Miracles and Repentance

Many times I have heard people suggest how ideal a miraculous intervention by God would be due to the potential prompting of unbelievers to believe in Jesus Christ as LORD and receive the Gospel.  One issue I have with this suggestion is the implication God has not already provided ample evidence in the Bible, the testimony of history and the lives of Christians transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Besides, how many people saw the miracles of Jesus and still chose to reject Him?  God has done and continues to do miracles without number, and the miracle man needs most is not in healing a sick body but the redemption of lost souls.

As Jesus went through Judea and preached repentance and the kingdom of God, He confirmed the truth of His words with miraculous signs and wonders.  Many times He did miraculous healings so people would believe He was the Christ.  This, however, was not the only reason He did miracles.  His purposes reached far beyond the being motivated by human pity, power or sympathy:  Jesus did miraculous signs so people would repent of their sin.  I do not often hear this provided as a reason for God to do a miracle, that He would miraculously heal people so they and their families would exercise faith in repentance.  Though repentance may not be a popular reason, it is a biblical one.

Matthew 11:20-24 says of Jesus, "Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent: ²¹ "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. ²² But I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon in the day of judgment than for you. ²³ And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. ²⁴  But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you."  The sound rebukes of Jesus came for the witnesses lack of repentance, and with divine insight said should those miracles had been done in other cities--ones infamous for their iniquity--people would have repented in dust and ashes.  Because they did not believe Jesus was the Christ they did not see their need to heed His command to repent, as they harboured unbelief they ought to have repented of.

Had I been numbered among the unbelieving in Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum, what cause would there be for repentance?  I suspect I would need to repent of unbelief Jesus could have done anything to heal sickness, cast out demons, open the eyes of the blind, cleanse lepers and raise the dead.  As Jesus preached the law to the proud there would have been much evidence of sin of which I was guilty and had no excuse to deny.  I would repent of pride that caused me to justify myself according to the Law when I was only condemned by it, and that I had trusted in my own works to save me rather than faith in Christ alone.  I could repent of my stubbornness to repent!  How patient is God and marvelous His works to provide opportunity to repent by faith in Jesus Christ.  Faith in ourselves or tradition cannot save, but Jesus is a Saviour we ought to forsake all to follow.

Life Without Regrets

The more I consider it, the more I am convinced regret has no practical benefit for those who wallow in it.  While feelings of regret can prompt us to consider our ways and draw valuable life lessons from the past we can practice, regret itself never invites us to look to the future.  Regrets chain us to a past we cannot change and all the "If only..." and "I wish..." thoughts and desires we could entertain are fantasy  the current reality rejects.  Regret is intrinsically self-focused, for it demands we be our own saviour by figuring out what we should have done.  It weaves an unrealistic image of how things could be, even ought to be, and we are to blame things did not turn out differently.  Regret can be a willful denial and rejection of God's power to redeem evil for good like we read about countless times in scripture and have also experienced ourselves.

Regret presents a mirage and lie that we alone have the power to determine our future, essentially removing God's sovereignty from the picture.  It is the true our decisions have consequences that impact the future, but we would be foolish to assume a righteous decision always has an outcome we agree is positive.  To allow what we perceive as a negative outcome to dictate what we should or could have done in the past is to trade a biblical perspective for likely a selfish one where only our decisions matter and have all the power the change our lives.  If our regret is a matter of sin, regret ought to lead us to repentance.  Once having repented of sin and put it far from us, the power regret once wielded over us is broken by Christ and we are enabled by God's grace to look to Him in the future.  Most of the time it is not sin we regret but the uncomfortable situation we find ourselves in presently we wish we had power to change.  Holding onto regret suggests we prefer to change our past behaviour and masks our need to be changed by God now.

