The Wisdom that Requires Repentance

(When all the people heard this, and the tax collectors too, they declared God just, having been baptized with the baptism of John, but the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.)

“To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another,

“‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.’

For John the Baptist came eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by all her children” (Luke 7:29-35).

Jesus’ teaching about the greatness that God honors was strange news to the ears of His followers. His illustration of John the Baptist as an example of Godly greatness was not attractive to the crowd. John was in prison and about to forfeit his life for his faithfulness to the ministry God had called him to. Greatness that resulted in persecution and death was not on the agenda of most Jewish kingdom seekers. In every age there have been few that have gotten the message Jesus preached that day, but those who seek the greatness of God above and beyond the greatness of this world have stood apart and shined brightly in their generations… “That you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world” (Philippians 2:15). Understanding and receiving the message of Christ requires a change of both the head and the heart. The bible calls this kind of change repentance. Christ’s disciples are truth seekers that earnestly pursue and obey the wisdom that requires repentance.

Repentance releases us from the blinding deception of the world. The devil’s primary strategy from the beginning of time has been deception… “I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:3). His deception permeates the unsaved world around us and blinds unbelievers so they cannot see the truth and wisdom of the gospel of Christ… “In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:4). But when we repent, and turn to Jesus Christ, He heals our blind eyes and sets us free to see and grasp His gospel truth… “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor… and recovering of sight to the blind” (Luke 4:18).

Repentance raises our attention to the things that are above and beyond this temporal world. The wisdom revealed in the words spoken by Jesus and recorded in the Bible is not from the world. God’s wisdom reflects His thoughts and is much higher than our thoughts… “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:9). God’s wisdom makes both the heart and mind more Christ-like… “The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere” (James 3:17). God’s wisdom is so opposed to the world’s wisdom that it requires a turning of our hearts and minds away from the world and toward heaven through immersion in His Word… “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth” (Colossians 3:2).

Repentance refines us to discern and receive the wisdom of God. Turning away from the world and toward the Lord is the kind of holy repentance that produces the holiness of heart and mind that sets us apart from the world and increases our sensitivity to the spiritual truth and wisdom of God. This kind of repentance enables truth seekers to have the mind of Christ… “’For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?’ But we have the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16).

As we grow up into Christ turning away from the world and toward His truth we will discover…

The Wisdom that Requires Repentance.