Words to Those Who Have Fallen and Repented
Realize that:
- God can turn our mistakes into profit. Hope is all important. The way we act after a failure determines whether we are a Judas (throwing ourselves away, proving that we were never saved in the first place) or a Peter or David (true believers who fell but repented). The righteous may fall, but they will get up and dust themselves off and go on, relying less on themselves than they did before, and more on God and supernatural means of grace.
- Our "faith" could have been based upon an improper foundation (serious misunderstandings about God, and about how to live the Christian life).
Improper Foundations:
- our parents' faith
- curiosity about spiritual things
- wanting to live up to other peoples' expectations
- enjoying the form of religion
- warm fuzzies
- solely emotional commitment
- the enjoyment of teaching
- the enjoyment of opposing false religions
- the feeling that this is something we just have to do--without have the proper heart motivation of love for Christ
- A heartfelt volitional response to God's Word based on a true sorrow for sin and love for Christ.
- It is imperative to realize that while salvation is free and totally unmerited, spiritual health is completely different. This requires striving, agonizing, fighting, running, discipline, diligence, watchfulness, care, etc. These are all terms that the New Testament itself uses to describe our part following salvation (i.e., sanctification).
- Shattered walls cannot be rebuilt nearly as quickly as they can be torn down. They must be built back up brick by brick. little at a time. We must also realize that whenever we fall in the Christian life it is always our fault, never God's fault. Somewhere along the line we built on a shaky foundation, and the wind and rain finally took their toll. The building will usually rupture from its weakest spot. The way the Christian life can be reconstructed is bit by bit, obedience to specific Scriptural commands, beginning with the most basic and most important.
- A renewed commitment to Christ
- Confession of sin (and an admission that we are all to blame)
- A true sorrow for sin
- A lifelong routine of daily prayer and Bible reading (communing with Christ)
- Make any amends to people that may have been hurt through our fall
- Determine to build the foundation of our faith on a decided obedience to Scripture and a personal relationship with Jesus Christ; consciously reject any false foundation we may have built on.
- Be accountable to one or more persons on a regular basis.
- Be accountable to a local fellowship that really shepherds you and is concerned about your sanctification.
- Make sure that your theology is sound and that you are getting a continual dose of sound theology from your church. A misunderstanding of God is connected to misunderstandings about yourself and about the Christian life.
- Make every effort to root out hypocrisy. Make sure your spiritual life is just as vibrant as it is in public (or more so).
- Pray that your faith would be strengthened. Have at least one other person pray for you every day.
- Rebuild your hope. Hope is of utmost importance. Build a storehouse of treasure in heaven. This will anchor your heart there (Heb. 6:19). Be more concerned about heavenly things than about earthly things (Col. 3:1-2).
©1999 Peter Wise. Anyone is free to reproduce this material and distribute it, but it may not be sold under any circumstances whatsoever without the author's consent.