Monday, August 21st | Repent and Believe Recap

Hello, everyone. Today is Monday, August the 21st. I'm Ryan Hill.

I'm Jon Galantis. You're listening to Clearview Today with Dr. Abbadon Shah, the daily show that engages mind and heart for the gospel of Jesus Christ. You can visit us online at ClearviewTodayShow.com. If you have any questions for Dr. Shah or suggestions for new topics, send us a text to 252-582-5028, or you can email us at contact at ClearviewTodayShow.com.

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Absolutely nothing less than five stars. We're going to leave a link in the description of this podcast so you can do just that. Today's verse of the day is coming from Philippians 4-9. It says, The things which you learned and have received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you. I love Paul's mindset of, copy me as I'm copying Jesus. It's difficult. It can be a lot of pressure sometimes to think of yourself as a role model or think of everybody's watching you as you are behaving. But if we are becoming more Christ-like, if we are striving to become more like Jesus in our interactions, then we should be able to say with confidence, copy me, because that's going to get you closer to Jesus. The reason that people want to say that is not because you're humble.

I'm saying this to myself, too. It's not because I'm humble. That's why I say, it's difficult to say what Paul says. I know there's some sin in my life that is preventing me from having that boldness. I know that for me to say what Paul said, it's not that it takes a level of pride. It's that I'd be a hypocrite if I said that. There's unconfessed and unrepentant sin in my life. I think in all of our lives, that prevents us from saying that. That's why you framed it the way you did. If you're truly becoming more and more Christ-like, then saying that should be no problem.

It gives us a goal to strive for. If you can't say this in honesty and integrity, then what needs to change in your life so that you can say it? I can tell you this with honesty. I'm hungry. I did not eat this morning. I almost did not want to come in here and do the Centro because I was like, I need to stink and eat. I need to eat something, some sustenance, some vittles.

I need a straight vittle. Some grade-A, world-class vittles. Do you remember what David said yesterday when we were ordering lunch? We were ordering lunch yesterday.

David, if you want to turn your mic on and elaborate on this, David said something that registered with me, but I had never really put into words before. We were ordering sheets, and he said, I'm so hungry I can smell sheets through this computer screen. I can smell the sheets through the computer screen. What did you smell, bud? What were you ordering? I was putting in my order, and I think I was ordering, I believe that I ordered a chicken wrap that day, or some chicken wraps with the spicy Asian and ranch together.

It's pretty good. I don't know what I smelled, but it was like walking into a Sheetz gas station. But you were sitting in the office. Yes, I was sitting in the office.

I pulled up the webpage, and as soon as I saw the stuff, I registered mozzarella sticks, gasoline, and something else. But I definitely smelled Sheetz. Did you like it? It made me hungry. I don't know what it was. It's really crazy how sometimes I'll see stuff from my childhood, and I'll smell my childhood home.

I'll see a picture of Hey Arnold! or whatever, and I'll smell my living room or my bedroom. I'm going to nerd out for just a second. I was a psychology major in college, and part of that was, we had to study the function of the different parts of the brain. The same place that processes memory is the same place that processes scent and smells. Oftentimes, smells will trigger different memories. Those memories coming to the surface, thinking about how something smelled, it can actually trigger that smell.

So, there is some scientific merit behind that. I definitely understand smelling something and being like, oh, that reminds me of this. But the reverse is what's weird to me. Like David doing that, and I've done that, too, where I'll see a picture and I'll smell the thought preceding the smell. That's crazy. That's crazy that your brain can do that.

It's funny. I used to have a candle, and I think I still actually have it. It's a certain scent, and I would light it up. Once I smelled the candle here recently, I transported back to my desk in my chair watching Netflix. I just remember lighting that candle up and watching a TV show. It was weird. I love how Ellie will put candles out. In fact, the first and only time I ever went to Infuge with you, we stayed in the boys' cabins.

Maybe for this reason. Yeah, maybe you guys are used to it by now, but I was not used to it. Boys' cabins at a summer camp is the most putrid-smelling thing you've ever smelled in your life. And I can't think of a slow second. It's thick. It gets in your eyes. It's like when you walk out on a hot summer's day next to a dumpster, and it's like, oh, oh, that hurts to smell. I went home after that week, and Ellie had some Macintosh Apple candles, and I just wept bitterly. I was like, I'll never leave again. Yeah, that's kind of intense. And even those smells, I'm like, oh, Infuge. Oh, summer camp.

