Repentance – Page 8 – Michelle Lesley

Originally Published March 29, 2014

Have you ever noticed we use a lot of expressions without giving much thought to their origin or what they really mean? For example, why do we use the phrase, “in a (pretty) pickle” to mean “experiencing a difficult situation”?

Here are six cliches we often use as Christians that could stand to be replaced or at least re-thought:

1. Preach the gospel. If necessary, use words.
It’s necessary. Use words. While our behavior should certainly prove out our testimony, nobody’s going to see us working at a soup kitchen or eschewing barhopping and somehow magically understand that he has broken God’s law and needs to repent and put His faith in Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection for the forgiveness of his sin unto eternal life. That has to be explained. Clearly. By us. From the Bible. With words.

2. Rest in peace/God rest his soul
If the person who died was saved, he’s already resting in peace by the time you can get these words out. (2 Corinthians 5:6-8)

If the person who died wasn’t saved, unfortunately, he’s in a place of eternal torment and suffering, and no amount of asking God to rest his soul will give him a respite. Worse, when Christians say this about someone they know was not saved, they reinforce the false idea many lost people have that the dead are “resting” in some sort of spiritual coma, or that they simply cease to exist (annihilationism) , or that everybody automatically goes to Heaven (universalism).

Maybe “I’m praying for you,” or “I’m bringing you dinner,” would be better.

and speaking of which…

3. Sending positive thoughts/energy your way.
Thoughts and energy are not things you can wrap up in brown paper, haul down to the post office, and mail to somebody. You can’t send them and the other person can’t receive them, and they can’t actually accomplish anything, and everybody knows this. But, commendably, atheists, New Agers, and other non-Christians wanted to have something compassionate to say to people who are hurting, and since they can’t say, “I’m praying for you,” this is the best they can do.

Christians, we’ve got something better. We can say, “I’m praying for you.” We have an open line to the almighty God of the universe who is listening to us and can actually do something about the situation. Pray for that hurting person. Put your arms around her. Listen to her. Do whatever you can to help. Show her Jesus, not empty words.

4. Christianity isn’t a religion, it’s a relationship.
The only people running around today saying that Christianity is not a religion are Christians. Everybody else in the world considers Christianity a religion. And up until this little humdinger materialized, so did Christians.

Usually, what people mean by this is that true Christianity is not an institutionalized system of rote obedience to dead and meaningless rituals. It’s a reconciliation with the only true God by means of being redeemed by His Son, Jesus Christ, who propitiated and expiated God’s wrath against us in our sin through His death, burial, and bodily resurrection, and is, therefore, a dynamic and living interpersonal relationship.

But that’s too long to fit into a tweet or a hashtag.

Our relationship with God through Christ is our religion- the only true religion. And that’s not a bad thing.

5. Don’t judge someone just because he sins differently than you do.
I find this one confusing, but I think the sentiment behind this is something along the lines of, “I may be an adulterer, but you’re not any less of a sinner just because you only tell the occasional white lie. Therefore, you have no right to call me to repentance.”

This is a lovely casserole of simultaneous truth and falsehood, and it all hinges on the word “judging,” which has been tossed around so much that even Christians scarcely know what it means anymore. No, we’re not to berate someone for his sin while pompously pretending we’re sin-free. All have sinned, after all, and if we say we have no sin, we lie. But does that mean we should never call anyone to repentance? Of course not! We’re to walk in repentance ourselves and seek to help the lost find forgiveness in Christ and help our Christian brothers and sisters who have fallen into sin to be reconciled to Christ. Scripture doesn’t say we can never call people out of sin because we have a log in our own eye. It says first remove the log and then help your brother.

6. God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.
This is actually true, it’s just that our idea of a “wonderful plan” doesn’t always match up with God’s idea of a “wonderful plan”.

Our desire is to be healthy, wealthy, and blissfully comfortable with never a family problem, fender bender, lost love, or bankruptcy. God’s desire is for us to be holy. He wants to root the sin out of our lives, show us how to be completely dependent on Him, lead us to trust Him more, build our character and endurance, give us boldness to share the gospel, make us kinder and more merciful, teach us what it means to extend grace and forgive. Most of those lessons are learned only through hardship and suffering. Just ask the apostles or the early church martyrs or our brothers and sisters being persecuted across the globe today.

