The Call to Repentance

John MacArthur 90-22

Repentance is an essential part of the gospel message — Matthew 3:1–2 “Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.””

Matthew 3:8 “Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance;

Matthew 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Mark 1:14–15 NASB95

Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Mark 2:17 And hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (cf. 6:12)

Luke 5:31–32 “And Jesus answered and said to them, “It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick. “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.””

— That was implied by Matthew, implied by Mark, and is explicitly stated by Luke as the ministry of Jesus was directed at sinners calling them to repentance

Luke 13:1–5 Now on the same occasion there were some present who reported to Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. And Jesus said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate? “I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. “Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? “I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

— What the people wanted to know was, How was it that there were some Galileans who went in to offer sacrifice to God, and Pilate’s men came in and slaughtered them while they were offering sacrifices to God?

— How is it, they’re saying, that God would allow people to give their life in a bloodbath when they were doing what was right?  Why did God allow that?

— Jesus is saying, they were just an example of what’s going to happen to you if you don’t repent

— And then the next question on their mind, How about those 18 people on whom that tower fell?  These people weren’t worshiping God, they were just walking down the street, and the tower fell over and killed them

— “Are you thinking,” Jesus said, “that they were worse culprits than everybody else who lived in Jerusalem, and that’s why they died?  No,” He says, “unless you repent, you’ll die, too.”

— And in both cases He calls for repentance.  The ministry of John: repent.  The ministry of Jesus: repent

— The ministry of the disciples: repent

Luke 24:46–47 “and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.”

—I hear a lot of people say they want to share their faith.  I don’t hear too many people say they want to go out and preach repentance.  But that’s really what we’re called to do.  We’re called to preach repentance for forgiveness of sins

What did the early church do?

— Did they pick up on the ministry of John, and Jesus and the disciples?

— Peter stands up on the day of Pentecost and says:

Acts 2:38 “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.”

— He follows in the great train of John, and Jesus, and the disciples, and follows obediently the commission of Luke 24:47

Luke 24:47 “and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.”

— The gospel message is a call to repentance

— Acts 11:18 When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, “Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life.”

— Repentance is a synonym for saving faith

— Other examples: Acts 17:30; 20:21; 26:20; Romans 2:4.

Paul writes in Romans 2:4, “Do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?”  Now mark that.  Mark that.  The preaching of John was geared to repentance.  The preaching of Jesus was geared to repentance.  The preaching of the disciples was geared to repentance.  The preaching of the early church was geared to repentance.  And even the work of God is geared to produce repentance.  Why?  Because it says in 2 Peter again, chapter 3, verse 9, “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to” – What? – “repentance.”  Dear friend, may I say to you this that in that verse repentance is a synonym for what?  Salvation.  There can be no believing without repentance.  There can be no salvation without repentance.  Repentance is a synonym.

How important is it to repent?

— Jesus said it, we just read it, Luke 13:3 and 5, “Unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”

— The subject has been so ignored

— Where is that kind of preaching today?

— It is not fashionable

— The gospel today is, “Believe in Jesus and He’ll forgive all your sin and give you heaven, and you don’t have to worry about giving up anything.”

— We can go back to 1937; Dr. Harry A. Ironside, great man of God, Bible teacher.  Dr. Ironside in 1937 noted that the biblical doctrine of repentance was being systematically diluted by those who wished to exclude it from the gospel message – 1937, 75 years ago

Harry Ironside, Except Ye Repent

“The doctrine of repentance is the missing note in many otherwise orthodox and fundamentally sound circles today.”  This is not a new battle.  This is an old battle.  People today are preaching a gospel that says, “Well, look, just believe, don’t worry about your sin, don’t worry about your past, just believe, and that will all come later.”  Ironside fought that battle in 1937.  Further, he said this.  He spoke of, quote: “Professed preachers of grace who, like the antinomians of old, decry the necessity of repentance, lest it seem to invalidate the freedom of grace,”

How about the early church fathers? 150 A.D.

From the Second Epistle of Clement in 150 A.D.; this is what it says: “Let us not merely call Him Lord, for that will not save us.  For He says, ‘Not everyone who says to Me, “Lord, Lord,” will be saved, but he who does what is right.’  Thus, brothers, let us acknowledge Him by our actions.  This world and the world to come are two enemies.  This one means adultery, corruption, avarice, and deceit, while the other gives them up.  We cannot, then, be friends of both.  To get the one, we must give up the other.”

What about Martin Luther?

—On October 31, 1517 Martin Luther fired the shot that’s been heard around the world when he pinned to the church door at Wittenberg his Ninety-Five Theses. 

— He postulated 95 principles that he thought the Roman Catholic Church ought to acknowledge.  I don’t know if you’re aware of what those 95 were, but after tonight you’re going to be aware of what the first three were, because here they are.

— Number one: “Our Lord and Master Jesus Christ in saying, ‘Repent ye,’ meant the whole life of the faithful to be an act of repentance.”

— Number two: “This saying cannot be understood of the sacrament of penance, i.e., of confession and absolution, which is administered by the priesthood.”

— Number three: “Yet He does not mean interior repentance only; nay, interior repentance is void if it does not produce different kinds of mortifications of the flesh.”

