Peter Witkowski Book Reviews

Review: The Doctrine of Repentance

51159BRX7QL._SX326_BO1,204,203,200_The topic of Repentance demands the Christians full attention. If we hope to walk with our Lord in Savior in paradise, we must know, understand, and practice repentance. As Thomas Watson said, “Repentance is a continuous act. The issue of sorrow must not be quite stopped till death.” If we get repentance wrong, we will undoubtedly get the whole Christian faith wrong.

The Puritan pastor Thomas Watson dived into the conversation about repentance in 1628 when he published his short book, The Doctrine of Repentance. In the space of a 112 small pages, Watson thoroughly wrestles with the doctrine of repentance revealing both what it is and what it is not. After showing that repentance is the conjoined twin of faith, Watson spends the next three chapters discussing the difference between counterfeit and true repentance. He then looks at the motives and reasons for repentance, encouraging his readers to endure the difficulties that often follow true repentance and to remove all hindrances to true repentance.

Both the well-seasoned reader and the new-believer will find Watson’s book helpful. He wields the knife of scriptural interpretation with the care of a skillful pastor, quickly and succinctly applying the Scriptures to the lives of his readers. He clearly reveals what the Bible has to say about repentance. And he says it well. He paints powerful word pictures that bring the truths of Scripture to life. He writes, “Never do the flowers if grace grow more than after a shower of repentant tears.”  And then, he says, “A hard heart is the anvil on which the hammer of God’s justice will be striking to all eternity.” Most every page contains 1 to 3 insightful statements worthy of a quick tweet or of a Sunday morning mention. My own heart and preaching has benefited greatly from Watson’s convicting and loving words.

Sunday school teachers, pastors, men and women looking for devotionals, and those who love deepening their knowledge of God will find this little book immensely beneficial. I encourage you to grab a copy today!

Peter Witkowski Discipleship

How Serious Are Our Sin Problems?

doctorI once heard of a man who went to his doctor  because his side was hurting. After a brief examination, his doctor informed the man that he needed to have an appendectomy right then. The patient was not convinced. And politely told his doctor, “I think I’ll get a second opinion and let you know what I decide.”

To this, his doctor replied, “No you won’t. If you leave here today, you will die. You will be dead within 24 hrs. if you don’t have the surgery.”

Often when it comes to our sin, we take the same exact view as patient. When we are confronted about our gossip, or about your infidelity, or my greed, we tend to minimize the other person’s concerns. We blow off our spouse; we ignore the pleas from our kids; and, we discount the concerns of our small group leader. Our sin is not that big of a deal. Christ died for it. We are done here. Move on, please. I’m do not need surgery. I am fine.

Although this is often the approach we take when coming face to face with sin, this is not Jesus’ approach to sin. In Mark 9:43-50 Jesus says these shocking words,

And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell,[a] to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, ‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’ For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.

Sin is not small matter to Jesus. He tells us to flee it at all cost. Even if we have to cut off a hand or a foot or pluck out an eye to be free from sin, the cost is worth it. Sin is death and all who love, minimize, and ignore their sin are on the path to death both physically and spiritually. Those who love Jesus will not coddle or ignore their anger, their porn addiction, or their frequently lies. They will confess them. They will seek out help from their pastor or from another mature man or women in the faith. They will do everything and anything they can to be free from sin.

Now a quick aside, I do not think Jesus is telling us to physically mane ourselves to achieve victory over our sins. Think about it for a minute. Jesus did not tell Peter to cut out his tongue because he denied Christ three times during the crucifixion narrative. And Jesus does not want us to cut off our hands because we steal, to cut off our feet because we speed through stop signs, or to pluck out our eyes because we look at porn. We do not sin because of our body. We sin because of our hearts. Our hearts and our thinking direct the actions of the body. Jesus clearly states this truth back in Mark 8:21-23,

For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride,

We sin because our souls are corrupted and not because our bodies are fallen. Rather than encouraging us to hack apart our bodies, Jesus is calling us to sacrifice all for righteousness. He is calling the angry man to work fewer hours so that he can sleep more and spend more time with his family, creating a home of peace. He is calling the porn addict to give up his smart phone and to burn his computer. He is calling the drug addict to surrender his stash and to turn himself into the police. He is calling the liar to confess his sins to his wife, pastor, and friends. Jesus is saying we must being willing to lose all, including our good reputation, our friends, our family, our wealth, and every worldly thing to enter the kingdom of heaven. If we do not, we cannot reach heaven.

