Keller on Repentance
A while back I came across an article by Tim Keller entitled, “All of Life is Repentance.” At just over a page it is a powerful summary of what repentance should look like and the ways we often distort it.
Below are the first two paragraphs of the article- but don’t stop there- go read the rest of it. It is well worth the time!
Martin Luther opened the Reformation by nailing “The Ninety-Five Theses” to the door of Wittenberg Cathedral. The very first of the theses was: “Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ…willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.” On the surface this looks a little bleak! Luther seems to be saying Christians will never be making much progress. But of course that wasn’t Luther’s point at all. He was saying that repentance is the way we make progress in the Christian life. Indeed, pervasive, all-of-life-repentance is the best sign that we are growing deeply and rapidly into the character of Jesus.
It is important co consider how the gospel affects and transforms the act of repentance. In ‘religion’ the purpose of the repentance is basically to keep God happy so he will continue to bless you and answer your prayers. This means that ‘religious repentance’ is a) selfish, b) self-righteous, c) and bitter all the way to the bottom. But in the gospel the purpose of repentance is to repeatedly tap into the joy of our union with Christ in order to weaken our need to do anything contrary to God’s heart.