In one sense, regret can be a personal hell we make for ourselves.  Regret is akin to perpetual mourning over the past without hope moving forward.  Having the ability to remember is a blessing from God, yet memories for those tormented in hell will cause them to be plagued with perpetual regret.  In the story Jesus told of the rich man who suffered in Sheol, he was told by Abraham in Luke 16:25, "...Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things; but now he is comforted and you are tormented."  The rich man could remember all the good things that brought him comfort in life when he could not even access a drop of water to cool his tongue.  He also was able to remember his brothers and begged Abraham to send Lazarus back to them.  He wanted Lazarus to do for him and his brothers what he had not bothered to do during his entire life.  Apart from the physical pain the previously rich man was subjected to, memories and regrets would have been part of his continual torment apart from God forever.

Paul was a man who could have saddled himself with many regrets, seeing as he persecuted Jesus and his followers before coming to Christ in faith.  Instead of doing some sort of self-imposed penance, he embraced repentance for sin and received forgiveness from Jesus.  Paul did not hide his past because it had no longer held him guilty; he did not waste energy lamenting what he could not change and Jesus would redeem.  He wrote in Philippians 3:13-14:  "Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, ¹⁴ I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."  Paul did not see himself as perfect in the past or present, and at the same time did not beat himself up over past mistakes or bask in self-congratulatory affirmation over his current state.  Failures and success were put behind him as he reached forward to a glorious future with eyes on Jesus, focused on fulfilling the call upon his life by God.  This is a posture Christians do well to maintain, for following Jesus is a life not to be regretted.

Our Father's Business

As a lad Jesus told Mary He "must" be about His Father's business in Luke 2.  This obviously was not the family carpentry business run by Joseph, for Jesus was not handing out business cards and discussing the benefits of quarried stone over hardwood with the scribes and Pharisees in the temple in Jerusalem.  While everyone headed home from observing the Passover, Jesus remained behind for days listening to the doctors of the Mosaic Law and asking questions.  In that ancient culture asking questions was not a sign of ignorance but the way one showed mastery of a subject.  The Jewish leaders were stunned by the understanding Jesus displayed concerning the word of God.

It was a common practice in Jesus' day the son would follow in the footsteps of his father and be trained in the same trade.  This is observed with Zebedee and sons James and John who were fishermen.  The Bible tells us Jesus did follow the custom of adopting the trade of his "dad" Joseph, and people who believed they knew Jesus dismissed His teaching because they did not believe He had authority to weigh in on matters of God and Law.  Mark 6:2-3 says, "And when the Sabbath had come, He began to teach in the synagogue. And many hearing Him were astonished, saying, "Where did this Man get these things? And what wisdom is this which is given to Him, that such mighty works are performed by His hands! ³ Is this not the carpenter, the Son of Mary, and brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon? And are not His sisters here with us?" And they were offended at Him."  The townsfolk viewed Jesus as a carpenter the son of Joseph and not the Christ, the Son of God.  They were offended by His wisdom and miraculous works because Jesus was an unexpected source.

As Jesus traveled through Judea preaching repentance and the kingdom of God, He graciously chose many disciples to follow and serve Him.  Many of these were very unlikely choices which included fishermen, a zealot, a Roman-employed tax collector and even Judas who would betray Him!  Apart from Judas, these men by the power and grace of God would be enabled to expand beyond their natural sphere of influence and make an impact for the kingdom of God wherever God sent them.  A time came when Andrew and Peter no longer washed and mended nets but brought men into the kingdom of God by the power of the Gospel.  John went from suggesting they call fire down from heaven upon those who rejected Jesus to writing many times, "Little children, love one another."  The transformation Jesus made in His followers inside and out is remarkable to behold in the scriptures and regularly in people to this day.

