Why Not Repent?

When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long. [Psalm 32.3]

Jesus did not negate the curses for disobedience. He simply provided the Way to avoid them. He "redeemed us" from the curses for disobedience.

Curses for disobedience cause, among other things, the wasting away of the body.

The cure for curses is not found in medicine. The cure for curses is found in confession of sin - repentance.

For the record (again), Jesus began His earthly ministry with a very clear message: Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.

Nothing changed about curses with the Advent of Jesus. The only thing that reverses and avoids curses is repentance that precedes faith. Repentance and faith go hand in hand. If one does not believe in Jesus, repentance is useless. If one does not repent, there is no conduit through which faith may work.

The presence of curses, before Jesus, indicated the need for repentance and sacrifice (a work of faith).

The presence of curses, after Jesus, indicates the need for repentance and faith.

Jesus did not make curses "good." It is foolishness to think that in the Age of Grace that, what were God's curses for disobedience are now blessings for faith! That is ludicrous!

The troubles, hardships, pain and suffering caused by sin (and can only be by sin) were, are, and always will be, the tell-tale marks of disobedience. Yes, all these curses were set in motion in the Garden of Eden, but Jesus proved that those default (if you will) curses were subject to faith. In other words, Jesus said faith would move mountains. Jesus indicated that faith was paramount. Furthermore, the Bible is clear that without faith it is impossible to please God!

Yes, we have some serious implications by my statements here. So, what to do? I know, let's just forget the whole thing, say God changed His mind about curses (and now sees them as blessings), be content with our sicknesses and troubles (no need therefore to repent), let the "mountains" stay put and call it "faith" anyway, claim the ministry Jesus demonstrated and told us to do is now 'passed away' and just do our best to go to church on Sunday (or Saturday). Sound good to you? No, of course not!

So, if we are not content with the lifeless religion described above, what do we do?

We start by repenting. There is no curse for which sin is not the source. Where troubles abound, repentance should much more abound! But remember, repentance is useless unless it is an act of faith that Jesus is the Redeemer! 'Faithful' repentance will assure humility and God will not resist that!

How much then do we repent? Until we see the curses cease. And, even then, because our hearts are deceitful and desperately wicked, repentance should remain a part of our daily lives! I know this goes against our self-love society, but if, as Christians we don't look and act differently than the world, who are we kidding? The world is absolutely and thoroughly consumed with "self." Unfortunately, the Church is now 'drinking that Kool-Aid' too.

A cross is nothing if it is not a blessing to all. That's what Jesus' cross was. And, Jesus was not just making small talk when He indicated that we too should take up our crosses and follow Him... Let me interpret that: ...think nothing of ourselves and instead give our lives entirely for the benefit of others.

We may have some repenting to do for our self-love, you think?

We simply must be willing to confess our sin. Suffering indicates the need for that confession (repentance).

"Well," one might argue, "we would be repenting all the time!" Is that a bad thing? How many of us have repented until we saw relief? I dare say, very very few. Most can barely squeeze a few minutes per day into prayer, let alone fast and pray for extended periods!

Think about this. God chose, through Jesus' work, to live in us by His Holy Spirit. He didn't just mail us a buddy pass - He elected to LIVE IN US! Wouldn't a buddy pass have been enough? The answer is NO! God did not choose to live in us because heaven wasn't good enough! God chose to live in us because He knew WE WOULD NEED NOTHING LESS THAN HIS VERY PRESENCE TO OVERCOME THE ONSLAUGHT OF HIS (AND OUR) DECEPTIVE, KILLING, STEALING, AND DESTROYING ENEMY, SATAN!

But God will not (then, now, and evermore) co-exist with evil. Our ongoing repentance and faith in Jesus will be absolutely necessary then as long as our enemy is loose to deceive, kill, steal, and destroy.

Or, we can refuse to confess our sin (repent) and just keep living in the curses of sickness, disease, loss, lack, and suffering.

Father, forgive me for being so proud and stiff-necked about repentance. I have been faithless, rude, self-centered, judgmental, prayerless, fasting-less, condescending, perverted, arrogant, lustful, and deceptive. And, these are just things I know about in my heart... You know the rest of the vile and nasty stuff that I am too deceived to even be aware of... Please forgive me because all I can do is throw myself to Your mercy and plead Jesus' blood. Forgive me for not estimating Jesus in His rightful place as the Lamb of God sacrificed for the sin of the world. Forgive me even for all my efforts that are nothing but pitiful human desperation. I can only give up - quit myself - and rest in You - Your Son - Your Holy Spirit in me.