One aspect I love about the Reformed tradition is the reading of the law, corporate confession of sin, and assurance of grace. Week by week, as we come into the house of the Lord, we are reminded that we fall short of the glory of God, and yet we come to Him and acknowledge our sin and find grace and mercy. We leave pardoned and assured that the Lord forgives us and washes us clean in Christ.

Sometimes, however, we can fall into the mistake of becoming apathetic about this important aspect of Christian life. As Luther famously put it, when Jesus said, “repent for the kingdom of God has come,” he meant every day (to paraphrase).

Psalm 7:12-14 says, “If a man does not repent, God will whet His sword; He has bent and readied His bow; He has prepared for him His deadly weapons, making His arrows fiery shafts.” Repentance is essential if we want peace with God. God’s hatred of sin means that without repentance, we are doomed to suffer His wrath. Yes, we know that repentance is a work of the Holy Spirit wrought in our hearts, but that doesn’t undermine the essential reality that we must repent!

This Lord’s Day, let us renew our repentance with zeal for everything that falls short of God’s glory, and taste again of the mercy and grace of God.