Repentance and Joy

"Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

1 Peter 5:5

God's call for Christians is to submit to God and one another in the fear of the LORD, to be clothed with humility.  To "submit" is to willingly place oneself in subjection to, and this is the attitude and posture we see in Jesus Christ who submitted to His Father in heaven and did His will.  In His humanity Jesus relinquished His own will to do the Father's will, even when it meant going to the cross joyfully as a sacrifice for sinners.  Knowing God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble, we are called to submit to God.  It is not by asserting ourselves but through submission to God we are divinely enabled to walk in victory.

James 4:6-10 connects submission to God with our ability to resist the devil:  "But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." ⁷ Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. ⁸ Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹ Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up."  Nowhere in Scripture are Christians commanded to take the fight to the devil, for Christ has already defeated him.  At the same time he can prowl about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.  Those who are clothed with humility and submit to God are an exercise in futility for satanic assault, and he will flee from those who subject themselves to God without a fight.  Even if trials and temptations come to us, in drawing near to God He draws near to us to help and deliver.

Notice the purifying, sanctifying power of God's presence in the life of a believer!  As light exposes dust in the air and cleaning one area of tile or grout exposes how dingy and dirty the rest of the floor is, so the Holy Spirit reveals sin we are called to repent of, forsake and teaches us what good to do instead.  Like children who resist washing, we may read of lamenting, weeping, and laughter turning to mourning as a bad thing, something to be avoided.  Such may wonder, isn't God loving?  Doesn't He want us to be comforted and happy?  God does not keep a person comfortable in their sin.  He loves us so much He sent His Son to die to atone for our sins--not so we could be happy and content to continue in sin.  When God makes us aware of sin, we are to answer His call to repentance which involves remorse and grief for our wickedness in God's sight coupled with confidence God will forgive those who confess their sin (1 John 1:9).

When the rich young ruler came to Jesus and acknowledged his lack, Jesus directed him to sell his goods, give the proceeds to the poor, and follow him.  Matthew 19:22 says, "But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions."  Rather than confessing his idolatry and love of money, the young man was sorrowful because he would not repent.  Had this man sorrowfully repented of his sin and obeyed Christ in faith, he would have rejoiced like the man in the parable who found the pearl of great price, having found in Jesus something infinitely more valuable than all he possessed previously.  He would have been lifted up with joy by the LORD who was well-pleased in him!  There is infinitely greater sorrow in refusing to repent than by humbling ourselves in contrite repentance, for the end of repentance is life with fullness of joy by God's grace.  What freedom, joy and light we have in forgiveness and a new beginning with God!

After writing a letter that rebuked Corinthian Christians for their sin, Paul followed up in 2 Corinthians 7:9-10:  "Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. ¹⁰ For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death."  Godly sorrow produces repentance that leads to salvation, but the sorrow of this world produces death.  We observe sorrow of this world in Cain, for all he could think about when confronted for murdering his brother was himself:  "My punishment is more than I can bear!"  Contrast this with the tax collector in the parable Jesus told who would not even lift his eyes to heaven but beat his chest and exclaimed, "God be merciful to me, a sinner!"  It was the man who humbled himself in repentance for sin who went home justified.  If you have no sorrow or remorse for sin, if your repentance is only heaviness and gloom, it may be you have yet to repent of sin at all.