Being shuved in the right direction

One of our members came across a webpage that encouraged people to worry about their motivation in repenting and suggested that only contrition (sorrow over having offended God motivated by love of Him) and not attrition (regret motivated by fear of punishment) is "good enough." 

Ach! Where do I begin?! 

 For one thing, that position makes a disastrously false assumption about the role of repentance that completely destroys the Gospel. Unfortunately, I suspect that it's one which most American and Canadian and British and ANZAC Christians share: the notion that we somehow merit God's forgiveness by repenting (and of course, by doing it "right!"). Somehow, it never seems to dawn on people that to see it that way makes repentance a good work that justifies us! 

 Below is a video of a talk on repentance by Pastor John Drosendahl at a youth conference. I've posted it before; you might or might not have seen it. He does such an excellent job of explaining the role of repentance, and what it is, and how it happens, that I thought I'd share it again. As Pastor Drosendahl explains, the Hebrew word for repentance- shuve- means simply either "turn" or "return." The Greek word- metanoia- means "to change one's mind." To repent is to turn from sin and return to God. It is to change one's mind about sin. Or actually- since Scripture is absolutely clear that repentance and faith are gifts, worked within hearts which otherwise would want nothing to do with God by the Holy Spirit- it would probably, as Pastor Drosendahl explains, be better to say that rather than repenting we are repented. As Ephesians 2:10 tells us, even our good works are gifts of God's grace, things He does in us. We are turned. Our minds are changed.

But it's not repentance that saves us, except in the sense that part of repentance is faith- another gift. The turning is not what saves us. What saves us is the One to Whom we are turned. There is simply no biblical basis for the notion that one's motive for turning from sin to Christ is an issue. What matters is that we are turned to Him.

 Don't fall into the trap of worrying about how sorry you are, or whether you're sorry for the right reason. What matters is the One to Whom you turn. You are not saved by the good work of turning, or of changing your mind. You are saved by Jesus- by grace alone, through the gift of faith alone.

 Here's Pastor Drosendahl's talk: