Conditioning is not Repentance

All of our boys love playing in water. The problem is, that apart from the bathtub, their earliest experiences playing with water involved another bathroom fixture. We quickly set forth to condition them that playing in the toilet was unacceptable behavior. Eventually they learned that it was easier to leave the toilet alone than it was to suffer the consequences.
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As they grew older, we began to notice that there was a difference between their conditioning to avoid certain behaviors and a genuine concern over doing what was wrong. We could train them to do what we expected of them, but that did not mean that their hearts had actually been changed. In other words, they really did not understand that there was anything wrong with playing in the toilet, they just knew that they would be scolded if they did it.
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We could explain all the details about germs and messes, but our 2 year old simply was not able to understand. On the other hand, it was encouraging when our 4 year old realized he had really hurt his brothers feelings and went and told him he was sorry with genuine concern in his voice.
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Although having concern for our fellow man is a good thing, when we sin we should have an even higher concern. We should be concerned that our sin has offended a holy God. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (Romans 3:23 NASB).
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Sadly, too many people are more concerned about the consequences of their transgression than they are about sinning against God. The Apostle Paul had to write a letter to the Corinthians to confront their sin (the book of I Corinthians in the Bible). After being confronted, the Christians there were really sorry for what they had done. Paul then writes another letter to them where he says, “I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, in order that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation; but the sorrow of the world produces death.” (2 Corinthians 7:9-10 NASB).
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As we include God in the picture, we understand that the issue is more than just having sadness over our actions or avoiding the consequences of our sins. The issue is understanding that our sin is wrong in God’s eyes and thus turning from our sins to instead obey God. That is what repentance is all about.
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Let me ask this question: If you could steal a large sum of money and never get caught and no one would know about it, would you do it? For many the answer would be “yes” because they are only concerned with the possibility of punishment or the stigma of being called a thief. Godly sorrow, however motivates us to understand that our sin is wrong regardless of whether or not we are caught. Remember God knows about all our sins. A truly repentant person wants to avoid sin because he wants to serve God.
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God will ultimately hold us accountable for our sins, “For the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23a) But He loved us enough to pay for our sins by sending His Son to die on the cross, “but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23b)
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That is why it is so important that we repent and believe, not just condition our lives to avoid sin.