Oh, yeah. We're going to start the show in just a minute, but if you guys have any questions or suggestions, tell us about a time where a smell triggered a memory, or vice versa, memory triggered a smell for you. Text us at 252-582-5028, or you can visit us online at ClearviewTodayShow.com. We'll be right back. Well, good morning, afternoon, evening, Clearview Today listeners. My name is Jon. And I'm David.

And we just want to take a quick second and let you know about another way that you can keep in touch with Dr. Shah's work, and that is his weekly podcast series, Sermons by Abaddon Shah, Ph.D. As a lot of you may know, or maybe some of you don't know. If you don't know, you do now. And if you don't know, then maybe just hop off the podcast.

David. I'm just playing. Hop off the podcast.

I'm just playing. Keep listening. Dr. Shah is actually the lead pastor of Clearview Church in North Carolina. Every single weekend, he preaches expository messages that challenge and inspire us to live God-honoring lives. One of the four core values of Clearview Church is that we're a Bible-believing church. So every sermon is coming directly from Scripture, which is great because that guarantees that there are timeless truths that are constantly applicable to our lives. This is a great resource because whether you're driving, whether you're cleaning the house, whether you're working out, you can always benefit from hearing the Word of God spoken into your life. And God's Word is always going to do something new for you every time you hear it.

Sometimes it's conviction, and sometimes it's encouragement. But know that every time you listen to God's Word, you're inviting the Holy Spirit to move and work in your life. You guys can check out the Sermons by Abaddon Shah Ph.D. podcast. First and foremost, check it out on our church app. That's the Clearview app. You can get that in the Google Play Store. You can get that on iTunes. But you can also find the podcast on the Apple podcast app or on our website at ClearviewBC.org. And listen, if you've got a little extra time on your hands, you just want to do some further reading, you can also read the transcripts of those sermons.

Those are available on Dr. Shah's website, AbaddonShah.com. And we're going to leave you guys a little link in the description so you can follow it. But for right now, David, let's hop back in. Hey there, listeners, I'm Jon Galantis.

And I'm Ellie Galantis. And we just want to take a quick second and talk to you about Dr. Shah's and Nicole's book, 30 Days to a New Beginning, Daily Devotions to Help You Move Forward. You know, this is actually the second book in the 30 Days series. And the whole point of this devotional is to help us get unstuck from the ruts of life. You know, when it comes to running the race of life, it matters how you start. But a bad start doesn't ultimately determine how you finish the race. You can have a good finish even with a bad start. And that's where this book comes in. No matter who you are or where you are in life, you're going to get stuck.

Instead of going out and buying some gadget or some planner, like I know I've done several times. I know that's right. 30 Days encourages you to find your first start in God's word. Life doesn't have a reset button. But our God is a God who does new things.

His mercies are new every day, which means every day is a new chance for you to start over. You can grab 30 Days to a New Beginning on Amazon.com. We're going to leave a link in the description box below. And if you already have the book, let us know what you think about it.

That's right. Send us a text, 252-582-5028. Share what God has done in your life through this devotional. Hey, maybe we'll even read your story on the air. Ellie, you ready to get back to the show?

Let's do it. Welcome back to Clearview Today with Dr. Abbadan Shah, the daily show that engages mind and heart for the gospel of Jesus Christ. You can visit us online at ClearviewTodayShow.com.

If you have any questions or suggestions for new topics, send us a text at 252-582-5028. That's right. And if today's your first time ever tuning into the Clearview Today Show, we want to introduce you to Dr. Abbadan Shah. Dr. Abbadan Shah is a PhD in New Testament textual criticism, professor at Carolina University, author, full-time pastor, and the host of today's show. Only Dr. Shah is not here today.

He is not. Dr. Shah, unfortunately, his mom just recently passed away. He is over in India spending time with family and taking care of arrangements and all the stuff that goes into that. Keep Dr. Shah in your prayers as he is, number one, dealing with the loss of his mom, and number two, traveling back to the States.

We do appreciate all of the members of our Clearview family. A lot of you guys know it was a really tumultuous time. Maybe when Dr. Shah comes back, we can talk about that on the air a little bit. But all the events leading up to this, we really saw our church come together and pull through and pray. Not only that, but just take action in getting Dr. Shah home to India on time.

That was really, really inspiring for me. Like I said, we'll probably delve into more details on that when Dr. Shah is here, and he can present the full story with his perspective. But we thought it would be fun in these couple of weeks while he's traveling to listen to some of the most impactful sermons that he's preached for us and then maybe give our spin on them. Because a lot of people who listen to Clearview Today's show, they know that Dr. Shah is a pastor, but probably unless they follow his sermons podcast, they don't ever get a chance to hear these sermons.

