Title: Repentance and Conversion
Contents
Word: 1 Samuel 19:1-17
Subject : Conversion and Repentance
One of the dilemmas I fall into while living my life of faith is that one day I met a person who had such a good faith and I lost my faith. Today we are going to think about the dilemma we fall into. First, I would like to look at the dilemma through an example I have now encountered.
When I was in high school, there was a church hyung that I liked very much. He was two years older than me and was my older brother who was in the youth club when I was in high school. The secretary and the president have never shunned the older brother. In the front yard of the church, he and I sang poems and played guitar while looking at the stars in the night sky.... One day, the older brother went to the army. Just as the memories of that older brother were gone, Hung went on vacation. The first place I met my brother, who was on vacation, was not at the church, but at the billiard room in front of the church, and he did not keep Sundays. I was waiting for my friends and juniors to come out of the billiard room to keep Sunday.
My brother has reached the level of almost anti-Christian, not to the extent that he does not keep Sundays. He used the theological knowledge he knew to attack the church and told his juniors who were living a good life of faith as if faith was a drug.
Today's text gives us a clue about the fall of zealous brothers we went through.
Today's text begins with the friendship between David and Jonathan. For Saul, David is a person who is popular with the people after the battle of Goliath. David's popular popularity was seen as a threat to Saul's kingship. Saul is trying to kill David to keep his kingship. The heir to Saul's throne is Yodathan. In a way, David is not Saul's enemy, but Jonathan's enemy. Then Jonathan said to his father Saul. Jonathan persuades his father, Saul, why he wants to kill David, what on earth did David do, and why he commits a sin against God by killing someone who has done nothing wrong.
Saul, who changed his mind at these Jonathan's theories, says in 19:6: “The LORD lives, and he shall not be put to death” Saul did not simply say that he would not kill David. He swore his decision through the living Jehovah. This is not a simple decision. When I swear by the life of the Lord, it means that if I do not keep that promise, Jehovah may kill me. In the end, Saul risked his life to Jonathan and made a promise. In other words, he is completely converted. He admitted his mistake before the Lord and confessed his sin, and he was devastated by his self-reflection.
However, Saul's conversion did not last long. When the war breaks out and David wins another battle with the Philistines, he changes his mind again and tries to kill David. Verse 10 tells us how hard Saul threw the spear at David, and the spear was nailed into the wall.
According to 1 Samuel 10:11, Saul was a man who prophesied and prayed after receiving a new heart from the Lord before becoming king. Where is the image of Saul who had good faith? Where did Saul's conversion go? Where did the oath that the LORD lives to go?
Isn't the appearance of Saul and the brothers who have turned away from the faith somewhat similar?
Where did the brother who worked so hard and the figure of him praying without even knowing it was covered in tears and runny nose, where did it go?
The dilemma we fall into is the misconception that conversion and repentance are the same thing. It is clear that conversion and repentance are different things.
The difference between conversion and repentance is very clear. Conversion is a change of heart, but repentance is a change of life. Conversion can happen if your emotions move. It can be inspired by the Holy Spirit. But repentance is a life change that includes conversion. It is to change your life after being converted. Many people quit smoking and drinking at the beginning of the year. Many decisions are made, but they are not made by resolution alone. Also, many Christians decide at the beginning of the year to participate in the early morning worship service, but there are cases where it is less than 3 months. other than that? Because it is not just a decision. In order to participate in the early morning worship, what is important is how you spend the night before. I can't do it no matter how determined I am to watch the movies on cable TV past 12 o'clock because it's not enough after watching all the tv dramas, add one more drink, eat two ramen noodles for a late night snack, and have an early morning worship service the next day. You must go to bed at least at 10 p.m. and pray to God the Holy Spirit so that you can attend the morning worship service before going to bed.
As such, conversion can be accomplished with a momentary change of heart, but repentance does not happen in an instant. Repentance is changing your way of life from being self-centered to Jesus-centered. In order to meet God at dawn, we must now stop eating late at night. Daniel Henney No matter how cool you are, you have to give up drama. When Paul says, “I die every day,” it means to live a life that gives up one's desires.
In the end, conversion happens in an instant, but repentance is accomplished by killing oneself every day.
If you do God's work after you have been converted without achieving the repentance that kills you, you are bound to fall. So, Jesus not only does God's work, but also retreats to a quiet place and prays for God's will. If you work hard in the church without knowing the will of God, you will face trials and fall.
If you go to a number of meetings, they come back filled with the Holy Spirit, and when you see the brothers from the middle, high school, and youth groups, they come and go as if the world has nothing to fear, but within two months they disappear and become a loser. No matter how loudly you are converted with your voice and tears, if you do not live a life of repentance, your conversion will not last long. It is apt to become a memory of the youthful days.
In (1 Timothy 4:6-7), Teacher Paul says, “Practice attaining godliness.” Conversion is a moment, but repentance is an exercise. Repentance is by training.
I pray that you will practice your life with the Word of God every day to live a life that achieves repentance and leads to godliness.