BASIC BIBLE STUDIES
# 023
Repentance
"Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that
times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord" (Acts 3:19).
Our present series of Studies (beginning with # 020) is focusing on salvation
from sin and how a person establishes a spiritual relationship with God. We
have learned that salvation is by the grace of God, but that God's grace must
be appropriated by obedience to Christ. Obedience begins with absolute faith
and trust in Christ as the Son of God and as our only means of access to God
(John 8:24; John 14:6). But this faith is not mere mental assent to the truth
of who Christ is; it is an active, obedient faith. James reminds us: "For as
the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also"
(James 2:26).
Genuine faith in Christ leads a sinner to repent of his or her sins. More
than simply being sorry for one's sins (though godly sorrow is a motivation
for repentance, II Corinthians 7:10), repentance "signifies to change one's
mind or purpose, always ...a change for the better, an amendment..." (W. E.
Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words).
Repentance involves a change of mind by which a person determines to stop
living life by his own rules and sincerely seeks to live as Christ instructs.
Repentance is a "turning from" a self-centered and self-ruled life and a
"turning to" a God-centered and God-ruled life. For this reason, repentance
is the hardest command of all to obey because it involves the surrender of
one's will to the will of God. Yet without such a surrender, forgiveness of
sins and salvation of the soul are not possible.
Consider a few of the numerous New Testament passages requiring a person to
repent.
Luke 13:3: "I tell you, no; but unless you repent you
will all likewise perish." (Jesus repeats this command in verse 5).
Luke 24:47: "...and that repentance and remission of
sins should be preached in His (Christ's) name to all nations, beginning at
Jerusalem."
Acts 2:38: "Then Peter said to them, 'Repent, and let
every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of
sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."
Acts 17:30: "Truly, these times of ignorance God
[once] overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He
has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the
Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this (the final judgment,
hf) to all, by raising Him (Christ, the Man whom God has ordained to judge the
world, hf) from the dead."
Romans 2:5: "But in accordance with your hardness and
your impenitent heart (a non-repentant heart, hf) you are treasuring up for
yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of
God, who will render to each one according to his deeds."
II Peter 3:9: "The Lord is not slack concerning His
promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing
that any should perish but that all should come to repentance."
The apostle Paul sets forth a high motive for repentance when he writes: "Or
do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not
knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?" (Romans 2:5). Many
people have lived in sin and rebellion to God's holy law for years and years
and years. God has been good to them, extending their lives, blessing them
with an abundance of good things (James 1:17), being patient and longsuffering
with them, hoping that some day they would "wake up" and look up to the
One "from whom all blessings flow." How God does yearn for sinful man's
repentance, and how His love and kindness and goodness toward all should lead
people to repent!
But just as God is a God of love and mercy, He also is a God of justice and
wrath. In a passage cited above--Romans 2:5--Paul spoke of those
characterized by a hardened and impenitent heart, and warned that they were
"treasuring up for [themselves] wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of
the righteous judgment of God." He went on to say: "...but to those who are
self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness" God will
render "indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man
who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek..." (Romans 2:8-9).
Indeed, "it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God"
(Hebrews 10:31)!
Thus, to accept God's grace and receive His forgiveness one must repent of all
sin. One must "turn from" pursuing his own agenda and "turn to" the way of
the Lord. In the language of the passage at the top of this lesson: "Repent
therefore and be converted (changed, hf), that your sins may be blotted out,
so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord" (Acts
3:19).
If this essay has blessed your life, feel free to forward it to others who may
benefit from it.
Hugh Fulford