Repentance is more than Intent

Reflections from the lesson book "God's Perfect Plan", by Kelly Ellis (pg 9).

In a discussion about God's grace, Mr. Ellis makes an interesting point: "The grace of God does not allow for the unconditional pardon of sins which the Christian 'intended' to make right, but somehow never got around to correcting." Correcting what he calls the "religion of intent", Mr. Ellis is describing God's expectations in repentance.

Repentance is a change of mind. It doesn't mean to "have a new idea", but to convert your present worldview to something completely different. I often use a political illustration: If someone repents from being a Republican, they don't merely vote Independent, but Democrat.

When we repent to God there should be a shock to our system. Your friends will be shocked about the change too: "With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you" (1Pe 4:4 ESV).

No pain no gain: If we're not hurting from the sin we left behind, we need to reevaluate whether we've actually left it or not. Think about it this way. If, before we saw the light of God's grace, we stole cars, we need to do more than merely stop stealing cars. We need to return the cars!

God doesn't call people righteous for only feeling sorry about their sin. Our old sin needs to be completely abandoned!