Chapter 4 is 'The Perfect Penitent'
In Chapter 3, titled 'The Shocking Alternative,'
Lewis argued that, faced with the claims of Jesus Christ,
we must make a choice
With our free will,
we must either confess Him as Lord or turn away
Kneeling before Jesus signifies
much more than a mere gesture
It means acknowledging that our way of life,
(Surrender our flawed state) and our very existence,
has been on the wrong path
C.S. Lewis describes repentance as surrender,
turning away from the rebellion,
so it is a kind of death
Confessing Jesus Christ
as our Christ Lord
and Savior requires self-denial
It is a declaration of the death
of the old self and fallen nature
within our corrupted free will
When asked why Jesus came into this world,
we can say, ‘for our death'
Through Him, our sinful self,
aligned with this fallen, evil world,
can be put to death
And we should be put to death
How did Jesus enter the world
and restore the fallen world?
Unlike Alexander the Great or the Roman Empire,
He did not conquer by force, but
he reclaimed the world with the cross
All the evil in the world attacked Him
He absorbed that evil on the cross,
taking it upon Himself through His death
Just as a lightning rod absorbs all the energy
of bolts striking from the sky,
Jesus’ death on the cross
absorbed the full wrath of God
directed at the forces of evil
He overcame evil by enduring all attacks
from the evil forces and bearing God’s wrath
through His death on the cross
Thus, God’s way of overcoming evil
was through His own sacrifice
He conquered evil with goodness
And He resolved that wrath through His love
The death of Jesus
is reflected in C.S. Lewis’ 'The Chronicles of Narnia',
where Aslan, the mighty lion,
becomes the sacrificial offering
due to the betrayal of the child
(Aslan’s death = Jesus’ death) by the White Witch
But, Aslan’s death brings salvation to the soul
(Resurrected Aslan = that of Jesus) and restores the kingdom
Through Aslan’s resurrection,
the story beautifully mirrors the redemptive death
and resurrection of Jesus Christ
Through stories like 'The Chronicles of Narnia',
C.S. Lewis sought
to reveal the shadow of the gospel
of Jesus Christ to many people
through this narrative
The crucial point is
the relationship between Jesus’ death and our own
Repentance is the process of connecting
Jesus’ death with our own death
What is the connection between
Jesus’ death on the cross and me?
It demands my death
Jesus’ death is not only His,
but it requires the death of my old self
The old self,
having aligned with evil and rebelled,
now surrenders and turns back
to obey as a citizen of God’s kingdom
This is what true repentance is
But, because our free will is corrupted,
we cannot turn back on our own
Therefore, Jesus’ death
can also be seen as a death that helps us repent
God helps us by
'putting into us a bit of Himself,
so to speak'
We can feel the joy
because He allows His joy into us
'He puts a little of His love into us
and that is how we love one another'
If we must turn from our status as rebels
and die in repentance,
then God must grant us repentance
and His death must be given to us
The problem is that God cannot die
He has no need for repentance,
as the word ‘repentance’ does not apply to God
So how can we
receive help from God?
While God cannot die,
what He can do
is become human
Thus, the one who became human, by sharing in our humanity,
took the death on the cross that we deserved
(Jesus, Cross, Repentance) connecting the death
of all who believe in Him
This is explained in the concept of 'The Perfect Penitent'
Thus, the death of Jesus, who became human,
is connected to the death that must occur within us
In Romans 6, Paul explains it as
'We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that...
we too may live a new life’ [Romans 6:5]
Dying with Jesus, the truth of Romans 6,
is what C.S. Lewis describes as
God coming into us,
making true repentance possible
Therefore, true repentance is not
merely self-reflection or awakening,
of ‘I did something wrong, I need to turn back,’
or ‘I need to become a better person’
Rather, it is rooted
in the death of Jesus, the Son of God
He endured a death
the death that we, as rebels, deserved
By accepting His death as our own
and dying with Jesus,
we experience true, complete repentance
It does not end here
For those who partake in Jesus’ death,
something remarkable happens
the life of His resurrection
is also given to us
Mere Christianity Book 2 What Christians Believe
Chapter 5 Practical Conclusion
In Chapter 5, titled ‘Practical Conclusion,’
C.S. Lewis explains the transformation that occurs
in those who experience death with Jesus,
and the changes that follow
It means ‘becoming a new person’
and believing that a new kind of humanity
has emerged
Here's a quote from the book
'In Christ a new kind of man appeared, which began in Him is to be put into us'
'A Christian is not a man who never goes wrong,
but a man who is enabled to repent and pick himself up
and begin over again after each stumble'
'Because, the Christ-life is inside him, repairing him all the time,
enabling him to repeat the kind of
voluntary death wish Christ Himself carried out'
'When Christians say the Christ-life is in them,
they do not mean simply something mental or moral'
'Being “in Christ”
or of Christ being “in them”,
this is not simply a way of saying that they are
thinking about Christ or copying Him'
'They mean that Christ is actually operating through them'
'The whole mass of Christians are the physical organism
through which Christ acts'
Those who participate
in Jesus’ voluntary death
are not those who never err
but rather those who continually
embrace voluntary death
each time they fall, and are renewed
through the life of Jesus within them
Having the life of Jesus within me,
being in Christ, and Christ in me
is not an imaginary concept
Christ is truly
active within us, making Christians
a physical organism through which Christ operates
This union with Jesus’ death and His resurrection
characterizes those who have undergone true repentance
and defines them as Christians
Thus, in a world dominated
by rebellious forces,
Christians endure
The final question arises
Why doesn’t He quickly destroy the forces of evil?
Why not get rid the world of evil?
Why not,
judge the world more quickly?
C.S. Lewis explains,
'Some people ask God to interfere openly
and directly in our world
The day when God judges all rebels
is the end of the world
Since that day marks the end of this world,
God desires to save souls
and for those among the fallen
to return through repentance until then
I would like to end with this quote
'For this time it will be God without disguise'
God will invade the world,
a complete invasion, the final judgment
'It will be so overwhelming
that it will strike either irresistible love
or irresistible horror into every creature'
'It will be too late then to choose your side'
'That will not be the time for choosing,
'and it will reveal which side we truly chose'
'Now, today, this moment, is our chance to choose the right side'
'God is holding back to give us that chance'
'It will not last forever'
Through this concluding statement,
C.S. Lewis urged many listeners
to make a decision to come
before Jesus Christ
Moreover, this period of delay
before God’s final judgment
is our time to choose
Waiting until then will be too late
That moment will reveal the side each of us has chosen
By explaining that now is the time to choose,
Lewis is urging listeners
to come before Christ in faith
That is how he concludes Book 2
Over to Book 3,
he will now explain how Christians should live,
outlining Christian virtues and actions
Based on what we believe,
he will describe how we are to live as Christians
Chapter 4 Complete Repentance
1. What Does Kneeling Before Jesus Mean?
1) Surrender of self-will (Repentance = surrender)
2) Repentance = death of the old self and sinful nature
2. How Jesus Invaded the Fallen World
Cross – Absorption – God’s wrath + attacks of evil
Jesus came as a human, died on the cross, enabling human repentance
Chapter 5 Practical Conclusion
1. Who is a Christian?
1) One who believes a new kind of humanity has emerged
2) A physical organism moved by Christ
3) One who is restored through voluntary ‘death’
2. Why Doesn’t God Destroy Evil Quickly?
1) The final day marks the end of the world
2) To give people the chance to stand with Christ