Do we really have to repent of our sins? Moses, in his farewell address, told the Wilderness Wanderers the answer to that question. This devotion discusses what that answer is and results of that answer.
Nuggets
- Repentance is when we turn things around and obey God’s laws and commandments.
- God changes our hearts.
- God wants a real, personal, and genuine change.
- We have the freedom to choose if we are going to obey God, but we don’t get freedom from the consequences.
Moses was winding down his goodbye speech to the Wilderness Wanderers. He got to the call to action. As always, Moses was encouraging them to love God and obey Him.
First: Repentance
“When all these things happen to you—the blessings and curses I have set before you—and you come to your senses while you are in all the nations where the Lord your God has driven you, and you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and all your soul by doing everything I am commanding you today, then he will restore your fortunes, have compassion on you, and gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you. Even if your exiles are at the farthest horizon, he will gather you and bring you back from there. The Lord your God will bring you into the land your fathers possessed, and you will take possession of it. He will cause you to prosper and multiply you more than he did your fathers” (Deut. 30: 1-5 CSB)
I love how Moses said that the Wilderness Wanderers would come to their senses. What is he saying in all of this?
- The Wilderness Wanderers would sin.
- They would be exiled to a foreign land.
- They would come to their senses and repent.
- They would obey God.
- They would be restored.
The turning point would be repentance. It was noted that repentance “begin[s] in the humiliation of the heart, and end[s] in the reformation of the life” (The Weekly Pulpit).
You see, that is what repentance is. Repentance “… conveys specially the notion of changing one’s mind as to things — seeing things in a different light, and then shaping one’s conduct accordingly” (The Weekly Pulpit).
Repentance is necessary. If the repentance doesn’t happen, the forgiveness doesn’t happen. It can’t be empty words. It has to be real.
It isn’t enough to just feel sorry about committing sins. Sin is when we disobey God and break one of His laws and commandments. Repentance is when we turn things around and obey God’s laws and commandments.
It can’t be a temporary fix. We can’t say we will be good and obey until God gets over His mad, and then we will go back to the way we were. It is more than just a comfort when we’ve screwed up (Fuller).
It has to be a permanent fix. Yes, we are not going to be perfect in obeying the laws and commandments.
But the permanent fix has to be a permanent mindset change. The Weekly Pulpit also said, “Repentance is a state of mind and heart, but it may be merely a cherished sentiment, in which, as a mere sentiment, the man hopes to find his satisfaction. Such repentance is, and it always must be, ineffective.”
The mind has to change the lifestyle. There has to be evidence that we have submitted our lives to God’s control. It can’t be just a heart or a head thing. We have to obey His laws and commandments and make it a action thing.
I know. I feel like I should copy the whole The Weekly Pulpit sermon in here because it had a lot of wonderful quotes.
Like “The repentance that does nothing is nothing” (The Weekly Pulpit). We’ve got to submit all to God — heart, head, and life.
If we just feel regret about committing the sins, that may shut us down. We’ve got to get over the guilt and into the redemption part.
The redemption part only comes from God. But we’ve got to ask a God for forgiveness. We have to show Him that we are genuinely sorry and are willing to change whatever needs changing.
Second: Circumcision of the Heart
“The Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the hearts of your descendants, and you will love him with all your heart and all your soul so that you will live. 7 The Lord your God will put all these curses on your enemies who hate and persecute you. 8 Then you will again obey him and follow all his commands I am commanding you today. 9 The Lord your God will make you prosper abundantly in all the work of your hands, your offspring, the offspring of your livestock, and the produce of your land. Indeed, the Lord will again delight in your prosperity, as he delighted in that of your fathers, 10 when you obey the Lord your God by keeping his commands and statutes that are written in this book of the law and return to him with all your heart and all your soul” (Deut. 30: 6-10 CSB)
How do we change? God changes our hearts. It was called circumcision of the heart.
Now, we’ve talked about covenant circumcision before. Circumcision was “… performed by the cutting off of the flesh of the foreskin; this was cut off and cast away, to show that the body of the sins of the flesh must be put off …” (Buchanan).
By doing this, Israelites showed they agreed with the covenant. Buchanan wrote, “To Israel this covenant was an outward sign that God would give them rest in Canaan; and to all of us it is a sign continued in Christian baptism, and a seal that ‘God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He hath prepared for them a city.’” It was an outward sign of inward grace (Sketches of Four Hundred Sermons.
There was a penalty for Israelites males who were not circumcised. “If any male is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that man will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant” (Gen. 17: 14 CSB).
See, God wants us to change our heart. He wants us to cut out the old sin and replace it with His love and grace. He doesn’t want it to just be a ritual or symbolic.
God wants the change to be real. It has to be personal and genuine.
We make the change, we get blessings. We don’t make the change, we get curses.
What are the blessings?
- We become children of God (Jn. 1: 12).
