YT YouTube2Text

YouTube2Text → Transcripts → Make Repentance Great Again | Theocast

Make Repentance Great Again | Theocast — Transcript

by Theocast with Jon Moffitt · 8,928 words · 1,267 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

Open in transcriber Summarize with AI Download SRT/VTT

Full transcript

0:00When I say the word repent,
0:03how do you feel?
0:05Or when I say confess your sins,
0:08what does that evoke in you? If you're
0:11out there and repentance feels scary or
0:15there's an edge to it, it's threatening,
0:16or the confession of sin feels the same,
0:19this podcast today is for you. John and
0:21I are going to have a a sweet
0:22conversation about how good God is to
0:24us, how forgiving, how merciful he is,
0:26and how as we've been united to Jesus in
0:28faith, and we're now in the family of
0:30God, it is the best thing in the world
0:32to live a life of continual repentance
0:35and of continual open confession of sin.
0:38We want to walk in the light together.
0:40There is freedom and there is joy to be
0:42found in it. So, let's make repentance
0:45great again. Stay tuned. Hey guys, this
0:48is Justin.
0:50Maybe you know that you are forgiven
0:52because of Jesus Christ, but you're
0:55wondering, "What does Jesus have to do
0:57with my Christian life? How is he
0:59involved in my sanctification even? Or
1:03is he concerned at all with the ways
1:04that I struggle and the way that my life
1:06goes up and down? Is there any comfort
1:08for me in Jesus when it comes to all of
1:10that?" Well, I've written a book called
1:12More Than Forgiven: How Being in Christ
1:15Changes Everything that deals with this
1:18topic from Romans chapter 6. You can
1:20find this book at theoccast.org.
1:31[Music]
1:32We're so thankful to have you back here
1:34at Theoccast, but we're going to have
1:36some conversations today about the
1:38Christian life from a reformed and
1:40pastoral perspective. But Justin, the
1:42thing that we're we're going to try
1:43anyways. We're definitely going to have
1:44a conversation. That's our game. That's
1:46our goal. We just want to pull the
1:48flutter off the gospel. Make Christ the
1:50center of his book again, which means it
1:53needs to be the center of your life. As
1:55we say at thecast, all of Christ for all
1:57of life through all of scripture. That's
1:59our goal today. And uh if this is your
2:01first time listening, we're so glad that
2:02you're here and we pray this is not only
2:05informative, but also more importantly
2:07that you're encouraged in your faith.
2:09Your hosts are Justin Purdue, pastor of
2:11Covenant Baptist Church in Asheville,
2:13North Carolina. For the last 10 years,
2:14you just celebrated 10 years, so that's
2:16exciting. True.
2:17>> And I'm John Moff, the pastor of Grace
2:19Reform Church in Spring Hill, Tennessee,
2:21coming up on eight years for me. So it's
2:23been fun. We've been doing this podcast
2:25for quite a while now. Like five, six,
2:27six years.
2:28>> Over six. Yeah.
2:29>> Six years together. You We were young
2:31back then when we started that. We were
2:33in our 30s.
2:34>> We were soldiers once and young. That's
2:37from that. No good. You You know that we
2:39were soldiers movie.
2:40>> Oh, dude. Classic movie.
2:43>> Classic movie. Yeah. My my uh Well, I'm
2:45not going to get off on movies and TV
2:46shows, otherwise I'll get distracted.
2:48Yeah.
2:48>> That's not why people are here, I don't
2:49think.
2:49>> No. No. Hey, if you're new, I just want
2:52to point out
2:52>> pop culture references are dated anyway
2:54because as you alluded to already, we're
2:55old. We're old,
2:57>> dude. Dude, some of the stuff that I say
2:59from the 90s and my kids look at me
3:01like, "What?"
3:02>> Yeah. I had to like frontload a pop
3:04culture reference in a sermon recently.
3:05I was like, "Now, listen."
3:06>> Oh, there you go.
3:06>> For all you, this is from the 90s. Okay.
3:09So, yeah.
3:10>> Yeah.
3:10>> There you go.
3:11>> All right. We digress. Go ahead, John.
3:12Keep
3:13>> We digress. Yeah. Some things you might
3:14want to Hey, look, go to our website,
3:15theoccast.org. So many resources there.
3:18We have um we have a free ebook that
3:22will really help you understand the
3:24concept of pyotism versus things like
3:26revivalism and confessionalism. It's
3:29just a really short easy read. It's
3:31free. Would love for you to have it.
3:32Justin's new book is over there. More
3:34than forgiven. Also a really great easy
3:36read. Um we have articles. We have lots
3:40of great stuff. We have a community that
3:42has over 200 people in it and uh really
3:45refreshing, very safe in that we do we
3:48do not allow there to be this constant
3:50fighting um and bantering. It's just not
3:53helpful. But there is great
3:55conversations and disagreements
3:57agreeably and that's why it's very
3:59different from other platforms
4:01charitably. Yeah,
4:02>> charitably. Anyways, you can learn more
4:04about all of that. Justin, let's jump
4:05into it. Um because this is uh I want to
4:08use all all of our time today. Let's
4:10jump into this topic. You and I just
4:12said, I don't I'm not going to steal the
4:14thunder, but I'm going to set it up. You
4:15and I just said we've been doing this
4:16for six years. And that means we've had
4:20a long time for people to listen to us
4:23for a long time. And that doesn't mean
4:25that people always understand everything
4:28that we say. And I'll own the fact that
4:31sometimes we could be more clear. And
4:34today is probably going to be one of
4:35those episodes where we're going to say,
4:36"All right, in case you misunderstood
4:38us, let us be clear." Mhm.
4:41>> Yeah. Or the
4:43>> classic don't hear what we're not
4:45saying. Right.
4:46>> Right.
4:46>> And it I agree with you. There are times
4:49that we could have been more clear or
4:52you and I are growing in our
4:54understanding and our ability to
4:56communicate.
4:57>> Sure.
4:57>> To nuance appropriately, hold things in
4:59appropriate tension, all that. So, we
5:01want to acknowledge all those things out
5:02of the gate. Sure.
5:03>> Right. The conversation today is
5:06effectively about life in Christ, but we
5:09want to talk about a number of really
5:10good things like repentance,
5:14>> confession of sin, walking in the light,
5:17things like this. I don't know if you're
5:20out there and you're listening to this,
5:22if I say the word repentance,
5:25>> what kind of feelings does that produce?
