Deeper: Real Change for Real Sinners

by Dane C. Ortlund

Some Christians seem to think that the Christian life is ignited with a decisive act of repentance and then fed by faith thereafter. But as Luther taught, all of life is repentance. The first thesis of his Ninety-Five Theses reads, “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, ‘Repent’ (Matt. 4:17), he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.” The Christian life is one of repenting our way forward. Equally, we live our whole lives by faith. Paul said not “I was converted by faith” but “I live by faith” (Gal. 2:20). We do not merely begin the Christian life by faith; we progress by faith. It is our new normal. We process life, we navigate this mortal existence, by a moment-by-moment turning to God in trust and hope at each juncture, each decision, each passing hour. We “walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor. 5:7). That is, we move through life with our eyes looking ever up. Our posture is one of expectant empowering from above. Repentance and faith. In a word: collapse. Both repentance and faith, however, must never be viewed in isolation from Jesus himself. They are connectors to Christ. They are not “our contribution.” They simply are the roads by which we get to real healing: Christ himself.