Repentance, Part 1

First we are going to look at a description of repentance as it is found in the Bible. I could give you my definition and you could give me yours. It really makes little difference what you and I think. But it does matter how God looks at this matter, and He has recorded it for us over and over again in the Bible. We are going to just look at a few of the passages that deal with it.

First, repentance causes a person to abhor themselves. In Job 42:6, Job says, ‘Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.’ Job had been going through a tremendous trial in his life, and he was coming up with all of his own answers as to why things were so bad in his life. Job was thinking that God wasn’t treating him fairly. He couldn’t understand why God was letting all the bad things happen to him. Suddenly God showed up and started asking Job some very simple questions about life. Job realised he was in the presence of a holy God and he didn’t have the answers for the simple things of life, let alone his own complicated life. In response, Job fell down in front of God and repented in dust and ashes.

When a person repents, they realise that they are not right before a holy God and they hate, they abhor what they are. I don’t like what I am. In the past I would hide it and try to play like it really wasn’t there, that it really wasn’t me. But now that I see myself in the light of God’s Word, I see how God looks at me and I can’t stand what I see. When I see God’s pure holiness and my wretched sinfulness I hate what I am. I can’t stand to stay this way any longer. I abhor myself. That is what Job says.