— So said Martin Luther – three main points.  One: repentance is a way of life.  Two: it has nothing to do with church sacraments, confession, and absolution.  Three: it’s not just inward; it produces mortification of the flesh.  Martin Luther was right on target.

What about the Westminster Shorter Catechism, 1674?

— Question: “What is repentance unto life?”  What is repentance unto life? 

— Answer: “Repentance unto life is a saving grace whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin, and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, doth, with grief and hatred of his sin, turn from it unto God, with full purpose of and endeavor after new obedience.”

— Further, the catechism says, “Repentance unto life doth chiefly consist in two things: one, in turning from sin and forsaking it; two, in turning to God.”

— The next question in the catechism is: What is that turning from sin which is part of true repentance?”

— Answer: “The turning from sin which is a part of true repentance doth consist in two things; one: in turning from all gross sins in regard of our course and conversation; two: in a turning from all other sins in regard of our hearts and affections.”

— In other words, it’s turning from sin in what you do, and turning from sin in what you think.

— Next question: “Do such as truly repent of sin never return again unto the practice of the same sins which they have repented of?”

— Answer: “Such as have truly repented of sin do never return unto the practice of it, so as to live in a course of sin as they did before.  And where any after repentance do return unto a course of sin, it is an evident sign that their repentance was not of the right kind.  Some have truly repented of their sins, although they may be overtaken and surprised by temptations so as to fall into the commission of the same sins which they have repented of, yet they do not lie in them, but get up again, and with bitter grief bewail them, and return again unto the Lord.”

How about the Puritans? What did they believe in repentance?

— Goodwin is representative of them. The British Puritan wrote this: “Where mourning” – that is, weeping – “for offending God is wanting” – or lacking – “there is no sign of any good will yet wrought in the heart to God, nor of love to Him, without which God will never accept a man.”

— In other words, he’s saying if there’s no mourning over sin it’s evident God hasn’t worked in the heart.

What did Charles Haddon Spurgeon say?

“There must be a true and actual abandonment of sin and a turning unto righteousness in real act and deed in everyday life.  Repentance, to be sure, must be entire.  How many will say, ‘Sir, I will renounce this sin and the other, but there are certain darling lusts which I must keep and hold?’  Oh, sirs, in God’s name let me tell you, it is not the giving up of one sin, nor 50 sins, which is true repentance.  It is the solemn renunciation of every sin.  If thou dost harbor one of those accursed vipers in thy heart, and dost give up every other, that one lust, like one leak in a ship, will sink thy soul.  Think it not sufficient to give up thy outward vices, fancy it not enough to cut off the more corrupt sins of thy life.  It is all or none which God demands.  ‘Repent,’ says He, and when He bids you repent, He means repent of all thy sins, otherwise He can never accept thy repentance as real and genuine.  All sin must be given up or else you will never have Christ.  All transgression must be renounced or else the gates of heaven must be barred against you.  Let us remember, then, that for repentance to be sincere, it must be entire repentance.  True repentance is a turning of the heart as well as of the life.  It is the giving up of the whole soul to God to be His forever and ever.  It is the renunciation of the sins of the heart as well as the crimes of the life,”

There is an intellectual aspect to repentance

— Repentance involves recognition of sin, recognition of the sinfulness of sin, recognition that sin affronts a holy God. 

— It involves the intellectual recognition that I’m personally responsible for my sin and my guilt. 

— It includes the recognition that Christ died for my sin, and that He, as God, wants to rule my life.  That’s the intellectual part of repentance.

There is a emotional aspect

— That recognition produces sorrow, it produces new desires and new impulses, it produces shame.

— And 2 Corinthians 7:10 says there is a sorrow that leads to repentance.

So it starts out, you see that sin is sinful, you see that you are guilty, you see that Christ has provided intellectually, and then it touches your emotions, and there’s a brokenness, and a sorrow, and a shame, and a guilt that pours out; and out of that sorrow comes the third element, and that is the volitional - the volitional.  Finally, repentance enacts the will, and brings a change of direction, a new determination to abandon stubborn disobedience and surrender your life to Christ.  And then it produces a changed behavior.  Where there’s no changed behavior, repentance may have been intellectual, and it may have been emotional, but it was never volitional.  It redirects the will when it’s genuine.

Martyn-Lloyd-Jones from his study on the Sermon on the Mount

“Repentance means that you realize that you are a guilty, vile sinner in the presence of God, that you deserve the wrath and punishment of God, that you are hell-bound.  It means that you begin to realize that this thing called sin is in you, and that you long to get rid of it, and that you turn your back on it in every shape and form.  You renounce the world, whatever the cost, the world in its mind and outlook, as well as its practices, and you deny yourself and take up the cross, and go after Christ.  Your nearest and dearest, and the whole world, may call you a fool, or say you have religious mania; you may have to suffer financially, but it makes no difference.  That is repentance.”

Where are the fruits?

— Prove your repentance by your life

— It shows up in the character of your daily living

— Do you give your cloak to one who doesn’t have one?  Do you make sure you don’t take anything from anyone that you don’t deserve?  You don’t force people.  You don’t accuse people falsely.  Are you content with whatever your wages are?  That’s where the genuineness of your repentance shows up.

— No message that doesn’t press for repentance can properly be called the gospel. 

— Conversion to Jesus is more than a break with an old thought pattern; it’s a new life -  it’s a new life.