Repentance

Praise the Lord, dear friends. Today we are going to talk about repentance. It’s a word that produces mixed feelings in people. Some can’t think of any other word. They always keep saying that we must repent. Well, that’s not wrong, but we need to be careful that we teach all the counsel of God and not just one topic. The same goes for the other kind of people who just shun hearing about or talking about repentance. Those people seriously need to repent. If you’re one such person, please, I urge you to read this.

First of all, what is repentance? I’ve heard a few definitions. Some define it as remorse or regret over sin (even the dictionary defines it this way). Some say it is a 180 degree turn around. Some say it is a simple change of mind, nothing more, nothing less. These definitions all have partial truths to them. The problem I have with defining  repentance as remorse is, well, for starters, Paul says in 2 Corinthians 7:10 that godly sorrow works repentance. He doesn’t say godly sorrow is repentance. And we know that Judas Iscariot had great remorse over his sin of betraying our Lord Jesus, and technically “repented”, (Matthew 27:3) but this was not godly sorrow, and neither was it repentance unto salvation, since he went and killed himself (Matthew 27:5). So, this definition of repentance as remorse or sorrow doesn’t work, even though true, godly sorrow does lead to true repentance unto salvation. What about repentance being a 180 degree turn around? Well, true repentance is as much about what or rather whom you are turning towards as it is about what you’re turning from. And if somebody has to turn 200 degrees to actually turn towards God, then a 180 degree turn around doesn’t work, because repentance must be towards God (Acts 20:21). Therefore, this definition of repentance doesn’t really work either. Then, we have the definition of repentance as a change of mind. This technically is true, and that is the literal meaning of the Greek word used in the text according to many scholars. I don’t have a problem with this definition as much as I have with its interpretation. Many people who use this definition say that you can have a real change of mind, i.e., repentance, but have absolutely no change in your life, in the way you live, in the decisions you make, etc. And that is not true as we will see.

To clearly interpret what repentance is, let us do so by looking at the important question, is repentance essential for salvation? Much of modern Christianity is extremely divided on this issue, mainly because of what I believe to be a wrong understanding of both salvation and repentance. What is salvation? In understanding this, we also come to the understanding of whether repentance plays a role in salvation. What salvation is not is a get out of hell for free card, neither is it a free ticket to heaven. Yes, salvation does lead to us escaping hell and getting to heaven, but that is not the core issue of salvation. According to Matthew 1:21, Jesus saves his people from their sins. Paul writes to Timothy that Christ came into this world to save sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). So, how does Christ save us from our sins? By dying on the cross for our sins and rising again on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). How do we receive this salvation? By grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8), by hearing this word of truth, the gospel of our salvation, and trusting in Christ and being sealed in him with the Holy Spirit of promise (Ephesians 1:13-14). So far you might say, “Well, see, there’s no repentance involved, right?” Before we conclude anything like that, let us examine the gospel in detail.

The gospel is that Christ died on the cross for our sins, was buried and rose again on the third day. These are not some magic words that if you memorise and repeat, you’re going to somehow get saved. You have to believe in your heart (Romans 10:9-10). What does genuine belief in this gospel entail? It needs an acknowledgment of who Jesus Christ is. In order to be saved, we need to recognise him as the eternal, divine Son of God (John 8:24, 1 John 5:12). And we need to accept and acknowledge that we are sinners. This is not simply a passing “nobody is perfect, neither am I” kind of acknowledgment. We need to realise that our sins are so repulsive to God that the wages of sin is death. In light of seeing who Christ is and the fact that he actually had to shed his blood and die to pay for our sins, should give us an idea of just how bad our sin is and just how much it cost to pay for that sin. It’s like when Isaiah saw the LORD, he immediately said, “Woe is me!” (Isaiah 6:5). The self-righteous person needs to see the utter repulsiveness of their own sin and the perfect holiness of God, and humble themselves and cry out to God for forgiveness, and the person who thinks they are too bad to be ever forgiven needs to see the great sacrifice that Christ made for them on the cross, and humble themselves and cry out to God for forgiveness. In both these scenarios, there is a change of mind. And what is that change of mind? You guessed it, repentance. What about someone who already knows they are a sinner? Well, simple, they turn to Christ to be saved from their sins. Remember what I said earlier about how it is important to keep in mind whom we turn to in repentance.

So, based on this, how do we understand repentance? It clearly does include acknowledging of our own sinfulness, and Christ’s holiness, and our need for forgiveness. It includes turning to God through Jesus Christ (not just through any religion or religious leader) for this forgiveness and salvation from sin. We must bear in mind that when we turn to him, we turn, not to go to heaven, but to be saved from our sins. This is where many people get it wrong. Because salvation is often equated with going to heaven when we die, people become oblivious about actually being forgiven and saved from their sins. And because of this, we have many false converts who have no interest in actually being saved from their sins and just want to go to this beautiful place called heaven when they die. The apostles did not preach going to heaven after death. Yes, they did preach eternal life, but the core of their message was the remission of sins through the blood of Jesus (Luke 24:46-47, Acts 2:38, Acts 5:31, Acts 10:42-43). As a result of being saved from our sins, we are also saved from wrath (1 Thessalonians 1:10) and we do have eternal life (John 3:16), being sealed with the Holy Spirit unto the day of redemption.

And this gospel of grace, it is the ultimate demonstration of the love and goodness of God (Romans 5:8, 1 John 4:10, John 15:13). And according to scripture, the goodness of God leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4). The grace of God teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world (Titus 2:12). This shows that there is a change that takes place in our life, by the grace of God. And if we do sin, it grieves the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30), and this produces godly sorrow in us that leads to repentance (2 Corinthians 7:10). And as many as the Lord loves he rebukes and chastens, which leads to repentance (Revelation 3:19).

Therefore, based on all this, we can say, repentance, when understood correctly, is indeed an integral part of salvation and in our daily Christian lives. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with us all.