Repentance and Salvation

1. Introduction.

Salvation is an act of God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

A person is not saved outside of God’s grace and outside of faith in Jesus Christ as Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life.

However, does repentance play a role in salvation? Is repentance important?

Did you know the word repent/repentance appears at least 969 times in the Bible? If it appears that much in the Bible, do you think it is important?

For whatever reason, the Church has drifted away from preaching about repentance, but I want you to know this.

Without repentance, there is no remission or forgiveness of sins.

Acts 3:19 “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;”

Proverbs 28:13 “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: But whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.”

Yes, Jesus died for your sins, but the Bible makes it clear to me that if the blood of Jesus is going to wipe away your sins, you must repent. Is that what the Bible says in those two passages?

Repent means to change direction. It means to turn your back on sin and your eyes to God.

**A person who has truly been saved will have a different mindset about sin. Why?

Because a person who has been saved has the indwelling Holy Spirit who is not going to allow a child of God to embarrass or bring shame to God the Father. I believe Acts 3:19 and Proverbs 28:13 mean exactly what they say. Faith in Jesus Christ produces repentance. It is faith in Jesus Christ that makes repentance possible. You can never view sin the way God views it unless you have God the Holy Spirit dwelling in you.**

If the Holy Spirit is dwelling in you, you are going to be receptive to what God says about sin in your life. Will you still sin? YES!!! Repenting does not mean you will live a life of sinless perfection. What it does mean is that you are not setting about to sin casually.

Repentance is proof of your faith in Christ. Some people believe that you can get saved and just live anyway you want, and that technically is the case with one exception. If you truly repent, your want to changes, and you will no longer be in bondage to sin.

Romans 6:1–2 “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?”

Can I give you the Biblical equation for repentance?

Repentance = conviction + confession + contrition + conversion

You can be convicted and not repent. You can confess and not repent. You can be contrite and not repent. Repentance occurs when conviction, confession, and contrition lead to conversion.

I want to look at some Biblical examples, and let you decide by listening to the Holy Spirit if true repentance and conversion occurred.

2. Zacchaeus.

The Bible tells you all you need to know about Zacchaeus and his sin.

Luke 19:2 “And, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich.”

Zacchaeus had become very rich by overtaxing people. He was stealing money.

In verse 3, the Bible says that Zacchaeus sought Jesus. Do you know what the means? It means that Zacchaeus was being convicted.

If you read Luke 18, you will find that Jesus healed a blind man in Jericho, and crowds followed after Jesus praising God. Zacchaeus was in the crowd.

Zacchaeus’ conviction came to a climax when Jesus offered him a chance to fellowship with the Son of God.

Luke 19:5 “And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house.”

Zacchaeus was convicted. His conviction led to confession, and contrition.

Luke 19:8 “And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.”

Do you see his contrition? Do you see his confession? His confession was that he knew he had stolen from people that he had unfairly taxed them. His contrition was sincere, and it led to his conversion from sin. Notice what Jesus says.

Luke 19:9–10 “And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.”

When did salvation come to Zacchaeus? When he placed his faith in Jesus Christ by accepting Christ’s invitation to fellowship, and he followed that with repentance by turning from his previous behavior.

Salvation came to Zacchaeus because he was forgiven, and forgiveness was shown by his repentance.

Was Zacchaeus saved because he was forgiven or because he repented? YES!!! His repentance was made possible by his faith in the One who is able to forgive sins.

What do you think Zacchaeus did the next day? I tell you what I think he did. He began tracking down those he overcharged in order to make the restitution he promised because that would be the proof of his conversion. It would be a faith that produces repentance, a faith that produces a changed life.

3. The Woman Caught in Adultery.

What a tangled web we weave once we start weaving tangled webs. Amen!!!

The woman caught in adultery is not a parable. The Pharisees videoed the whole event on their newest I-phones and shared it with CNN. This event has many elements to it, but make no mistake about this. This woman was guilty of adultery.

John 8:3–4 “And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.”