5:27What does that evoke in you?
5:30>> Or if I say confess your sin,
5:33or confess that you are a sinner. How
5:36does that land on you?
5:38There are certainly ways that repentance
5:40or the confession of sin or fill in the
5:43blank have been communicated, preached
5:46in unhelpful
5:48fashion, right? Like where it's really
5:51threatening, it's exacting, it's
5:52heavy-handed, and people have some scar
5:54tissue. We understand all that. But
5:56where we're going to go today is that
5:58repentance is a really good thing. It's
6:00a it's an evangelical grace. It's a
6:02grace of God. It's something that God
6:04grants to us. That the confession of
6:07sin, open confession of sin and walking
6:09in the light is wonderful. And how the
6:12Lord Jesus has set us free from bondage
6:15to the devil and to sin, our corruption.
6:19And we should live in that freedom. And
6:22repentance and confession are integral
6:25components of that freedom that we have
6:27in Christ. And we should be all about
6:30it.
6:32I'll start with this to chalk the field.
6:35As I like to say, we agree with Thomas
6:39Boston and others who would say that the
6:43offer of the gospel
6:45is characterized or is described perhaps
6:49most effectively in the scriptures by
6:51two verses.
6:53>> Matthew 11:28 where Jesus says, "Come to
6:56me all who are weary and heavy laden and
6:58I will give you rest." or Isaiah 55:1,
7:02"Come everyone who thirsts, come to the
7:05waters. Come and buy wine and milk
7:09without money and without price." That's
7:11the call of the gospel.
7:14So when we hold Jesus out like that,
7:17when we preach not just what he did, but
7:19we preach who he is and what he's like,
7:21and Christ is really present with us as
7:23he is proclaimed, the Lord comes by the
7:26power of his Holy Spirit and gives life
7:28to dead sinners. and edifies us. He
7:31Amen. Like that is how this works. So
7:35the call to sinners is effectively cast
7:39yourself on Christ.
7:40>> Yeah.
7:41>> And we are unapologetically
7:44standing and planting our flag in the
7:46tradition of the marrow men. The marrow
7:47controversy as people may know. We've
7:49talked about it many times. So we are
7:51all about the marrow theology where we
7:54agree that there is nothing that sinners
7:56need to do in order to come to Christ.
8:00>> Really important. So the call is not
8:02clean yourself up and come to Jesus. The
8:05call is not prepare your heart and come
8:07to Jesus. The call is not forsake sin
8:09and come to Jesus. The call is come to
8:12Christ. Cast yourself on him. Believe,
8:15accept, rest, trust in Christ. And then
8:18in our experience, just want to be super
8:20clear here. As the Lord comes and
8:22regenerates, he gives life to dead
8:24people through the proclamation of
8:25Christ. In our experience, that
8:28regeneration
8:29produces things like faith in Christ and
8:33repentance where we're turning from
8:34ourselves to Christ. So the turning from
8:37self certainly is a turning from our
8:39sin, but it's also a turn from our own
8:41righteousness, whatever that is,
8:43>> a turning from our own virtue in our own
8:45minds. And we're turning to that's a big
8:48emphasis of repentance is it's not just
8:50a turning from it's a turning to who? A
8:53turning to Christ always. And so I one
8:56of the things I'm sure we're going to
8:57say today in depicting how beautiful and
8:59good repentance is is that the Christian
9:01life in Christ is a life of continual
9:03repentance. Martin Luther and the
9:05reformers said this all the time because
9:07we're always turning to Jesus in faith.
9:09We're always looking to Christ outside
9:11of ourselves. We're looking to Christ
9:12who is outside of us to save what's
9:14wrong in us all the time.
9:16That's right.
9:17>> So, let's not be afraid of repentance or
9:19the confession of sin or walking in the
9:21light or any of those things. We
9:22shouldn't be afraid of of words like
9:23fruitful or effective. Like, these are
9:25good things.
9:26>> Yep.
9:27>> And so, that's our conversation today.
9:29We hope this reframes this entire thing
9:31for you so that you can with joy and in
9:35freedom and it with peace in your heart
9:37repent and confess continually. Mhm.
9:42One of the things that Paul says lot a
9:43lot of times um and a lot apostles do a
9:46lot in their epistles. I can think of in
9:48first John where they talk about growing
9:50in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior
9:52Jesus Christ. um they want us to be
9:55aware of who Christ is and and and I
9:58think there is a good a safe way of
9:59saying all of Christ for all of our life
10:02>> which means there are aspects of
10:04Christ's life that there's a way in
10:06which we interact with Christ when we
10:09come into the family which is we by
10:11faith believe and then there's how we
10:13interact once we are in Christ by faith
10:17we repent in believing right and the way
10:20I would describe it is um it's kind of a
10:22retelling of the New Testament story. We
10:26were tell we were slaves. Yeah. We were
10:28slaves held captive as maybe a child in
10:31a in a third world country who's running
10:34the streets um as an orphan and uh
10:37wreaking havoc and in in hating
10:39everything that is, you know, in
10:41existence. It's there. in our God and
10:44King came came down and rescued us out
10:47of the slums of our debauchery by paying
10:51for all of the crimes that we had
10:53committed in our running of the streets.
10:56And then it says he cle he cleans us and
11:00then he clothes us and then he brings us
11:02into the family and we have a whole new
11:06way of thinking. And that entire process
11:08of of the ransom being paid, the
11:12cleansing, the covering and the
11:14renaming, that whole ceremony, that
11:16whole situation is by grace by God, by
11:19God's grace to us, right? And how do we
11:22know this is true of us? It says if you
11:24believe, you know this is true of you.
11:26Like you have this because the father
11:27has given you the gift of what? The
11:31grace of faith. So now that you're
11:34inside the family, he uh he says,
11:37"Listen, not only do you have a new
11:40name, you have a new title, and you have
11:42a new job description because you're now
11:44ambassadors, you're now temples, you're
11:46now light, you're now salt, I mean, all
11:48of these things that are given to us."
