| A few years ago, I was invited to preach at a church in Kentucky. I decided to
share a message that focused on who we used to be in Adam and who we now
are in Christ. It was a message that placed strong emphasis upon the
finished work of Jesus Christ as our only hope for righteousness with
God. In fact, under grace, it is now "to the one who does not work,
but believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as
righteousness" (Romans 4:5). Since that's the plan that He has in
place for making us right with Him, that's where I'm going place the
most weight in all that I preach.
Anyway, after the service, a handsome
young couple approached me in the foyer of the church. They told me that
they were currently attending a local seminary and, as part of one of
their course curriculums, their professor was having them read and
critique Steve McVey's book, Grace Walk. Well, I was kind of
excited to hear that and asked them what they thought of it. They
replied that they were bewildered that Steve had not placed much, if
any, emphasis upon a Christian's need to "repent". Likewise,
while they said they enjoyed most of my message that morning in church,
they expressed concern that I was leaving out the importance and
necessity of continual repentance for a child of God.
I don't know about you, but I cannot
begin to count the number of times I have heard other Christians say
that the confession of our sins followed by a fervent commitment to
repent of those sins is part of the daily duty of each and every
Christian. (This article will not address confessing sins. There is not
enough room here to do that. However, if you are interested in that
particular topic, I have written an article entitled,
"Forgiven…Forever?" that you can read in the Grace
Teachings section of our Web site that you might find encouraging).
This party line that I have heard from so many people has never set well
with my heart and come to find out, does not sit well with the word of
God either.
Let’s consider then what it means to
repent and what role does it or should it play in the life of one who is
in Christ? Dictionaries can give us definitions, as can teachers,
preachers, family members, trusted friends, Sunday school instructors,
Bible commentaries, etc. For too long, I heavily relied upon those
resources. It has only been within the past few years that I have begun
to learn to look past the re-source to the truth found only in THE
Source, the word of God. Like People-to-People Ministries president, Bob
George, has so pointedly said, "It's amazing what light the Bible
will shed on our Bible commentaries!"
What do the Scriptures have to say
about it and, in particular, how repentance applies to those who have
been saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9)? Some form of the
word "repent" is used in the Bible 152 times, 100 times in the
Old Testament. In the Hebrew of the Old Testament, Strong's Lexicon
defines the verb as "to have sorrow or regret about
something." It even has the idea of "comfort or being
comforted." Genesis 6:6 says "it repented the Lord that He had
made man on the earth and it grieved Him at His heart" (KJV). God
regretted. God had sorrow. In fact, much of the use of the word repent
in the Old Testament pertains to God being the one repenting.
Clearly, God has no need to repent of His sins, does He?! What a
ludicrous thought! God is without sin. Yet, we have consistently tied
repentance and sins together like Siamese twins. Is it possible that
repentance is not simply regretting that we fail in our behavior?
In the 52 times it is used in the New
Testament, repentance is something man is urged to do. It is imperative
and of supreme significance from God's perspective, the only perspective
that matters. The Greek verb is "metanoeo" and is defined as
"to change one's mind." It comes from the word
"meta" meaning to change, and the word "noeo" which
refers to one's thinking or understanding or mind. We get our word
"metamorphosis" from the Greek word "metamorpho"
meaning to change form.
Here is want I would like for you to
consider in regard to what the Bible means when it speaks of repentance:
If a man has changed his mind about how righteousness is attained from
God and maintained with God, which is not by any works on his
part but through faith in Christ alone, then he has repented and
believed the gospel. If, however, he is holding feverishly and
stubbornly to even one act or deed on his part to justify himself before
God, then he has never repented of his dead works for
righteousness and therefore remains dead in his trespasses and sins
(Ephesians 2:1).
Friend, God has not made it more
difficult for man to be saved. He has made it as simple and accessible
as the nose on our face. Do not work for righteousness! Do not work to
keep yourself righteous! If any man thinks that he has either earned
righteousness through your works or kept himself righteous through
works, according to the Scriptures, he must change his mind. He must
think again about what it means to repent.
When the self-righteous Pharisees
wanted to know how Jesus could possibly sit and eat with the
tax-collectors and sinners, Jesus told them that He had "not come
to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance" (Matthew 9:13).
What the blinded Pharisees could not see was that Jesus was talking to their
need for repentance from their own self-righteousness. They were the
sinners He was referring to who needed to change their minds about how
God reckons a man righteous. Those who are of the faith of Abraham,
righteous because they simply believed God (Gal. 3:6), did not need to
repent. Why? Because they had already changed their minds about God and
had trusted in Him and what He had said He would do.
