What's That Stench? Part 3A: A Warning About Repentance

I will finally attempt to finish the "What's That Stench?" series I began a few months back.  Here are links to the first 2 parts:

What's That Stench? Part 1
What's That Stench? Part 2

If you don't want to bother with that, here is a brief summary:

1.  Know where you are - You are in the Ark...that is, the Church...which is nothing less than the Body of Christ in which we are members one of another, united in Him. 

2.  Know your company - Remember that your shipmates are sinners...redeemed sinners...but sinners nonetheless, in varying stages of maturity with a variety of weaknesses.  Their hearts have not yet been made entirely whole.  In light of this, you should be prepared to bear with their imperfections and sins, eager to watch over them in such a way as to help them avoid tragic sin, and to assist them in their growth in grace...by interceding, by exhorting, and by encouraging.

3.  Know yourself - You, like the rest, are a sinner and prone to fall.  Therefore, you too need the help of those around you.  Be wise and humble enough to hear and receive your brothers' admonitions.

In spite of our best efforts to know our own hearts and the hearts of our brothers, and to keep one another from sin and error, we can never be fully immune from experiencing sin in our midst.  Remember Part 1?  It is a great mystery beyond finding out...that which is crooked cannot be made straight.  Even the righteous man will sin.  THEN WHAT?

The obvious answers to "then what" are repent and forgive.  Simple.  Straightforward.  End of story.  Right?  Not necessarily.

Often, either the offences are insignificant enough or the saints sanctified enough that complete repentance and forgiveness are practiced.  But there will come  a time when either the nature of the offence or the condition of our hearts make it difficult for one or both parties to fulfill their brotherly obligations.

*Before I go any further, let me clarify something.  Whenever I seem "preachy" on my blog, my sermon is first and foremost directed to myself!  Writing about these things forces me to examine what the Scriptures and The Church teach and what I really believe.  This exercise often illuminates my own sin and unbelief and hopefully propels me in the right direction.  So...those readers who live side-by-side with me, don't ever wonder if my comments are aimed at YOU.  They aren't.  If, along the way, any of you happen to be rebuked, admonished, encouraged or otherwise helped (and I hope you are!), so be it.  On the other hand, if you find I am positing erroneous ideas, I hope you would correct me!

Back to the topic at hand:

So...what is repentance anyway?  Well, that depends on whom you ask!  Some well-meaning theologians (particularly the Puritans) make repentance exceedingly difficult.  In fact, upon reading their definitions and explanations, I believe I have never repented of anything at all!!! 

There are at least two dangers in setting forth rigid and complex definitions of repentance - which usually include excessive sorrow, a sudden and complete change of heart without hesitation or faltering, and an immediate production of fruit.  The first danger is in weighting the sinner with a burden too heavy to bear and heaping on him unnecessary guilt and despair because he feels his repentance is insufficient.  If we're honest with ourselves, we'll realize that none of us is ever sufficiently sorry for our sins!  Apart from a full apprehension of the holiness of God, which none of us has, we cannot grieve as thoroughly as we ought.  And, I must say, it is a great mercy of God that He does not reveal to us the fullness of His glory and the complete wretchedness of our sin all at once, else we would surely be crushed by it!!  The sinner is likely in especial danger of being crushed because he is in a weakened spiritual state and may already be carrying a load of guilt and remorse, along with the consequences of his sin.  We dare not cause him to stumble by ladening him with a works-based repentance! 

The second danger is this.  The Lord Himself does not make repentance rigid and complex!  The Gospel is not about increasing, but removing our sin-burden, precisely because it has already been borne by Christ!  When we require ourselves or others to carry what has already been carried for us, we diminish the beauty and force of The Good News!  Remember that  Pharisees are the ones who weigh men down with burdens too heavy to bear (but which they themselves don't want to carry!).    Remember too the stories of Acts and the Gospels?  When men are called to repent, it is a rather straightforward change of mind that turns from trust in a false god to trust in Christ.  Period.  These penitents are immediately baptized and received into the full fellowship of the church without any waiting or proving period...without time to demonstrate that they are sufficiently sorry for their sin...without proof that they understand the full import of their prior unbelief...and before they have a chance to produce fruit in keeping with repentance, they are admitted and welcomed to the inner circle!  Saul (an unbeliever), Simon (a new believer) and Peter (a mature believer) all provide examples of undeserved favor lavished on sinners by God Himself and by His people!  

Thankfully, the Lord is much more merciful than we are.  Remember all the times His children completely abandoned Him - usually right after He had worked obviously and mightily on their behalf.  Yet all they had to do was cry out to Him for help and He forgave the guilt of their sin and brought them near.  If you doubt this, read Psalm 107...a great reminder of God's repeated, continual and generously bestowed mercy.

To be cont'...