Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:
“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
    make straight paths for him.’”

• Matthew 3:1-3

From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

• Matthew 4:16

They went out and preached that people should repent. They drove out many demons and anointed many sick people with oil and healed them.

• Mark 6:12-13

Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?

• Romans 2:4

“ ‘Repentance is a turning to God which, although he stirs it up in us by his Word and other means, is notwithstanding so fashioned in us by the Holy Ghost especially. that with fear and love we fear our just God and merciful Lord from whom we have turned away, being sorry now with our whole hearts that we ever offended so gracious a Father by our sins. Being humbled before his eternal and most sacred majesty. we acknowledge the sins that are attributed to us by the Word of God; indeed we acknowledge that there is no integrity or soundness in us and heartily desire to be reconciled with God again. Since that reconciliation can only be made by the sole Mediator, the Lord Christ Jesus, by faith we lay hold of him in whom we, being acquitted of all our sins, are reckoned by God to be righteous and holy. Whoever sincerely acknowledges this benefit cannot but choose to hate sin and put to death the old self.’ (Fourth Decade, Sermon 2)”

• Tony Lane, A Concise History of Christian Thought

Heinrich Bullinger, (1504-1575), was a great teacher and evangelist, in his own style.  He was born in a small town near Zurich, Switzerland.  He was the son of a priest and followed in his father’s footsteps after attending university.  He started drifting toward Renaissance Humanism, but then he was intrigued by the books of Luther and Melanchthon.  Luther’s books had been burned in Zurich, so finding these books at the university, he devoured them.  When he returned, he was sent to a monastery where his sermons were peppered with thoughts on both humanism and reformed theology.  As a result, many of the monks left the monastery to become reformed ministers.  He rose within the reformed church, working with Zwingli and meeting others such as Bucer.  He coauthored the first Helvetic Confession of Faith and wrote the more detailed Second Helvetic Confession of Faith.

I have read the Second Helvetic Confession of Faith and no one ever told me that essentially the same man wrote both and that since the Second was more detailed and thorough than the first, the first is no longer used.  Now I know.

But this discussion on repentance should be a warning to those who prefer cheap grace, grace without repentance.  We do not get to decide whether to repent or not.  We do not get to decide what is a sin and what is not a sin. As Romans 14 ends, everything that is not faith is sin.  Ouch!  That includes a lot that is not in the Ten Commandments, at least not specifically, but found in the gist.

Why do we not get to decide?  “We acknowledge that there is no integrity or soundness in us.”  Ouch!  That’s kind of harsh.  The church is getting more wishy washy all the time about what is sin.  They do not want people to be offended.  But people cannot save us.  God saves us, and our sin offends Him.

The church should wake up.  My Sunday lessons are on Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Costly Grace.  This is at the center of the controversy.

Some people say, “I was born this way.”

I agree.  We were all born with a sin nature.  I have my preferences.  You have yours.  But I turn to God.  I confess my sin.  And when I stumble and turn my gaze to something else, there I am confessing again.  Yes, God has forgiven my sins: past, present, and future.  But each time we sin, we harm that relationship with God.  We take a step, ever so sideways, and we must return our gaze back to God because God is Just and I have no integrity or soundness, according to Bullinger.

So, I stay at Jesus’ feet, recognizing Him as my majesty, my Lord, and a merciful God.  I humble myself for I am nothing without God.  And once my sanctification is complete, Jesus will let me rise, and He will call me “Brother.”

If you like these Tuesday morning essays about philosophy and other “heavy topics,” but you think you missed a few, you can use this LINK. I have set up a page off the home page for links to these Tuesday morning posts. I will continue to modify the page as I add more.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.