Following conviction of sin, the next step we would hope for any individual would be Repentance.
Repentance denotes a complete and radical change of mind resulting in a total change of life.
Our precious Lord and all the New Testament greats preached repentance as a matter of fundamental importance.
John the Baptist.
Matthew 3: 1 and 2
“In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!””
As we just said repentance means more than a change of mind or remorse but a radical turning from sin and this is what John was calling for.
Matthew refers to “the kingdom of heaven” but it means exactly the same as “the kingdom of God”. I think that Matthew was simply aware of Jewish sensitivities over mentioning the name of God. Both terms refer to the sphere of God’s dominion over those who belong to Him.
The kingdom begins with the Incarnation of Yeshua, continues with the inception of the church and will be fully manifested in His Second Coming.
John stated that the kingdom was “at hand” because it was being offered to Israel in the person of their Messiah. John’s preaching assumed that judgment would precede the coming of the kingdom. This was taught by the Old Testament prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Joel, Zephaniah, Zechariah and Malachi). At this point John assumed that the nation would repent and the kingdom would come. He was telling the Jews of his generation to repent in order to gain entrance to the kingdom.
Yeshua
Matthew 4: 17
“From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Yeshua commenced His ministry in exactly the same terms which John the Baptist had used. He was showing that He was the One of John had spoken. He both authenticated John’s work as well as pointing to Himself as the promised One who could bring in the kingdom. But now the kingdom was “at hand” because the king was present among them. “Repentance” was a constant motif throughput His public ministry. The individual’s repentance is always the preparation for the kingdom.
Luke 24: 46 – 47.
“Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the 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 to all nations beginning at Jerusalem”.
Here we have Yeshua addressing His disciples after His resurrection. Yeshua had been considered a pretender and a blasphemer. After His resurrection people had to change their minds about Him and serve Him for who He really is.
This is the message which Peter preached at Pentecost. He called on people present to turn from their own selfish ways to Yeshua, the One who had died for them.
Peter
Acts 2: 38 – 39.
” Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let everyone of you be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”
Here at Pentecost, we have Peter carrying out the Lord’s instructions. Calling for repentance, he is looking for the Judeans to reject their former attitudes and opinions concerning Yeshua. Genuine repentance means that the evil of sin must be forsaken and the work of Yeshua totally and singularly embraced. In faith they had to accept Him for who He declared Himself to be while on earth, a declaration that was confirmed by HIs resurrection and ascension.
Peter called for people to be baptised. When a person recognises who Yeshua really is, they want to do what He commands. The first action required of the new believer is baptism which represents Yeshua’s death, burial and resurrection.
When Peter’s words are recorded as “baptism” “for the remission of sins”, it means that believers are baptised in view of (because of) God’s work in forgiving sins not to receive forgiveness. Baptism is a public recognition that a person’s sins have been forgiven because of Yeshua’s finished work on the cross.
“The gift of the Holy Spirit” is a beautiful promise of the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31: 33-34) which puts us in communion with the Father and the Son. This is an indication not only that our sins have been forgiven but that the Lord has placed His law within us.
And salvation through grace by faith is available to all –Jew and Gentile – all over the world as Yeshua instructed.
Peter preaching on Solomon’s portico in the Temple.
Acts 3: 19
“Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord…. “
Peter uses a couple of Greek words here which do not appear elsewhere in scripture. The term translated “blotted out” compares forgiveness to the complete wiping away of ink from the surface of a document.
Peter is addressing “the men of Israel” (verse 12) and he emphasises that national repentance must precede national restoration and blessing. “Times of refreshing” comes from a Greek term indicating a recovery of strength. Strength is restored when hope is restored.
When the people repent and are “converted”, that is, change their thinking about Yeshua as Messiah and serve Him, strength will come from “the presence of the Lord” (His future kingdom on earth).
Acts 11: 17 – 18.
“If therefore God gave them (the household of Cornelius) the same gift as He gave us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ who was I that I could withstand God? When they heard these things, they became silent; and they glorified God, saying, “Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life.””
It is greatly to the credit of these Jewish believers that when they heard Peter’s account of how he had baptised Gentiles that they recognised the hand of God and completely changed their views. The presence of the Holy Spirit in these Gentiles proved genuine repentance and forgiveness i.e. “repentance to life”.
But of course, Scripture has always made clear that it was God’s intention to bring salvation to all.
Isaiah 49:6
“Indeed, He says, “It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also give you as a light to the Gentiles, that you should be My salvation to the ends of the earth.””
Paul
Acts 17:30 – 31.
“Truly, these times of ignorance (when people had all sorts of idols) God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained.”
Here Paul is addressing the people of Athens. They had built an altar to “an unknown God”. It was said that a man from Crete called Epimenides had turned aside a horrible plague from the people of Athens by appealing to a god which the people had never heard of.
Paul uses this to introduce the gospel. It is the Holy One of Israel who controls world events. They should seek Him and put away idols made of stone etc. Paul points out that God is not far away. We can have fellowship with Him. In fact, every day we depend on Him for life and our very breath. The living Creator sent His Son, Yeshua, to demonstrate His love for us. It is our responsibility to respond and to follow Him. That begins with repentance which God commands of “all men everywhere”. This is an urgent message because “has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness.” This will be done by Yeshua “the man who He has ordained.”
Acts 20:20 – 21.
“ …. I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house, testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Paul is here addressing the elders at Ephesus. As we have seen with our Lord, John the Baptist, Peter or Paul, the first word in preaching is “repent”. Paul’s love for Yeshua did not constrain him. In Ephesus he taught in the synagogue and in the school of Tyrannus. But he did not confine himself to set times and locations, he used any and every opportunity to encourage growth amongst the believers. He did not discriminate on the basis of nationality or religious background. Often, he gave practical instruction in people’s homes.
He preached the necessity of “repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus.” These are two fundamentals of the gospel. In every genuine conversion there is both “repentance” and “faith”. Unless a person is fully repentant, saving faith is impossible. On the other hand, repentance would be merely remorse and of no avail unless it is followed by faith in the Son of God. It is easy to brush off remorse if you do not believe you will face judgment.
Acts 26: 19 – 20
“….. I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance.”
Here we have Paul a prisoner before King Agrippa giving an account of his life. From verse 19 it is his post-conversion life that the is outlining.
In Romans 12:2 Paul speaks of the “renewing of your mind”. Generally, we do what we think is best; that which makes sense to us. In persecuting the church Paul had been doing what he thought was correct. But Yeshua’s revelation to him completely changed his thinking.
His preaching of the gospel was strong, visible proof that he had repented his former ways. Genuine repentance is evidenced by radically changed behaviour i.e., “works befitting repentance.”
Amen.