At some point, all of us will be tested. Everyone will face the pressure of divine inspection. The lies that masked our want of faith will be ripped away, revealing all the deeds that we have done in secret (both good and bad). The reality of whether or not we trust in ourselves or in the great physicians for salvation will be made known.

Those who refuse to flee from their sin will die. They will be cast into the fires of hell. Don’t mistake this. We may not take our sin seriously. We may not think, we have an illness leading to death. But God does. He is not fooled. He will judge us for our sins. All who love sin will die. And all who flee from sin will find eternal life.

And it is not enough for us to be around Christians. It is not enough for us to come from Christian families. It is not enough for us to flee secular friendships and to come to church. We must have true life within our very souls. Notice what Christ says in verse 50.

“Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves and be a peace with one another.”

If we embrace sin, if we view sin as insignificant, and if we love lawlessness, we are not the children of God. I once heard an old-time preacher tell a family that they had good genes and that he expected a lot of them spiritually because they were descended from a godly lineage. It was a nice sentiment. But, it is not true. Grandma’s righteousness does not mean you will be righteous. Your parents faithful church attendance does not mean you are a going to heaven even though you are always mean. Walking the aisle, talking to your pastor, getting baptized, and memorizing Bible verses does not compensate for your constant lying. The man, woman, and child whose life is characterized by disobedience cannot be redeemed or fixed by his or her surroundings. Salt that has lost its saltiness is worthless. Faith that clings to sin is worthless. Do not be deceived.

But that is not the end of the story. If you love sin, you can stop today. You can repent of your sin. You can confess that your are evil and in need of God’s righteousness bought for you by Jesus’ death on the cross. And then you can confess Jesus as Lord. If you do, he will liberate you from your sin. He will make you salty again. He will save you. He will fix your broken relationships; he will give you peace on earth and in heaven.

Guys and gals, God is good loving and full of glory. Anything we give up including wealth, prestige, power, and earthly satisfaction will be more than made up for in Christ. As John Piper often says, “We are most satisfied when he is most glorified.”

Our patient from before had an option, surgery or death. He choose surgery. He cut out part of his body so that he might live. He listened to the doctor and found life.

Friends, lets listen to our heavenly doctor. Let’s take sin seriously and cut it out of our lives so that we too might live.

Peter Witkowski Discipleship

A Quick Response To Public Failure

Tpublic-sinhe unconfessed sin of the believer is always unpleasant. It always dark, dirty, and filled with hurt. Quite naturally, something so awful loves darkness and secrecy. But eventually the secrets will come to light.

And when a Christian’s sin comes out into the open, its effects can extend well beyond an individual heart or home. The nature of a person’s sin can require that society, employers, and the government take action. The consequences of a believer’s sin can lead to the arrival of a pink slip, a legal summons to appear in court, or flashing blue lights in their yard. And when sin becomes public knowledge, the evil desire that once could have been addressed with a quick prayer now appears to be fearfully out of control. The whole local community of believers can feel hurt and dirty.

But thankfully things are not out of control when a believer sins publicly. The Scriptures are full of narratives that recount the public failures of God’s people. Abraham had an affair, Moses struck a rock in front of thousands of people, and King David conducted a census. The Scriptures have a lot to say about we should respond to public sin. And the message is very hopeful!

Three Ways to Respond:

1. We call our brothers and sisters to repentance.

First, we accept what has happened. We call sin, “Sin” and acknowledge that sin comes with real consequences. Sin has to be addressed. The man who embezzles money from his employer should make restitution.  When Zacchaeus stole from people, he offered to make restitution. Jesus did not absolve him from the consequences of his sins (Luke 19:8).  And when David decided to number the people of Israel, God judged David and killed 70,000 men (1 Chronicles 21:7-17).

Second, we need to encourage our brothers and sisters to action. Sorrow is great. But, tears do not save nor do they mean someone is truly sorry. Our friends may only be grieving the fact that they have been publicly humiliated. As Paul notes in 2 Corinthians 7: 9-10:

 As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.

