The Fruit of Repentance
A couple of weeks ago I was with my fellow elders from our related churches in the North and my friend Richard Anniss, who leads the church in Manchester (visit his blog here), shared about the importance of being fruitful in our spiritual life and making sure that all we did contributed to such fruitfulness. Since then I have found myself turning this thought over in my mind and considering the roots that determine our fruitfulness. I may well share some of them from time to time, but here’s one for today:
‘Produce fruit in keeping with repentance’ (Matt.3:8)
These are the words of John the Baptist to the crowds who flocked to him to be baptised. He is warning that going through the right rituals or saying the right words is not sufficient - we show the genuineness of our repentance by a changed and changing life. Repentance is a change of mind and will, that leads to a change of life. And these words tell me that repentance is fruitful!
Many people have a negative image of the word repentance perhaps influenced by images of some gloomy religious bloke in the town centre with a sandwich board hung around him, with the words ’Repent for the end is nigh!’ starkly written upon it, and everyone looking away and doing there best to avoid him!. But the Bible speaks of repentance as a gift from God (Acts 5:31) and one that leads to life (Acts 11:18). Repentance is good!
It is also a foundation to the spiritual life (Heb 6:1). Now we are not supposed to keep laying this foundation again and again, but it is an abiding foundation - and I believe that the extension of that foundation in our on-going daily lives is what Paul calls the renewing or redirecting of our minds (Rom.12:2). There is an initial change of mind and direction at our conversion but then we work that out now by daily setting our thoughts in a Godward direction - on God (Isaiah 26:3), on things above (Col.3:2), on the things of the Spirit (Rom.8:5) and on all good things (Phil.4:8). The fruit of such ‘a spiritual renewal of your thoughts and attitudes’ (Eph.4:23 NLT) is that we become more and more like Jesus. That sounds pretty fruitful!!
‘..let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think’ (Rom.12:2 NLT)
January 30th, 2006 @ 2:42 pm
Amen! I’m reminded of the first of Martin Luther’s 95 Theses, “When our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, said “Repent”, He called for the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.”