Repent
15 MAY 2020
‘Since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not!’
Romans 6:15 NLT
How many times have we apologised for something, only to find ourselves doing that thing again? We can do that with God too. We tell Him about something we’ve done, feel His forgiveness, and then find ourselves making the same mistake again. God doesn’t want us to just tell Him about our sins, He wants to help us change. There’s a difference between confessing our sin and repenting of it. By confessing our sin we acknowledge what we’ve done; by repenting we turn away from it and change our behaviour. When we bring our sins to God, He forgives us. There’s no limit to God’s forgiveness. The moment we ask for it, we receive it. Because Jesus died for us, we’re now seen as righteous in God’s eyes, even though we still make mistakes. The Bible says: ‘God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God’ (2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV). But God doesn’t want us to keep repeating our sinful patterns over and over again. We can’t take His forgiveness for granted. We shouldn’t keep on sinning because we know we’ll be forgiven. Paul wrote about this issue in his letter to the Christians in Rome. He said: ‘Since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not!...Previously, you let yourselves be slaves to impurity and lawlessness, which led ever deeper into sin. Now you must give yourselves to be slaves to righteous living so that you will become holy’ (Romans 6:15, 19 NLT). Sometimes we can be stuck in cycles of sin that we struggle to break, but with God’s help we can find freedom and change. We can become more like Jesus, and live our lives for Him. What Now? Is there a sin you keep repeating? Next time you confess it to God, ask Him to help you change your ways and break free from the cycle.