11:50And uh you know, my daughter was she
11:52came to me last night asking for some
11:54help. Her Bible teacher wanted her to
11:56give uh like a lesson out of second
11:59Timothy. And there with passage that she
12:01chose was um the one about not uh
12:05getting entangled in civilian pursuits,
12:07right? No soldier gets himself entangled
12:09in pi civilian pursuits, right? And so
12:11there's there is a if you're getting
12:12entangled with the world and the
12:14pursuits of the world as one who is an
12:17ambassador of the king who's been
12:19rescued out of the world, you are called
12:21to repent of that. Not because your
12:23adoption is at stake, that's secure.
12:27It's because uh God has a better plan
12:30and a better way for you to live that is
12:32in freedom in joy but it's also for the
12:35betterment of the kingdom and for those
12:38outside the kingdom that we might draw
12:39them in. So repentance becomes extremely
12:42valuable to the believer because we are
12:44constantly being tempted and drawn away
12:46by our own flesh, by the world, and by
12:50the evil one to get us either to be
12:54hurtful to the kingdom. Like we're we're
12:56actually doing sinful things that are
12:57hurtful or at least lazy and distracted.
13:00So we're always living in a constant
13:02state of repentance. As Hebrews says,
13:04we're looking unto Jesus, the author and
13:05finisher of our faith, setting aside the
13:07weight and the sin that besets us. Why?
13:09Cuz we are running a race. We are doing
13:12something of value. We have a focal
13:14point. We know where we're know where
13:15we're going. And this is why Paul's uses
13:18language like a soldier and war and
13:21weapons and race. It's because there's
13:23actual energy being spent by the
13:25believer in doing something positive
13:28instead of I'm not trying to mess up. I
13:31agree. The Christian life is not about
13:33not messing up. And if you think that,
13:34oh, God will hate me or he's not going
13:36to be uh I'm going to lose my salvation.
13:38all the that's horrible, right? That is
13:40an anemic gospel that needs to be buried
13:44underneath, you know, rubble. Um, so
13:48we need to have a clarity of how we come
13:51into the kingdom. But once you're into
13:52the kingdom, dear believer, repentance
13:54is a beautiful gift because we don't
13:56have to remain in sin. We can fall into
13:59it and repent of it. We can be tempted
14:01by it and repent of it by the power of
14:03God's spirit in us. Um, and so
14:06repentance becomes a joy for the
14:07believer because the power of the spirit
14:09is in us so that we can focus on
14:11something greater than us, which is the
14:13work of the kingdom. And I think this is
14:15the conversation that you and I have
14:17loved about having over these last few
14:19years is helping people one pull the
14:21clutter off the gospel and then find
14:23purpose and meaning in their life
14:24outside of their flesh and the world in
14:27the rest of Christ. Like our book on
14:30rest even has a whole section on it. Now
14:32what? Like what about obedience? It's in
14:35there because there is there is an
14:37essence that restful people are the most
14:39effective because they're not exhausted
14:42by trying to figure out if God loves
14:44them or not.
14:46>> So true. The way I'll begin to frame and
14:48depict the goodness of repentance and
14:51even confession of sin. I'll start Psalm
14:5332 just first few verses. This is
14:56>> I I would encourage people to read this,
14:58reflect on it. Psalm 32 begins, "Blessed
15:01is the one whose transgression is
15:02forgiven." And so not the person who
15:05doesn't have transgression, but whose
15:06transgression is forgiven by God, the
15:09only one who can forgive sin. Blessed is
15:11the one whose sin is covered. So not
15:13that you don't have sin, but that it's
15:15covered, which God does for us in
15:17Christ.
15:18>> Blessed is the man against whom the Lord
15:19counts no iniquity. Not that you don't
15:21have iniquity, but the Lord doesn't
15:22count it against you. Then these words,
15:25and in whose spirit there is no deceit.
15:28All right. So what does that mean?
15:30What would it be like? Or what kind of
15:33person? Let me frame this way. What kind
15:34of person is it in whose spirit there is
15:38no deceit?
15:39>> I think
15:41the most basic answer, I don't want to I
15:43don't want to bury the lead,
15:45>> is that you you know yourself
15:48accurately. You know yourself rightly.
15:52You're not deluding yourself into
15:54thinking that you're not a sinner
15:56>> or you're not looking at yourself, well,
15:59you know, it's kind of bad, but it's not
16:00that bad or whatever. You're honest
16:03about yourself and what you are in Adam
16:06in your fallen nature, your flesh. So to
16:10be a person in whose spirit there is no
16:11deceit is to acknowledge and own that
16:15about yourself that you are the chief of
16:17sinners. And it's very clear that that's
16:20what David means because the very next
16:23verse he says, "For when I kept silent,
16:26my bones wasted away through my groaning
16:28all day long." When he kept silent about
16:30what? When he kept silent about his sin,
16:32when he kept silent about his
16:33transgression, when he kept silent about
16:35his iniquity, then he was literally
16:37dying from the inside out. That's what
16:39he says. For day and night, your hand
16:40was heavy on me and my strength was
16:42dried up as by the heat of summer. So
16:44the hand of God was heavy on him, not
16:46because God's mean, but because God
16:48loves him and because God desires that
16:51he would be open and honest about his
16:53sin, that he would confess.
16:57>> And then verse five, I acknowledged my
16:59sin to you and I did not cover my
17:01iniquity. I said, I will confess my
17:04transgressions to the Lord and you
17:06forgave the iniquity of my sin.
17:09>> Beautiful. So, confession of sin, being
17:12honest about ourselves and owning, it's
17:15worse than we actually want to say is a
17:18grace and it's good for us. Like, this
17:21sounds I'm just going to say it and I'll
17:23explain it. There is actually a kind of
17:25gospel
17:27in acknowledging that every one of us
17:29are ruined under sin. And and I'm not
17:31trying to say that the bad news is the
17:33good news, that whole thing that people
17:34do. That's not what I mean. But there is
17:36freedom to be found in acknowledging
17:38that my corruption runs far deeper than
17:40I even care to acknowledge because then
17:42it forces me to this conclusion. I have
17:46to have a savior. I have to have a
17:48redeemer who has covered my sin and
17:51provided me with righteousness. And we
17:53have been given such a redeemer in the
17:55person of Jesus of Nazareth. Right?
