Freely Forgiven Series

Repentance involves a ‘turning away’ and a ‘turning to’

Point number 2 – once you have recognised your sin there needs to come a turning away, a change of direction. A Sunday School teacher once asked a class what was meant by the word "repentance." A little boy put up his hand and said, "It is being sorry for your sins." A little girl said, "It’s more than that - it is being sorry enough to quit."

Repentance isn’t just a case of feeling sorry. It isn’t just a case of having a little bit of remorse or regret for the sin in our lives. The word ‘repent’ is translated from the Greek word ‘metanpia’ which means ‘to have a change of heart, to turn back, to have a complete change of orientation. To use a military term, it is to do a complete about turn.

And Israel was heading in the completely wrong direction. They were way off course. Their sinful lives, and their idolatrous ways were leading them further and further away from God. And God says to them, ‘Stop, turn around, your going the wrong way, your heading in the wrong direction’.

Verse 1 says, ‘Return O Israel to the Lord your God.’ Verse 2, ‘Take words with you and return to the Lord’.

In fact, this is a repeated cry of Hosea. We see it time and again through the book. Ch6: 1 he says’ come let us return to the Lord’. Ch10: 12 he says ‘ it is the time to seek the Lord’. Ch12 ‘You must return to your God’. And here in chapter 14. ‘Return, O Israel, to the Lord your God’.

If you return to something, you are turning back to it. You are going back. And going back requires two things. It requires a turning to, and a turning from. It requires a turning to God, but it also requires a turning away from all that had separated the people from God. It meant that the people had to turn away from all their iniquity, all their unfaithfulness, all their idolatry.

Having recognised their unfaithfulness, they needed to do an about turn – and return to God to confess their sin to him. And that’s what Hosea encourages the people to do in verse 2, to return to the Lord and confess their sins and ask his forgiveness. You see it is not enough for the people to just acknowledge and recognise their sin. When God reveals something in your life that shouldn’t be there, you have to turn away from it, and when you turn away from your sin you are turning toward God, and you need to confess your sin to God. The confession of sins is part of the return, part of the about turn, part of repentance.

And God’s promise is certain that ‘If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.’

Repentance leads to forgiveness and a fruitful future

Final point. True repentance leads to forgiveness and a fruitful future. Just look what God promises a repentant Israel in verse 4 onwards. Once they had recognised and confessed their sin God is not slow to respond. He speaks of healing, of love and of turning away His anger from them. His grace, mercy and love are not slow in responding to the repentance of people. Where once (9.15) God said He would no longer love them because of their continuance in sin and rebellion, now He will freely love them – because they have turned from their wicked ways and turned to Him in repentance and faith.