Remnant Bible
Fellowship
Episode 02
What is
Repentance?
I.
Intro
a. In our last episode we answered the
question, “What is the Gospel?” In this episode we are going to answer the
question, “What is Repentance?”
b. The issue of repentance needs to be
restored in Christianity today. In most congregations it is either redefined or
completely removed from the presentation of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
c. It is an important truth to properly
understanding what is expected of man from God in response to the gospel.
II.
The
Commandment of the Gospel
a. “Now after that John was put in prison,
Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And
saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye,
and believe the gospel.” (Mark 1:14-15)
b. “Then opened he their understanding, that
they might understand the scriptures, And said unto them, Thus it is written,
and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:
And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among
all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” (Luke 24:45-47)
c. “And the times of this ignorance God
winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because he hath
appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that
man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in
that he hath raised him from the dead.” (Acts 17:30-31)
d. In preaching the gospel we see that
repentance is included, and is indeed commanded. Paul the Apostle himself
stated that the gospel itself was something to be obeyed in Romans 10:16.
III.
Faith
is the principle thing in salvation.
a. Before continuing about repentance we
must first understand faith.
i.
“For
by grace are ye saved through faith…” (Eph.
2:8-9)
ii.
“Who
are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation…” (1 Pet. 1:5)
iii.
“When
Jesus saw their faith, he said unto the sick of the palsy, Son, thy sins be
forgiven thee.” (Mark 2:5)
b. We see in these verses two important
facts:
i.
Faith
is a condition of salvation. (shown clearly in the word “through” being used)
Without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb. 11:6)
ii.
Faith
can be seen in what you do. Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the substance of
things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen…” Faith is the evidence of
things not seen; and that shows that faith itself must be seen. James says very
clearly in James 2 that if you do not have works to verify your faith then your
faith is vain. It is dead and useless, and it is not saving faith.
iii.
Fireman
warning analogy.
c. The principle thing in salvation is
faith. The Lord said numerous times that it was faith that made a person whole
in the gospels. 2 Corinthians 1:24 says that it is by faith that you stand in
Christ. Also, Ephesians 3:17 tells us, “That Christ may dwell in your hearts by
faith.”
d. If faith is the principle thing in
salvation, then what part does repentance play in man’s salvation?
IV.
Biblical
Repentance
a. The word “repent” has a two-fold meaning:
i.
To
have a change of mind regarding past conduct.
ii.
To
turn from something.
b. Both of those meanings are used in
scripture and are very important.
c. Jesus Christ said, “Except ye repent, ye
shall all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:3, 5) So we see its importance in our
salvation.
d. When the gospel is presented to a person
they are confronted with the fact that they have sinned against God and that
Christ has been made a sacrifice to reconcile him to God the Father. What is
necessary at this point is two-fold:
i.
They
must believe who Jesus Christ is, and that He accomplished all that the
scripture says.
ii.
They
must turn from their ways to Him for salvation.
e. This in essence describes the
relationship between faith and repentance.
i.
To
believe the gospel is faith.
ii.
To
turn from sin unto Jesus Christ is repentance.
V.
Perversions
of Repentance
a. A one-time prayer at an altar is not
biblical repentance.
b. A “decision for Christ” is not
repentance.
c. “Asking Jesus into your heart” is not
repentance.
d. Biblical repentance is understanding that
how you lived your life in sin apart from God was an offense against Him, and
you forsake your old ways of living (sin) and give yourself to God. What was
under your control independent of God now becomes His to direct and lead as He
sees fit.
i.
“I
am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in
me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son
of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)
ii.
“And
that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto
themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.” (2 Corinthians
5:15)
VI.
Faith
and Repentance together
a. Saving faith is that which leads to
biblical repentance. It is because I believe that I do or don’t do certain things
anymore.
b. If I want to go to the grocery store and
begin to leave my house, and then someone tells me I’m going in the wrong
direction: I understand and believe them, and then turn to the correct way.
That is salvation. I was in the broad way that leads to destruction, living in
sin and selfishness, but I’ve believed the gospel and turned to salvation in
Jesus Christ in the straight and narrow way.
c. If you understand and believe that it is
sin and worldliness that separates you from God, then if you desire to know God
you would desire to put away sin to be reconciled unto God by His Son Jesus.
VII.
Example
of Repentance from Scripture
a. Matthew 12:41 says, “The men of Nineveh
shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they
repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.”
b. We read about this in Jonah 3:5-10, “So
the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on
sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. For word came
unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe
from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he caused it to
be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his
nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let
them not feed, nor drink water: But let man and beast be covered with
sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his
evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. Who can tell if God
will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?
And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented
of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.”
c. When the Ninevites believed the warning
Jonah declared to them from God they humbled themselves and put away their
sins.
d. Seeing that the scriptures show clearly
that faith is necessary for salvation, faith results in outward works because
you believe the word, and repentance is part of that outward change of action:
from this we can be clear that if there is no outward change in a person’s way
of living then they never put their faith in Christ to begin with.
e. To this, the scriptures agree:
i.
“Little
children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous,
even as he is righteous.” (1 John 3:7)
ii.
“In
this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever
doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.”
(1 John 3:10)
f.
Contrary
to what is widely taught today you can absolutely know who is a Christian and
who is not: those that have repented of sin show it in how they live. They live
wholly for Jesus Christ, and His word directs how they live. If they find out
they are living contrary to some principle of God’s word, they repent again, and
turn their feet unto His paths.
VIII.
Examine
yourself
a. Thanks to modern preaching, many false
prophets are gone out into the world. The Lord Himself said of this type, “Because
with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made
sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from
his wicked way, by promising him life.” (Ezekiel 13:22)
b. The wicked, the unrighteous, and the
ungodly will not inherit the kingdom of God. You need to take some time to
examine yourself whether or not you are in the faith as it is taught by the
Word of God. Or are you a church member, or ex-church member, who said a prayer
one time or made a “decision” for Christ? If you never turned from sin, then
you never turned to Jesus Christ; and you are yet in your sins and separated
from Him.
c. Here is your counsel from the Word of
God:
i.
“Let
the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him
return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he
will abundantly pardon.” (Isaiah 55:7)
ii.
Confess
your sins, and put them away. The Lord is merciful and faithful to pardon
through Jesus Christ.
d. Perhaps you truly committed your life to
Christ at one time, but you’ve let things slip. You’ve followed the slow descent
from a zeal for Christ, to, “Yeah, I’ve been saved.” My question to you is: Are
you following Him? Do you intentionally set your feet to walk in accordance
with His commandments? Do you seek to know Him more and the power of holiness
in daily life? Be very careful.
e. “Therefore we ought to give the more
earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let
them slip. For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every
transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward; How shall
we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be
spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him; God also
bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders, and with divers miracles, and
gifts of the Holy Ghost, according to his own will?” (Hebrews 2:1-4)
i.
Comparing
Old testament and New testament disobedience.
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