What are some expressions Christians commonly use that you think we should replace or re-think?

Wednesday's Word

Wednesday’s Word ~ Ezekiel 18

February 17, 2016June 23, 2021 Michelle Lesley

For further study on the book of Ezekiel, try my study, Ezekiel.

ez 18 23

Ezekiel 18

The word of the Lord came to me: ²“What do you mean by repeating this proverb concerning the land of Israel, ‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge’? ³As I live, declares the Lord God, this proverb shall no more be used by you in Israel. ⁴Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins shall die.

⁵“If a man is righteous and does what is just and right— ⁶if he does not eat upon the mountains or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor’s wife or approach a woman in her time of menstrual impurity, ⁷does not oppress anyone, but restores to the debtor his pledge, commits no robbery, gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with a garment, ⁸does not lend at interest or take any profit, withholds his hand from injustice, executes true justice between man and man, ⁹walks in my statutes, and keeps my rules by acting faithfully—he is righteous; he shall surely live, declares the Lord God.

¹⁰“If he fathers a son who is violent, a shedder of blood, who does any of these things ¹¹(though he himself did none of these things), who even eats upon the mountains, defiles his neighbor’s wife, ¹²oppresses the poor and needy, commits robbery, does not restore the pledge, lifts up his eyes to the idols, commits abomination, ¹³lends at interest, and takes profit; shall he then live? He shall not live. He has done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon himself.

¹⁴“Now suppose this man fathers a son who sees all the sins that his father has done; he sees, and does not do likewise: ¹⁵he does not eat upon the mountains or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, does not defile his neighbor’s wife, ¹⁶does not oppress anyone, exacts no pledge, commits no robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with a garment, ¹⁷withholds his hand from iniquity, takes no interest or profit, obeys my rules, and walks in my statutes; he shall not die for his father’s iniquity; he shall surely live. ¹⁸As for his father, because he practiced extortion, robbed his brother, and did what is not good among his people, behold, he shall die for his iniquity.

¹⁹“Yet you say, ‘Why should not the son suffer for the iniquity of the father?’ When the son has done what is just and right, and has been careful to observe all my statutes, he shall surely live. ²⁰The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself.

²¹“But if a wicked person turns away from all his sins that he has committed and keeps all my statutes and does what is just and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. ²²None of the transgressions that he has committed shall be remembered against him; for the righteousness that he has done he shall live. ²³Have I any pleasure in the death of the wicked, declares the Lord God, and not rather that he should turn from his way and live? ²⁴But when a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice and does the same abominations that the wicked person does, shall he live? None of the righteous deeds that he has done shall be remembered; for the treachery of which he is guilty and the sin he has committed, for them he shall die.

²⁵“Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ Hear now, O house of Israel: Is my way not just? Is it not your ways that are not just? ²⁶When a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice, he shall die for it; for the injustice that he has done he shall die. ²⁷Again, when a wicked person turns away from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he shall save his life.²⁸Because he considered and turned away from all the transgressions that he had committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die. ²⁹Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not just.’ O house of Israel, are my ways not just? Is it not your ways that are not just?

³⁰“Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, declares the Lord God. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin. ³¹Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel? ³²For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord God; so turn, and live.”

Questions to Consider:

1. What is the book of Ezekiel about? Which genre (history, poetry, wisdom, etc.) is the book of Ezekiel? What is the overall theme of chapter 18?

2. How do verses 5-9 describe a righteous man? What kind of heart would such a man have to have in order to consistently live this way? (9)

3. Who is the “he” in verses 11 and 12 referring to? Is this man to be punished for the sins of his son? (13) If the sinful man (14) fathers a righteous son (14-17) is the righteous son to be punished for his father’s sin? (17-18) Which verse(s) in this chapter sum up the principle of individual responsibility for sin? How does this chapter refute the false teaching of generational curses?

