“No Regrets?”

The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…

"No Regrets?"

   Does regret have any place in the hearts of born again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, whose sins have been forgiven through the Savior's redeeming work on our behalf?

    "We have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace" (Ephesians 1:7).

    I recently heard a prominent person state in an interview that he had no regrets about his life.  The man was not a professing believer, which led me to the consideration of the matter regarding those who have trusted the Lord Jesus.  Does His saving grace preclude us from all sorrow regarding past failures?  In one sense it does.  "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:1).  Our Heavenly Father desires that we live without the sense of paralyzing sorrow regarding our sins.  Christ's death and resurrection made perfect and abundant atonement for us to the degree that God does not impute our iniquities to us (Romans 4:8).  He rather placed them on the account of the Lord Jesus on the cross and executed His wrath against His beloved Son and our beloved Savior.  The Lord's sacrifice infinitely transcends our sin in the sight of our Heavenly Father.  "Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound" (Romans 5:20).  Thus, our Lord declares "Go in peace" to all who trust in His redeeming work on our behalf (Luke 7:50).

    Again, however, does this mean that believers are to have no regrets?  The answer is that a place still exists in us where we join David in confessing, "I will be sorry for my sin" (Psalm 38:18).  First, our Lord suffered and died in untold spiritual and physical agony to make atonement for our sins.  No believer blithely ponders the cross without regretting that our previous rebellion against God made necessary Christ's redeeming work for God and for us.  We also remember that our sins have sometimes hurt people.  God's wondrous pardon that bestows such peace does not mean that we ignore pains we have caused to others.  Consider David's sin with Bathsheba, which led to David consigning her husband Uriah to his death on by battlefield.  We can be sure that the King never forgot his culpability regarding such horrid behavior.  "I will be sorry for my sin" may well refer to this episode in his life.  David knew he was forgiven, as Psalm 51 depicts.  However, he also knew the pains he had caused to others.  He wasn't paralyzed by regret.  Nevertheless, a proper place existed in his heart for remorse.

    I shudder anytime I hear someone say they have no regrets.  Such blindness reveals great lack of personal awareness and understanding regarding both God and themselves.   Our Lord purposes that we live and rejoice in great peace regarding our sin and His salvation.  We nevertheless allow a place in our hearts for regrets that do not paralyze us, but rather remind us of wondrous grace received.  An appropriate remorse accompanies such remembrance, directing our hearts to both glad rejoicing and solemn awareness.

"For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am: and His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me".

 (I Corinthians 15:9-10)

Weekly Memory Verse

    "The knowledge of the Holy is understanding."

(Proverbs 9:10)