Gardner, you'll hear us reference them on the show. Sometimes that's the theme of the episode that we're talking about. But this will give you an actual chance to listen to him preach, to listen to him deliver the message, and let you know messages that have impacted us as well. Maybe it inspires you to go check out those messages or those series. You can find all of those messages.

You can find the transcripts on his blog at abidanshah.com. Or you can view and listen to those messages on our church's website, ClearviewBC.org. This is one of my favorites. This one right here is called Repent and Believe.

Very nice. This is our final message in this series on the gospel. Many of y'all have shared with me how much the series has impacted your life. Some of you have shared with me how much you have shared this with other people.

I've heard people on the other side of the country, even some on the other side of the globe who are listening to this series. I mean it is God's gospel. Amen. To him be the glory.

It's his anyways. But this morning we come to the final message in this series. We're going to learn how salvation is both a result of repentance and belief.

They go together. They are the final steps of following Jesus Christ. There is a declaration of the gospel but then there is also a decision that has to make to be made and in that decision there is repentance and belief. First I want us to look at repentance.

I want to focus on repentance and then believe and then bring that gospel together. What is repentance? Now some people have unjustly inserted the idea of remorse and regret and tears in repentance. So when you hear the word repentance what you immediately think or see is someone just bent over and just so much in shame and sorrow and just feeling awful about their sinful condition. You see someone just tears are flowing down and there is so much brokenness and we immediately think that's what repentance is. Now when you study the Bible even the Old and the New Testament what you find is that's not the meaning the Bible gives to repentance. To start with I don't have time to go into the Old Testament but just focusing on the Greek which is the language and when the New Testament was written the Greek word is metanoia.

Metanoia which is used about twenty four times as the noun form and then there's a verbal form metanoia which is found about thirty four times and then there is also metamelomai which is found about six times. I know some of you all are going I don't care but the reason I am giving you all these statistics is to help you understand that the core idea behind this word metanoia is a change of mind. It's a change of thinking.

It was never how sorrowful I am, how beaten down I am. Somehow that idea has come and surrounded this word but that's not what repentance is. It's a change of mind. It's a change of thinking.

People ask me where do you think it came from? It could be it came because of the Roman Catholic tribe. It could be because of the Roman Catholic translation for this word as penance or penitence.

So you have this image of someone you know with a whip trying to whip themselves. They're going doing penance for all the bad they've done. Folks if repentance was I can feel bad for all I've done and pay for all I've done, then you don't need Christ. You have just negated the cross.

No, no. When we talk about repentance it's a change of mind. It's a change of thinking. Now sorrow may come when you repent. There may be tears when you repent but that doesn't have to be. For example when I was four years of age I received Jesus as my Savior and my King and I remember very distinctly mom and I would pray at night and I was sitting at the corner of the bed and mom was talking to me about the Gospel and what it means to receive Jesus as your Savior and I told her you know I want to do that too and she explained to me the Gospel. I don't remember it very distinctly but she explained to me what it means and I asked Jesus to come into my heart but I remember very distinctly I didn't know the word repentance. But I knew this much from this day life will have to be different.

I cannot be like those other little boys who are mean to other little boys or girls. I knew that I need to listen to mom and daddy more because I haven't been doing that lately. You see there was this thinking that was changing that who I am and who I was was not right.

Sorrow may be there but that does not mean that that's necessarily repentance. Why are you sharing these things? Because a lot of people come and they cry and they have tears but there is no change in their life.

Have you all seen people like that? They come down oh I'm so I'll tell you what my life is a mess I'm I just I'm so and then they go right back into it and my question is what happened? What were all those tears? You know what those tears were? There were tears of regret. There were tears of remorse that I have blown it.

There was no change of mind that if I go back into it I'm going to do it again. Now sometimes people quote this passage which is 2nd Corinthians 7 10 which says it's on the screen for godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation. So what they say is there you go there is sorrow. Pay attention to the adjective godly because there is another kind of sorrow which is not godly. What happens many times is you have this ungodly sorrow.

Same sorrow you have when you're going down listen to that one song that talks about how tough your life has been and how now you have to reap what you sowed and and now you have to you made the bed you got a lie in it that's kind of song and you're like oh you know you're feeling all sorry that's not godly. So what happens is you have this ungodly sorrow which is not godly. But there is a godly sorrow which will do what? It will produce repentance. You see godly sorrow is not repentance. Godly sorrow may produce repentance leading to salvation not to be what's the word there? So if there is regret in your repentance that's not godly sorrow. Folks there may be a regret. There may be some remorse for decisions you made but listen that is not necessarily repentance.

