LifeWay Explore the Bible Series for January 6: Restoring the repentant

We all have been there. We all have had those times in life when we know we have sinned and experience that feeling of separation from God. Life seems to become more stressful and our prayers seem to fail to rise above the ceiling.

At these times, we often have a tendency to try to alleviate the guilt we feel in a number of ways. We may blame other people or our circumstances. We may fill our days with activity in an effort to simply ignore the feeling. We may excuse the sin with “I’m only human” or similar statements.

The danger in these approaches is we may become spiritually numb and cease to grow spiritually. The Bible is clear that there is only one way to deal with our sin and get rid of our guilt. We simply need to repent. Although we may feel that we have gone too far down the wrong road, the Bible clearly teaches it never is too late to return, and God always will welcome the repentant individual back home.

While much of his book dealt with announcements of God’s judgment, Hosea ends with a note of hope by announcing the availability of restoration through repentance. Although the people had wandered away from God for centuries and had to endure punishment, God declared they could be restored if they would repent.

The call to repentance (Hosea 14:1-3)

One of the most significant aspects of God’s grace is God not only makes restoration through repentance available, God calls and implores people to return. Our sin is an act of rebellion against God, and God could (as many of the pagan gods Israel worshipped did) make demands on humanity and then sit back and wait for us to meet those demands before extending any form of forgiveness. Yet because of God’s love for us, God’s deepest desire is for an unhindered relationship with us, and God always is calling us to return so that he can forgive us and restore that relationship.

But we must understand that repentance is more than simply confessing our sin. Confession is certainly an important first step, but repentance calls us beyond this step. In verses 1 through 3, Hosea shows the reader repentance involves turning away from those things that we hold on to for security, things such as financial or military strength.

These things may not seem like bad things or idols, yet they are things which we so easily put our confidence in apart from God and they cannot ultimately save us. Having turned away from earthly things we must then turn to God as the only true source of life and security and salvation. This is what God desires and calls for us to do.

The results of repentance (Hosea 14:4-7)

Just as repentance is more than confession, the results of repentance include far more than simply forgiveness. In verses 4 through 7, Hosea uses agricultural imagery which his readers could easily identify with to paint a picture of the full restoration God offers to those who repent.

The breach in his or her relationship with God is fully healed as God’s righteous anger is cooled. God again sends refreshing and nourishing spiritual water that strengthens their roots and causes them to bloom once again. God empowers them to spread their influence and flourish under the shadow of God’s protective presence. People will once again be drawn to them because of the beauty and pleasing fragrance of their witness.

Thus the repentant not only are healed but thrive through the restoration of their relationship to God. As long as there is sin in our lives, God’s Spirit is grieved and God’s blessings cannot flow the way God intended. Also others around us see our lives lack the peace and joy and hope that should distinguish the lives of believers. Thus in both our personal experience of life and our mission as God’s representative in the world, we fall short of what God desires and intends for us. Repentance resolves this and restores the fullness to our lives.      

The wisdom in repentance (Hosea 14:8-9)

Hosea then concludes his book by pointing out repentance, apart from its spiritual benefits, makes common sense. Wisdom largely is applying what we know to life. We know all good things come from God. We know only God has the wisdom and understanding and knowledge to guide us through life. We know God is the one that provides real security. Like the author of Ecclesiastes, we know all our pursuits in trying to find fulfillment in life apart from God fail to provide any lasting satisfaction. We know those pursuits and our sin create a breach in our relationship with God which leads to guilt and anxiety. And we know if we confess our sins, God is faithful to forgive, and if we repent, God is faithful to restore us. Why then would we not repent and seek to walk in God’s ways?