The Saviour Jesus Christ who called His disciples to follow Him is the One we must follow and continue so doing.  It would be a great shame for us to drift from obeying the commands of Christ, living in the reality of the Gospel and exhorting Christians to walk in holiness and love to stoop to weighing in on politics, medical advice and controversial topics as experts.  It would be entirely possible for Peter to continue fishing professionally whilst proclaiming the Gospel without contradiction, yet it would be an odd thing indeed to claim he was an authority on Roman taxation because he knew a former tax collector.  In the body of Christ there is great diversity between each individual member and the distinct function of each part.  It is also evident the purpose of all the parts are the same, to unite under the guidance and service of Jesus Christ Whom we glorify as the Head of the Body, the church.  I sometimes use one hand to crack the knuckles on the other hand to provide relief from aching joints, and this illustrates the point:  brothers and sisters, as we follow Jesus together allow the LORD to use others to adjust us to better coordinate our efforts to walk obediently in love towards all with grace upon grace.  In this way we too can wisely be about our Father's business.

No Provision for the Flesh

"Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. ¹⁴ But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts."

Romans 13:13-14

Our plans for the day have a big impact on what we take off and put on.  If I am going outside to mow the law, I will put shoes on my feet.  If I am going to a meeting or preaching, I take off the comfortable clothes I wear around the house so I can don appropriate attire for going to work.  We take off a wedding ring before changing the oil in the car, and we put on insulated gloves before we pick up a hot glass baking dish.  There is often an intentional reason to make provision for the future, like carrying a water bottle during a long hike so we can remain hydrated.

I have heard many teachings on the necessity for us to put on the whole armour of God, and the illustration of Roman armour by Paul gives us understanding of how the indwelling Holy Spirit guards and protects us.  But it is impossible to put on the armour of God unless we have first put on Jesus Christ by faith in Him!  While we have already been born again and put on Christ by faith in Him (Galatians 3:27), the Roman passage affirms we must choose to walk according to faith and by obedience to Jesus in everyday situations of life.  Paul previously exhorted believers in Ephesians 4:21-24:  "...if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: ²² that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, ²³ and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, ²⁴ and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness."  We are called to put off the old man to put on the new.

After putting on the LORD Jesus Christ, believers are called to "make no provision for the flesh."  Using the example of battle, ample provisions allow the enemy to remain entrenched indefinitely.  It does little good to lay siege to a castle that has plenty of fresh water, grain, meat and milk.  To allow the city to continue a flourishing trade undermines the entire purpose of a siege:  to cut off all supplies from the enemy to starve them out.  Christians can undermine the power of Jesus Christ in their lives when we make provision for the flesh to fulfill its lusts.  When we make provision for the flesh we give it room to fortify defenses, stockpile ammunition, dig more tunnels, plant more landmines and invite opportunities to engage in guerrilla warfare.  We can put on Jesus Christ, wear the armour supplied by the Holy Spirit and be sleeping at our post--and totally vulnerable to enemy attack--because of drunkenness, lust and all manner of sin.

Since we are risen with Christ to new life, Paul provided clear exhortation in what putting off the old man and putting on the new man looks like in Colossians 3:5-17:  "Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. ⁶ Because of these things the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience, ⁷ in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them. ⁸ But now you yourselves are to put off all these: anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. ⁹ Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds, ¹⁰ and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him, ¹¹ where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all. ¹² Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; ¹³ bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. ¹⁴ But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. ¹⁵ And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. ¹⁶ Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. ¹⁷ And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him."

Having been justified by faith in Jesus Christ, we ought not justify our participation in sin any longer.  God holds us responsible to put off sin and to put on the attitude, perspective and wisdom of Jesus Christ who has claimed us as His own as we submit to Him.  We make provision for our sin more than we know, and I shudder to think of times my sin was premeditated.  Know that when our sin has been revealed unexpectedly in us because we were caught off guard we are not the victims of circumstances:  it shows we likely for years have carefully cultivated, supported and provided opportunity for our sin to strike damaging blows to hurt others and us.  We cannot blame a satanic attack for our failure to walk in righteousness when we willingly made provisions for the flesh.  Walking in the Spirit and obedience to Jesus starves the enemy and depletes his resources in our flesh, and our faithful God will protect us every step.