Thread by @JennMGreenberg

Repentance is an incredibly vital concept that you absolutely must understand correctly. Besides being foundational to Christianity, if people misunderstand repentance, lives can be lost.

Let me give you some examples:

If a pastor convinces an abuse victim that her violent husband is repentant, and she moves back in, she and her kids may be hurt or killed.

If a racist police officer thinks he's repented of racism, but makes no changes to his thinking, he may make wicked decisions on the job.

I cannot emphasize enough how critical a proper and Biblical understanding of repentance is.

Lives hang in the balance.

Faith hangs in the balance.

Souls hang in the balance.

Study this, meditate on it, pray about it, and search Scripture for God's wisdom.

Firstly, repentance is something between you and God. You can apologize for accidents, like spilling coffee on a friend's carpet, or denting someone's car with a grocery cart. You repent of sins (violations of God's law) primarily to God, and you ask those harmed for forgiveness.

Secondly, repentance entails change. If there is no change, genuine repentance has not occurred. It was empty words. For example, if "Sue" says sorry for gossiping, but keeps gossiping, was she really sorry? No. Not in a deep or meaningful way. She needs to repent and change.

"Sue" may also need to make amends. She may need to go to the people she gossiped to, tell them that what she said was wrong, and correct any false information she spread. She may need to do something nice for the person she hurt to express love and humility. This is repentance.

Thirdly, the responsibility for all sin is 100% the offender's. You can say, "I'm sorry you went through this," for things you didn't do. That expresses sympathy and grief over sin and/or suffering. But to claim to repent on an offender's behalf is to lie to God and to victims.

A) Your claim to repentance doesn't soften the heart or change the ways of the real offender, or cause their sin to stop. Big problem!

B) Your claim to repentance cannot pay for their sin. Only Jesus can do that. Don't try to fill those sandals. You will fail miserably.

Fourthly, wicked people love shifting responsibility onto others. Don't carry water for them. The best and most loving thing you can do for a wicked person is to hold them accountable and refuse to tolerate or enable their sin. When we repent on behalf of them, we cover for them.

Lastly, we all have sins we aren't aware of. People can be racist or sexist without realizing it. Once, a man hired a new pianist to replace me at a venue, and never told me. It was incredibly rude, but also, I knew he'd never have treated me so flippantly had I been a man.

That was sin.

We sin when we do nothing to stop injustice. We sin when we live in sin, whether knowingly or as learned or subconscious behavior.

However, in order to repent, we must first be convicted in our hearts that:

A) we have sinned
B) the sin is wrong

Here's why:

If you aren't aware of your sin, you can't fix it. You can't change your ways or make amends.

If that racist cop back in my 2nd tweet says, "Sorry, Jesus!" but doesn't understand or perceive his thought patterns and attitudes as wrong, he can't change. His repentance was false.

If that pastor trusts an abuser who says sorry, and the pastor fails to demand change or amends, he cannot protect the wife or kids. He doesn't see the sin and so can't stop the danger. He'll put the innocent in harms way because he's got an unbiblical definition of repentance.

(BTW, when we're talking crimes like domestic violence or child abuse, amends MUST be made and they include paying for one's crimes. If an abuser is unwilling to report himself, he is not truly repentant. If an abuser thinks he's owed forgiveness and a free pass, BIG. RED. FLAG).

The one who sins is the one who will die. The child will not share the guilt of the parent, nor will the parent share the guilt of the child. The righteousness of the righteous will be credited to them, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against them.

Ezekiel 18:20