How do you tell the difference between real and fake sorrow? True sorrow over sin, true repentance always leads to action. When Zacchaeus repented of stealing, he promised to return four fold what he took and he promised to give up to half of his goods to the poor. His covetous greedy heart was replaced with a kind, generous one. His repentance was defined by action. As Ephesians 4:28 says, “Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need.” Zacchaeus did just that!

Similarly, David cried out to the Lord and said, “I have sinned greatly in that I have done this thing. But now, please take away the iniquity of your servant, for I have acted very foolishly” (1 Chronicles 21:7b).  And then, David went out and offered sacrifices for his sin. Both men took action to revealed a repentant heart.

If our sister has embezzled money from her company, we must go to her privately and encourage her to take action. We must encourage her to repent. She should confess her sin to those whom she has sinned against and to God. And then she must stop stealing and make restitution. She must repay the stolen money. Repentance leads to practical change. We must call our brothers and sisters who sin to pursue repentance.

And third, we must forgive. Once a brother and sister repents of their sin, we must extend them forgiveness. We must  forgive them as Christ has forgiven us (Col 3:13).  Forgiveness means that we will no longer dwell on a person’s sin, we will no longer talk about their failures, and we will no longer allow a few actions to determine how we relate to our friend. In short, we will stop trying to punish the person for what he or she has done.

Practically this means that when we wake up, we no longer meditate on why George got fired from his job. We no longer discuss Sally’s road to prison over coffee. And we greet Jim with the same smile that we showed him prior to him repenting of his affair. To forgive, “means to release a person from punishment or penalty.”  If we love Christ, we must be quick to fellowship with those who used to be thieves, adulterers, and liars.

2. We need to love our brother and sisters caught in sin.

The world is quick to judge and hold grudges. The church should be the opposite. Yes, we should take sin seriously. Yes, we should call our brothers and sisters to repentance. And yes, we should practice church discipline if they refuse to turn from their porn addiction. But we should always be quick to extend love and mercy.

We should freely extend mercy to those who have sinned publicly both before and after they seek forgiveness. We should make our friends meals, care for their families, and give them opportunities to prove their repentance. We should not make an embezzler the church accountant, but it would be great for us to get her a job at the local factory. It would be great for us to rent her a house at cost so that she could begin to repay her debt. Regardless of the severity of the sin, there is no limit to the nature of our forgiveness. We are to forgive our brothers and sisters “seventy-times seven” (Matt. 18:22).

And, we should readily remind our brothers and sisters that they are not their sin. If they have repented, they are no longer defined by their sin. The adulterer is no longer an adulterer, but a fellow brother in Christ who has been redeemed from his sin by the blood of the cross. He is a justified sinner just like everyone else in church.

3. We need to be careful.

Anytime we encounter sin, we must avoid the temptation to wag our little finger. We must avoid the temptation to puff up our chest and say, “I would never do that.”

Friends, we could all do that. If Noah can get drunk, if Abraham can let his wife marry another man, if Samson can sleep with a prostitute, and if David can kill a man, we too can mess up and mess up big time. Our ability to avoid the newspapers is not based on our moral aptitude or will power. Notice what Paul says in Galatians 6:1

Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.

We should go to those who have fallen. We should encourage them to repent. We should work to see them restored. We should strive to see them become active members of our church again.

Those who are doing well should help those overcome be sin especially public sin. As Paul says in I Thessalonians 5:14 “admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.”

But we must do so in humility. We must engage the hurting, realizing that the power to change people is not found in our works, wisdom, or methods. We are not stronger than our fallen friends. We are just as vulnerable as those we help. We need to point our own hearts to the gospel just as much as we point our fallen friends to the God of heaven.

And we must make sure that we are quickly confessing our sins. We must regularly examine our hearts. We must regularly confess our sins. We must take our own sin seriously and flee from it. We must watch ourselves and make sure we have allowed sin to get a death grip on our heart. If we do not, we too will be exposed one day.

Final Thoughts

Public failure is, well, public. And it is unpleasant. But such sin is not the end of the story, of anyone’s story. We don’t lock up our friends and throw away the key. We keep ministering to them. We keep calling them to repentance. We keep loving them. And we keep watching our souls.