17:57Because it's not about cleaning my life
17:59up, John. It's not about moral
18:01transformation so that I know that God
18:03and I are good. I could never do that
18:06because here's the deal. Like I'll just
18:08I'm not trying to be a provocator here,
18:09but
18:11you can stop getting drunk. You can stop
18:14looking at porn. You can start your day
18:16every every day reading the Bible rather
18:18than doom scrolling social media or
18:21reading about football or politics or
18:23celebrity gossip or whatever your thing
18:24is. You can do all that stuff. But
18:27there's something that you and I and
18:28nobody listening to this podcast can do
18:30anything about and that's called the
18:32corruption of sin that that runs real
18:35deep. And we have to have a redeemer, a
18:39savior to rescue us from that.
18:42>> Which the conclusion there should be,
18:44man, there is so much freedom to be
18:46found in knowing and acknowledging that
18:49I am a sinner sold under sin in bondage.
18:53And the only way that I could ever know
18:54freedom is if God does it for me. This
18:57isn't about what I do. This isn't about
18:59what I achieve. This is about what he
19:01has done for me. And I live every day by
19:03the grace of God in the hands of my
19:04redeemer. And he holds me close. And I
19:07just want to continue to acknowledge
19:08this
19:09>> and know the rest and the freedom that
19:12can be found in that
19:14>> and then I can help other people to know
19:16the same thing.
19:18>> Yeah. Yeah. I This is where I think cate
19:21again categories matter. Repentance unto
19:23salvation is very different than
19:25repentance in salvation. Right? So if
19:28I'm in Christ, I'm repenting. Like Paul
19:30says, walk by the spirit and you will
19:32not fulfill the lust of the flesh. All
19:33right? So if you're fulfilling the lust
19:35of the flesh, you're not walking by the
19:37the spirit. Repentance means to turn. So
19:39we need to turn away from walking
19:41towards fleshly desires and fleshly
19:44promises and we start walking towards
19:47spiritual desires and spiritual
19:49promises. Right? We desire the things of
19:51the spirit. This is why we set our minds
19:54and our hearts on things that are above,
19:56right? Where we look past the scene and
19:58we look to the unseen. These are all
19:59these verses that are given to us over
20:00and over and again. So if we are in
20:03Christ, we think differently. And the
20:06problem is Paul says that we are both in
20:09Christ and a sinner at the same time.
20:12You are indwelt by the power of the Holy
20:14Spirit and yet your body is still
20:16fallen. Right? That's what makes Jesus
20:18so different from us in that he had a
20:20body that was not fallen. He was sinless
20:23and and yet he did experience
20:25temptation. So it is this is this is a
20:28totally another podcast. We need to do
20:29one on this Justin but helping people
20:31understand temptation is not sin. To be
20:34tempted is not sin. Jesus was tempted in
20:37every way in which we are yet without
20:38sin. Right? So we are going to feel
20:41temptation for the rest of our life. and
20:43you will either resist temptation by the
20:46power of the spirit or you will give in
20:49and that's because you're trying to use
20:51the power of the flesh. Every time that
20:53you use your flesh and you do fleshly
20:55things, you need to repent of that and
20:57put your heart and your mind back on
20:58Christ. This is why the there's so many
21:01verses like First John talks about if
21:03you say you're without sin, you're a
21:04liar and the truth is not in you, right?
21:06Why we need to confess our sin. Why?
21:09Because it is evident you're sinning.
21:12Therefore, repentance is necessary not
21:14unto salvation, but unto restoration
21:17where we took our eyes and it's not that
21:19God moved away from us. And I know this
21:21is the cheese and Christian easys, but
21:23there is an essence where we took our
21:25eyes off of Christ and we're repenting
21:26of that. Lord, I took my eyes off you
21:28and I'm here to tell you that I need
21:30your forgiveness and give me the
21:32strength and grace to put my eyes back
21:33on you. If you're new to theoccast, you
21:36may not have heard of this word. It's
21:37called pyotism. You ever felt like the
21:40Christian life is a heavy burden versus
21:43rest and joy? That you wake up worrying
21:46about how well you're going to perform
21:47instead of thinking about what Christ
21:49has done for you. It's dread versus joy.
21:52Really, that's pyotism. Potism causes
21:55Christians to look in on themselves and
21:58find their hope, not in what Christ has
22:00done, but what they're doing. And we
22:03have a little book for you. It's free.
22:04We want you to download it. And we're
22:06going to explain the difference between
22:07pyism and what we call confessionalism.
22:10Reformed theology really how it is that
22:12we walk by faith seeing the joy of
22:14Christ and when Jesus says come to me
22:16and I will give you rest. What does that
22:18look like? You can download it at our
22:20website. Just go to theocass.org. I
22:23appreciate the distinctions we're
22:24drawing here. There is this, you know,
22:26even to use the language of our
22:27confession. the
22:30a part of our effectual calling, a part
22:32of our regeneration is repentance,
22:35right? It's a it's an evangelical grace.
22:37But what we're getting at here is that
22:39there's a way like when Jesus is
22:41preached, God does his thing. It results
22:43in faith and repentance. That's a gift
22:44of God. Then we live in the Christian
22:47life with an ongoing posture of
22:49repentance. That is also God's grace to
22:51us, but it is something that we are
22:53called to do continually. Like you said,
22:55we're we're all the time confessing that
22:57I have sin in me, that my flesh still
23:00loves sin, and that I have taken my eyes
23:02off of you, Lord. I have not loved you
23:04with my whole heart. I've been enamored
23:05with things of the world. I have all
23:07these cravings and passions and thoughts
23:09and fears that come from my flesh
23:12>> and they're there. And I am I'm
23:14acknowledging that they're wrong. So,
23:16I'm agreeing with you. I'm siding with
23:18you against them. And I'm turning to
23:19Christ in faith for my continual
23:22cleansing and healing and restoration
23:24and strength and nourishment. I know I'm
23:27forgiven. I know I'm loved because I am
23:29in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is how we
23:31live as Christians and we need to
23:32encourage one another in it.
23:35>> Thinking along the lines of Psalm 51,
23:37another very well-known passage to many
23:39of the people listening to this podcast.
