What if repentance is not what the Bible says?(Romans 2:5-11)

[瑤翰 김요한]

Every time a Jew prays with the words weighing and looking back, he does so-called repentance.

He, of course, confesses that he considers it a sin in his own opinion in the light of the law and conscience.

The problem is that christianity now repents, but is it really the repentance that God wants, seeing the face of God, and advancing to His glory?

Now Paul is driving the readers of Romans first to the place where 'there is none righteous, not even one' (Rom 3:10), all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23).

Therefore, let's look at the Word , first knowing that the repentance of the Jews is not the repentance the Bible wants.

Q. Why is Jewish repentance useless?

“But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are  storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.”(Romans 2:5)

A. God did not view their repentance as repentance.

A stubborn and unrepentant heart is a very hard and obstinate heart.

A heart like this becomes their throne.

It is not the kind of heart that God's mercy comes upon them because they are far from God's kindness and have mercy on others' faults.

One of the reasons we must abide in God's kindness is because we can see others kindly.

Only when we obtain righteousness in the Lord and abide in God's kindness through faith based on the spiritual system that follows the Lord's word, “Forgive others as I have forgiven you,” mercy will come out to us and be merciful to others.

Even so, if you are stumbled upon by the law and judge this person like this and that person like that with the spirit of the law, your heart becomes very hard and you get caught up in stereotypes.

The reason people who knew Jesus Christ and received God's grace are now on the verge of death is almost because they are caught in the sin of judging others.

It is because most people who are seriously ill in hospitals have resentment and grudge intact in their hearts as a result of living a life of faith without the ability to forgive.

In Matthew 18, when the one who received the cancellation of ten thousand talents failed to forgive the one who owed him a hundred denarii, he was imprisoned.

He gets caught in accounting. (Matthew 18:21-35)

Therefore, among the 8 blessings, it is said that those who are merciful will be shown mercy (Mt 5:7), but those without mercy will be judged without mercy (James 2:13).

In order to be merciful to others, we must abide in God's love and His kindness.

The Bible says that repentance is while the prodigal son, like a pig, ate the pods and came to his senses, returned to bread in his father's house. (Luke 15:7,10) 

Also, according to the Lord's words, 'Repent, the kingdom of heaven is near', leaving the net, boat, and father to follow Jesus is considered repentance in the Bible (Matthew 4:17-22).

In order to follow the Lord, who is the kingdom of heaven, they discarded the hindrances and followed the Lord, so they repented in accordance with the Lord's Word and followed Him.

In addition, Peter introduces the fact that the Holy Spirit has come and David's faith, saying that God made Jesus, whom the Jews crucified and killed, as Christ.

He explains to those who are wondering what to do, repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and then you will receive the Holy Spirit as a gift (Acts 2:38).

It means that we can attend Christ as our Lord in the Holy Spirit and move toward the throne of God like David.

That's why repentance is said to be a challenge to the glory of God.

Repentance is to accept the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ as baptism, to be redeemed from sin and death, and to follow  where Christ is as Lord.

If not, the repentance of beating one's heart every day and regretting and reflecting on one's actions while looking back on one's actions on the spot in the Jewish way is not the repentance that the Bible says of, so the Bible says that it is stuck on unrepentant stubbornness.

The one who specializes in accusation is Satan.

Those who are young in faith fall into Satan's temptation and end up doing what the devil does instead.

For such people, on the day of judgment of righteousness, when God's righteousness is revealed, what they believed and lived for themselves will become the wrath of God.

That's the judgment of the Jews.

Q. What is the reward for true repentance?

“God will repay each person according to what they have done. To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life.” (Romans 2:6-7)

A. It means that God is the God of righteous judgment who repays according to the truth.

The Word has already been preached in the world.

He sees the result, the fruit, and he gives eternal life to those who seek glory, honor, and immortality by persevering in doing good.

Patience in this Bible is never patience with one's own strength, but it means waiting in front of the Lord.