When Jesus began preaching the gospel
of the Kingdom to the Jews in Galilee he told them that "the time
is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in
the gospel" (Mark 1:15). Repent from what? From trusting in their
own deeds for justification before God. And do what instead? Believe the
gospel! And if they did not? Jesus warned them that "unless you
repent, you will all likewise perish" (Luke 13:5) Not unless they
clean up their act, perform at a higher level, or are even sorrowful
over their transgressions of the Law, but rather unless they have a
complete change of mind about how God brings a man into the Kingdom and
trust Him, they will perish.
Throughout history, God has primarily
been about bringing man out of his unbelief into faith in Him through
love and kindness. For centuries, God reached out in love to Israel and
prepared them to be the people through whom their Messiah would come.
But the Jews looked for a different kind of Messiah than the Lord Jesus
and, even though He made it clear that "there is salvation in no
one else" (Acts 4:12), they refused to change their minds and
rejected Him:
And Isaiah is very bold and
says, "I WAS FOUND BY THOSE WHO SOUGHT ME NOT, I BECAME MANIFEST
TO THOSE WHO DID NOT ASK FOR ME." But as for Israel He says,
"ALL DAY LONG I HAVE STRETCHED OUT MY HANDS TO A DISOBEDIENT AND
OBSTINATE PEOPLE" (Romans
10:20-21)
Neither did they repent in their belief
that righteousness before God came through obedience to the Law. They
would not change their minds and humbly accept His righteousness as a
gift but stubbornly held to their own:
For I bear them witness that
they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. For
not knowing about God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their
own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. For
Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who
believes (Romans 10:2-4)
Are many who are part of the professing
church today any different in their thinking than the Pharisees in
Biblical times? Have we not to a large degree imposed the Jews religion
upon the body of Christ? Are not many who name the name of Christ today
zealous for God while at the same time seeking to establish a
righteousness of their own? Can a man be double-minded, trusting both in
his obedience and Christ’s obedience for righteousness, and still
claim that he has truly repented and believed the gospel?
So, what does it mean to repent?
Biblically, it means to undergo a 180 degree change of mind whereby a
man is convinced once-and-for-all that his works for righteousness are
nothing but filthy rags before God. He is convinced that the flesh
profits nothing and that it is worthy of one thing…crucifixion (Gal.
5:24)! At the same time, he is equally convinced that justification only
comes through faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ…plus
nothing. The repentant man does not promise to stop sinning or improve
his rotten flesh, he comes to the cross to die and to humbly receive
what no man can earn or pay back…the gift of righteousness. He now
understands the things freely given Him by God because He now has
the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:6-16).
God has "granted to the Gentiles
also the repentance that leads to life" (Acts 11:18). If you are in
Christ, you already have the Life. You have already had a complete
change of mind. You are now one of the "righteous persons who need
no repentance" (Luke 15:7). You have already repented and "turn(ed)
to God that your sins may be wiped out" (Acts 3:19). Those who are
in need of life, on the other hand, are those who have not given up on
their flesh for righteousness and have therefore never repented:
"Therefore having
overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that
all people everywhere should repent"
(Acts 17:30)
The Lord is not slow about
His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not
wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance
(2 Peter 3:9)
"For God so loved the
world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in
Him should not perish, but have eternal life"
(John 3:16)
What role then does Biblical repentance
play in the life of a saint? No more of a role than continuing to ask
God to forgive you for your sins. It has already happened. You are
finally convinced that "by the works of the Law shall no flesh be
justified" (Gal. 2:16). The kindness of God has led you to
repentance (Romans 2:4). There has been a final change of heart and mind
in you through the work of the Spirit, whereby the righteousness of God
has been revealed. There is no longer a need for you to have
"repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ"
(Acts 20:21). Why? Because you already have! You’ve been convinced,
you’ve changed your mind, you’ve given up on the flesh (Gal. 3:3),
you’ve already experienced the sorrow of trusting in your works for
righteousness, and at last you’ve trusted exclusively and solely in
the finished work of Jesus Christ!
Maybe it’s time you stopped
"laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of
faith toward God" (Hebrews 6:1). You’ve already seen your works
for righteousness as lifeless and useless. You’ve already turned away
from those "dead works" to faith in Christ alone, have you
not? Then let’s change our minds about repentance. Let’s move on,
friends. Let’s rejoice!
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,
so 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 Cor. 7:9-10)
Love,
John Moneypenny
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