23:41I mean, this is in the aftermath of
23:42David's gross sin with Bath Sheba and
23:45Uriah and the whole thing. And Nathan
23:47the prophet comes to him, you know, and
23:49David rightly thinking he's talking
23:50about somebody else, pronounces the
23:52sentence on himself. The man who has
23:54done this deserves to die. That's true,
23:56right? I mean, it is true. And so then
23:59he's he's pleading with the Lord, have
24:00mercy on me. And he grounds this plea in
24:03the in the character of God according to
24:05your steadfast love and according to
24:06your abundant mercy, Lord, blot out my
24:08transgressions. And the Lord's like, I I
24:10have and I will.
24:11>> I I am he who blotss out your
24:13transgressions for my own sake, and I
24:14will not remember your sins. Right?
24:16David says, "Wash me thoroughly from my
24:18iniquity and cleanse me from my sin."
24:19The Lord's like, "I have 1 Corinthians
24:216:11." Such were some of you, but you
24:23were washed. Right? You were sanctified.
24:25I mean, this is the gospel message.
24:27>> And then he talks about how his sin is
24:28always before him. How he's conceived in
24:30iniquity. And that's a whole other
24:31podcast on original sin and everything
24:33that that means for us.
24:34>> But then he gets down well-known verses.
24:36Create in me a clean heart, oh God, and
24:39renew a right spirit within me. Why does
24:41he ask the Lord for that? Because only
24:42God can grant such things. you. We can
24:45do all the human activities associated
24:47with repentance. And sometimes those
24:49have a place, but we can do all the
24:51stuff. We can cover ourselves in in
24:52sackcloth and ashes. We can go to
24:55confession for hours a day. We can
24:56practice self- flagagillation like our
24:58boy Martin Luther did.
24:59>> We can fast. We can try to conjure up
25:01sorrow and emotion over sin. We can do
25:03all that stuff and it will not those
25:05things in and of themselves will never
25:06get us any closer to having a clean
25:08heart,
25:09>> right?
25:09>> Or a right spirit. God has to do it.
25:12Which is why we pray, you know, even in
25:14the midst of our sin and when we're
25:17turning to God in faith and when we're
25:19confessing our sin, we confess it. We
25:21own it and we ask the Lord,
25:24>> Lord, you say, "You're faithful and just
25:26to forgive me for my sins and to cleanse
25:28me from all unrighteousness. Please do
25:29that. I need you to."
25:31>> And then, Lord, I know that I need you
25:33to do the work in me that I could never
25:35do for myself. Create in me a clean
25:36heart. Give me that. Renew a right
25:39spirit within me. Lord, I know that I'm
25:41I'm not in a good place. I need you to
25:42do this work in me and you're faithful
25:45to do it because you love me and you're
25:47for me. We talk in these ways and we
25:50confess these things. We pray this way
25:52and it's good also to pray. Hey, I know
25:54that I don't like this. Uh Lord, I know
25:57that I'm I'm not brokenhearted over my
25:59sin in a way that I should be. Because I
26:01mean down here, the sacrifices of God
26:03are a broken spirit, a broken contrite
26:05heart. Oh God, you will not despise.
26:06Amen. Just like in Psalm 50, the psalm
26:09before that, make thanksgiving your
26:10sacrifice. Live a life of gratitude to
26:12God for what he's done for you. But to
26:14acknowledge like my I know my heart's
26:15not broken the way that it should be
26:16over my sin. Lord, please work in me.
26:19>> You know, I I don't feel I'm not as
26:21contrite as I need to be, as I want to
26:23be. Please give me that grace.
26:26>> This is the life of a Christian
26:27constant.
26:29>> Yeah. I think it creates humility, too.
26:30Like when you realize your sin is ever
26:32before you,
26:33>> you're you're you're less likely to be
26:36judgmental. You know, Paul when he says,
26:38"I am I am present tense the chiefest of
26:41sinners."
26:42>> Um there's this quote by Thomas Watson
26:44in his book, The Doctrine of Repentance.
26:46>> It says, um, "As our sin is ever before
26:49us, so God's promises must ever be
26:52before us.
26:53>> As we much feel our sting, so we must
26:57look up to Christ, our brazen serpent."
26:59And I think there is that that constant
27:02like if to acknowledge that post
27:04salvation.
27:05>> So post entrance into the uh the family
27:08of God, there will be the constant
27:10struggle with sin in a new way because
27:12it says you're a new kind of creature
27:14because you have new power that you can
27:16struggle against it. And as you fail,
27:18you have a new gift of constant covering
27:20of its grace. Um and I think if you
27:23don't acknowledge that, I think you'll
27:25allow sin to linger longer in your life.
27:27I think you'll end up uh Paul warns
27:30about a hardened heart,
27:32>> brother. You try to hide it.
27:34>> You try to just delude yourself about
27:36it. Yeah.
27:37>> You can become hardened. Um I've met
27:39hardened Christians. I've met people who
27:42their conscience is seared. You're like,
27:44"Man, that should bother you, dude. Like
27:45that." Do not bother by the
27:47deceitfulness of sin.
27:49>> Uh be sober minded. Be watchful. These
27:52are all things if you're not, then you
27:54need to repent of that. Repent of not
27:56being sober minded. like allowing the
27:58deceitfulness of the world to occupy
28:01your mind that's you should repent of
28:02that the deceitfulness of sin means at
28:04least a couple of things in my mind in
28:06this moment and that like meaning this
28:08how I would speak to it one is sin is
28:11deceitful in that we think it's in our
28:14flesh we think it's good
28:15>> so that so it deceives in that way
28:17>> but then there is also like being
28:20hardened by the deceitfulness of sin
28:22it's like don't kid yourself into
28:24thinking that you can kind of coddle
28:25this thing and you can kind of cherish
28:27this thing over here and that it won't
28:29have an effect on you. It will do
28:30exactly to you what David pinned in
28:32Psalm 32. You'll waste away from the
28:34inside out. It'll kill it'll kill you.
28:36It won't take you from Christ. I don't
28:38mean it like that. But it it will wreck
28:40you. And so confess it. Bring it into
28:43the light. Share it with trusted
28:45brothers and sisters who can then speak
28:47a word to you and say, "It's good that
28:51you've pulled this into the light. I
28:52thank you for sharing this with me. and
28:54let me just remind you that you are
28:55forgiven in the Lord Jesus Christ. You
28:58know, like that's the that's the way to
28:59live in the church.
