Paul wrote to the church at Corinth, “Examine yourselves to
see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Jesus Christ in you
–unless, of course, you fail the test?” (2 Cor 13:5) Why is there a need for self-examination
regarding our faith- is it possible that one could be deceived into thinking
they’re saved by their faith in Christ and not be saved? If a person went to the altar and prayed the
sinner’s prayer professing faith in Christ, aren’t they saved (John 3:16, Rom
10:9-13)? God warns, “The heart is
deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; Who can know it?” (Jer
17:9) As we allow the truth of God’s
word to search our hearts, God will deliver us from deception.
Are You Born Again?
What part does repentance play in salvation? Is repentance just something we embrace over
time after we’re saved as we’re moved by God’s goodness, kindness and
patience? Must we repent to be
saved? I frequently run across people
professing faith in Christ- they went to the altar, they prayed the prayer,
they go to church, they even read their Bibles and can talk spiritual talk, but
they won’t repent of their willful, continual sins. Are they saved?
Repentance is Necessary for Salvation
Jesus warned “Unless you repent, you too will all perish”
(Luke 13:3). Before ascending into
heaven He summarized the gospel, “It was necessary for the Christ to suffer and
to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of
sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”
(Luke 24:47) Paul “preached that they
should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds” (Acts
26:20) and “God…commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed
a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness.” (Acts 17:30, cf.
2:38, 3:19, and 5:31) Conversion requires both repentance and faith in Jesus
Christ.
What is Repentance?
1. Repentance is Godly Sorrow
Repentance is not merely being sorry and confessing our
sins, but turning away from our sins.
“Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no
regret, but worldly sorrow brings death” (2 Cor 7:10). What is the difference
between worldly sorrow and godly sorrow? Have you ever been sorry for just the
consequences of sin, rather than the fact that the sin was evil in the sight of
God? I know I have. That is not godly
sorrow. What are the evidences of godly
sorrow? God gave us an example of a
church that had godly sorrow over sin: “See what this godly sorrow has produced
in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation,
what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done.” (2
Cor 7:11) When we have godly sorrow, we
see our sin as God sees it: wicked and deserving of judgment. We abhor it and long for forgiveness. We will do anything we can to make things
right and are broken and humble before God and others about it. Instead of seeking to blame others or justify
our sin, we plainly face the gravity of our sins and repent of them. Has that kind of sorrow ever gripped you upon
the realization of sin? I have several
memories of genuine repentance, where I saw my sin in all its darkness and
loathed it. Tears were shed. The
groaning and agony of conviction of guilt and then true remorse and repentance
were followed by the blessings of forgiveness. The weight of guilt was removed
from my shoulders and power from God sustained me to live in victory over the
sin.
After committing adultery with Bathsheba and murdering her
husband, David wasted away in worldly sorrow (Psalm 32:3-4). Later when God confronted him with his sin,
he came to a place of godly sorrow.
Psalm 51 records his earnest prayer of repentance. He cried out for God’s mercy (v1), cleansing,
washing and purging of his sin (v2, 7).
He acknowledged he had violated God’s law and saw his sin for all its
wickedness as he reviewed it before God in agony of spirit (v3). He recognized that his ultimate sin was that
he had violated God’s righteousness (v4).
He plainly called it evil and declared God just in judging him
(v4). He came to a point of recognizing
that he was born wicked and separated from God (v5) and needed God’s purging of
his own wickedness and a new heart to be freed from sin and follow after God
(v6, 10). He confessed his sin specifically as murder (v14) and asked for
deliverance from it. He recognized that nothing that he had or did could cover
or pay for his sin, but all he had to offer God was brokenness over sin and the
desire for change- he offered God his repentance (v16-17).
2. Repentance is Turning from Sin to Follow Jesus Christ
There is an exchange in repentance- we exchange our
continual, willful lives of sinful rebellion against God for following after
Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ offers the
gift of salvation, but to receive the gift, we must be willing to let go of our
sin. When Jesus called Matthew, a
cheating, lying tax collector who hung out with thieves and prostitutes, to
follow Him, “Matthew arose and followed him.” (Matt 9:9) He left his old ways behind him, following a
new Master. Peter spoke for the
disciples when he told Jesus, “We have left all and followed You.” (Mark
10:28) A rich young man came to Jesus to
seek eternal life, and after justifying himself as one who obeyed God’s
commandments, Jesus told him to give all to the poor and come follow Him and
have treasure in heaven (Mark 10:21-22).
The rich man loved his riches more than he loved God. In his worldly sorrow he walked away, unrepentant
and unsaved, but intact with his idol of money.
