Repentance

Article 13: Repentance

13-1 Repentance unto life is a gift of God1 and a voluntary act of man,2 accomplished by the convicting power of the Holy Spirit through the Word of God.  Repentance consists in a knowledge of sin,3 a sense of guilt and corruption that results in the confession and forsaking of sin and a turning to God4 that results in loving, obedient service.5

Repentance as a gift

Romans 2:1–4 ESV

Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?

At the end of Rom. 1, Paul concludes his remarks regarding the guilt of the gentiles by making clear that they knew God’s righteous decree those who engage in sinful practices, either by practicing them themselves or by approving of their practice deserve death since, as Paul will explicitly say later, the wages of sin is death.

Paul builds what he says in chapter 2 on this point. He addresses the Jews transgressions of judgementalism, pride and hypocrisy. Anyone who does this deserves to be condemned by God, and to presume that you are in a position to judge others despite the fact that you are guilty of the same wrongs for which you are judging others is presumptuous. This approach to others’ sins and your own sin presumes on God’s kindness. God’s kindness is not to be treated as a pass to live how we want while expecting others to live in a way that safeguards our preferred way of life.

God’s kindness is meant to lead us to repentance. The fact that God does not commit us to our deserved destruction and execute His justice on us (because He visited that on Christ) is what God uses to soften impenitent hearts. This is His gift of repentance.

2 Timothy 2:24–25 ESV

And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth,

Paul refers to Timothy as the Lord’s servant, which in this particular context is a reference to his pastoral role. Pastors are to possess a certain character and the ability to teach. In verse 25, Paul addresses a reality that all pastors will inevitably face, which is opposition of some kind. The hope that exists for those who oppose the work of the gospel in the local church, and specifically the work of pastors who are striving for faithful gospel ministry is that God would grant them repentance which enables them to understand the truth.

So here, repentance leads to knowledge of the truth. A priceless gift.

This same idea is seen in Acts

Acts 5:30-31.

Acts 5:30–31 ESV

The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.

The exaltation of Jesus to the right hand of the Father is what God uses to grant people the gift of repentance. As people rightly see Jesus as the Savior and King, they are granted the right perspective of their sin and their need for forgiveness. Possessing this knowledge is a gift.

Repentance as an obligation

Acts 17:30–31 ESV

The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

The times of ignorance involved with representing the divine being with humanly devised images was addressed in v. 29. Now (in verse 30), in light of the fact that Jesus has come, the time of ignorance is over, and the call for repentance is issued. The reason for the command to repent is because God will judge the world in righteousness by Jesus. Jesus, in other words is coming back on a day that has been determined. And we know that Jesus is the righteous judge because He has risen from the dead. He is victorious over all sin and death. The sin for which we are guilty and need saving from Jesus overcame.

All people, everywhere are obligated to repent of their sin because it is the only way to be spared the judgement they are due, and this judgement is certain.

Put much more simply, the words of John the Baptist:

Matthew 3:2 ESV

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Jesus had drawn near. The fact that Jesus had come was the reason to issue the call to repent. It’s a warning. Respond right to your sin, or you will face the judge when He returns.

Repentance as a component of conversion

Mark 1:15 ESV

and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

2 Components of conversion are named here: Belief and repentance.

A definition:

2 Greek words: meta = after & noeo = to understand: afterthought, change of mind

the way the word is used in the NT makes clear that repentance is a turning from sin, which is what we, for example in:

1 Thess 1:9.

1 Thessalonians 1:9 ESV

For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God,

Turn to God

Turn from evil

Intend to serve God

Yes, repentance includes a shame or sorrow over our sin, but it much more than this. It’s a redirection of the human will. It’s a forsaking of all unrighteousness and a pursuit of righteousness instead.

Repentance is a constitutive part of conversion. John MacArthur in The Gospel According to Jesus said this”

No message that eliminates repentance can properly be called the gospel, for sinner cannot come to Jesus apart from a radical change of heart, mind, and will. That demands a spiritual crisis leading to a complete turnaround and ultimately a wholesale transformation. It is the only kind of conversion Scripture recognizes.

Matthew 21:28–31 ESV

“What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I go, sir,’ but did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you.

MacArthur further observes that there are two kinds of religious people:

Those who pretend to be obedient but are actually rebels

Those who begin as rebels but repent

And the Pharisees’ response to Jesus’ question, which of the two did the will of his father?, which was the first, they condemned themselves. They pretended to be obedient, but were actually rebels, and what made this clear was their unwillingness to repent. Their presumption that they had nothing for which to repent because they were religious people.