Christian Spiritual Formation: the Basics ~ Part II

Repentance & Remembering (Lent ~ The Jesus Way)

Jesus Invites Us to Repentance and to Draw Close to God and Jesus1

Confession in the presence of a brother is the profoundest kind of humiliation…

Confession is discipleship. Life with Jesus Christ and his community has begun.
Deitrich Bonhoeffer

Genuine repentance is brought about, ultimately, neither by the fear of consequences nor
by the fear of rejection, but as a ministry of the Holy Spirit, who gives to us a deep
conviction of the mercy of God.
Robert M. Norris

What are you giving up for Lent? What are you beginning?
Ephesians 4:20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!— 21 assuming that you have
heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old
self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful
desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self,
created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Eph. 4:22 put off your old self. As Christians seek to do this, God makes it a reality, as
seen in Col. 3:9–10. Even Paul's Gentile readers can be part of the new creation in Christ.
(As the esv footnote indicates, “self” is the generic Gk. for “man” or “human”—perhaps
an allusion to Adamic man apart from Christ.) Ephesians 4:22 describes the negative side
of regeneration, while vv. 23–24 point to the positive side. corrupt. People need inner
transformation because their hearts are “deceitful above all things, and desperately sick”
(Jer. 17:9) ~ ESV Study Bible note

FOUNDATIONS OF REMEMBERING

Remember your creator in the days of your youth. Ecclesiastes 12:1a

The God-Human Gap

Our first problem is that our attitude towards sin is more self-centered than God-centered
~ Jerry Bridges

A recovery of the old sense of sin is essential to Christianity; Christ takes it for granted
that men are bad. ~ C.S. Lewis

Letting the Cross Grow

"The inner self still longs for love more than self-love, for grace more than impression
management, for authenticity more than admiration."
~ Mark R. McMinn “Amazing Grace, How Deep We’re Bound. Finding the courage to trust in
grace” (Christianity Today article).

1
One of Jesus’ many invitations flowing from the 2 Great ones: Love God & Love neighbor (see Wilhoit)

Doug McFall ~ 2009