It means waiting a long time in front of him.

To do so, you must cross the cross with Christ through baptism.

In other words, goodness is pursuing the goodness of God in the Word.

It doesn't mean that you make a decision saying, 'I have to endure and do good'.

That's not really patience.

Because we keep talking about such patience, people are becoming perfectionists like the Jews.

Being a perfectionist makes us appear clean on the outside but narrow on the inside, making us inflexible and unable to accept others.

True goodness is when God's lovingkindness and goodness flow in and are permeated in us.

It means not to seek outward goodness, but to seek glory and honor and immortality in Christ.

To do this, we who were in Adam must repent according to the grace of Christ's redemption on the cross and be united with His death and resurrection through baptism and cross over into Christ who is without sin.

By doing so, you find yourself in Christ, receive Christ as your Lord, and earn the qualification to seek glory, honor, and incorruption, and, like David, look to the throne of God.

Therefore, do not seek to be glorified by men, nor seek to be honored by men, but pursue the eternal things in heaven in Christ.

When the righteousness of the Lord is revealed in us, if we adjust to it, it becomes a reward for the act.

The person who has the righteousness of God revealed to me and acts according to what that righteousness tells me to do,  who has become such a basic becomes a worker in the Church of God.

However, the workers of man and the workers of God are different from each other.

That's why 1 Timothy 3 clearly tells what kind of person will be a worker in the Church of God.

“There will be glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, for the Jew first and then for the Greek.” (Romans 2:10)

Such people are spiritual Christians who have achieved repentance and become stewards of the Church of God.

Q. What is the retribution of those who do not repent?

“But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow  evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.” (Romans 2:8-9)

A. Goodness is being toward the one and only God.

The unrighteousness that the Bible says is what humans unanimously decide and say is right, and the unanimous human righteousness is unrighteousness before God.

Tribulation and distress refers to the inner pressure of a prisoner sitting in solitary confinement.

Tribulation is an external factor. However, there are people who know this kind of tribulation and hardship as destiny.

This kind of person is a person who was hurt a lot when he was young.

Or who thinks he has committed a great sin before God,

He abuses himself and is in the midst of such tribulation and hardship, but there are people who accept that this is my destiny.

Even so, he doesn't want to lose to others on the outside, so there are people like this who put cause first and face first.

There are so many sick people like this in the Korean church.

So, some people have a martyr complex and some people have a messiah complex and are busy working, but the number of people who cannot escape tribulation and suffering is larger than expected in each church.

But if we seek goodness in Christ through repentance, God will give us glory, honor, and peace.

Glory refers to the value of one's existence.

I'm not disrespecting the cleaner, even if he is a cleaner, if he takes great pride in what he does, his actions are respected.

It's called glory.

Feeling infinite pride as a child of God means that glory has come into me.

When the value of my existence is felt confidently, the life becomes clear and distinct.

It's called glory.

Pastors as pastors, elders as elders, should have their own glory.

It is also called the halo of the person.

Therefore, honor is to discover my own worth.

And you must feel the peace of being one with Christ.

This kind of blessing is common to both Jews and Greeks. No discrimination.

So, “For God does not show respect of persons” (Rom 2:10)

It means God doesn't look at his face. But what kind of person do God look at one's face?

“Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Look for God.” (Psalm 42:5)

They are those who earnestly long for the Lord in Christ, wait for Him, look for Him, and expect Him.

However, it is not God who looks at the face of human beings outside of Christ.

Look at the people of Israel. How could God do that? He can't do that if he care about their face. But God cut them off with the judgment of righteousness and the judgment of truth.

It is because the Jews crucified the Lord Jesus Christ, the bridge of repentance to return to the kindness of God, and even now deny Jesus Christ and boast only of the righteousness according to the framework they set, and do not abide in the kindness of God.

Written by Ptr. Yohan Kim.

Translated by  Nancy Chung

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