Repentance Is Not Just a One Time Thing

Well, good morning. How want to welcome all of our campuses worshiping all across the triangle this morning.

My name is will to Burien on one of the pastors here at the summit church in a few weeks ago. Pastor JD asked if I would preach this weekend because he fully anticipated that he was going to be on a trip to South Asia to encourage some folks over there leaders over there as well as to establish some new work that we are working on and earlier this week, as he was preparing to go the day before he left his visa got revoked and they would not allow him to go, most likely because he is a very visible Christian leader and this is a place that is hostile to the gospel. And so, although we've gotten tremendous reports from the team. That is, there were excited about the work that is taking place there and Nancy and I were talking about and he reminded me said you know he's already heard from the leaders over there and as they all are disappointed.

They said to him, he said you know this just reminds us that it's ultimately about us taking the good news to the nation that we are in and so all that were disappointed were reminded that God is sufficient and he is going to meet our needs and so were grateful for that.

But he had asked me to preach this weekend.

I thought when given up my spot so didn't say a thing sit on the bench today and I want to share with you that I have a message you that I have entitled repentance is not just a one time thing. Repentance is not just a one time thing I want to go ahead and acknowledge the fact that some of you need to stop right where you are and you need to repent. Because when you saw me walk out here and saw that it wasn't JD.

You cost under your breath a little bit and you need to repent. God will forgive you. I'm doing need to pray about it but God will forgive you in all seriousness, all of us on staff to fill this pulpit when Pastor JD is not here. We recognize that there is a sentiment that comes along with that and the reason you have that sentiment is twofold. One is because we all love Pastor JD in two. We share that sentiment because we see the power of God at work in his life when he preaches and for that we can all be extremely grateful men clearly clap for that good this week and I believe God has a challenging word for us. And so, if you will turn with me in your Bible, or turn your Bible on to Psalm 51 we're going to look at what is one of the most well-known passages in the Scripture that deal with the issue of repentance, so it was Martin Luther who famously said all of life. All of the Christian's life is repentance, so repentance is not something we do to start the Christian life. Rather, repentance is a posture toward God that we adopt at conversion and we maintain the rest of our lives. That's precisely why Jesus taught his disciples to pray every day. Father, forgive us our debts, as we have also forgiven our debtors daily were to remind ourselves and confess to God that sin saturates our hearts through and through, so the discipline of repentance is absolutely vital for spiritual growth and so my desire for us this weekend is for us as a church to think about the role that repentance plays or should be playing in our lives and recognize that it's imperative if we are going to experience the fullness of joy that God intends for us and if we are going to be conformed into the very image of Christ. So before we go any further, let me share with you a definition of repentance that I want us to work from this weekend so if you have a pen and paper. If you have a tablet that you can write on what you write.

This definition down repentance literally means a change of mind. It means a change of mind did not change involves three things.

It involves our intellect, intellect, the way that we think it involves our heart the way that we feel and involves our will. The things that we do what our behaviors are so let's unpack that for just a second, the intellect, it's a change in the way that we think about sin.

We begin agreeing with God that what this is is sin and we acknowledge that he is right and that he is true, it begins to change. Our emotions begin to change our heart we begin to no longer be indifferent towards sin.

We begin to see that sin ultimately is previous and we begin to grieve and become sorrowful over arson over arson and ultimately we begin to see then repentance leading to a change in behavior change in actions that then become consistent with the will of God for our lives are genuine repentance engages our intellect and engages our emotions that engages our will and what I want us to do this morning as I want us to from Psalm chapter 51.

I want us to unpack how David shows us the impact of that in each of those three areas all throughout the song. So let's begin with the intellect, because repentance means begins to help us understand it means that acknowledging God ultimately as true and that his ways are ultimately right so repentance begins by acknowledging sin as sin and that it's ultimately against God. We see this all throughout Psalm 51, but I want us to focusing specifically for just a moment. As we look at how how repentance leads to changing the way that we think about our sin. I want to look at three versus verses three through five very carefully. Let's look at what David says, for I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me against you.