Repentance has a change of way of thinking. Now listen to the rest of the passage but the sorrow of the world produces death. It doesn't mean that because if you sorrow like the world does that next thing you know we're planning your funeral.

What it does mean is that now you have a death like existence. Your dreams died. You had a dream of how your family was going to finish but the dreams have died.

You had a dream of how your children were going to be successful and and prosperous and and having a family and all this and the dreams have died and now you have this sorrow over this death of a vision of an ideal. That's not godly that's worldly sorrow. Godly sorrow true repentance is a change of thinking regarding three things.

It's a change of thinking regarding sin, it's a change of thinking regarding self, and it's a change of thinking regarding the savior. Prior to true repentance sin was okay. I can look at trash. It's alright everybody's sin was okay. I can look at trash. It's all right everybody's doing it. I can cuss. It's all right everybody's doing it. I can be hateful to my spouse, my husband, my wife. It's all right. He deserves it or she deserves it.

You don't know what she. You see prior to this sin was okay. True repentance is that's not right. There is a disdain against sin. Prior to true repentance, self, you were at the center of the universe. Everything is about you.

Everything has to be just right for you to look good. True repentance removes self from the center and puts who? God.

Jesus Christ at the center. Before true repentance, you didn't need a Savior. All you got to do is, I got to do better tomorrow. I got to be a nice person. I need to get away for a while. You don't need to be rescued. But true repentance tells you that you are stuck in the pit of despond. You cannot come out. Someone has to come and pull you out. Someone has to save you. You see true repentance changes the way you think about sin. It changes the way you think about yourself. It changes the way you think about a Savior. You need a Savior.

You need someone to rescue you. Man, I love that message so much because it, you know, brings a lot of clarification about what true repentance is. I think a lot of times people misunderstand that. Just like Dr. Seuss said in that message, we interpret it like, oh, I'm tearful.

I'm crying. Or that person is. So they must be having this moment of repentance before God when tears and repentance, they can go hand in hand, but they're not necessarily the same thing. I also like how it's something that we really don't think about it being a necessary component of salvation because we think it's something that comes after we get saved. Because people, and I think you kind of just hit it, people attribute it with emotion. So because it's an emotional thing, it's going to be a, and I'm putting this in quotes, it's going to be a byproduct of salvation.

I get saved, and then I realize the full weight of how I've been living my life. And so I feel bad about it. I feel conviction.

But that's just conviction. You know, that emotional guilt that we feel is not what repentance is. It's this difference between what we think and how we feel. They're very different things. Like the mind and the immaterial part of us, yes, that's one thing, which is our soul, our immaterial essence. But how I feel about something and what I actually think about it are two completely different things.

Yeah. It's also not, and I've seen this with like youth trips and, you know, youth camp and things like that. It's not a need to get saved again. Like I feel convicted over my sin, so I need to ask Jesus to forgive me, come into my heart again. There is like asking for forgiveness for sins. There is repenting. There is all that stuff, confessing, all that kind of stuff.

But it's not like I realize now that I am upset about the fact that I've been sinning, so I need to get saved again. And, you know, I hate so much this terminology that we have kind of coined around student ministry culture, this idea of a cry night. Is that a real thing?

Yeah. It's pre-programmed into the youth schedule. Monday is like hype. Everybody just got to camp, everybody just got on the mission trip, we're excited, we're ready to go.

High energy, low conviction. And then as the week goes on, you know, like maybe around a Thursday, everybody's feeling it, you know, the Holy Spirit can't move before Thursday because Thursday is cry night. We kind of planned that this is like going to be, alright, guys, this is the night that's going to hit hard.

Yeah, I see what you're saying. I didn't know that. Do they call it cry night or is that just what you're saying?

Oh, no, they call it cry night. Are you joking? Yeah, yeah, absolutely. No, I'm not joking.

I'm not joking. And I'm talking like on a student perspective. You know, there are some merits to like, you get further in the week and kind of barriers are down and you're tired, so you're feeling things a little bit more and, but that doesn't mean that God can only move on the night that is programmed to move. And it also doesn't mean like you have to cry in order to have a moment of repentance. Yeah, because I think teenagers especially, but also immature Christians will see that overflow of emotion as a real experience. That's where the Holy Spirit is really, really moving. And so when he's telling me just, when he's just like kind of that nagging voice in the morning to go read my Bible and pray, that's just my conscience. You know, that's not really the Holy Spirit because I don't feel this big overflow of uncontrollable emotion. And we wait for those little moments, those little glimpses of life, those little snatches of overflowing. And we say, that's the Holy Spirit.

