“37 When they heard this, they came under deep conviction and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles: “Brothers, what must we do?”

38 “Repent,” Peter said to them, “and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” 40 And with many other words he testified and strongly urged them, saying, Be saved from this corrupt generation!”

Acts 2:37-40

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These verses contain some very sharp,very definitive language that I need to remember on a daily basis. First off, the crowd hearing the gospel message was convicted, cut to the heart. Not only because of what they had done to Jesus, but simply because they were now painfully aware of their own sin. 

Peter, having just delivered the first sermon of the church laid out the plain facts for them, citing God’s work through the prophets and through the life of Christ. They here and were cut to the heart. And that makes me wonder how much I am actually cut to the heart when it comes to my sin. How much does my sin offend me, and do I hate it enough to seek to live differently? 

Now, if I claim Christ, then all sin in me should not just be uncomfortable, but abhorrent, disgusting and repulsive. Because that is what ‘repent’ means. It doesn’t just mean ‘to change your heading’ but it also includes the idea that we are absolutely disgusted with where we were going, we were repelled by our choices and sin. 

And when we become so comfortable with our sin that conviction becomes more of a slight discomfort, then we have become too familiar with our sin. We have allowed too much to enter into our lives and compromised too much.

We are supposed to hate sin. We are supposed to be utterly repulsed by sinful activity in our minds, hearts and lives. Because sin is the opposite of what Christ desires for us. It is what He suffered and died to save us from, and so it can have no place in our lives. Period. 

So, when I find myself apologizing to God yet again for something I’ve done, but this is now, let’s say, 6 weeks that I have been apologizing, that means that I haven’t hated my sin enough to change my behavior, I’ve only admitted to it repeatedly. I need conviction. I need to abhor my sin and repent, disgusted, walking away from whatever it is that is dragging me away from Christ. 

When the Holy Spirit whispers into our heart these words of conviction, we cannot push them aside, meaning to address them later. No. We must address them right then, in these moments,and repent. 

If we are going to GoLove people as Christ has commissioned us to do, then we must live the life that He has laid out for us to live. Lukewarm Christians, comfortable with their sin, are not going to  make an impact for the kingdom. Their nominal hearts will produce a negative effect instead, encouraging a compromise with sin and the world. And that does not reflect the heart of Christ.