You only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment, behold, I was brought forth in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me now want us to notice very carefully that David began to change the way that he viewed his specific sin, but he also began to change the way that he viewed his sinful condition and I want to look at both of those. Let's look at how he began to change the way looked at his specific sin. Notice that he says for I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me. There is little doubt in my mind that when David says this he has his sin with Bathsheba and he has his sin with Uriah at the forefront of his mind to remind you the story, you remember that David was King of Israel at the time was supposed to be off at war, but instead he was at home and he was on his rooftop and he was looking out over all and onto the city and he sees a woman bathing. And in that moment, he has a choice whether to look away or to continue to set his eyes upon her and you know that he dies and he sets his eyes about her upon her, and she's beautiful to him so he sends for her. She's brought to him and he ultimately sleeps with her, she becomes pregnant. So now David finds himself in a real pickle. So David ultimately says well in order to try to cover my sin.

I'll bring Uriah home her husband. I'll bring him home from the battlefield in and out. Just let him calm and he can come in and he can be with his wife and he can have a little vacation will everything everybody else is off it worn so Uriah comes home and drives like a conduit. I'm not to go in and be with my wife. All of my friends, all of my co-soldiers there often war how Derek me come home and be able to experience the good life when they're all often war and he won't go into her and so the Scripture says that that she stayed outside and David is like, well, the only thing left to do is ultimately kill her and then I will just take her as my wife and so he sends note back to the to the leader of the Army to put Uriah the Hittite at the front lines and so there.

Uriah is killed, so there is no doubt in my mind that when you read Psalm 51 verse three and David says I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me. David is mindful of the part fact that I lusted after her. I committed adultery with her. I killed her husband. All those actions are before his mind made up for us. That is a part of it is looking at our actions and agreeing that these actions in our lives are inconsistent with what the word of God says but when we think of our specific sin summit church. We have to go deeper than just our actions we have to get to the sin behind the sin because you need to understand that behind every behavioral sin. There is a motivational sin that is driving that right behind everything I do. There's a motivation for what I'm doing. So when David is standing up on the rooftop before he ever commits physical adultery he's committed spiritual adultery because in that moment. He's bought into this motivation that says I believe Bathsheba can give me some sort of pleasure that God can't give me behind every behavioral sin. There is a motivational sin, and behind every motivational sin is the functional disbelief that God really loves is the functional disbelief that God really loves me with a hot plays out my life. I give you two examples of that in this. It may not appear as bad as David.

But it's just as wicked you in my life. I like things to be the way that I like them to be.

I like to control things and I am in my life. Now when I come home. You know I want to come home to peace and quiet. I want to come home to to to the kingdom you I want to come home to Downton Abbey and I wanted just to be his visage quiet calm, everybody's hello father good to see you today to tell me about your day.

Father, let's sit and have a capacity that's what I wanted to be like when I come home is not like that all is not like that all. It's crazy.

I got kids 6 to 16. They're all over the place its hustle and bustle men were going there stuff everywhere in a stressful and I combined in those moments that that my my temperature is a little bit you know.

And I get a little bit angry enough.

I'm a boy's getting a little bit raised.

No want to know why I forget angry with my wife start getting angry with my kids know because my kingdom is being threatened.

My comfort is being threatened. So my behavior is that I'm getting angry what's underneath that is I want comfort and I believe that that comforts and somehow satisfy me in a way that God can satisfy me. I give you another example. When things get difficult for me and I know you were to find this unbelievably hard to believe when things get difficult for me. I like to do.

I like to eat. In fact, one of my favorite movies of my favorite lines raise found the movie Tommy boy if you'd not seen Tommy boy, you need to repent. Right now okay here's what I favorite scenes from Tommy boy.

Here's a picture from that of just help you get into it for a little bit but in Tommy boy he know Tommy is talking with Michelle and I Michelle who's good to be his future girlfriend says he offers him a doughnut and Tommy says this he says the doctor say that I have what they call a little bit of a weight problem you have. I can resonate with that you part of the reason is because when things get stressful. I can overeat in the reason that I overeat is because somehow someway. I'm looking to food to give me comfort.

I'm looking to food to somehow satisfy me. And in that moment, I believe that it can satisfy me in a way that God really can't some of your judgment.

Like I can't believe you did overeat.

