First Forgiven, Then Changed
We’re going to spend a couple of minutes talking about progressions. Whether you’re following a recipe, learning a more advanced movement, or trying to come to a deeper understanding – progressions matter.
Where I want to hone in on is the way in which progressions help us understand a “why.” Life is not about behavior modification. Although, as we mature, we do modify our behavior. And this is where progressions become important. As we grow in understanding, we begin to see things differently, and it’s from that place that we modify how we live.
I remember traveling in Europe and, while perusing the convenience store, I saw a pack of cigarettes. They had an all-caps warning label with a grotesque picture of what a lifetime of smoking had done to someone’s lungs. The goal here was to give someone who was thinking about buying a pack a reason – a “why” – not to. With that image, the potential buyer had a clear reason to change their behavior and walk away from the cigarettes.
I’ve been reading The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning, and he mentions something interesting. While discussing grace, he writes, “He (saved sinner) knows repentance is not what we do in order to earn forgiveness; it is what we do because we have been forgiven… Thus the sequence of forgiveness and then repentance, rather than repentance and then forgiveness, is crucial for understanding the gospel of grace” (The Ragamuffin Gospel, pg. 74).
There are a few words we need to understand accurately here. Grace is the receiving of something you don’t deserve. Forgiveness is the cancelling of a debt or the releasing of negative feelings towards another. Repentance is the turning away from one thing toward another
Manning’s point is this: when we have an accurate view of God’s grace, we begin to see all we’ve been forgiven of and it’s from that place that we repent and begin to live differently.
This is much different than repenting and living a changed life in the hope that God will forgive us. The latter depends on our efforts at behavior modification to earn God’s forgiveness, while the former is fully dependent on what God’s already done for us.
Progressions matter. Both examples show a modification in how we make choices, but they’re informed by two completely different “whys” because of the reasons behind the modification.
Paul communicates this clearly when he says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Friend, by putting your faith in Jesus, you are saved. It’s a done deal. There’s no greater news than this because your sin deserved death. Yet God has given you life – you’re forgiven.
I want to encourage you to spend some time truly considering this reality. Given God’s saving grace in your life, where is repentance necessary?
This is the progression of grace, forgiveness, and then repentance. It gives us a clear “why” to stand on, a reason to move against the current of culture, and a firm foundation for living life differently.