29:01>> Yeah. And I think it's important too to
29:03understand the tone of if you hear the
29:05tone uh that Justin and I are trying to
29:07give, we're trying to give a biblical
29:08tone where um sinners can be uh sorry uh
29:13those who are in Christ, Christians can
29:15be great sinners. And and I mean great
29:18in a way in which it's horrible like
29:19they can be horrible sinners,
29:21>> right? And the the New Testament is very
29:24clear on this. Old Testament is I mean
29:26there's so many examples of this. I'm
29:27preaching through I'm reading through
29:29Genesis and I know you just did.
29:32>> It is that book is vile. It is an utter
29:35vile book. Everybody's all excited about
29:37Genesis. I'm like when is the last time
29:39you read past the third chapter? Youch.
29:41This is a vile vile book, man,
29:43>> brother. It is.
29:44>> Anyway,
29:45>> it's so brutal. It's like not a kid
29:48story book, man. Past the third chapter.
29:50People talk about the book of Judges
29:51like it's utterly unique.
29:54>> I know.
29:54>> Uh you guys need to read more of the Old
29:56Testament, I think, because it is not
29:58pretty.
29:58>> I mean, these people are just like us. I
30:00mean, they're
30:01>> ruined. I don't I don't know if James is
30:04being metaphorical when he says, "Why
30:06are you murdering each other?" And I'm
30:08just like,
30:09>> man, are they were they really murdering
30:12each other in the church? You know, it's
30:14possible. Anyways, um the reason I'm I'm
30:17mentioning this is that there there is a
30:20difference between someone who is
30:22trapped in sin. in Ephesians 6:1 um so
30:26much so James 5 was that sorry Galatians
30:29not Ephesians Galatians 6:1
30:31>> um and know what I mean not what I say
30:34and
30:35>> 100%
30:35>> James not communication come on
30:38>> that's right the end of James where it
30:40talks about one can even sin unto death
30:42and he's talking about and it says you
30:45rescue a brother from death not his
30:47salvation but from his bodily deathan
30:50and safar I think are examples of this
30:52where the Lord or took them from this
30:54earth because of their sin against the
30:56church. So we can we as believers can do
31:00a lot of lot of sinful things and I
31:02think there's you know there there are
31:03there are ways to know if someone's a
31:05brother or a sister in Christ. First
31:07John gives us ways in which we can look
31:09at that and even false teachers. So we
31:12just because someone claims by mouth
31:14that they are a Christian doesn't
31:15necessarily mean that we have to uh
31:18affirm everything that's there.
31:20listener, hear us. Um, what I don't want
31:23you to do is then go into this concept.
31:25Well, if I'm not repenting, I must not
31:26be saved. No, no. That's the very thing
31:28I'm trying to tell you is that if you
31:30say, "I have faith in Christ." Great.
31:32Then you should start working on
31:34repenting, right? Like, it's it's a part
31:36of the it's a part of us growing in our
31:38faith and knowledge in Christ. Are you
31:39going to be good at it? No. Are you
31:40going to be perfect at it? Never. But
31:43it's something we long for because it's
31:45good and it's healthy and it's helpful
31:47for the work of the kingdom. And you
31:49cannot do it in your own strength. You
31:51have to have the power of the spirit
31:53through the means of grace in his
31:54church. This is why it says in going
31:56back to Galatians 6:1, if you get
31:58trapped in sin, go to them and pull them
32:00out. Why? Because there are times you're
32:01not even strong enough to repent
32:02yourself. You have to have Jesus through
32:04the church to repent you. So there's a
32:07difference between someone who's
32:08struggling, even trapped in sin, have
32:10been in sin for a very long time, and
32:11they know it. They know it. That's
32:14different. If that's you, dear brother
32:15or sister, then go to confess your sin.
32:18And if you're feeling the prick of the
32:19Holy Spirit right now, repent of that.
32:21But if you're here saying, "Nah, I don't
32:23need to repent." That that is not a part
32:24of the gospel. Um, here your warning uh
32:28from from first John and from Paul that
32:30if you think you can live in sin and
32:32it's not convicting you and that you
32:34don't need to confess it and that it's
32:36okay to live in open and and open
32:39rebellion and God accepts that and you
32:42don't need his grace and mercy. You are
32:44confused and the Bible has a very stark
32:46warning against you and there's church
32:48discipline for this very thing. So there
32:50is a difference between I don't need to
32:52repent. That's that's that's actually a
32:54lie. That's a lie from the hell and you
32:57need to hear that.
32:58>> That's a hard-hearted posture. Yeah. Oh,
33:00I don't need to repent. No, we all
33:01>> and it might be that you may not be a
33:02believer if that's if the position that
33:04you hold is that yeah, Christians don't
33:06need to repent. That is that is that is
33:08not biblical. And and hear this warning
33:11because there's a there's a real there's
33:12a real question as to whether you have
33:14understood
33:15>> that's right. certainly the fall and
33:17what it's done to you. And there's a
33:19real question as to whether you've
33:20understood the extent of the gospel and
33:22the grace of God and like how much we
33:25need grace all the time, not just on the
33:27front end, but continually. And how we
33:30do because we are sinner saints. We
33:33still go on fighting this war and we do
33:36fall and fail. And so we are always in
33:39need. We we're in need of Christ
33:41continually. We come to him for
33:43cleansing and forgiveness and for
33:44healing and restoration and all of that.
33:47And I don't know what else to call that
33:48other than repentance and yeah agreeing
33:51with God and and all those kinds of
33:52things that we've said. You mentioned 1
33:54Timothy 1 a minute ago. You know where
33:56Paul verses 15 and 16 says that
33:59>> you know Christ uh came into the world
34:01to save sinners. The saying is
34:03trustworthy right
34:04>> and worthy of full acceptance.
34:06>> That Christ Jesus came into the world to
34:08save sinners of whom I am the foremost
34:09says Paul. And then he continues on in
34:12verse 16 to say that the reason this
34:15that Jesus saved him and has been so
34:17patient with him and so merciful to him
34:19as the chief of sinners is so that the
34:22rest of the the saints, the rest of the
34:23church who have believed in Christ for
34:25salvation would know that Jesus is
34:27patient and merciful with them.
