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In this fallen world, believers in the Lord Jesus Christ are in a spiritual warfare that often leads to a restlessness of the soul. As Paul writes, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17). However, Paul simultaneously recognised a cosmic warfare between our old and the new natures, this side of eternity (Romans 7:21-23). Thus we will be restless until our final rest, in glory. The Christian life is an unending struggle. And key to the cosmic conflict and our spiritual struggle is repentance.

Christians are in a spiritual warfare that often leads to a restlessness of the soul.

In this article I want to consider what St Augustine had to say about repentance. Though he lived over 1500 years ago, his struggle to follow after Christ is similar to our own today. Since he was one of the greatest Christian theologians to ever live, we’d do well to learn from him about a life of repentance.

The Christian’s Heart is a Battleground

At the beginning of his masterful autobiography, The Confessions, Augustine prays to God: “In yourself you rouse us, giving us delight in glorifying you, because you made us with yourself as our goal, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” We can draw three implications from these, some of the most well-known words in church history.

  1. God made man to glorify him, fixing desire in us
  2. Restlessness results from our failure to rest in God and his purposes
  3. We will find true, satisfying rest in God alone.

Believers are marked by restless hearts, battling daily to glorify God in all of life.

At conversion, believers are given a new desire: to glorify God. But our old nature stands in direct opposition to this new nature. Thus believers are marked by restless hearts, battling daily to live out this new desire and glorify God in all of life. We still sin, capitulating to old desires and temptation. Augustine laments this reality, writing: “My sin was that I sought not in God himself, but in things he had created—in myself and the rest of his creation—delights, heights, and perceptions of what was true and right, and in this way, I collapsed into sufferings, embarrassments, and erring ways.”

So how do we fight for the rest that our souls desperately desire? Augustine’s answer, and my own in this article, is this: repentance.

Repentance: A Weapon in Our War for Rest

God, in his glorious mercy, has given us the grace of repentance. It is a powerful weapon in this battle, Because we have the tendency to succumb to the desires of the old nature (1 John 1:9-10; James 1:14), we experience spiritual restlessness. This is often the result of known sin. But at other times is simply a fact of not yet being fully whole. Through ongoing repentance, believers can turn to the Saviour for daily mercy. We must harness this weapon in our search for rest.

But this isn’t how most of us see repentance. Why is that?

We must harness repentance in our search for rest.

I believe that it’s because in yielding to sin, we feel like powerless, perpetual failures. So we end up thinking it’s a waste of time to repent—again and again. Our souls descend into despondency, misery, and even greater restlessness. Like Paul we cry out, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24).

However this wasn’t the end of Paul’s story. He continues: thanks be to God for Jesus Christ, who is our only hope (Romans 7:25). Yes, we cannot fight this battle in our own strength. But in repentance we can keep running to the cross, where Christ secured that victory for us. Thus repentance is a weapon. A powerful tool provided by the Lord. Christian, don’t neglect it.

Victory Is Impossible Apart from God’s Love

Before making repentance into something we do to achieve rest, we must remember the source of its power: God’s love for undeserving sinners. While we were incapable of loving God, he showed how much he loved us in giving up his only Son, Jesus Christ, as the propitiation for our sin (1 John 4:9-10). The wrath we deserved was spent on Christ, at the cross.

God’s love is the reason we can confidently approach the throne of grace in repentance.

Recognising this unmerited love for sinners, Augustine riffs on Romans 8:32 and Philippians 2:6 writing: “How you loved us, good Father, who did not spare your only Son, but handed him over for the sake of us, the wicked! How you loved us, for whose sake your Son, though not considering it an act of robbery to be your equal, was subjugated and reduced clear to death on the cross.”

When we sin, we know that we have fallen short of God’s glory. We know that together with every one else we deserve death and judgment. So our inner man becomes restless, falling into despair. But brothers and sisters, let us not sell ourselves short. God has given up his Son Jesus Christ to suffer the divine wrath so that we won’t. Therefore, let us believe and embrace God’s love for us in Christ Jesus. God’s love, in Christ Jesus, is the reason we can confidently approach the throne of grace in repentance for our restless souls (Hebrews 4:15-16). By doing so, we will find rest in God.

“I Will Give You Rest”

On this side of eternity the battle is fierce. But take heart, whenever you find yourself in a state of despair because of your sin, draw the weapon of repentance and confidently approach the throne of grace. Embrace the reality of who we are in Christ Jesus: undeserved sinners saved by grace, for whom no condemnation awaits! Rejoice in Jesus’ summons: “Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Yield to him, so that you may find rest for your restless soul.

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