Jesus once said, “No one can serve two masters…you cannot serve God and
money.” (Matt 6:24) Is there anything in
your life that you aren’t willing to give up- you have felt the continual alarm
bells in your conscience convicting you of sin year after year, but you’ve
found ways of justifying it? Is there
anything in your life, if Jesus were to come and say, “Give that up, and come
follow me” that you wouldn’t let go of?
If so, then that thing is your idol, your god- Jesus isn’t your
Lord.
Is there no cost to receiving Christ? Jesus told us to “count the cost.” (Luke
14:28) “The kingdom of heaven is like
treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he
goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.” (Matt 13:44) Have you exchanged your sinful life for His
immense treasure? A person who
willingly and continually engages in a pattern of sin demonstrates they aren’t
sorry, haven’t repented and are more in love with their idolatrous sin than
with Jesus Christ- it is a choice they make to keep their life of sin and
reject Jesus Christ as their Lord. They
profess that they know Him, but by their deeds deny Him (Matt 7:21-23). “They change the grace of our God into a license
for immorality” (Jude 4) and by doing thus, “they deny Jesus Christ our only
Sovereign and Lord.” The writer of Hebrews warns, “If we deliberately keep on
sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for
sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire
that will consume the enemies of God.” (Heb 10:26-27)
3. Repentance Results
in a Changed Life
When the disciples came to Jesus to ask Him to explain the
meaning of the parable of the Sower and the Seed, Jesus told them that if they
didn’t understand this parable, they wouldn’t understand any of the parables
(Mark 4:13). Four soils receive a
farmer’s seed: a hard path, a rocky soil, a soil filled with weeds and a good
soil. The good soil is the only one that
produces a harvest- the others don’t produce anything. The seed on the rocky soil sprouts up
quickly, but the heat of the summer sun withers it because its roots don’t go
down deep. This represents a person who
hears the word of God (the seed) and rejoices for a while, until persecution or
trials come about because of following Christ and they fall away. The seed that landed among weeds sprouted up
but was choked by the weeds, which represent the “cares of this world, the
deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things” (Mark 4:19). This
person was excited to follow Christ until other passions and loves tempted them
back into their old desires and
idols. This parable unlocks the
mystery of why so many call themselves Christians, but in reality have never
been converted to Christ. They go to
church, listen to God’s word and rejoice in it until trials, tribulations,
persecutions, temptations and/or the lusts of this world vie for their
attention, and then they fall away. Many
of the other parables describe the difference between false converts and true
converts: the wheat and the tares, the wise and the foolish virgins, the good
fish and the bad fish and the pearl of great price. True conversions result in growth because
repentance is genuine as the grace of God and the hunger for righteousness
overcomes the temptations and trials of life.
“The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It
teaches us to say ‘no’ to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live
self-controlled, upright and godly lives…” (Titus 2:11-12)
Examples of Sinful Patterns We Must Repent of
To deny the need to repent to be saved is to call God a
liar. “The man who says ‘I know Him,’
but does not do what He commands is a liar, and the truth of God is not in
him.” (1 John 2:3-6, 1:6) God warns us about the deception of willfully
continuing in patterns of sin and thinking we’re saved: “Do you not know that the unrighteous will
not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not
be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor
idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor
covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the
kingdom of God. And such were some of
you. But you were washed, but you were
sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the
Spirit of our God.” (1 Cor 6:9-11, cf. Rom 1:18-32, Gal 5:19-21, Rev 21:8) Note the key word: “were”- these people
repented and God gave them victory over their sin.
God’s Promise of Victory in Repentance
No matter what sin you’re enslaved to, if you repent, God
will give you mercy and forgiveness: “He who covers his sin will not prosper,
but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.” (Prov 28:13) God also
promises that in your repentance you will have great victory to overcome all
patterns of sin in your life: “Whoever abides in Him does not sin.” (1 John
3:6, 5:18) “Everyone born of God
overcomes the world!” (1 John 5:4)- there is no power greater than God that
will be able to hijack the child of God, holding him/her hostage to sin. God
“is able to keep you from stumbling.” (Jude 24) His infinite power and wisdom
are available to His children to overcome the worst of temptations and find an
escape: “No temptation has overtaken you
except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to
be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the
way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” (1 Cor 10:13)
If you’re in unrepentant sin, it’s time to acknowledge it-
confess it before God, turn from it, forsake it, and trust in the Lord Jesus
Christ for forgiveness and the power to overcome it- then run hard after Him-
start reading and applying the Word of God in your life and find like-minded
believers who can encourage you in your new life in Christ.
