REPENTANCE
“Repent” means “to change
one's mind for better, heartily to amend with abhorrence of
one's past sins.”
In other words, “I recognize myself as a sinner bound for hell, and accept
God’s gift of salvation through His Son Jesus Christ.”
That decision has brought me
180 degrees in the opposite direction, and I now follow Jesus because I belong
to Him.
Repentance has been swept
under the rug by popular worldly opinion, and even most churches. “It is not
necessary to repent,” they say, “just have faith and all will be well.”
However, repentance and faith go hand in hand when it comes to saving faith.
Without repentance, there is no real faith. It is merely a weak statement we
verbalize with no heart for God behind it. Faith without repentance is
egocentricity at its best.
Some state that “repentance”
was for Israel but only “belief” is for the Church age. On the day of Pentecost
one of Jesus’ Apostles states the following:
“Peter said to them, “Repent,
and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of
your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Acts 2:38 (NASB)
Yes, the majority of the
audience was Jewish, but what about the few who were not? Does that mean there
was one method for the Jews and another for the Gentiles? Of course not. The
message was clear. (1) Repent and believe. (2) For those who repent and
believe, because of the forgiveness of your sins, now be identified with Jesus
Christ by being baptized in His name. (3) The gift of the Holy Spirit is to all
to repent of their sins and believe in Jesus alone.
True repentance is simply a
part of true faith. One cannot have true faith in Jesus without seeing Him as
God and Savior. Obviously what follows is seeing our self as “a man of unclean
lips” (Isaiah 6:5), and repentance accompanies our belief because we know we
have sinned against a Holy God.
Some will say “Paul just
says, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. He says
nothing about repentance.” That isn’t true. Please read what the Apostle Paul
says in the following verses.
“Therefore having overlooked
the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere
should repent,” Acts 17:30 (NASB)
“but kept declaring both to
those of Damascus first, and also at Jerusalem and then throughout all the
region of Judea, and even to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to
God, performing deeds appropriate to repentance.” Acts 26:20 (NASB)
In Acts 17:30 “all people
everywhere” includes all people everywhere. Therefore, all must repent.
In Acts 26:20 notice that
Paul specifically includes the Gentiles. Therefore, all Jews and Gentiles
“should repent and turn to God.” All must repent.
Paul follows up his statement
in Acts 26:20 by saying, “performing deeds appropriate to repentance.” This
leads us into considering “works.”
WORKS
I would like to repeat a
paragraph I stated earlier about works in relation to salvation:
“The Word of God, the Bible,
is very clear that we are saved by grace and grace alone. We are saved by the
works of Jesus Christ and not our own. We will never see Heaven, let alone be a
part of the family of God, if we rely one iota upon our own efforts. If we
claim 1% credit and give Jesus 99% we miss the boat. It’s 100% His works or
none at all.”
Now let us read what God
says,
“For by grace are ye saved
through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus
unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.”
Ephesians 2:8-10
But what about works that
come from one who is saved; i.e. a Christian? The real question is, “Will true
saving faith produce a life that reflects the works of Jesus in our life.” Can
others see Jesus in us? Will works follow salvation?
Again, Paul says in Acts
26:20, “performing deeds appropriate to repentance,” and he now also states by
the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, “For we are His workmanship, created in
Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should
walk in them.”
Many people today claim to be
a Christian for many different reasons. They say they believe. They claim to
have faith. They belong to a particular church or religious organization. They
walked an aisle or said a prayer. They get a warm fuzzy feeling now and then.
They like religious music. Their Mother was a prayer warrior and their Dad was
a pastor. They pray now and then. They’re a good person. The list could go on
page after page after page.
How many though have truly
repented of their sins and turned to Jesus in true faith? How many have called
upon Him to save their soul and have submitted their life to Him? How many
trust Him with their very soul? Has their life been changed?
Jesus changes lives. No
Christian is perfect, and no Christian is without personal battles in their
life, but there should be a change from what we were to what we are now. Jesus
changes lives. Yes, I know I repeated that. I repeated it because it is
important that we get it registered in our mind that Jesus changes lives.
Many non-Christians think
they should change their life and “get saved.” It won’t happen. It is
impossible. We must “get saved” then Jesus will change our life.
If we have rested our faith
in Jesus, we will start seeing His works taking place in us. It of course will
start with our attitude. Our way of thinking will start changing then our
actions will follow. Allow me to provide an example.
Prior to our being saved, we
are like a dead body. We are lifeless. Upon being saved, the body comes to
life. The arms and legs move. The eyes see. The ears hear. The mouth speaks.
The mind thinks. The nose smells. The body and all its parts are in action in their
respective positions.
Now think about this. Can any
of these things happen without the body being alive? Do they happen first and
then the body comes alive? No. The life that is provided to the body causes the
body parts to react. Without life there is no reaction. With life there is a
reaction.
When Jesus gives us eternal
life we react to that life. Godly works are produced in our new state as a
child of God. We start out as a baby in Christ and mature just as we do
physically. The point is, if the eternal life provided to us by God’s grace is
within us, we will react and mature just as we do physically. However, if we
remain in our sins, living apart from God, are we really saved or just kidding
our self?
I repeat, no Christian is
perfect or without sin, but where do our interests lie? Are we interested in
the things of God? Do we want to please Him? Are we grieved when we sin? Are we
ashamed?
A true Christian will be
miserable when out of fellowship with Jesus Christ. If we claim to be a Christian,
and it doesn’t really bother us that our thoughts and actions are contrary to
what God says in His written Word, the Bible, then we need to be deeply
concerned about the welfare of our soul.
If Jesus lives within us His
light will shine from us. It may be just a flicker sometimes, but there will be
a light. Otherwise darkness can come only from Satan.
CLOSING STATEMENT
I personally believe that
many of us are making real, legitimate faith in Jesus much too complicated.
Believing in Jesus is recognizing ourselves as a lost sinner bound for hell; recognizing
Jesus as God and the only way to God the Father; recognizing Jesus’ death,
burial and resurrection; recognizing that we are given eternal life; recognizing
that we are adopted into the family of God; recognizing that nothing will ever
separate us from Him; recognizing it is all an irrevocable gift; and recognizing
that Jesus changes lives.
Coming to Jesus, believing
this in your heart is not gifts plus works. It is simply all these things and
more included in one short phrase; “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou
shalt be saved.” (Acts 16:31)
Grant Phillips
Email: grantphillips@windstream.net
Pre-Rapture Commentary: http://grant-phillips.blogspot.com
