Repentance from Sin–How to Be Freed from Sinning

“He that is dead is freed from sin…” (Rom. 6:7) [from Journal 4-23-15]

We’ve been digging into the heavier concepts lately—things like “healings, casting out unclean spirits, power, and authority.” These studies are a glimpse of our destiny. They are waymarks of our spiritual growth. But before these come mightily into and through our lives, we must make our calling and election sure by shoring up the “first principles of the doctrine of Christ.” Therefore, I thought it expedient to review the foundational first works that Christ preached before we get ahead of our skis.

The first words that Christ spoke as He came into a village was, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” And then He would say, “Have faith in God.” These are the first two teachings of “the apostles’ doctrine” (Acts 2:42; Heb. 6:1-2). Christians coming into His body must first repent of their sins. But they have been taught a watered-down conception of what “repentance” means. They say that feeling sorry for your sins is repentance. Not so. The same thing has happened to the word “sin.”

The false teachers say that you cannot live without sinning. But the scriptures say, “Whosoever is born of God does not commit sin…” (I John 3:9).

Concerning the Sin Question

But someone will ask, “How then do I live without sinning? I’ve been told that I can’t, that I’ll always sin. That’s what they’ve told me.” Confusion abounds about the sin question, so not many people discuss it, much less preach it.

Christians have been taught to call every shortcoming that we have as sin. But “sin is the transgression of the law” (I John 3:4). Which law? The Ten Commandments.

It is a spiritual law. These commandments deal with heavy, dark actions of the heart. They are given to show man what sin is. We are talking about murder, stealing, adultery, coveting, having other gods before the God of Moses, and others. These Ten Commandments were not made for a righteous man, but for the sinner. Let the apostle expound on this: “We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine” (I Tim. 1:9-10).

Nevertheless, many people say that eating too much is a sin, that impatience is a sin, that drinking a glass of wine is a sin, that losing your temper is a sin, that shuffling your feet on a sawdust floor is a sin. These are faults perhaps, but not sins. There is a big difference in the gravity of the offenses. It is like comparing a third degree misdemeanor with a first degree felony.

Considering this, we need to examine ourselves and ask, “Do I steal? Do I lie? Do I commit adultery? Do I hate and murder people or want to kill someone for selfish reasons? Go down the list of the Ten Commandments. Now think again about faults and shortcomings that you have.  Do you see the difference?

Sins are weighty things that make up this spiritual law. It is a law that natural man cannot keep on his own strength and merit. The sinner’s ineptness thereby is revealed. But the Spirit has shown us the way.

The New Heart

The Ten Commandment law can only be kept by God’s Spirit residing in the new heart of a Christian. And many of us have had the Spirit come down in a new life-giving way. And in God’s eyes, we are His sinless children. And He watches over us, and He cares for us and helps us when we neither know how to go in or come out. In other words, He looks on the heart and judges after the new heart that He has given us. He knows that we are immature and need the milk of the word so that we can grow up to be like Him and His apostles and prophets. We have faults and shortcomings, but we have been changed at our core.

And, perhaps, some sincere followers of Christ are still in sin. I am not their judge. I am not anyone’s judge. However, I am content to share the light that He has given me over these past 50 years.

The unregenerated human heart is a sinful one–lies, adultery, thefts, idolatry, coveting your neighbor’s possessions. But the new heart from God at our new birth from above is an astonishing miracle done by the invisible hands of our Savior. It is an amazing spiritual heart transplant. And we need to be able to explain how this happens.

His will is for us to grow to be like Him and His apostles. To do this we must know and do the foundational principles of Christ’s doctrine. We have a need to be rooted in the first works of repentance and faith before we go on to deeper doctrines. They go hand in hand and form the very matrix for the other teachings to grow.

Without faith, you cannot please God (Heb. 11:6). Why? Because God is an invisible Spirit. We cannot see Him, but we can see the effects of His presence within a person. We cannot see Him, but we take notice and are astonished when we see a man transformed by this Pneuma/Spirit we call God. He is the man who used to be a soldier who cursed worse than a sailor. He was an adulterer, a druggie, and a thief but was changed into a praise giving grateful follower of this invisible God.

I used to be that sinner. But I had a mentor that explained to me how to repent from sin by taking my old selfish sinful self to the cross and letting it die with Christ, and being buried with Him, and by faith in His resurrection, be raised to walk in a newness of life (Rom. 6:4; Col. 2:12).

You have read Romans 6:1-12. Read it again. “Knowing this that our old self is crucified with Christ.” We have been baptized into His death. When Christ died, sin died. When we die with Him—over and done with—our old sin nature dies with Him. That is repentance from sin.

Having faith in His resurrection is believing in our own resurrection. “I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me…by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for me” (Gal. 2:20). That is repentance from sin and faith toward God. These two concepts must be rock solid in our hearts before the Spirit takes us into deeper living waters.

It all boils down to believing in Christ’s resurrection—not just His own personal resurrection, but our being raised to walk in a newness of life, too. He has faith in His own power and plan. He is waiting patiently until we all have this truth firmly in our hearts.   Kenneth Wayne Hancock

For much more on this check out these articles:

Repentance from Sin and Faults–But What’s the Difference? | Immortality Road (wordpress.com)

Christ Says, “Repent!” Repent from What? “Sin.” How Do I Do That? | Immortality Road (wordpress.com)

[My books go into to these things much deeper. Send for a free copy with free shipping.  Ordering My Free Books in Paperback | Immortality Road (wordpress.com)