4. What can we learn about repentance from verses 21-32? In which does God take delight, pouring out His wrath on the wicked or pouring out His forgiveness on the repentant? (23, 32) How does this passage compare to 2 Peter 3:9?

5. Consider this chapter in light of the gospel. Is any person truly righteous? Where does the Christian’s righteousness come from? How does the New Testament describe Jesus, the righteous Son, being punished for our sin? What effect does this have on verse 4 (“the soul who sins shall die”)?

Wednesday's Word

Wednesday’s Word ~ Lamentations 3

February 10, 2016February 9, 2016 Michelle Lesley

lam 3 22 23

Lamentations 3

I am the man who has seen affliction
    under the rod of his wrath;
²he has driven and brought me
    into darkness without any light;
³surely against me he turns his hand
    again and again the whole day long.

⁴He has made my flesh and my skin waste away;
    he has broken my bones;
⁵he has besieged and enveloped me
    with bitterness and tribulation;
⁶he has made me dwell in darkness
    like the dead of long ago.

⁷He has walled me about so that I cannot escape;
    he has made my chains heavy;
⁸though I call and cry for help,
    he shuts out my prayer;
⁹he has blocked my ways with blocks of stones;
    he has made my paths crooked.

¹⁰He is a bear lying in wait for me,
    a lion in hiding;
¹¹he turned aside my steps and tore me to pieces;
    he has made me desolate;
¹²he bent his bow and set me
    as a target for his arrow.

¹³He drove into my kidneys
    the arrows of his quiver;
¹⁴I have become the laughingstock of all peoples,
    the object of their taunts all day long.
¹⁵He has filled me with bitterness;
    he has sated me with wormwood.

¹⁶He has made my teeth grind on gravel,
    and made me cower in ashes;
¹⁷my soul is bereft of peace;
    I have forgotten what happiness is;
¹⁸so I say, “My endurance has perished;
    so has my hope from the Lord.”

¹⁹Remember my affliction and my wanderings,
    the wormwood and the gall!
²⁰My soul continually remembers it
    and is bowed down within me.
²¹But this I call to mind,
    and therefore I have hope:

²²The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
    his mercies never come to an end;
²³they are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.
²⁴“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
    “therefore I will hope in him.”

²⁵The Lord is good to those who wait for him,
    to the soul who seeks him.
²⁶It is good that one should wait quietly
    for the salvation of the Lord.
²⁷It is good for a man that he bear
    the yoke in his youth.

²⁸Let him sit alone in silence
    when it is laid on him;
²⁹let him put his mouth in the dust—
    there may yet be hope;
³⁰let him give his cheek to the one who strikes,
    and let him be filled with insults.

³¹For the Lord will not
    cast off forever,
³²but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion
    according to the abundance of his steadfast love;
³³for he does not afflict from his heart
    or grieve the children of men.

³⁴To crush underfoot
    all the prisoners of the earth,
³⁵to deny a man justice
    in the presence of the Most High,
³⁶to subvert a man in his lawsuit,
    the Lord does not approve.

³⁷Who has spoken and it came to pass,
    unless the Lord has commanded it?
³⁸Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
    that good and bad come?
³⁹Why should a living man complain,
    a man, about the punishment of his sins?

⁴⁰Let us test and examine our ways,
    and return to the Lord!
⁴¹Let us lift up our hearts and hands
    to God in heaven:
⁴²“We have transgressed and rebelled,
    and you have not forgiven.

⁴³“You have wrapped yourself with anger and pursued us,
    killing without pity;
⁴⁴you have wrapped yourself with a cloud
    so that no prayer can pass through.
⁴⁵You have made us scum and garbage
    among the peoples.

⁴⁶“All our enemies
    open their mouths against us;
⁴⁷panic and pitfall have come upon us,
    devastation and destruction;
⁴⁸my eyes flow with rivers of tears
    because of the destruction of the daughter of my people.

⁴⁹“My eyes will flow without ceasing,
    without respite,
⁵⁰until the Lord from heaven
    looks down and sees;
⁵¹my eyes cause me grief
    at the fate of all the daughters of my city.

