No Longer I But Christ

“Then Job answered the Lord and said, “I know that You can do all things, And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted. ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand, Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. ‘Hear, now, and I will speak; I will ask You, and You instruct me.’ I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; But now my eye sees You; Therefore I retract, And I repent in dust and ashes.” Job 42:1-6 NASB

Repentance is a rich biblical term that signifies an elemental transformation in someone’s mind, heart, and life. When people repent, they turn from walking in one direction to running in the opposite direction. From that point forward, they think differently, believe differently, feel differently, love differently, and live differently.

When Jesus said, “Repent,” He was speaking to people who were rebelling against God in their sin and relying on themselves for their salvation. Jesus’ predominantly Jewish audience believed that their family heritage, social status, knowledge of specific rules, and obedience to certain regulations were sufficient to make them right before God.

God rebukes and corrects and punishes the nation of Israel …. He is holy powerful almighty - He forgives and shows mercy to His people when we truly repent and surrender to Him, God is the great I Am and Jesus’ call to repentance, then and now is a summons for God’s people to renounce sin and all dependence on self for salvation. Only by turning from sin—away from ourselves  and toward Jesus—could we be saved. 

Fundamentally, then, repentance involves renouncing a former way of life in favor of a new way of life.

This doesn’t mean that when we become Christians, we suddenly become perfect. It means that we make a decided break with an old way of living and take a decisive turn to a new way of life as followers of our Lord Jesus. We literally die to our sin and to ourselves—our self-centeredness, self-consumption, self-righteousness, self-indulgence, self-effort, and self-exaltation. In the words of the apostle Paul, we can say, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.”

As Christ begins to live in us, everything about us begins to change. Our minds change. Our desires change. Our wills change. Our relationships change. 

And Ultimately, with Allegiance to Jesus our reason for living changes. Possessions and position are no longer our priorities. Comfort and security are no longer our concerns. Safety is no longer our goal, because self is no longer our god. We now seek God’s kingdom more than we want our own way.