- We gain eternal life (Jn. 3: 16).
- We grow in our relationship with Him (I Pet. 3: 18).
- We gain all the churchy words: regeneration, justification, holiness, sanctification, and righteousness.
What are the curses?
- We continue to be separated from God.
- We suffer eternal death.
Our Choice
“I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live, 20 love the Lord your God, obey him, and remain faithful to him. For he is your life, and he will prolong your days as you live in the land the Lord swore to give to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” (Deut. 30: 19-20 CSB)
Moses laid it all out for the Wilderness Wanderers.
- Admit
- Believe
- Confess
- Obey
The choice was theirs. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob may have been their fathers, but each still had to choose — individually. For or against.
Blessing or curses.
God tells us the same thing. Boyd wrote, “But God says them to each of us, to everyone who has a conscience, a sense of right and wrong, and sense to see he ought to do right and shun wrong.” We have to choose daily to obey Him.
We have the freedom to choose if we are going to obey God, but we don’t get freedom from the consequences. If we don’t choose the blessing, we are going to get the curse. There is no way we are going to avoid the curse if we don’t choose the blessing.
We’ve talked about free will before. God isn’t going to force Himself on us. We have to choose. If we choose not to choose, we have chosen curses.
There is only one way to choose the blessings. “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me’” (Jn. 14: 6 NIV).
Making the Connections
Stevens detailed the three lives that are being discussed here.
“Natural, which consists in the union of the soul and body.
“Spiritual, which consists in the union of Christ and the soul.
“Eternal, which consists in the communion of the soul and body with the Triune God through eternity.”
Everyone gets the natural life. Thing is, we don’t want to be stuck on “go.” If we don’t advance to spiritual life or eternal life, we are stuck in the death part Moses was discussing. We get the curses, not the blessings.
Making the Connections to Self-Discipline
Yes, God calls us and the Holy Spirit convicts us to salvation. But we have to choose to search for Him.
Searching for and Seeking God
Hearing His Word (Rom. 10: 17).
Reading His Word (Rev. 1: 3).
Praying to Him (Heb. 4: 16).
Studying His Word (Ac. 17: 11).
Meditating on His Word (Ps. 1: 1-2).
Memorizing His Word (Ps. 119: 11).
To read Has God Provided Everything We Need?, click the button below.
That takes time. It takes diligence. It may take resources that we currently do not have.
Since it is our choice to search for God, we have to discipline ourselves to accomplish that. Oh, yes. Satan is going to be throwing every obstacle He can in the way.
We have to committed enough and disciplined enough to withstand whatever Satan sends our way.
How Do We Apply This?
Choose life. Choose death. The choice is yours.
Don’t choose — you have chosen death.
We have to consciously, purposefully admit our sins, believe Jesus is our Savior and Redeemer, and confess God as our Sovereign Lord. We have to genuinely repent.
Choose wisely. Choose today.
ABCD
Father God. We admit that we are sinners. We believe that You sent Your Son Jesus to die on the cross so that our relationships with You would be restored. We believe that He paid the price for our sins. We confess You as our Sovereign God. Help us to obey Your laws and commandments. Help us to grow in Your grace and knowledge of You. Lord, we choose life today. Amen.
What do you think?
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Making the Connections
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How Do We Apply This?
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The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to
live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
Searching for and Seeking God
Hearing His Word (Rom. 10: 17 NLT).
Reading His Word (Rev. 1: 3 ESV).
Praying to Him (Heb. 4: 16 ESV).
Studying His Word (Ac. 17: 11 NLT).
Meditating on His Word (Ps. 1: 1-2).
Memorizing His Word (Ps. 119: 11 NLT).
To read Has God Provided Everything We Need?, click the button below.
If you have not admitted that your relationship is not right with God,
have not asked Jesus to be your Lord and Savior,
and have not confessed your sins,
please read through the Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
Related Links
Related Links
I have created a worksheet of the questions above. Click on the button below to access it.
Don’t know what your spiritual gifts are?
Take this Spiritual Gifts Inventory
The Disciple’s Job Description
Complete Job Description
Individual Description
Job Duty #1
Be a Living Sacrifice (Romans 12: 1-2)
Job Duty #2
Work Out Our Salvation (Philippians 2: 12)
Job Duty #3
Bring Him Glory (Matthew 5: 16)
Job Duty #4
Proclaim the Gospel (Mark 16: 15)
Job Duty #5
Love People (John 15: 12)
Job Duty #6
Make Disciples (Matthew 28: 19-20)
Job Duty #7
Other Duties as Assigned
(Ecclesiastes 3: 1)
It Was Enough
Vocalist: Elaine Guthals
Keyboard: Chris Vieth
What do you think?
Leave me a comment below (about this or anything else) or head over to my Facebook group for some interactive discussion.
If you don’t understand something and would like further clarification, please contact me.
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