When you do the same thing with your exercising. You do the same thing. Joining CrossFit and iron tribe. I swear, is like a cold here at the summit church like you can go to staff meeting and amazement on Meadowood you and earn tribes morning well we had to do this.

This is all stored in my class pretty much nailed a house CrossFit owes granted fix-it 50 box Johnson on 31st reason I carried Phil from accounting around my back for 800 yards. It was awesome and it was great those fantastic my head out to get donuts in the break room.

So whether it's exercise or whether it's eating a doughnut. You. You can look to things to bring you some measure of comfort or some measure of control in your life. So the behavior is that many are in Europe.

Maybe for me it's over eating.

Maybe for you it's over exercising, but underneath that you're really just trying to control, think, and David is saying listen to. I know my sin and is before me so I know my transgressions is not just my actions is my it's not just my behaviors is the motivation behind those things and God recognizing now that these things ultimately are wicked before, but is more even. He does more than just a specific sin he saying God I want you to acknowledge that I know my sinful condition. Look what he says in the Scripture in verse five he says behold I was brought forth in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me, not David is obviously not condemning his mother for something wrong that she did. He was brought forth from a mother and father in the confines of marriage. Rather, he saying something so important, so profound for us.

Don't miss this. He saying that it's iniquity.

It is sin that is the element in which he is always existed from the moment of conception. This is his existence. It is in sin.

I love how Spurgeon said it.

He said it says if he said not only have I sinned this once but I am in my very nature a center. He said the fountain of my life is polluted as well as extremes I naturally lean towards forbidden things for most of us when we evaluate our character. If were really honest you think if we really honest with ourselves, we evaluate our character. We don't think of ourselves is that bad go to church.

I love my wife. I love my kids how bad cannot really be will Scripture tells me how bad the Scripture tells me that my heart is deceitful, he wicked above all things and I'm capable of doing things that are really beyond my comprehension. Yet it was some this week I was sick for a good part of this week we had this kind nasty virus going through my family for several days or just correlate up in the bed and I was reading the news, I came across this article this past week and just kinda blew me away. Many so sad to read but is said in the past 10 days in the United States in the past 10 days there've been five mass murderers five mass murderers. Anything constituted with four murders or remorse that doesn't count. What happened in Louisiana at the movie theater five mass murderers and I read that and I think to myself what I get sad because I think about the condition of our country and in just those events and the people that were involved and I think my son you think, who does the does these things puts people in a freezer, walk into a place and kills their family members and does it does this, and then I'm reminded I and so could you that's what the Scripture is teaching us. You see, that's all of us are capable of do it where the environment and circumstances just right in your life you're capable of doing things that you seem absolutely inconceivable. Tim Keller said it this way, you can't be in denial about your capacity to sin. Sin is always crouching at your door, you're capable of much more than you want to admit to. The first thing that we have to do is we have to get out of denial and that's exactly what David is doing is getting out now he is saying God this is my sinful condition and I am agreeing with you that this is you are you see repentance begins when we stop making excuses and acknowledge sin for what it is. Keller will go on to say. Real repentance begins when blame shifting unions.

Real repentance begins when blame shifting is real repentance begins when you start using pop using words like if and but and you acknowledge God. I know my sin is ever before me, and against you and you only have I send, and it was from the very beginning that I was conceived in sin. This is who I am. Seifert, David David. This repentance began to infuse everything the way that he thought, and it led to a change of mind to change the way that he viewed sin so changed his intellect also want to see it doesn't stop there. No true repentance also has to involve the emotions so share what I mean by that. We talk about the emotions we begin to see that repentance means that we begin to feel real sorrow for our sin is going to change how we feel towards our sin. So genuine repentance will always involve and produce godly sorrow and godly grief that comes along with it. You know in second Corinthians chapter 7 Paul is writing a letter to the church at Corinth and is written them a previous letter, of which we don't have.

He actually wrote three letters to the church at Corinth first Corinthians, and there was a middle letter and then we have second Corinthians in second Corinthians.

He refers back to that middle letter in which he really writes to them, a pretty stinging rebuke about about what they've been doing and he saying listen you're walking away from the faith and you need to have a course correction and so they get this letter and they respond to it very well and they begin to turn back to Christ.

