More than 50
years ago, the Russian writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn published a small volume
entitled We
Never Make Mistakes, comprised of two novellas. The two offer
devastating accounts of what daily life could be during the Stalin regime. A
regime that “never made mistakes” or never admitted that it made mistakes grinds
down the human spirit, eventually creating people who also “never make
mistakes.”
We in the West
don’t live in Stalinist regimes today, but we have our own variant. How many
times do we see Hollywood stars, politicians, and other celebrities, when
caught making a mistake or doing something wrong, begin their apology with the
word “if,” as in, “If I offended anyone.” That’s not an apology. It’s not a
change of heart. It’s not showing true remorse or repentance. What it is, at
most, is a feeling of regret that the individual was caught doing wrong.
The
Biblical concept of repentance is radically different. In What
is Repentance? by R.C. Sproul, he explains that the word “repentance”
is translated from the Greek word metanoia.
“Generally speaking,” Sproul writes, “metanoia
has to do with the changing of one’s mind with respect to one’s behavior. It
contains the idea of ruing. To rue
something means to regret a particular action. It carries with it not only an
intellectual assessment but also an emotional or visceral response. The feeling
most often associated with repentance in Scripture is that of remorse, regret,
and a sense of sorrow for having acted in a particular way. This, repentance
involves sorrow for a previous form of behavior.”
In other
words, repentance has nothing to do with sorrow at being caught, but with
sorrow for doing something wrong in the first place.
 |
| R.C. Sproul |
Sproul
goes on to draw pictures of repentance from the Old Testament, the model of
King David (who did many things wrong but experienced genuine remorse for those
wrongs), and a discussion of the concept of repentance in the New Testament. It
is a short book but it is packed with insight and wisdom – and explaining what
used to be obvious.
Until
his death in December of 2017, Sproul led Ligonier
Ministries, based in Sanford,
Florida. He wrote numerous books, articles, sermons, and speeches on
Christianity, church history, theology, Calvinism, Reformed theology, and
related topics. The Crucial
Questions series includes some 30
topics which are free as eBooks, and volume on conscience is a part of the
series.
In a time
and culture that focuses on self, always being right, and never admitting
wrong, What is Repentance? is a
refreshing counterpoint.
Related:
Top photograph by Mitchell
Hollander via Unsplash.
Used with permission.
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