The Normal Christian Life: Confession and Repentance

When we come to faith in Christ, we confess that we are sinners in need of a savior.  We accept His free gift of grace and mercy and we "Repent".  We turn away from our old lives and turn toward Him who saved us.   For many that is the last time they confess and repent as though somehow they have stopped sinning completely and become so much like Christ that Repentance is not longer necessary.    And yet, true repentance is a part of the "Normal Christian Life".  

Scripture tells us of one man about whom God, Himself, said 'He was a man after my own heart'.    David was a flawed man subject to the same temptations as we are.  Yet God made him King over Israel making a covenant with David that his descendants would always rule over God's people.  God knew David's heart.  God knew that David would have an affair with the wife of one of his soldiers. God knew that David would plot and murder that soldier, husband of the woman to cover up his sin.  Yet God still said that David was a man after His heart.  Why is that?

"After He had removed him, He raised up David to be their king, concerning whom He also testified and said, 'I HAVE FOUND DAVID the son of Jesse, A MAN AFTER MY HEART, who will do all My will.' "From the descendants of this man, according to promise, God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus..."   Acts 13:22-23

Because David repented. David, hearing the truth about his actions from Nathan the prophet, repented.  He did not deny and try to put the blame on the woman or on the woman's husband or on having a bad day.  He agreed with the accusation.  He confessed that this was true.  He humbled himself before God and repented from his behavior.  He agreed with God.

2 Samuel 12:1-13  Then the LORD sent Nathan to David. And he came to him and said, "There were two men in one city, the one rich and the other poor.  2  "The rich man had a great many flocks and herds.  3  "But the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb Which he bought and nourished; And it grew up together with him and his children. It would eat of his bread and drink of his cup and lie in his bosom, And was like a daughter to him.  4  "Now a traveler came to the rich man, And he was unwilling to take from his own flock or his own herd, To prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him; Rather he took the poor man's ewe lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him."  5  Then David's anger burned greatly against the man, and he said to Nathan, "As the LORD lives, surely the man who has done this deserves to die.  6  "He must make restitution for the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing and had no compassion." 

7  Nathan then said to David, "You are the man! Thus says the LORD God of Israel, 'It is I who anointed you king over Israel and it is I who delivered you from the hand of Saul.  8  'I also gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your care, and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added to you many more things like these!  9  'Why have you despised the word of the LORD by doing evil in His sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the sons of Ammon.  10  'Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.'  11  "Thus says the LORD, 'Behold, I will raise up evil against you from your own household; I will even take your wives before your eyes and give them to your companion, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight.  12  'Indeed you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and under the sun.'" 

13  Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD." And Nathan said to David, "The LORD also has taken away your sin; you shall not die.

Even a man like David, whom God loved for his humble heart, was a flawed, sinful man.  This situation was not the last for David.  Later on, he does other things from pride that anger the Lord.  Once again when confronted with the truth, he does not deny or blame someone else.  Instead he confesses, repents, and appeals to the mercy of the Lord.  

Throughout the Old Testament, the prophets of God called the people to repent.  Over and over again, we find that they were like us.  They drift.  They became more concerned for their own interests over God's.  Until, eventually, they forgot Him altogether.  They suffered. They repented and it started over again.  We are like that.  We have much to repent for over and over.  We do not fall out of His love in this way because He is not like us.  Still we must remember the repentance we did at first in our faith and continue our humble agreement with God that we are nothing without Him.

Confession and repentance are normal for the people of God.  Confession and repentance are normal for Christians.  Refusing to agree with God and plead "not guilty" creates a block between us and God.  If we want refreshment from Him we must agree with Him.  If we want healing from Him we must confess our sin and brokenness and need for Him every day.  If we want to be used by Him for greatness we must walk humbly before our God, confessing and repenting as we go.  Remember, the apostle's words,  "From the descendants of this man, according to promise, God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus,

What greater thing can be said about us by the God of the universe, " is a person after my own heart".