34:29>> It's beautiful like this is how we
34:31should live with one another and talk
34:33with one another in the church too. I
34:35confess my sin openly and and I
34:37acknowledge my need openly and even hold
34:40myself up as a great sinner in the midst
34:43of my brothers and sisters so that they
34:45would know in looking at me like, man,
34:47the Lord has been really patient with
34:49him. The Lord has been so gracious to
34:50him. The Lord has forgiven him. Perhaps
34:53he'll be patient and merciful with me.
34:55Perhaps he'll forgive me, too. That's
34:57how the Lord means this to work. And so
34:59whenever we act like we're not in need
35:01of forgiveness or we're not in need,
35:03well, I don't need to repent, we're
35:05we're harming other believers. We're
35:07robbing other believers of a testimony
35:09that could actually edify them and
35:11encourage them. And we're we're buying
35:14into lies of of the evil one, that we're
35:16fine.
35:17>> Because that's always Satan's tactic,
35:19right? Is for those of us who are in
35:21Christ, he seeks to cause us to doubt
35:23whether there's really mercy and grace
35:24for us. But then for those who are who
35:27are not, he wants to convince us, ah,
35:29you're fine.
35:30>> You don't need you don't need mercy. You
35:32don't need grace. You're good. Yeah.
35:34>> And may we never as Christians find
35:36ourselves in a place where we're like,
35:37yeah, I don't need mercy and grace and I
35:40don't need to turn from myself. I'm I'm
35:42I think I'm okay now. I think I've
35:43arrived. I don't think that's good at
35:45all. It's bad. It's scary.
35:46>> Yeah. There is a thing called godly
35:48sorrow. That's a real thing. Amen,
35:49brother.
35:50>> To feel to feel the shame of your sin
35:51and then the comfort of your savior. um
35:54that that is the Christian life is
35:56experienced. I think Justin, you know,
35:57every Sunday I do look forward to the
35:59moment of standing with my brothers and
36:01sister and feeling the the weight of the
36:03law and the ways in which I know in my
36:05heart I have we haven't done this.
36:08>> We haven't done this. Yeah.
36:09>> Which immediately is repeated by a
36:12prayer of confession and the comfort of
36:14the assurance of pardon from the gospel.
36:17And that's that that rhythm and habit
36:19becomes not only weekly but daily. and
36:21to be to be to encourage the believer.
36:24Listen, daily repentance is a wonderful
36:26gift because you don't have to carry the
36:29weight of your shame every day. Your
36:31father, Hebrews 4 tells us, your father
36:34is eager for you to run with confidence
36:36and boldness into his presence and say,
36:38"I need the mercy one more time, father,
36:41and I need the grace to believe." And he
36:43says it's there.
36:45>> Yeah. And you know, a couple of things
36:46here. Um, two thoughts. One, I think we
36:51buy into a lie that the more mature we
36:54become in the faith, the less we need to
36:56repent.
36:57>> I don't think that's true at all. I
36:58think the more mature we become and the
37:00more we grow, we actually repent more
37:02>> cuz we're we're more sin to repent of
37:05we're more keenly aware of like what you
37:07said. I'm I'm learning more and more
37:09what the law of God actually requires of
37:12me. Sure.
37:12>> At a spiritual level, at a heart level,
37:14at a thought level, you know, desire
37:16level. And I know in spite of my best
37:19efforts, you know, in the spirit by the
37:20grace of God to be obedient, I know that
37:24I have failed
37:25>> and I need to I need to repent and I
37:28need to I need to ask God yet again,
37:30like you said, for mercy and grace and
37:31for forgiveness and he delights to give
37:33it. So, don't buy into that that lie
37:35that the more mature you get, the more
37:37you grow, you know, the more uh the
37:39stronger you become, whatever. Like,
37:41you're going to just need to repent a
37:42lot less. Now, I think you'll probably
37:43repent more and you'll see more and more
37:46how what Luther and others have said
37:48that the Christian life is one of
37:49continual repentance, you'll be like yes
37:51and amen to that. I that's all we that's
37:54what we do. But then secondly,
37:57remember this too. I think a lot of
37:58times when we use the word repentance
38:00because of the way that it's often
38:02preached and communicated, it has this
38:04very negative threatening connotation to
38:06it.
38:07>> We should not view it that way.
38:09Repentance is a gift and it's a grace.
38:11We've already said that. But remember
38:12what the Lord says about how he views
38:15repentance. He's joyful about it. Like
38:18so Luke 15 amongst other places, Jesus
38:21says, "I tell you that there is more joy
38:23in heaven over one sinner who repents
38:25than over 99 righteous persons who need
38:27no repentance, which that those people
38:29don't exist." But that those are the
38:31people who are hard-hearted. Those are
38:32the people who are standing there
38:33saying, "I don't need to repent." But
38:34there is joy in heaven. Jesus says when
38:36a sinner repents or that there is joy
38:40before the angels, right? There is joy
38:42before the heavenly host when a sinner
38:44repents. So it's like my goodness, don't
38:47view it as a bad thing. Like the Lord
38:48God himself, rather than him being angry
38:52at us that we you've sinned again. No,
38:55he when we turn to him and we say,
38:58"Father, I've I've I've sinned again.
39:00Here I am
39:02>> and I'm I'm turning to Jesus, my
39:05mediator, my great high priest, my head,
39:09my covenant head. I'm turning to Christ
39:11and I'm I'm casting myself into his arms
39:12yet again. I need I just need to be
39:14washed. I need to be cleansed. Please
39:16forgive me and heal me and restore me.
39:18When we do that, rather than the father
39:20being mad that we're there again, the
39:21father is like, there's joy in heaven
39:23over this. Like this is great.
39:25>> Like I and the heavenly host are
39:28thrilled about this. So, let's look at
39:30repentance like that.
39:32>> Yeah. And I think sometimes, Justin, we
39:34forget who we sin against, you know,
39:37like
39:38>> if we offend if we offend some stranger
39:41on the street that's got a needle
39:42hanging out of their arm, it's like,
39:44yeah, it doesn't really bother us. But
39:45then if we offend someone we love and
39:47respect and has authority, that that
39:49becomes, you know, like you offend the
39:50president of the United States, it's
39:51like, oh boy, that's a bigger offense.
39:54>> Listen to this quote. This is a this is
39:56this is a startling one, and this would
39:57be kind of last thing I I have to say.
39:59This is a startling quote, but it's a
40:00healthy one because it'll help you
40:02understand maybe God's view of your sin.
