Principles of living a set apart, godly life [3] – Repentance [1 of 12]

 What happens when a Christian engages in wayward behaviour that God disapproves of? Christians often talk about ‘repentance’, by which they often mean feeling a sense of regret and turning back to God with sadness and grief at their wayward behaviour, together with a resolution and desire not to repeat it. But what do the Hebrew and Greek words translated into English as ‘repent’ actually mean?

There are lots of calls to repentance in the New Testament, particularly in the gospels with regard to Jews. We also see such calls in the Old Testament, where the Hebrew word is ‘shuwb’, a verb meaning ‘to return’ or ‘to turn back’. It’s first use is in Genesis 3 v 19 where Adam was told that he will work hard until he returns to the ground and returns to dust. Similarly in Genesis 8 v 3 it describes the floodwaters turning back, and in Genesis 8 v 9, it refers to the raven that Noah sent out from the ark returning back to the ark. In I Kings 8 v 47 it is used with regard to Jews returning to and pleading with God, confessing their wayward and wicked behaviour. 

The near-equivalent New Testament Greek word is the verb ‘metanoeó’, from ‘metá’, which can mean ‘with’, ‘after’ or ‘among’; and ‘noiéō’, from a root word meaning ‘mind’ or ‘intellect’, and thus ‘noiéō’ is taken to mean ‘perceive’, ‘understand’, or ‘think’. As a result, ‘metanoeó’ means ‘to think and perceive with or afterwards’. It occurs 34 times in the New Testament. The Greek word is more differentiated than the Hebrew word, such that it does not precisely mean the same thing. In the New Testament, the word often translated into English as ‘repent’ is actually focussed on the ‘mind’ – on thinking and reasoning things through to a conclusion after something has been said or done. Unlike the Hebrew word it is not primarily focussed on behaviour, and in some of the next posts we will see that some of the texts clearly indicate this more specific focus on the mind. 

Principles of living a set apart, godly life [2] What the Apostles did NOT teach

 The Apostles taught that Christians are called or summoned to engage in the process of living a godly life, a life set apart from the principles and values of the worldly arrangement. Before I look at how the Apostles encouraged Christians to put such a life into effect, it is important to note what they did not teach, because numerous errors have crept in to Christianity over the centuries. 

The Apostles did not -

Make appeals to the external commandments of divine Law, using them as a ‘spur’ to ‘goad’ Christians towards godliness and avoidance of sin. 

Encourage Christians to adopt an attitude of self-surrender, so as to ‘stop struggling and making the effort, and rather let go and let God do the work’. 

Make appeals to the feelings or emotions of Christians as a basis for their behaviour. 

Exhort Christians to seek transcendent or ecstatic experiences as a means of empowerment over sin. 

Encourage Christians to punish their own bodies in order to purge out sin.

Rather, the Apostles constantly appealed to the minds of Christians by presenting ‘spiritual’ knowledge – enlightened knowledge away from the Breath of God that in turn leads to underlying principles of speech and behaviour. ‘Outsiders’ or ‘unbelievers’ cannot, by their own ability away from their deep inner core, be persuaded of such knowledge and principles to the point of obedience. The Apostles encouraged Christians who were receiving enlightened knowledge to think this knowledge through to its logical conclusion, to use their ability to think, evaluate, comprehend and analyse. They exhorted Christians to apply this knowledge and its conclusions by means of engaging in enlightened mastery and ‘possession of their vessel’. Christians were to carry this illuminating knowledge from their hearts and minds across into their behaviour moment-by-moment, within the sphere of practical, beneficial love. The Apostles exhorted Christians to harness the wayward raw passions, desires and energies that are still inherent in their fleshly constitution, and to ‘walk around within the Breath’ and build up their allotted inheritance within the heavenly realm. They taught that when Christians persist in ungodly, worldly behaviour, they incur a degree of loss of their portion of the divine inheritance – not a loss of deliverance itself – but a loss of some of their portion of the treasure of the divine inheritance. 

Principles of living a set apart, godly life [1] Introduction

 I want to understand the Apostle Paul’s approach to the principles of practical daily Christian living. Most particularly I want to see how he approached problems, errors and failings when it came to Christians living a godly life set apart from the values and principles of the world. The assembly at Corinth had its fair share of problems. Passionate arguments, divisions and schisms arose from out of spiritual ambition. One Christian was engaging in an outrageous sexual relationship that was shocking even by the worldly standards of ‘outsiders’ and bringing the assembly and the gospel into public disrepute. Christians were going to non-Christian lawyers to settle disputes between themselves. There were issues concerning marriage and the roles of males and females. Christian involvement with regard to other religions was also a cause for concern. There was an element of excessive liberty and permissiveness within the assembly. There were also concerns around the role of females with regard to authority within the assembly. Problems were evident with regard to attitudes towards the Lord’s Supper. Many in the assembly had a misplaced ambition when it came to divine favours or spiritual gifts. There was a degree of disorder in worship meetings. And last of all, some within the assembly were denying the rousing up from out of the dead.   

How did the Apostle deal with these matters? It is clear that he presented a foundation of spiritual knowledge - theology - as a basis for Christian behaviour. Sometimes he appealed to ‘what is written’ in the Hebrew Scriptures. Sometimes he pointed to historical examples concerning God’s chosen ethnic group, the Jews. Very occasionally he expressed his personal opinion. He used reason and logical arguments to come to conclusions and establish principles with regard to godly behaviour. He then made practical applications and exhortations in which he sometimes encouraged his Christian readers to likewise think things through for themselves. In the light of such enlightened knowledge, teaching and reasoning things through for themselves, he exhorted Christians to exercise self-control and to be unified in their perspective, behaving in a way that was consistent with what they came to understand as opposed to following their fleshly impulses. ‘Therefore do not let loss and self-forfeiture reign within your mortal body towards attentively listening and obeying under its eager desires’, (Romans 6 v 12). The impetus of a godly Christian life is away from worldly speech and behaviour that God disapproves of, and towards speech and behaviour that is clean and set apart from the world. So the question I am asking is this - in what particular and specific ways did Paul and the other Apostles encourage Christians towards this godly way of living?