⁵²“I have been hunted like a bird
    by those who were my enemies without cause;
⁵³they flung me alive into the pit
    and cast stones on me;
⁵⁴water closed over my head;
    I said, ‘I am lost.’

⁵⁵“I called on your name, O Lord,
    from the depths of the pit;
⁵⁶you heard my plea, ‘Do not close
    your ear to my cry for help!’
⁵⁷You came near when I called on you;
    you said, ‘Do not fear!’

⁵⁸“You have taken up my cause, O Lord;
    you have redeemed my life.
⁵⁹You have seen the wrong done to me, O Lord;
    judge my cause.
⁶⁰You have seen all their vengeance,
    all their plots against me.

⁶¹“You have heard their taunts, O Lord,
    all their plots against me.
⁶²The lips and thoughts of my assailants
    are against me all the day long.
⁶³Behold their sitting and their rising;
    I am the object of their taunts.

⁶⁴“You will repay them, O Lord,
    according to the work of their hands.
⁶⁵You will give them dullness of heart;
    your curse will be on them.
⁶⁶You will pursue them in anger and destroy them
    from under your heavens, O Lord.”

Questions to Consider:

1. Who is thought to have written Lamentations? What major historical event is being lamented in this book? Why did God allow this event to happen? Which of God’s attributes (mercy, provision, wrath, forgiveness, etc.) does this event showcase?

2. Sometimes our feelings can obscure what we know to be true of God from His word. Consider the phrases, “He shuts out my prayer,” (8) and “my hope from the Lord [has perished]” (18). What are some verses that can bring comfort if we ever feel this way? Which is truth, our feelings or God’s word? Which should we believe? Which should we act upon? If our feelings contradict God’s word, which can we depend upon to be correct?

3. Carefully examine verse 21. This is a transitional verse in which the writer moves from hopelessness and grief to _________. How does he make the transition? What does he “call to mind”? How does he know the things in the subsequent verses?

4. What are some of the attributes of God the writer describes in verses 22-66? Which one does he seem to focus most on?

5. What do verses 39-44 teach us about the relationship between repentance and prayer, God’s wrath, and forgiveness?

Wednesday's Word

Wednesday’s Word ~ Nehemiah 8

October 28, 2015October 26, 2015 Michelle Lesley

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Nehemiah 8

And all the people gathered as one man into the square before the Water Gate. And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the Lord had commanded Israel. ²So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, on the first day of the seventh month. ³And he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law. ⁴And Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform that they had made for the purpose. And beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah on his right hand, and Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam on his left hand. ⁵And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people, and as he opened it all the people stood. ⁶And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground. ⁷Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites, helped the people to understand the Law, while the people remained in their places. ⁸They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading.

⁹And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, “This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep.” For all the people wept as they heard the words of the Law. ¹⁰Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” ¹¹So the Levites calmed all the people, saying, “Be quiet, for this day is holy; do not be grieved.” ¹²And all the people went their way to eat and drink and to send portions and to make great rejoicing, because they had understood the words that were declared to them.

¹³On the second day the heads of fathers’ houses of all the people, with the priests and the Levites, came together to Ezra the scribe in order to study the words of the Law. ¹⁴And they found it written in the Law that the Lord had commanded by Moses that the people of Israel should dwell in booths during the feast of the seventh month, ¹⁵and that they should proclaim it and publish it in all their towns and in Jerusalem, “Go out to the hills and bring branches of olive, wild olive, myrtle, palm, and other leafy trees to make booths, as it is written.” ¹⁶So the people went out and brought them and made booths for themselves, each on his roof, and in their courts and in the courts of the house of God, and in the square at the Water Gate and in the square at the Gate of Ephraim. ¹⁷And all the assembly of those who had returned from the captivity made booths and lived in the booths, for from the days of Jeshua the son of Nun to that day the people of Israel had not done so. And there was very great rejoicing. ¹⁸And day by day, from the first day to the last day, he read from the Book of the Law of God. They kept the feast seven days, and on the eighth day there was a solemn assembly, according to the rule.

