Walking in Repentance . . . Means Life!
I spent that November night on my knees at my father’s bedside as Satan tried to claim him. In the morning, Jesus won the victory. And where before I always found a way to take some of the credit for my faith walk, for the first time I found I didn’t need to. What the Lord had me do that night was very simple, He had me share His Gospel message with my Dad. That’s all I did—all through the dark hours of the night and right into dawn. I’ll never forget the experience.

It would take a book to reveal everything that happened over the weeks to come—but most important, my father’s health began to return, and God continued to teach me to stay on my knees. Jesus had taken residence in my father’s heart by the third of December. He celebrated his joy in a way that truly warmed my heart—well enough to go shopping, he bought himself a cross to wear around his neck, and a praying hands necklace for Mom. Three days later on the sixth of December, quite unexpectedly, the Lord took him home.

Luther felt very strongly that baptism was a life-long experience. Right or wrong, he talked of baptism as, “walking wet.” He felt much the same way about repentance. Had I not been “walking in repentance,” I’d have missed the opportunity that He gave me with my father.

Are You Walking in Repentance?
As I alluded to earlier, unfortunate as it may be, Christians spend an extraordinary amount of time arguing over baptism, the Holy Spirit, works, grace, faith, belief and many more topics. When I truly began to understand the importance of repentance I began to consume everything I could get my hands on concerning metanoia—and I discovered this topic wasn’t any different. You may have even found yourself taking sides as I covered the historical background concerning the meaning of repentance and things you’ll currently find about repentance and metanoia on the internet.

But here’s a challenge I offer you. Try “walking in repentance,” that is—with repentance as an attitude or lifestyle.

If you’re not a Christian . . . repentance is an equipping experience that both acknowledges our separation from God, then equips and restores us to a right relationship with him. Jesus said it, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.” (John 14:6, NASB; emphasis mine) I don’t want to hurt your feelings or offend you if you’re not a believer, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t share this ultimate truth with you. The Pharisee’s thought they had the corner on repentance and the knowledge of God. When John called out to them to “repent,” they were offended. But John didn’t relent—instead he called on them to “bear fruit in keeping with their repentance.”

If you are a Christian . . . repentance isn’t a one time event that occurred when you came to Christ. To chose to walk in repentance (or with a repentant attitude) doesn’t mean that we walk with our guilt or sorrow. Paul identified the repentance that comes out of the sorrow of the world, as repentance that leads to death. The repentance that comes from the sorrow produced according to the will of God is a repentance that leads to eternal life—free from regret. Have you ever known someone who was consumed with sorrow? Until they work through the sorrow and are released from regret they will be robbed of a full life. At His ascension, Christ spoke to the believers who were the very fruit of the repentance he preached and told them they would be “clothed with power from on high.”

I walked with Christ as a youngster, experiencing miracle after miracle and opportunity after opportunity. But my pride caused me to walk away from the call He placed on my life. When my witness quit bearing fruit I was filled with sorrow—but it was a sorrow from within. It wasn’t until I sought Him on my knees, and I took my eyes off myself to look at my father’s situation, that I found true repentance. At that moment He used me in my weakness. I wasn’t ready for, “Tonight’s the night!” But that’s exactly where He wanted me to be, at a point where I was ready to turn the situation totally over to Him—and it was at that moment that I was “clothed with a power from on high.” It was at that moment that I “changed my mind about Christ!”