Escaping the revolving door . . .

Genesis 20; Nehemiah 9; Matthew 19; Acts 19

Sometimes I’ve felt badly because I did something wrong or violated my conscience or disobeyed God. My attitude was that I would never do that again, but it seldom worked out that way. Sorrow and repentance is a good first step, but it is not enough.

The people of God had a cyclical history with sin and repentance. Nehemiah 9 relates how the people were convicted of their sin and recited this to God along with their history of sinning, repenting and sinning again . . .

But after they had rest they did evil again before you, and you abandoned them to the hand of their enemies, so that they had dominion over them. Yet when they turned and cried to you, you heard from heaven, and many times you delivered them according to your mercies. And you warned them in order to turn them back to your law. Yet they acted presumptuously and did not obey your commandments, but sinned against your rules, which if a person does them, he shall live by them, and they turned a stubborn shoulder and stiffened their neck and would not obey. Many years you bore with them and warned them by your Spirit through your prophets. Yet they would not give ear. Therefore you gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands. Nevertheless, in your great mercies you did not make an end of them or forsake them, for you are a gracious and merciful God. (Nehemiah 9:28–31)

Had their standing with God depended on their faithfulness to stop sinning, they would have perished, yet God in His mercy persisted in being gracious to them. He had a better plan. He would send a Savior and they could put their trust in Him. That would get them out of the revolving door and give them victory over the vicious circle they had not been able to escape. Their own efforts were not enough.

However, before the Savior came, John the Baptist arrived to proclaim that the Messiah was coming and the people needed to repent. He baptized them to confirm their confession of sin and repentance. However, that was not enough either.

And it happened that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the inland country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.” And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying. (Acts 19:1–6)

These disciples had repented, a good first step. However, as history shows, feeling sorrow for sin does not change lives. They needed also to trust Jesus and be filled with the Holy Spirit. He is the One who gives new hearts and the ability to say NO to the old life, the cycle of sin, repent, sin again, but only if I turn to Him in my helplessness. Otherwise I get caught in that revolving door.

God does many things that I cannot possibly do. Who shall be saved from that revolving door, even with good intentions? “With God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26). That is where my hope lies: with a God who takes the most unlikely subjects, rich and poor alike, helpless or seemingly strong, and writes His law on our hearts. Apart from God’s intervening grace and the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives, there is no hope for anyone to get out of the cycles of sin.