In chapter 7 verses nine and 10. He says this as it is. I rejoice not because you were grieved as his letter was harsh, but because you were grieved into repenting for you felt you felt a godly grief so that you suffer no loss through us for godly grief, reprove produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.

This godly grief that Paul is talking about is that feeling you get when the depth of yours in the depth of your soul when you know that you sinned against God you when you're physically sick.

You begin to get the symptoms that are private going on in our house you the back your throat starts to scratch little bit you get a cough you know a little bit. You begin to get the shakes and the chills and you begin a certain achy and you know you better get yourself to the doctor to get whatever that is fixed so that you can feel whole again.

You can be healed of whatever illness that you have when you start feeling that godly grief you know when it's time to go to Christ will give you the very spiritual healing because he said if you will. Confessor says he is faithful and just to forgive you of your sins and cleanse you from all unrighteousness and he will always be faithful to that so it produces in us that godly grief is what David is saying he saying it's against you. You only have I sinned. So he shows us that even further look with me in verses one into in verse one, he says, have mercy on me. Oh God, according to your steadfast love. According to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions, wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin, he says in verse four against you. You only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. Listen, don't miss the summit church. David is crying out for mercy because he knows he's guilty is crying out for mercy because he knows he's guilty and he's feeling here the weight of his sin.

He saying God have mercy on me, have mercy on me, you know you want to know how you can tell that David feels genuine sorrow and grief that leads to salvation because it's not the punishment that is crying out against his own sin. He's not asking God for the punishment to go away, but he saying God, take this sin away. He saying, have mercy on me, God, and blot out my transgressions, have mercy on me.

Oh, God, and wash me thoroughly, have mercy on me. Oh God, and cleanse me because it's against you. You only have I sent you see it even for further at the end of verse four when he says it's you God are justified in your words and blameless in your judgment is a God. Everything that you're saying about me is true, the judgment that is coming upon me. It's just because of my sin and he's feeling the weight of that piece feeling that godly sorrow and that godly grief recognizing that it's ultimately against God.

You see, it's important to note that this is something that only the Holy Spirit can bring. It can't be manufactured. Some of you may be thinking to yourself right now you may think you will will I don't know that I've ever really experienced that kind of godly sorrow and that godly grief.

Does that mean that I've never genuinely repented to me and I'm never really experienced. Let me share with you only give you we to be some hope in a little backhanded Conaway.

There's never going to be a time when you're not in a struggle between the there's not a mere struggle between flushing your spirit, there's a battle.

This being wage for you every single day of your life. There's many a battle that's going on that is fighting against you, and there can be things that you know that you want to do and then there can be things that you look at and I know that should let that but I don't really want to do that, she, it was Paul that said in Romans seven. Basically this part of me wants to stop sinning and part of me doesn't.

That's the battle that is being wage so I know that the grief that we made our experience may not be to the fullest. This just overwhelming all-powerful grief, but it should be there. We should begin feeling that sorrow and feeling that grief in our emotions towards that should begin changing but we must also see that repentance must be more than just sorrow and guilt and must engage the will and it and it must act on it, which leads to how repentance impacts the will, because repentance ultimately changes our behavior and ultimately changes our behavior. But here's what I want to do. I want to show you how that works in David's life. I want to first show you in verses 7 to 12 how David's attitude began to be hatred towards sin and then I want you to see three very specific actions that began to result. As a result of David's repentance. So first let's look at his attitude toward sin. In verses seven through 12. I want you just to listen to the disdain that David has listen to the word to use to describe. He says this purge me, purge me with it is and I shall be clean, wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness. Let the bones that you have broken. Rejoice hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities created me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me, cast me not away from your presence and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. You hear it. His entire attitude is changing toward sin and towards God. He saying God I need you to purge me. I need you to wash me. I need you to blot out all these things because I know that these things are keeping me from having a right. I know that these things are keeping me from having intimacy with you and those things I hate these things I want to now love. I want to love you.

He saying God I hate my sin and realize that it's against you, and I want you to take it all away because all I want is you.

All I want is you. You summit church listen. It's only when you hate the sin to sin begin to lose its power. It's only when you begin to hate the sin to sin begin to lose its power over you.

