There is a grave difference between shame and repentance. Shame is a result of our knowledge of good and evil, whereas repentance comes from personal interaction with God. Just as with Adam and Eve, shame drives us away from the Father; we hide. Repentance drives us to the Father and ends with union with the Father. Shame ends in separation from the Father.
Our knowledge of good and evil plus shame is the equation for all our good resolutions and good works. Because our knowledge of good and evil insists we can independently be and know what is good, shame’s first drive is to attempt self-correction. It informs us that we can be as God – we can redeem ourselves.
The Apostle Paul was a dynamic example of the difference between shame and repentance. Prior to his conversion, Paul was left to judge Christians using only his knowledge of the Law. Devoid of a living relationship with God and driven by his own inherent shame, Paul worked to please the God of Moses. Even in the midst of his manic persecution of Christians, it appears Paul was aware something was amiss.
And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: [it is] hard for thee to kick against the pricks. Acts 9:5 (KJV)
Like Paul, in the midst of our very best efforts to chase away our shame by doing great and mighty things for God, we too will feel uneasy. We will sense we are kicking against a power greater than us.
Paul’s physical conversion experience demonstrates his spiritual state: blindness, being led by man, no food or drink, and finally, scales falling from his eyes. All these physical manifestations were true signs of where Paul was at with God. In truth, he was spiritually blind. In truth, religious men led him, not God. In truth, his spirit was starving. In truth, scales would fall from his spiritual eyes allowing him to see the Tree of Life. By God’s unreasonable mercy, repentance came and Paul was given a new nature. He was then entrusted with the revelation regarding works vs. being led by the Holy Spirit. How fitting!