A thief or a saint

“The repentant thief who died with Christ on Calvary was far more perfect than the saints who nailed Him to the cross. And yet, abstractly speaking, what is holier than the priesthood and less holy than the state of a criminal? The dying thief had perhaps disobeyed God’s will in many things, but in the most important event of his life he listened to Him and obeyed. The Pharisees had kept the letter of the law and spent their lives in pursuit of the most scrupulous perfection. But they saw perfection so much as an abstraction that, when God manifested His will and His perfection in a concrete and definitive way, they had no choice but to reject it.”

— Thomas Merton (freely translated)

Preaching “repentance for the forgiveness of sins” has become increasingly rare in churches and Bible study groups. I don’t mean merely confessing sins, but a genuine conversion of path and direction. Repentance is metanoia, a change of mind. It is the first step on the journey with Christ.

Without repentance there is no forgiveness of sins.
Without forgiveness of sins there is no relationship with God.
Without a relationship with God there is no knowledge of Him.
Without knowledge of Him there is no love; for “whoever does not love does not know God”.

Repentance is understanding that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus”. It is the work of the Holy Spirit, and it comes filled with the assurance of God’s forgiveness, the joy of Salvation and the Grace revealed on the Cross.

Repentance is a choice, whether you are the thief on the cross or the chief priest.

May we choose repentance, day after day; and so stop looking at ourselves and turn to Him, the Only One who has the power to forgive sins, restore our relationship with the Father, reveal the knowledge of the Son and teach us to love.

* Luke 24:47; 1 John 4:8,19; Romans 3:23-24; Psalm 32:5; John 14:6,26; 1 Corinthians 2:9-10