Questions to Consider:

1. What were some of the events that led up to Nehemiah 8? Why would this “worship service” have been especially meaningful for the people?

2. Which phrase in verse 2, repeated in verse 3, show us God’s desire for all people to hear and understand His word? How does this phrase hint at the love God has for women and children?

3. Read verses 2-8 and describe the scene in your own words or make a sketch of what it might have looked like. Which elements of this worship service are similar to the elements of the services at your church today? Why are these elements important? Why do you think they have lasted until the present time?

4. Why were the people weeping (9)? Why were they told not to weep (10-11)? Were the spiritual leaders ignoring the people’s desire to repent? What was the Feast of Booths (14)? How was the recent return from exile (17) similar to the original event the Feast of Booths commemorated?

5. Two key words in this chapter are “understand” and “rejoice/joy.” How many times do you see these words mentioned? What does God want us to learn from this chapter about understanding His word and taking joy in His word and in obedience to it?

Old Testament, Wednesday's Word

Wednesday’s Word ~ 2 Chronicles 15

October 7, 2015October 6, 2015 Michelle Lesley

2 chron 15 15

2 Chronicles 15

The Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded, ²and he went out to meet Asa and said to him, “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin: The Lord is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. ³For a long time Israel was without the true God, and without a teaching priest and without law, ⁴but when in their distress they turned to the Lord, the God of Israel, and sought him, he was found by them. ⁵In those times there was no peace to him who went out or to him who came in, for great disturbances afflicted all the inhabitants of the lands. ⁶They were broken in pieces. Nation was crushed by nation and city by city, for God troubled them with every sort of distress.⁷But you, take courage! Do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded.”

⁸As soon as Asa heard these words, the prophecy of Azariah the son of Oded, he took courage and put away the detestable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities that he had taken in the hill country of Ephraim, and he repaired the altar of the Lord that was in front of the vestibule of the house of the Lord. ⁹And he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and those from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon who were residing with them, for great numbers had deserted to him from Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was with him. ¹⁰They were gathered at Jerusalem in the third month of the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa.¹¹They sacrificed to the Lord on that day from the spoil that they had brought 700 oxen and 7,000 sheep.¹²And they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers, with all their heart and with all their soul, ¹³but that whoever would not seek the Lord, the God of Israel, should be put to death, whether young or old, man or woman. ¹⁴They swore an oath to the Lord with a loud voice and with shouting and with trumpets and with horns. ¹⁵And all Judah rejoiced over the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and had sought him with their whole desire, and he was found by them, and the Lord gave them rest all around.

¹⁶Even Maacah, his mother, King Asa removed from being queen mother because she had made a detestable image for Asherah. Asa cut down her image, crushed it, and burned it at the brook Kidron. ¹⁷But the high places were not taken out of Israel. Nevertheless, the heart of Asa was wholly true all his days. ¹⁸And he brought into the house of God the sacred gifts of his father and his own sacred gifts, silver, and gold, and vessels. ¹⁹And there was no more war until the thirty-fifth year of the reign of Asa.

Questions to Consider:

1. Who was Asa? Was he a godly or ungodly man? What are the two alternatives and their consequences that Asa was given by Azariah in verse 2?

2. Why did Azariah recite Israel’s history for Asa in verses 3-6? Why was Israel “without the true God, and without a teaching priest and without law” (3) for a long time? (Hint- see verse 8). What happened when Israel repented? (4)

3. Why was it so important to get rid of all the idols (8) to the point that the death penalty was imposed on anyone who would not seek the Lord (13)? Does God really take idolatry that seriously? If God considers idolatry so awful, how does this apply to the church, and individual Christians, today?

4. Getting rid of all the idols was an act of r_______. This was followed by sacrifices to God and an oath that the people would seek only Him. These were acts of w_______. How do the “big picture” ideas in this chapter of sin, followed by repentance and faith, followed by forgiveness and worship, foreshadow the gospel?

5. How do verses 12 and 15 connect to Matthew 22:34-38? How do Asa’s actions in verse 16 relate to Matthew 10:34-37?