instance of sin and repentance is therefore traumatic,
unnatural, and threatening. Only under great duress do religious people admit
they have sinned, because their only hope is their moral goodness.
In the gospel the knowledge of our acceptance in Christ makes it easier
toadmit that we are flawed, because we know we won’t be cast off if we
confessthe true depths of our sinfulness. Our hope is in Christ’s righteousness,
not ourown, so it is not as traumatic to admit our weaknesses and lapses.
Whereas in religion we repent as little as possible, the more we feel accepted
and loved in the gospel, the more and more often we will be repenting.