Repentance

repentance is very much a christian idea, but it is present, in various ways, in many other religions as well.    To start with a definition of sorts, the greek word for repentance has very much the sense of turning, of aligning yourself with god, to give up the "old ways" and embrace the way of God.  Buddhists have this notion, a renouncement of worldly things, Muslims define their religion by submission to God, Islam means just that, to submit (or one who submits, i can't remember exactly.

I was speaking with someone about repentance the other days and she spoke about how much she loved how Billy Graham made it easy to understand the gospels, and that she believed he was saying to turn away from your own self, that thats what repentance meant.  And i have pointed out turning is key to the idea of repentance, and it might seem like a play on grammar to say whether we turn away from ourselves or turn towards God, is there really that much difference.

When we understand repentance as turning away from ourselves, it implies that there is something inherently wrong with ourselves.  That we are so sinful we have to leave our old life behind and become something new.

It is true that in christ we become a new creation, but it does not mean that we turn away completely from ourselves.

I may be taking a minor issue to an extreme, but the reality is when we really start to believe that we need to turn away from ourselves, we cease to see the blessing that we are.  We are loved by God, we are a divine creation of God.  We are transformed in God, but God does not erase the blessings we have already received, our inherit divinity, even though we are flawed, even though we are sinners.

Unfortunately we are always going to be sinners, but turning towards God prevents us from letting those sins control us.  As Calvin so gracefully pointed out, repenting and turning towards God is being loved into freedom and away from the sins that can control our entire existence.

When we repent, we can't turn away from our old selves,  as Paul pointed out the Romans so many years ago, we give ourselves sacrificially to God and we are accepted and holy.  We each receive gifts that we can in turn use.  If we turn completely away from ourselves, then we ignore the gifts that have already been bestowed upon us.

Repentance has to be a turn towards God, to accepting the guidance and leadership of God.  God does not ask us to give up ourselves, but rather to offer ourselves as holy and meaningful sacrifices.

Let us be loved into freedom.