“Repentance” by Robert Smith

A little more than two years ago, I wrote a blogpost about words and their definitions. In it, I said that we take words for granted. We really do. Language is quite an extraordinary gift when used properly, and it is an extraordinary stumblingblock when it is not.

I recommend clicking on the link in the above paragraph to read that blogpost, mainly because what follows, in many ways, will be a specific extension of my thoughts there. 

A serious study of scripture led me to realize that “repentance” was a word that had been ill-defined by my religious organization and, consequently, believed by those around me who belonged to it. Not only did their definition of “repentance” contradict the definition found in scripture, but its application as prescribed by that organization failed to yield the same outcomes of which scripture bears testimony. Those two witnesses were enough to get me to realize that what my church was offering was a fake bill of goods. (Here’s another blogpost that dives into that a little more.)

Sometimes we brush aside contradictions like this, thinking that it’s not a big deal to have minor discrepancies in our definitions, but when God is the one who is trying to communicate to us, it is a really big deal. Everything that he does is for our benefit, and the words that he uses to communicate ideas and concepts to our minds that are for our benefit are specific and intentional, limitations in our finite, mortal language notwithstanding.

An accurate understanding of the word “repentance,” then, is extremely, even critically, important. Repentance is what reconciles us to God when we would otherwise be enemies to him. Is it any wonder why the earth is in the hellish state it is right now? There isn’t an organized religion on the planet that preaches “repentance” as found in scripture. Within the ranks of those who ideologically belong to these “Christian” organizations alone, how many enemies to God do you figure that makes?

That needs to change. It is prophesied to change. And having said all of that, I come to my recommendation of the book mentioned in the title of this blogpost. :)

“Repentance” by Robert Smith is a concise, conversational, matter-of-fact, and true-to-scripture exposition on the topic of repentance. The first sentence of the book kicks off 129 pages of clarification on the subject:

To repent means to fully reconcile your ideas, desires, and actions to your sincere understanding of what is best. (pg. 1)

I’ve written about how I believe that repentance involves a commitment to be perfectly obedient—in this life—to everything that God tells you. It’s an idea that I have found to be unbelievably unpopular, even though it is the source of the greatest hope to my mind. This book takes this idea even further in making the case that what God tells you is communicated to you through your conscience—your model of the ideal human being, which is also your current understanding of God. It is something that is in the possession of every single person, regardless of whether they claim an explicit belief in God or not.

The power of the concept of ideal transcends all differences among all people. No matter the individual or their circumstances, or how often it changes, at any moment, each and every person has a concept of ideal.

A person’s ideal is not going to be an actual person they know. Every person they know will have some or many flaws—deviations from their ideal. Instead, their ideal is the synthesis of their experiences, their culture, and their capabilities into a hypothetical person. A person’s ideal is the composite of the best aspects of human character and action that they’ve witnessed or imagined. Though this ideal person exists only in their mind, as far as they know, their idea of him or her is so vivid that they can imagine what that person would do in every circumstance in which they find themselves.

This ideal that you, me, and everyone else has is one and the same as our idea of what God is like. This is just as true whether a person believes in God or not. God is the embodiment of the actual ideal. Your idea of God is your estimate of the ideal. Everyone, whether they believe in God or not, has an idea of what they imagine him to be like, and that is their model of the ideal human.

This idea is sure to be equally offensive to both the religious and the secular, and yet of vast value and importance to both. The religious would argue that it is blasphemous to relegate the unknowable infinity of God to the limited embodiment of a human. This is one of the many ideas that Jesus was killed for. Secularists will bristle at the fact that, in spite of claiming not to believe in God, they nevertheless judge themselves daily according to their idea of him. All the guilt they feel is actually as a result of their knowing failure to live up to a God they claim not to believe in. Offensive, indeed, yet true in both cases. (pp. 8-9)

The implications of what is being said in these paragraphs are numerous and far-reaching, and some of them are found in the book, but are far less important than the ways in which the book explains how we can best understand and apply this important principle of salvation.

The move from being enemies to God to being reconciled to him hinges upon our ability to clearly understand and willingly apply the principle of repentance. With the publication of this book, the former will not be wanting. Only the latter can remain undone.

Those who deeply study and practice repentance as set forth in this book, who willingly and completely submit to the ideal that God is communicating to them, will find themselves and the world around them greatly benefited.

Print version (sold at cost) can be found here.

Free Ebook download can be found here.

Other books by the author can be found in multiple formats on the sidebar of his blog, UpwardThought.