Reflecting On Paul Washer's "Don't Expect a Perfect Repentance"
Remembering the song itself, I was reminded that I cannot expect to be perfect until the day I am called Home to be in Heaven. I need to be corrected of my mistakes because I am not perfect, only God can. The path is long, God wants us to have greater satisfaction. Instead of saying, "Tadan! You are now perfect!", instead God chooses to let Christians go the long and painful way. It is true the long is way and painful but achievement that comes after bitter trials is much sweeter than just simply having everything for free. Although salvation is not by works, still God had ordained good works to those saved by His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. God wants Christians to enjoy sweeter fruit and like it takes a season for mangoes to be sweet, likewise the same happens for Christian repentance and growth.
During the time a person repents unto salvation, it does involve a repentance of sin but it's not a perfect repentance of sin. The person may have seen the loathsomeness of sin and the very need for salvation but it doesn't mean it's already perfect. Yes there is a turning from sin to the Savior but it's not a complete turning, the turning had just begun. Turning from one's sin does not immediately mean to start doing good but to see one's sin as offensive and abhorrent before a holy and righteous God who hates sin that He must condemn the sinner to Hell. Repentance is not just for salvation as having a continuous repentance is a fruit of salvation. One can look at examples of continuous repentance. Samson repented of his backsliding when he was in captivity. David repented of his horrible sin with Bathsheba and numbering Israel. Solomon repented of his foolishness in Ecclesiastes. Peter repented of denying Jesus. Repentance does not stop at conversion, it grows even after conversion!
In Romans 7:18-25 we see the problem that the Apostle Paul encountered with himself. He proclaimed that there is no good in his flesh, that he is struggling with sin and that there is the war between the old him and the new him. Remember Paul before he became the great apostle who wrote the Pauline letters, was once Saul the horrible persecutor. Before he was saved, he would persecute anyone without any discrimination. After that, he got saved and he finds new delights and that he loves the Law of God. But because of sin, he still struggles and that, how he wished to be free from his sin permanently. One thing is certain, Christianity is not a bed of roses but a path that must be run. It's the old man vs. the new man and that battle is never won except by the grace of God. There is no power against sin except by God's grace and by faith in Jesus Christ alone. True faith continues and so does genuine repentance.
Charles H. Spurgeon also said, "Christian men and women, do you feel that you have not deep enough of repentance? What are you to do? Ask for an increase of faith and it will grow so with repentance." Spurgeon though he was against Antinomianism and insisted that a true conversion results to a converted lifestyle but he was aware of the struggles against the flesh. When the repentance is not yet perfect it is because it is still being perfected. Christians are asked to ask for an increase of faith which in turns causes their repentance to grow. The more one has faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the more this repentance grows into perfection day by day.
Remember Christians are best are still sinners because the flesh is not yet redeemedbut they are different from the rest of the world because they are not of the world (John 15:18-19, Titus 2:11-14, James 4:4). 1 John 1:8 says, "If we say we have no sin, then the truth is not in us." Becoming a Christian means starting over and that means, like children, Christians will stumble down. Hebrews 12:5-6 says that God chastises every believer. Although a saved man may not enter into a sinful lifestyle but they are still struggling for sin. Maybe a Christian right now abandoned a sexually immoral lifestyle but he or she has some other issues. I even remembered how I still had my problems of grudges, being touchy and so on... God had to use every method to bring me back on track. When I get mad when I was corrected, I didn't get away with it as the Holy Spirit would bother me until I repented of that sin. God chastises me every time I fall down to the point I cannot live like the rest of the world.