I can think of no greater illustration of this, and then with Augustine not share this with you before, but it just resonates so much in my soul. Augustine who lived in the fourth century as one of our early church fathers. He was a man who was gripped with sexual sin. We just grip with. He gave himself to over and over. He felt great guilt over it. But he was just controlled by he was controlled by, and it wasn't until he came to saving faith in Christ that God replaced his love of this for a love of himself and this is what he wrote. This is for my favorite quotes. He says how sweet all at once. It was for me to be rid of those fruitless joys that I once feared to lose here that, how sweet all at once. It was for me to be rid of those fruitless joys that I once feared to lose God.

I was afraid of losing this I thought this would bring me ultimate joy and ultimate happiness and ultimate just this life we says no, those are fruitless joys.

You drove them for me and you gave me your self. Now I hate these things because you are the true you are the sovereign joy.

It's only when we begin to hate the sin to sin begin to lose its power over you and the attitude in David's life began to manifest itself in behaviors that were consistent with the word of God you know in Luke chapter 3 when John the Baptist is preaching out of the wilderness, the people are gathering and he's he's preaching to them. His repeat preaching them a message of repentance and their responding to in their being baptized and John the Baptist says to them in Luke chapter 3 verse eight he says listen you need to bear fruits and keeping with repentance, so in verses 13 through 19 we see we see David bearing fruit in keeping with repentance we see these fruits that would now characterize David's life and these are the same fruits that ought to characterize our life. So look carefully with me at three fruits of repentance that we see from David's life.

The first is this we see great evangelistic zeal we see David began to bear the fruit of evangelistic zeal. He says in verse 13. Look with me. There then I will teach transgressors your ways, and centers will return to you, David is saying I want people to experience the matchless grace and mercy that I've experienced in so I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners.

People who are far from God will be brought near to God. Listen the cross of Jesus will never be more beautiful to you and when you see it in light of your sinfulness.

The cross will never be more beautiful to you than when you see it in the light of your own sinfulness and when you begin to see it in the light of your own sinfulness. There is a seal that begins burning in you that you want other people to experience that same beautiful glorious matchless grace of Christ in you, you will be like David and say God I long to teach transgressors your ways, because I've tasted of your joy and I want others to taste as well. You know, in the New Testament when you see people who were healed of blindness. Or, you know the lane we were allowed to walk or people who were raised from the dead. What they immediately do when I got up and they went and they told people they got up and they went and they proclaimed the good news that they had been healed, how much greater is it that we have been brought out of the realm of darkness and into the realm of his marvelous light. So what else can we do but proclaim the excellencies of him who was done, the cross will never be more beautiful to you than when you see it in the light of your own sinfulness and that will propel you to share the gospel with others so there is the fruit of evangelistic zeal.

But secondly there is the fruit of worship as a lifestyle. The fruit of worship as a lifestyle look with me at verse 14 pieces. Deliver me from blood guilty and is so God, O God of my salvation and my tone will sing aloud of your righteousness.

Deliver me from this God in my tone will just proclaim your excellencies. It will sing aloud of your righteousness. It was Spurgeon who said a great center pardoned makes a great singer, a great center pardoned makes a great sin singer, a great center pardoned makes a great singer. Listen to what he says in verse 15 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise for you will not delight in sacrifice or I would give it to you. You will not be pleased with the burnt offering the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit in a broken and contrite heart of God. You will not despise David is saying God I don't want to do anything that is not of you but if you will open my lips. My mouth will do nothing but declare your praise God he saying I know what you want from me is my heart I know that what you want from me is my affections that you want all that I am to be said and stayed upon you finding my hope finding my purpose finding my meaning only in you and when you are the source of my affection when you are my hope, this could change everything about the way that I live my worship is going to impact the way that I view my family, my worship is going to change the way that I view my marriage, my worship is to change the way that I view my relationship the way that I see you my affections towards you to change the way I view my career and my career trajectory and my generosity in the way that I see life in general. David is saying listen the fruit of the repentance is a life that worships you a life that is set its affections upon you. So the question that we have to ask ourselves this morning is our my affections set upon Christ lives it will. I don't know how can I answer that question, let me give you one diagnostic question that you can ask yourself that will least help you get on the road answer that question and that's this was the one thing that you're most afraid to lose.

