Repentance and regret are terms which are often
misrepresented interchangeably – one for another. The words, though, are very
much alike when looking at them superficially, but on taking a deeper look into
the words and their applications, as well as taking scriptural consideration,
you will realize that a difference does abound.
In the Christian Faith, Repentance is of utmost importance.
It is so relevant that there are numerous mentions of the word in the
scriptures.
It is a fact, that there is no Christianity without
repentance! Infact, no man/woman is born a Christian. I state this as a fact
because the scripture says as much. Turning to the book of Romans Chapter 5 verse 12 we can see this;
“wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin;
so death passed upon all men, for that all men have sinned:”
Romans Chapter 3
verse 23 further highlights this fact;
“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God”
It is due to this fact that Christ said to Nicodemus in John Chapter 3 verse 3;
“…… verily; verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he
cannot see the kingdom of God”
The above scripture brings us to a definition of repentance.
Repentance is all about casting away your old lifestyle, your old person and
assuming a new you. This is aptly captured in 2 Corinthians Chapter 5 verses 17;
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things
are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
Let’s now highlight some contrast between repentance and
regret:
Ø
Repentance
is borne out of genuine conviction about the “wrongness” (permit me to say) of
ones actions (or lifestyle as a whole), irrespective of the results obtained
from the deed (be it positive or negative). Zaccheus for instance seemingly
reaped a positive result from his negative lifestyle, but repented when he got
convicted that he needed to change. No one prompted him, neither was he charged
to do so by a court of law. Regret on
the other hand is borne out of ill consequences or boomerang effect of our
negative actions (or lifestyle) and not because of the action itself. We regret
taking a course of action because it landed us where we did not want to be. If
it hadn’t backfired but yielded the desired results we probably would continue
in that way of life. Take for instance, armed robbers and criminals who get
caught by the law enforcement agencies. One thing most of them have in common
is that they express regret for indulging in such acts, often times resorting
to blaming the devil for their crimes. If they hadn’t been caught in the first
place, they would still keep on engaging in the act.
Ø
Repentance
gives you a way forward (to the future) while regret keeps you trapped and
entangled in the past. Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus regretted his action
and ended up hanging himself, while Peter on the other hand initially felt
regret but eventually repented!
Summarily, we should realize that regret will
only keep us in a cycle of self-condemnation, while repentance will lead us to
salvation brought about by the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Christ said he
didn’t come to condemn us, which implies that we shouldn’t also engage in
beating up ourselves. What he expects of us is to genuinely cast aside every
lifestyle that is against the precepts and ordinance of God.
No comments:
Post a Comment