The Gospel According to Mark has crowded my thoughts of late. Not only is Mark the first Gospel in mine and Elaina’s Bible reading plan for this year, but Mark also happens to be the focus of a new series our church has embarked on, aptly titled “Who is this Man?”
There is solid historical evidence, coupled with the witness of Church history, to suggest that Mark’s Gospel is the earliest of the Gospels - that is, the first to be written. This may provide an explanation for why Mark writes with such ferocious urgency; perhaps he felt hemmed in by the impending weight of eternity and simply needed to get the message of the Good News out into the world, and quickly at that. Indeed, anyone who has read Mark knows that his word of choice is “immediately.”
With Mark being the oldest of the Gospels, we can then say that the very first words spoken by the Lord Jesus Christ in Scripture are found in Mark 1:15,
“Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe the gospel.’”
The Lord, like Mark, is not in the business of wasting time or mincing words. In a few short phrases, Jesus provides the everlasting solution for all earthly sorrow, sin, and guilt: “repent and believe in the gospel.” The living God, robed in flesh in the person of Jesus Christ, cut to the very heart of sinful humanity’s greatest need when He commanded we repent, turn from our sinful ways, and place our eternal hope in His life-giving death and resurrection.
At this juncture, perhaps it would be wise to distinguish between two types of repentance. Or, as my father-in-law once put it to me, to discern between Repentance (capital R) and repentance (lowercase r).
Capital R Repentance occurs only once in the Christian’s life: when they first put their faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Capital R Repentance is the haunting call of Jesus that goes out to each and every soul outside of Him:
“There were some present at that very time who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And He answered them, ‘Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you: but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish’” (Luke 13:1-3).
Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.
When God opened our eyes to the reality of our sin and the weight of holy wrath looming above us like a mighty storm cloud, we cried out to Him for forgiveness, finding refuge in the finished work of His Son who died for our sins. By the work of the Holy Spirit, we were quickened in our spiritual deadness and turned to Him in Repentance (capital R). It is the act of salvation, of conversion, of the new birth, that God the Holy Spirit exercises upon us, securing us forever in Christ.
By contrast, lowercase r repentance is the duty of each and every Christian throughout each and every day of their lives. It is the act of sanctification; the daily putting off of self and killing of sin that must be done again and again until we reach the end of our earthly wanderings.
In either case, the act of repentance requires a turning away from something (that is, sin) and a turning towards something or someone (in this case, the ultimate Someone, God). Paul puts it thus when speaking to the church in Thessalonica: “and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God” (1 Thessalonians 1:9). Notice how the believers in Thessalonica turned to God from idols? True repentance never ceases at mere sorrow or feelings of guilt; it begins there, by God’s grace, but it must always culminate in the concrete action of turning away from sin and self towards the living God. When we first put our faith in Christ alone (capital R), we are turning from the kingdom of sin, self, and darkness to Him, with daily dying to self (lowercase r) that must continue until He returns or bids us come home.
When I was in middle school, a shadow of this reality was often put on display by a teacher of mine, Mr. H. Anytime one of us students did something disagreeable in this particular teacher’s class, we would go to him, pricked in our hearts for having abused his kindness, and say, “I am sorry for the way I acted.” His response was always the same: “Don’t be sorry, just don’t do it again.” True repentance must follow a similar pattern: a genuine brokenness of spirit for having grieved the heart of God, coupled with a resolute determination, by His grace, to forsake that sin entirely insofar as we are able. The daily practice of Godly repentance flows from a heart that hates sin, loves holiness, and is zealous for the honor and glory of God.
And yet, why does repentance come so slowly to us? Why is it that we, time after time, sin after sin, find ourselves only sluggishly going before the throne of grace, if we go at all? How often are we driven by the soft hand and still voice of the Spirit of Christ to finally and fully repent of some particular sin, experiencing great joy and peace therein, only to doubt His gentle leading anew when some fresh conviction comes our way? It as is though we are ever in the grip of some kind of spiritual amnesia, so easily forgetting the love and gentleness of God in His commandment to repent, preferring rather to wallow in the slums of sin, selfishness, and unbelief.
I fear our sluggishness to repent of, confess, and forsake sin comes down to a simple matter of the heart’s posture towards God. Indeed, so often the heart of the matter has to do with the matter of the heart. In our reluctance to repent, we are betraying some malady in our souls, communicating to God and ourselves that we, in that present moment, prefer sin over Him. Quite simply, by refusing to repent of sin we are clearly demonstrating how profoundly stupid we can be. Or, as one theologian put it,
“When we defend our sin, we are playing defense attorney for the very thing that is trying to kill us.”
Many of us may recoil at the thought of repentance. Indeed, it can at times feel supremely painful. Nonetheless, God is supremely good, kind, and merciful to demand of us repentance; it is the very healing of our souls. He is holy, holy, holy, utterly good and righteous, and as such He alone knows the true destruction that comes about because of sin.
It is a very good thing that God calls us to continual and daily repentance, for there is such sweetness therein. So often we are like the young child C.S. Lewis spoke of: a foolish boy who prefers to make mudpies in a slum because he cannot even begin to imagine what joy is promised him with an invitation to holiday by the sea. Would we forsake the sweetness of His eternal promises, both now and in the ages to come, for the fleeting pleasures of sin? When the still, small voice of the Lord beckons you to turn from sin and turn towards Him, do not delay - for He has nothing in mind but your eternal good and His eternal glory. Submit to His gentle leading, for underneath that soft, velvet touch is an iron fist that will lead you in the ways of holiness, one way or another.
With the resurrection of Lazarus in John chapter 11, we see the realities of repentance in full force. Lazarus, having been dead for days, is brought forth from the darkness of the grave by the words of the Lord - “He cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out’” (John 11:43). When we are given new life by the Spirit of Christ, it is His Word that raises us up out of the shadow and grip of sin, giving us new life in Him. Like Lazarus, we stumble weakly towards the Lord Jesus as those who were once dead, falling upon the arms of Him who is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins. O, if the voice of the Lord had carried any further, would not the entire cemetery have been raised!
And when we, as sons and daughters of the Lord, lose our way and fall under the stupor of sin, is it not the voice of our Shepherd who brings us back to the fold?: “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him” (John 11:11). When the Lord in His kindness calls me to repentance, is He not saying, “My friend Joshua has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him!” The Lord is good, kind, and merciful to demand of us repentance, for there is such sweetness therein.
Take heart, my brother and sister in Christ, for our Lord eagerly delights to extend His forgiveness to all who come to Him. Indeed, it is He who said: “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:19-20). Though we are weak and feeble, in such need that our very acts of repentance must be washed in the blood of Christ, He bids us come all the same.
And so I ask, my dear reader, is there something you must repent of today?
“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
Photo by Bruno van der Kraan, Unsplash