Chapter 12

The Gift of Repentance

Paul frequently speaks in forbidding terms proposing a way of faith that is overwhelmingly daunting, even impossible—it seems. But a careful reading yields a yet clearer view of the riches of the grace of God than if he had not salted the meat of the word with such astringency. Consider, for example, the oft-pondered idea in Romans 6 of being crucified with Christ and consequently being dead to sin. Does this mean Christians who are crucified with Christ and dead to sin are able to live above the sinful condition in their flesh and blood and bone experience? Dead to sin means that sin is no longer the vital life force of the individual. The vital life of a Christian is righteousness in the inner man. [1] There is in the Christian newness of life the pervasive desire to serve the law of God. A relentless struggle between old nature and new nature ensues, but where sin continues to abound, grace much more abounds. [2] The new principle of righteousness in the inner man for the Christian is absolute, final and eternal. The remnant force of the old nature is relative and temporary. It is relative in that each individual is gifted with a measure of faith with no two having the same capacity to appropriate grace. [3] Each one’s capacity for faith is sovereignly planned and appointed by God, the Father of all, who is above all, through all, and in you, all. [4] All of the children of God are equally loved regardless of where they fall on the continuum of faith. In respect to salvation, there is one faith, of this Paul is adamant, but he clearly allows for each individual child of God to grow in sanctification in accordance with their measure of faith. He recognized babes in the church, which he referred to as carnal, as well as those who were spiritual.[5]

Furthermore, it should be noted that in Romans 6, Paul is speaking in figurative terms concerning death to sin. Christ literally died by crucifixion and literally resurrected from the dead; Paul’s readers obviously have not. This is a proposition of faith based on the eternality of God. God sees us from the perspective of eternity and his view of us is through Christ, the mediator between God and men.[6] God sees us not as we are now, but as we are then, or more correctly, not as we are here, but as we are there, since eternity is more a question of where than when. God is in eternity now and has always been, therefore, through Christ and with Christ we are seen by God as already there.[7] The statement in 1 John 4:17 resonates with Paul’s teaching, “…as He (Jesus) is, so are we in this world.” One of the difficulties in the interpretation of Paul is his free flow of expressions which seem to be in contradiction; man’s view of man, immediately followed by God’s view of man or vice versa. Man is only able to see himself in three-dimensional space and time. For man to view himself as God views him, he must “reckon” it to be so. To reckon is to accept the actual experience of being yet alive in the earthly body awaiting literal death and literal resurrection but receiving or internalizing by faith what God says from his multidimensional perspective in eternity. This is what Paul means when he says that we are buried with Christ in baptism[8] into death so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we should rise to walk in newness of life.[9] It is not a literal experience yet, but it is reckoned as such by faith, and in God’s time every individual will literally die and literally resurrect; Christians into the fullness of what they have possessed only in part,[10] and those without the Spirit of Christ, into the righteous judgments of God. Every individual ever born will stand before the Judge, each one in the order God has planned.[11]  Again, it is both theologically instructive as well as existentially comforting to reflect on the deep truth of 1 Corinthians 4:5. Do not judge others, for when the Lord comes He will sort things out—only He can. Then the enigmatic phrase, “and then each man’s praise will come to him from God” will be cause for universal delight. Paul is not doctrinaire in the evangelical sense. As soon as we think we have systematized Paul’s doctrines into denominational tenets, he rocks our institutions with transcendent truth that is beyond scrutability.

At times Paul uses forms of expression that do not describe in the most precise terms the essential truth of his message, in fact, at first glance,  may seem to contradict the truth. An example of this didactic technique is found in Romans 6:18 wherein he states, “And having been set free from sin, you become slaves of righteousness.” Then in verse 19, he qualifies the statement by notifying his converts that he is speaking in human terms because of the weakness of their flesh. To use the poignantly suggestive metaphor “slave” in this context is in Paul’s judgment a necessary compromise in order to help immature believers grasp the momentous consequence of righteous living. Indeed, the purest, most mature form of practical Christian living is characterized by joyous freedom with lightness of heart and step. The reality is that converts to the Christian faith find themselves under intense temptation, being compelled to regulate their carnal impulses by slavish force of will. What Paul is saying is the compulsive energy that presses an individual toward sinful behavior before coming to Christ sublimates to a slavish compulsion to behave righteously after receiving him. The consistent tenor of Paul’s teaching on practical faith supports the idea of a maturation process beginning with extrinsic behavior constraints and ideally progressing toward more and more freedom of movement springing from the inner man of the spirit.[12]  Paul establishes for those who are weak in the flesh a form of legalism though he only presses the bondage or slave metaphor to the extent of each individual’s weakness in the flesh. He is not proposing an absolute or ultimate bondage, only temporary, and that, relative to each one’s weakness. He is saying command your will as a harsh slavemaster would command a recalcitrant slave, if necessary, with violence, to preserve the integrity of Christ–do whatever it takes for much is at stake![13] Paul reminds the believers later in his Roman discourse that they have not received the spirit of bondage (slavery) again to fear…[14] If Paul seems schizophrenic, it is because he differentiates (not always clearly) between spiritual, or we might say spirit-led children of God and the redeemed ones who are not spiritual but are carnal or fleshly. Again, Paul’s burden for his converts is not their salvation but their apprehension of what salvation has accomplished and how it should define their lives comprehensively; spirit, soul and body[15] until the resurrection. The enemy attacks on two fronts. First, he tempts and entices, playing on the base impulses of the old man of the flesh.[16] Then he condemns his hapless victims as having no hope before the perfect holiness of God whom he characterizes as the austere and exacting Judge scrutinizing each one’s performance and responding from a purely legalistic standpoint, condemning all who fall short of perfection.

Paul counterattacks by exultantly declaring there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ,[17] notwithstanding the relentless conflict that rages on between spirit and flesh and the loving intervention of God as he chastens his children according to their fleshly mindedness.[18] This chastening is emphatically not condemnation as it has been so often misinterpreted by councils and creeds through the Church age. Christians, as in Paul’s personal experience,[19] are painfully aware of their tendency to mind the things of the flesh. Indeed, it is just that painful awareness which assures the Christian he is not in the flesh but in the spirit. The chastening hand of the Father is faithfully and lovingly laid upon his child who has succumbed to fleshly impulses.[20]  It is the goodness of God that leads an individual to repentance[21] and for those that are in Christ, repentance is daily.[22] It is the sovereign act of God to give the spirit and it is the human response to the giving of the spirit that is repentance.

God acts by grace, man acts through faith–both are God’s gifts so boasting is excluded.[23]