The Healing Power of Repentance

Posted on: Tuesday 1st June 2010

Being a prophet of old was not always a happy lot. Their mission almost always set prophets apart from, or against, their own people. They were not popular because the messages they felt burning within them from the Lord were always words that showed up the faults, failings, or the sins of their people or the nation. Most often their messages were words that nobody wanted to hear, and the response was often anger and rejection. Many of the prophets suffered at the hands of the very people to whom they were sent because the prophet’s role was to encourage the people to repent of their sin and turn back to God. Repentance of sin usually meant that the people were to turn away from the false gods that had led them away from the God of Israel who created them, loved them, and wanted to redeem and heal them. The message of the prophets to the people was always loud and clear: turn back to God or you will suffer the consequences of your actions.

The greatest prophet, John the Baptist, called people to repentance because he believed that Jesus was the promised one sent by God, and that in Jesus the Kingdom of God was in their midst. Whereas the Old Testament prophets always prophesied a future event, John prophesied a present reality in Jesus; therefore the need for repentance was urgent because the people were faced with the reality of the Kingdom of God in their midst.

Repentance is a necessary part of our spiritual growth and journey. People can be easily lured away from God, and the call to repent is a call for us to examine our relationship with God. In our examination we may need to ask ourselves hard questions. Have we ignored God’s claim upon our lives? Have we turned away from God by disobeying his laws or by denying his will for our lives? Have we given the modern gods of our age - wealth, pleasure, status, or materialism - permission to rule and control us? Have we foolishly dabbled in things that can leave us vulnerable and open to the influence of spiritual forces and powers that are not of God? Or have we done things that we need to make right, whether it be with God, with friends, with family or in our other relationships? All these questions, and probably many more, are worth thinking about as we consider where we stand in our relationship with the one true God we have come to know in Jesus Christ.

Our answers to these questions, and how we are willing to deal with them through repentance, will determine whether or not we will be spiritually prepared to follow Jesus, the one who wants to heal, forgive, and restore us to perfect health of body, mind, and spirit.

One of the things about repentance is that it heals. When we are in need of healing, which for most of us is ongoing, the cause that produced our need for healing and the agent that will bring healing may or may not be obvious.

For example, if we break our leg because of a slip on the ice, we know that the cause was an accident and the road to healing will involve a surgeon setting the bone in our leg and putting it in a cast. But sometimes the root cause of disease and sickness is not as apparent.

The root cause for other diseases or problems that we suffer may be physical, psychological, or spiritual; and successful treatment will depend upon the cause. If it is physical we may need surgery or medication to correct the problem. If it is psychological we may need some counselling to help us gain a more accurate perspective on our problem. If the cause is spiritual then maybe the solution is to look at our relationships both with God and with the people with whom we interact and take some corrective action through the healing power of repentance. Repentance is often necessary and helpful in setting us free when illness has spiritual roots or has been caused by broken relationships with God, with others, or with ourselves.

The point of all this is that the prophets, whose task it was to call people to repentance, were on to something big. It is not unusual to discover that sin and broken relationships can be the cause of disease and illness, and the symptoms of disease can be (but are not always) manifested in physical, emotional, psychological or spiritual problems and difficulties. So when we hear the call to repentance from Scripture we need to take heed, because our response to that call could be the act that saves, heals, set us free and restores us to perfect health of body, mind, and spirit. If we are having problems, are there things in our lives that we have done or have happened to us that might require a special act of repentance or forgiveness? Healing often comes to us when we admit our faults or a wrong, accept responsibility for our actions, ask forgiveness or forgive, and then agree to change. Often healing can be ours if we follow a simple set of words all beginning with the letter "A" - admit, accept, ask, and agree.

John the Baptist said: "Turn from your sins and turn to God, because the Kingdom of Heaven is near." It is even more important for us to be willing to turn from our sins and turn back to God because in Jesus Christ we know that the Kingdom of Heaven is here.

Let us ask God to show us what we need to do to put things right in our lives. We are the children of God and we walk in the light of Christ. If we have lost that light or if it has dimmed because of what we have done or have failed to do, let us ask God to help us, and if need be, to forgive us. Let us turn back to the One who will baptize us with the Holy Spirit to put us right with God, right with one another and right with ourselves. When these primary relationships are right we can know that we have been touched by the hand of God and have been released by God’s healing power and love. It is when we allow God to touch us and release us that we can know that we are forgiven, healed, and restored.

In Christ’s Love
Larry Mitchell