Old testament rituals dictated that a sacrifice had to be connected to repentance…something had to die and blood had to be shed. All this was the norm up until the times of Jesus. He came, bled and died, and made the final sacrifice on our behalf. His death rendered all other animal sacrifices meaningless.
In light of this, we still find ourselves often at the threshold, the door of repentance. Paul eloquently expresses it this way in 2 Corinthians 7:9 – “Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a Godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing” (NKJV). It sounds as though they would have suffered loss therefore he said something to them that caused them to be sorrowful. On the other end, he rejoiced because their sorrow led to repentance, a gift from God, as the writer of Acts demonstrates (we will come back to that one).
“Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a Godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing” (2 Corinthians 7:9, NKJV).
In other words, had they not repented, they would have suffered loss but Godly sorrow is not unto death but unto life. We may be beating the floor in repentance yet God is moving things and repositioning our lives. Our sorrow, in that sense, leads to life. There are many biblical examples that demonstrate this posture. David is the best one but then there’s also the story of Jonah and the Ninevites, they repented and their Godly sorrow led to God’s forgiveness whereas Jonah’s sorrow led to God’s judgment.
On this issue of sacrifice or gift. Acts 11:18 establishes an important foundation on repentance “When they heard these things they became silent; and they glorified God, saying, “Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life.” This implies that prior to this God had not granted repentance to Gentiles yet it is not true. God revealed this to the Jews who were witnessing a great multitude of Gentiles repent unto life.
Sacrifice or gift? A sacrifice cannot bring life. It can only take it away and restore things back to what they were. A gift can bring life. The key to the verse in Acts 11 above is that God granted the Gentiles the kind of repentance that brings back life. It is the repentance we enjoy. A repentance that can only come forward as a gift.
A sacrifice involves loss while a gift involves gain. Every time there’s true repentance, we gain depth in Christ. Since Christ made the ultimate sacrifice and paid with His blood, we share in His death and resurrection and benefit from the gift of repentance. In other words, He says to us, you failed, you’re sorry, here’s a way back in. Here’s the key that will let you back in the door. Use it. We don’t have to be locked out forever, discarded and dismissed. We have a doorway back in called repentance.
We know that “Every good and perfect gift comes from above…” (James 1:17, NKJV). Likewise, the gift of repentance comes from above. However, I will end with this caution; “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him…The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.” (Romans 6:1-2,10, NIV). We crucify the flesh, die to sin and accept the gift of repentance to life!
Nelson Masinde 