DISCIPLESHIP BASICS 101: REPENTANCE

REDEMPTION -> REPENTANCE

From sinning as an unbeliever, to being saved, and now navigating how to learn to not sin but be righteous can be hard. 

We have established already from our ‘Wisdom Wednesday: Renew Your Mind’ blog post that repentance means to turn away from your sin; your old habits but to turn to God; by being transformed by the renewing of your mind. And you do this by finding new habits to combat your old habits through the help of the Holy Spirit. 

In short, repentance is a change of mindset with the help of the Holy Spirit to guide you to lead a righteous path. 

As, we take a look into the Old Testament, I will be showing you examples of repentance in the context of redemption. From people in the Bible who lacked a change of mindset even though they were redeemed such as Lot’s wife and his daughters. To an accurate example of how it looks like to have a change of mindset and creating new habits once you are redeemed, from the example of Ruth. 

What does redemption mean?

It is the action of saving or being saved from sin, error or evil. 

In Genesis 19:15-26 we see that the angels of the Lord came to visit Lot, to warn him to leave Sodom and Gomorrah to Zoar with his family. And when they leave, they should not look back.

As Sodom and Gomorrah had become so corrupted by evil, the people no longer were serving God, but other gods.

Therefore, Lot, his wife and daughters left Sodom and Gomorrah. But his wife looked back even though she was warned not to by the angels of the Lord. She then turned to a pillar of salt. 

I say all of this to ask you, what happens when you have been so conditioned to sin that you begin to identify yourself to your sin?

Lot’s wife is an example of being told to not look back at your past and old ways of sinning, but to run towards God and change your ways to become more like God. Yet, although she was saved, she had rather be left in Sodom and Gomorrah with what she was comfortable with and only knew; to sin. 

Similarly, in Genesis 19:30-36 Lot’s daughters got their father so drunk to the point he didn’t even recognise that his daughters had slept with him.

The older sister gave birth to a son called Moab. And from him the tribe Moabites came about.

What if God can save you from your sins but you choose to not be transformed from your sins?

God took them out of the place of sin, but Sodom and Gomorrah could not be taken out of them. And because of this the daughters birthed a tribe of sin. 

Now, this does not mean that God cannot transform us.

It simply means we choose to stay stuck in our old ways and plead the blood of Jesus over us each time we sin, and say sorry, but then go back to our old ways again. To the point you don’t see sin as evil but just say “Well I’m a sinner, it’s in my nature to sin” or “God loves me anyway.” 

Although, that is true, we forget that we are redeemed through the blood of Jesus.

Or we got so conditioned and comfortable with Jesus’ death that we forget about the resurrection. That when He resurrected, we were also raised up with Him; giving us the Holy Spirit and a new life. For we are a new creation in Him. 

So, what you are doing is abusing the blood of Jesus and neglecting the power of the Holy Spirit that Jesus sent to help, teach, renew, bear fruit and transform us. 

Let’s not be like Lot’s wife and his daughters. But instead, let’s be like Ruth. 

From here I will be sharing 4 practical steps on how to repent following the example of Ruth in Ruth 1:16-17 and Ruth 2:1-20. 

1. Turn away from sin and make God your priority. 

• Although Ruth was a Moabite, she was willing to turn away from her people and her god, to serve and follow Naomi’s people and her God. 

• To turn away from sin and to turn to God is to acknowledge that He is your priority. 

• Make God your priority by always putting Him first even when you don’t feel like it at times. 

• Repentance is not a feeling but an action. 

• Scriptures: Ruth 1:16, James 4:8, Acts 3:19, Matthew 6:33, Luke 4:8.

2. Die to yourself but live in Jesus. 

• Ruth was willing to die where Naomi would die. Naomi was from Bethlehem. The same town where Jesus was born. 

• Bethlehem means ‘House of Bread’ in Greek. 

• Jesus is the Bread of Life. Meaning it is only in Him where we can be spiritually full and have eternal life. 

• The cost of being a disciple of Jesus is having to die to your flesh. Meaning to let go of your own fleshly desires and abide to God’s desires for you. 

• Scriptures: Ruth 1:17, Ezekiel 18:32, Luke 13:3, John 6:35, Luke 9:23, Philippians 1:21, Romans 12:1, Romans 8:5-6. 

3. Serve and Love God with your entire being. 

• Ruth served diligently in the field and found favour in God. 

• See, Ruth served in Boaz’s field. Boaz was a “guardian-redeemer” in Hebrew means ‘a legal term for one who has the obligation to redeem a relative in serious difficulty’. 

• When you repent, repent because you love God and that’s what pushes you to keep His commandments. 

• Also, when you repent, repent because you want to serve God and no one and nothing else. 

• Scriptures: Ruth 2:2,7,20, Revelation 3:19, Luke 4:8, John 14:15, Matthew 6:24. 

4. Be filled with the Holy Spirit and ask Him for help. 

• Because Ruth left her ungodly hometown and ways and followed Naomi’s to her godly hometown and ways. She then put God first and loved and served Him diligently. Then she found favour in God’s eyes and met Boaz who redeemed her and made her life full. 

• He made her life full = “And whenever you are thirsty, go and get a drink from the water jars the men have filled.” 

• This is a foreshadowing of Jesus, our Redeemer, and giving us the Holy Spirit (water symbolises Holy Spirit) to live an abundant and filled life. 

• So, when you repent recognise you can’t transform on your own. Ask the Holy Spirit to fill you up with His power to help and teach you ways to form new habits to produce His fruits. 

• Scriptures: Ruth 2:9, Matthew 3:9, Titus 2:14, John 14:16-17,26, John 7:37-39, John 4:14, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 5:22-23. 

I hope these simple, yet effective practical ways help you to repent and transform from your old sinful ways to live out new and righteous habits and behaviours. 

Stay Blessed, 

Divine L.