40:05But yet, this is what makes the gospel
40:06so powerful. So, this is Thomas Watson.
40:08He sends, "Our sins are worseer than the
40:11sins of the devils. The lapsed angels
40:15never sinned against Christ's blood.
40:17Christ did not. Christ died not for
40:20them. The medicine of his merit was
40:23never intended to heal them. But we have
40:26affronted and disparaged his blood by
40:29unbelief.
40:30>> So every time we turn our hearts towards
40:32sin, it is unbelief. That's why it says
40:34that like
40:35>> and it needs to be that's that part of
40:38sorrow where it's like, "Wow, I can't
40:40believe I turned towards the very thing
40:42that Christ died for." I mean, this is
40:45in many ways Watson's right. That's a
40:46worse sin than the devil's. And this is
40:49what makes the gospel so much more kind
40:52uh uh amazing because of the kindness of
40:55God. He doesn't bring wrath upon us. He
40:58says, "Child, in that sin where you
41:01embrace the very thing I died for, come
41:04again and receive my mercy." It's
41:06unreal. And I think we have to feel the
41:09weight of our sin because it makes the
41:11weight of the gospel as he tells the
41:13prostitute at his feet, "She loved much
41:16because she was forgiven much." Amen.
41:18And that forgiven much. We need to feel
41:20every day that the father continues to
41:22forgive us much. And therefore we love
41:24we love his kindness and his mercy and
41:28his grace towards us. And it keeps us
41:29soft and humble towards other people as
41:32they struggle towards Christ as well.
41:34Not not to remain saved and not to get
41:37salvation but to then love and share
41:40this gift with others. This is what
41:42we're talking about.
41:43>> No. Amen. You were talking about the
41:46whole like who you sin against thing.
41:49>> Sometimes people get confused. Psalm 51
41:51verse4 I believe where David says
41:53against you and you only have I sinned.
41:55>> Well, he's getting at what you were just
41:57describing because of course he'd sinned
41:58against Bath Sheba. Of course he'd
42:00sinned against Uriah. He'd sinned
42:01against Joab and the messengers and all
42:03the people that he'd involved in his
42:04evil. I mean that's absolutely true. But
42:07what we need to remember, and I hope I'm
42:09going to land this in an encouraging
42:10place, is whenever we sin against
42:12another person, it's not their law that
42:14we have broken. And whenever we sin
42:17against another person, it is not their
42:20holiness that we have defiled. So that's
42:22what I think Psalm 51:4 means, that when
42:26we sin against another person, we've
42:27broken God's law and we have defiled his
42:29holiness. And so that's why David says,
42:32"Against you and you only have I
42:33sinned." But where this can go that I
42:35think is comforting is if if our sins
42:39are ultimately against the Lord.
42:41>> Mhm.
42:42>> Then he is the one who is in the best
42:43position to forgive them.
42:45>> That's right.
42:47>> Right. And he happens to be the only
42:49being in the universe who can forgive
42:50sin.
42:52>> And that's like Jesus in in John 6
42:56amongst other places where he says,
42:58"Whoever comes to me, I will never cast
43:00you out."
43:01That's what I think it it we should take
43:02away from this is like Lord you don't I
43:05mean I don't know if you understand like
43:06my sins are ultimately against you and
43:07he's like oh no I understand that fully
43:09well and because your sins are most
43:11pointedly against me and ultimately
43:13against me I'm in the best position then
43:15to forgive them and I will never cast
43:17you out. I'm for you. I died for you.
43:20I've covered you. You're safe now.
43:22>> So amen. I hope some of these things
43:24have encouraged the listener out there
43:26and maybe you have reframed how you
43:28think about repentance or confession
43:31like let's be about it. Let's be
43:33repentant confessing people. This is
43:35part this is what it means to walk in
43:37the light.
43:37>> Make repentance great again.
43:40>> There you go. Maybe an episode title
43:42>> repent repentance is the best. You know
43:44something figures out.
43:46>> Hey, this is uh encouraging to you. Uh
43:49we're so glad and we're so thankful. And
43:51uh if you'd like to know how to support
43:53what we're doing, a simple way is if
43:55you're listening to this on a podcast,
43:57um rate the podcast, make a comment
43:59there, share the podcast with someone,
44:01if you're on YouTube, uh liking and
44:03commenting actually does let YouTube
44:05know that this was beneficial to you and
44:07it will send it to more people. So, um I
44:09know that's a thing that everybody
44:10always says, like and subscribe and
44:12comment, but it really does work and
44:14it's a a simple way to support what
44:15we're doing so that more people can find
44:17rest in Christ, which is why Justin and
44:19I do this. We want people to hear the
44:22good news of Jesus Christ. So, if you
44:24want to help us in that way, that would
44:25be wonderful. Thanks for listening and
44:28uh we'll hopefully, Lord willing, see
44:30you guys next week. Hey guys, real
44:31quick. Some of you are listening to this
44:33and it's encouraging to you, but you
44:35have questions. So, where do you go? How
44:37do you interact with other people who
44:38have the same questions and share
44:40resources? We have started something
44:42called the Theoccast community and we're
44:44excited because not only is it a place
44:46for you to connect with other
44:47like-minded believers, all of our
44:49resources there, past podcasts,
44:51education materials, articles, all of
44:53it's there and you can share it and ask
44:55questions. You can go check it out. The
44:57link is in the description below.
45:01[Music]

About this transcript

This page contains the full transcript of Make Repentance Great Again | Theocast by Theocast with Jon Moffitt, generated from the public captions YouTube serves with the video. The transcript has 8,928 words across 1,267 segments, with the original timestamps preserved so you can click any line to jump to that moment in the embedded player.

What you can do with it

Use the transcript to take notes, quote the speaker, build a study guide, generate a summary with ChatGPT or Claude via the YouTube Summary tool, or export it as a timed subtitle file with YouTube to SRT. You can also re-open it in the transcriber to translate the transcript into 100+ languages.

Free YouTube transcript tool

YouTube2Text is a free YouTube transcript generator — no signup, no daily limit. Paste any YouTube link and get the full transcript instantly, with timestamps, click-to-jump, translation to 100+ languages, AI prompts for ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, and exports to TXT, SRT, VTT, or Markdown.