Day 5 - Ps Ronan Paulos

Repentance & Forgiveness

There are few things more fundamental to our faith than repentance and forgiveness. These two pillars are indispensable in us finding salvation for our souls. In repentance we turn from one way of thinking and live towards a higher way, and by God’s forgiveness in Christ we enter into peace and right standing with God.

However, we misjudge greatly if we are to think that repenting is something a Christian must do only upon salvation. The Christian life should be a constant state of being sanctified and changed into Christ’s image. This means that the Christian should be in a constant state of transformation as we continually repent of old ways of thinking and old ways of living, while we embrace new ones.

King David writes Psalm 51 after the most grave sin and failure that we have recorded in his entire life. He commits adultery and murder, sinning against Bathseba and Uriah and yet he makes a bold statement in prayer to God, “against you and you only have I sinned”. David recognised that before any sin is against people it is first and foremost an act of rebellion against God. This is the first step in becoming truly repentant - to acknowledge who our misdeeds are really against.

In the verses following, David prays, “create in me a clean heart… restore to me the joy of Your salvation.” David realises the antidote to his sinful living is in asking the Lord to return to him the joy of salvation. It is very often when our joy and delight is more in the ways of the world than in God, that we fall prey to the enemy's schemes. David knew that he needed a greater joy in God and His salvation than in what the world could offer. We serve a loving God who truly forgives us of every wrongdoing if we simply turn to Him and ask Him. We also serve a God who is faithful to replace our joy in the wrong things for a greater joy in the right ones.

Prayer

Lord, please forgive us for our sins against You and lead us to true repentance and Godly sorrow over our shortcomings. Take us back to the love we had for You at first, restore to us the joy of our salvation, and keep us close to You by Your grace. Remind us that in You, we have full confidence in our forgiveness for every wrong we’ve ever committed. Remind us also that in real repentance we have the power to live changed lives. May we echo the mercy we have been shown, that it shines through in our dealings with others.

Amen.