And so I feel so distant from him all the days of my life because he doesn't do that every day. Well, and you know, I love that you said an uncontrollable emotion is overflow. It made me think of, you know, the verse that says, God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power of love and sound mind. That's right. God is not a God of losing control. Right. God's not a God of just ecstasy, of just kind of like overflowing. And I'm not in control of my faculties anymore. I like that.

Yeah, absolutely. I love the illustration Dr. Shah gave in the beginning of the sermon about being saved at four years old because it's legitimate salvation. And again, if repentance is an essential step of salvation without true biblical repentance, without a change of mind, a change of thinking about sin, then how can you really be saved? But also the thing about being saved as such a young child is a child can change their mind about what's right and wrong. But a child is not going to feel the gravity of guilt and regret like adult care. What is he going to regret?

You know, what sort of overwhelming guilt and penance is he going to feel? A four-year-old is not going to feel that because they don't have enough life experience. Whereas an adult, they can be like, oh my gosh, I've made so many mistakes in my life.

I've done this and this, and I've wronged this person, and I didn't make these right choices. And so they take all that guilt and all that shame and they're like, this is good. This is what true repentance is. But nobody's going to live like that their whole life. So of course you're going to go back into sin.

Of course you're going to go back into doing those things. If that's what repentance is, I wouldn't do it every day. I wouldn't stay in a state of repentance if that's what it actually was.

That's miserable. I love the definition Dr. Seuss gives, too. It's a change of thinking about sin, self, and savior. Repentance is not just, try hard not to do this.

Because we're going to fail if that's the goal. If we're white-knuckling it, just like, I'm going to try really hard not to lie. I'm going to try really hard not to lust. I'm going to try really hard to control my tongue.

You're going to fail in your own efforts. But it's a change of mind. It's a change of thinking. This action that I am doing is disobedient to a God who loves me and has a better plan for me. And when I start to think about it that way, it changes my approach. It changes my understanding of who I am, of my shortcomings, and of what Christ has done for me. You see people do that with worship a lot, too. I see it all the time where people kind of resolve themselves, especially people who are leading songs or serving on the worship team, but also people in the congregation where they're like, my worship hasn't felt like that big cathartic experience I'm used to.

I just really need to mean these songs. What are you going to do? Are you going to think about it harder while you're singing? Are you going to ignore the melody and all the nice sounds so you can focus on the theology while you're singing?

What are you going to do? You can't mean it harder. It's not going to come from this moment. I think the same thing with our repentance. We're not going to be able to manufacture repentance every day. If you really think repentance is guilt and feeling bad, you can't do that every day. You just can't live that way. I completely understand why people go back to their sin.

I would, too. This is something Dr. Sha said that I hadn't thought about before. You can tell when someone's really not repentant because there's always that sin that they have to justify. It's like, yeah, I did cheat on my wife, but you have no clue what our marriage is like. You don't understand the situation.

You don't understand. What I did was wrong. I'm going to lay out all the reasons why it was wrong, but here's why you should understand it. It's coming from a place where if I can get someone to see my point of view or if I can get someone to agree, I think it may be warranted, then it's really not sin. I can convince myself that I didn't sin.

I did what I had to do. One of the most heinous and despicable things that we're capable of is justifying sin. Giving ourselves a pass, giving ourselves an excuse like, I know this is bad, but it's not quite as bad because X, Y, and Z. Kline- Well, yeah, because the end goal is now not to change.

It's to get someone else to empathize. The end goal when I justify my sin is that I need to not look bad in front, not only just with God, but in front of other people. We know in our hearts God's not going to buy that. So, OK, let's take that. Pleasing God is no longer the standard. Let's make sure that the people around me still think I'm a pretty good guy, so I'm going to start justifying this.

Gardner- Yeah. I love that Dr. Josh shared that story. I love that we picked this sermon today because of the story about his mom, sitting there and leading into Christ. Parents, this one's for you. If you doubt your influence over your kids, I promise, promise, promise you, you have more of an impact on their thinking. Even if they're in those teenage years, you have more of an impact on their thinking than you realize. Take time to have those conversations with your kids. Take time to have those conversations with your kids young. Even if they're asking questions and you're like, I don't really think they get it, they might understand more than you realize.

So, take time to have those conversations. If you guys enjoyed today's topic or you have questions or suggestions for new episodes, send us a text to 252-582-5028. Or you can visit us online at ClearviewTodayShow.com. Don't forget, you can partner with us financially on that same website. Scroll down to the bottom of the page, click that donate button, and join our Clear View Today show family as we seek to impact nations with the gospel of Jesus. We love you guys. We'll see you tomorrow on Clear View Today.