Provisional Disciplines (6)

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 12.21

Repentance
We have mentioned repentance a couple of times in this series on provisional disciplines. We can imagine Peter had to repent of his hubris in opposing the Lord’s plan. Job declared that, when he came to see his sin before the Lord, he repented of it, and thus came to know the Lord better. And the church which wrote to John about their problem was encouraged to let repentance have its complete work, wherever it seemed to be in order in their situation.

Every Christian knows we need to repent. Repentance is both an attitude of heart and a discipline we practice. We repent in our hearts when we come to hate the sin that has been revealed as present within us (Ps. 97.10). And we practice repentance as a discipline when take the steps repentance requires in order to overcome the evil in our lives with the good works for which we have been redeemed (Eph. 2.10).

Repentance begins with being convicted of sin. This is a work of the Spirit of God (Jn. 16.8-11), and He can do this on His own initiative (Ps. 139.23, 24) or through the agency of another believer, like Jesus confronting Peter.

Repentance begins, that is, when sin is exposed within us. Conviction enables us to recognize we have a problem. We should probably rejoice in that, but we mustn’t hesitate, rejoicing or not, to let the work of repentance come to completion. Repentance is the path that can lead us to the rest of the Lord once again.

Once repentance has begun in our hearts, so that we see the sin in our lives and are disgusted with it, then we can begin the work of overcoming this evil with good works of love. The discipline of repentance involves two steps.

Confession
The first step is confession. The word “confess” means simply “to agree.” In confession we agree with the judgment of the Holy Spirit that something in our lives is not what it ought to be. Regardless of how the Spirit brings us to see our sin, seeing our sin, and even being troubled by or disgusted with it is not enough. We must agree with the Spirit concerning our sin, and this entails speaking to the Lord in prayer, and perhaps, speaking to others as well.

Psalm 51 is an excellent example of a prayer of confession. David, refusing to recognize the sin of adultery and conspiracy to murder which he had committed, brought trouble upon himself in the person of the prophet Nathan. Nathan shamed the king and humbled him with sorrow as the Spirit of God used him to bring David to conviction for his sin. The Word of God pierced David to the depths of his soul, and not only did he immediately agree with Nathan and the Spirit, he went further than that.

David confessed his sin to the entire nation of Israel by writing a song about his wickedness. Here is an important principle: Confession of sin should always extend as far as the reach of the transgression. David didn’t just sin against Uriah and Bathsheba – no innocent herself, by the way. He sinned against the whole nation, and so it was before the whole nation that he needed to make his confession known. Psalm 51 fits that purpose quite well.

Penance
Confession is the first and indispensable stage of repentance. We may be sorry to have been caught in some sin and resolve never to do it again. But if our heart has not been changed and we have not publicly agreed, to the extent of the transgression, through some act of confession, then our repentance will end up being shallow and probably short-lived.

But confession is not enough. When evil is discovered within us we need to recognize it, of course. But we also need to overcome it, as Paul instructs. And the way to overcome evil is by taking up good works instead. In the history of Christian practice this part of repentance has been called penance. Penance is a provisional discipline and not a sacrament. The practice of penance follows the formula used by ancient Celtic Christians, who defined penance this way: “contraries are by contraries cured.” That is, if something in you is contrary to the Law and Word of God, and you agree that this is so, then you must take up a regimen of practices which are the “contrary” of that behavior, in order to train your soul and body for living the love of Christ. As Paul put the discipline of penance in Ephesians 4.28, “Let him who stole steal no more, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need.”

In some cases, repentance will require the help of a wise counselor and perhaps a prayer partner. We must be careful about thinking we can “manage our sin” by ourselves. We need others to support, guide, instruct, and hold us accountable.

The end of repentance is restoration to God and His Kingdom path, and this is the path, as we have seen, of perfect peace, joy, and love. When we come to recognize some wickedness in our lives, we should understand that we’re already suffering by our separation from the Lord (Ps. 66.18), and we’re likely to know more distress and shame the longer we persist in this condition. Listen for the conviction of the Spirit, then take up the practices of confession and penance. Soon enough you will be restored to your rest in the Lord, and you will grow in Him as a result.

Next steps: Do you have a soul friend or prayer partner? Someone who would feel free to point out some sin in your life if necessary? Someone whose opinion in such matters you would respect? Do you think you would benefit from such a relationship?

T. M. Moore

This week’s study, Provisional Disciplines, is part 7 of a 7-part series on The Disciplined Life, and is available as a free download by clicking here. We have prepared a special worksheet to help you begin getting your disciplines in proper shape for seeking the Kingdom. Write to T. M. at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for your free PDF of the “Disciplined Life Worksheet.”

A rightly-disciplined life requires a Kingdom vision, and that vision is centered on Jesus Christ exalted. T. M. has prepared a series of meditations on the glorious vision of Christ, based on Scripture and insights from the Celtic Christian tradition. Order your copy of Be Thou My Vision by clicking here.

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.