One thing that you're most afraid to lose another way of asking that is what your greatest nightmare was the one thing you're afraid to lose or what your greatest nightmare in the answer that question is been revealed to you where your affections. Ultimately, David is saying listen this life of repentance is going to result in bear fruit of evangelistic zeal. This also to bear fruit of worship as a lifestyle, but there's 1/3 fruit that we see. And that's this there's going to be a deep commitment to disciple making, and you see that in verse 18 and 19. Looking with me at what he says. He says to good design on Zion is just a reference to the city of Jerusalem, do good to Zion in your good pleasure build up the walls of Jerusalem then you will delight in right sacrifices and burnt offerings and whole burnt offerings, then bulls will be offered on your altar.

So we're going what in the world does that have to do with disciple making, listen very carefully.

We know that David love Jerusalem. We know that David long to build the temple there. And God told him no, not allow you to build the template asking to be for your son Solomon to do.

He long to see that building.

He's long to see the walls established but I think David is acknowledging something much greater here. I believe David is King of Israel is acknowledging that due to his sin due to his pervasive sin and his failure of leadership is King of Israel, the spiritual walls of Jerusalem have been torn down, and now David is saying God rebuild those spiritual walls and David is saying let me be a part of rebuilding them. Let me be a part of reestablishing your people because what he saying here, David doesn't kick God doesn't care if the physical walls of Jerusalem are built and all the sudden that's gonna make the sacrifices right he saying the spiritual walls of Jerusalem have been broken anything David think God I want to build those spiritual walls back up. I want to build this community back up to set their hope in God, and to engage in his mission, and as they do so as the spiritual walls of Jerusalem are built. Then when the people of God, bring sacrifices, building sacrifices that are honoring to you because their heart will be in the right place. So this is a statement about David's commitment to the people of Israel to the people of Jerusalem think God let me be a part of building that so you see David's attitude toward sin had changed. He'd begun hating his sin, and it resulted in a God excitement exalting lifestyle evangelism worship and of disciple making. See, David knew it was grieved over sin, and he desired to change. But listen, let me close with this. He not only was grieved over sin and desire to change, but David was also convinced he was convinced of God's love and willingness to forgive. He was convinced of God's love and his willingness to forgive them know I would imagine there some of you here this weekend that you're saying to yourself will you don't have any idea what I've done you have any idea where I've been, you don't have any idea what I've done, how can you be so certain that God loves me and that God is willing to forgive me.

I want to say to you that that is a great, great question, and the beautiful part of the Psalm is it gives us an incredible answer to that.

You know there is one time, there is one time in the Psalm were David asks God not to do something remember where it is.

It's in verse 11.

Remember what David says. He says cast me not away from your presence and take not your Holy Spirit from me. One thing he begged God not to do one thing that David could not bear happen. This is God told remove your presence from me because life would not be worth living without you. So, in light of everything.

David done lasting adultery and murder cases.

God, please don't take your presence from me and you know what Summit church.

God doesn't. He doesn't take his presence from David and you want to know why because the very thing that David asked God not to do is the very thing that God would do to his own son see there was Jesus holy and blameless, the son of God dying on the cross and in his moment of greatest agony.

He cries out to God to be cries out something entirely different. He says my God, my God, why have you forsaken me, and in that moment in that moment Jesus is cast out the presence of his father and God pours on him the judgment and wrath and condemnation that David was deserving of the judgment. You are deserving of the judgment. I am deserving see Jesus was cast out of the father's presence so David wouldn't have to be so that I wouldn't have to be so that you wouldn't have to be. And that's how I know that Jesus loves you.

That's how I know that he's willing to forgive you. So yes, we have to see the magnitude of arson, but we have to see it in light of the magnitude of his sacrifice. So I want to stand here at the top of my lungs and say that there is no sin so great that the blood of Jesus Christ cannot cover it and I want to tell you what Peter told the people at Pentecost and that is repent and believe, and you shall be saved. That is, the depth of love that the father has for you. And so my prayer for us is simple that we would be a people who live lives of continual repentance.

A people who put to death the indwelling sin that resides in us as we delight in the one who was cast out for us so that we could become sons and daughters of the most high God and men