She was caught in the very act, and just like today, the Pharisees wanted the whole world to know about what she did. This was a serious sin in which this woman was caught. She could have been publicly executed for it, but she did not die for her sin. Jesus did.

John 8:10–11 “When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.”

The only One worthy to condemn her was the One who did not condemn her. Jesus did not condemn her because He was going to take her adultery to His Cross.

The woman was convicted. I mean, seriously, she was charged publicly. She was definitely contrite as I guarantee you that she feared that she was about to be stoned. She was forgiven by Jesus who was the only One who could condemn her, and proof of her forgiveness would be her conversion from her adulterous lifestyle. Jesus said go, and sin no more.

Now, there was another group convicted that day. The Pharisees who brought the woman were convicted. They confessed. They were contrite, but they were not converted because there was no repentance.

John 8:7–9 “So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.”

Jesus and their conscience convicted them. I guarantee you they were contrite, and they confessed their sin by leaving and not stoning the woman, but they did not repent as you will see if you read the rest of John Chapter 8.

Do you see the difference?

Proof of the woman’s salvation would be her conversion from her sin, and Jesus absolutely verifies that fact.

John 8:12 “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”

Jesus is light. Sin is darkness. If that woman was to be saved, she would walk in the light and not continue in the darkness of her adultery. I am not talking about living in sinless perfection. I am talking about repentance that leads to conversion. Repentance that leads to a new life.

The Bible does not say anything else about this woman. We do not know if she was converted or not. I want to think that she was, but proof of that conversion was going to be her repenting from the lifestyle in which she was trapped.

4. Judas Iscariot.

Judas is like many in the church today. He is like so many that are part of the congregation that have not repented from sin and turned to Christ.

As Judas was being convicted of his sin, the One who could forgive him was giving him one last chance to repent.

Matthew 26:47–48 “And while he yet spake, lo, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and elders of the people. Now he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he: hold him fast.”

Matthew 26:49–50 “And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, master; and kissed him. And Jesus said unto him, Friend, wherefore art thou come? Then came they, and laid hands on Jesus, and took him.”

By calling Judas friend, Jesus was giving Judas one last opportunity, and Judas knew he had sinned a grievous sin. He even confessed his sin. He was sorry for his, but he did not turn from his sin.

Matthew 27:3–4 “Then Judas, which had betrayed him, when he saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders, Saying, I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. And they said, What is that to us? see thou to that.”

Matthew 27:5 “And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.”

Judas was convicted, Judas confessed, and Judas was contrite, but none of those led to his conversion as he, in a state of depression and despair, hung himself. Judas did not change course. Yes, he was sorry for what he had done. Yes, he was guilty. Yes, he was convicted, but he did not change his mind about sin or the identity of Jesus Christ.

Judas committed suicide and is in his own special place until the final judgment.

Acts 1:25 “That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.”

Judas is like so many who almost get saved. Peter wrote about the person who does everything but repent. (2 Peter 2:21-22)

2 Peter 2:21–22 “For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.”

Peter tells us that it would have been better for Judas if he had not have known the way of righteousness, and he is telling you the same thing if you sit here in the right company but refuse to repent.

A person that is truly saved changes course. He is no longer like the pig returning to the mire. Changing course means so much. It means that you change your ideas regarding sin and you change your ideas regarding God.

The writer of Hebrews describes the person who does not repent.

Hebrews 6:5–6 “And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.”

This is an extremely serious passage.

The writer is telling us that you can reject Christ as Judas did only for so long until that gospel, the Word of God, has no effect. It would then require Christ to be crucified again to get you to repent, and ladies and gentlemen, that is not going to happen.

Judas was right on the verge, but he did not change course. Yes, he was sorry for his sin, but being sorrowful does not lead to conversion.

5. Conclusion.

Faith and repentance go hand-in-hand. Without faith in Jesus Christ, repentance is impossible as Judas discovered.

Remember our two passages from the beginning of this message.

Acts 3:19 “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;”

Proverbs 28:13 “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: But whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.”

Repentance is obviously an essential element or proof of conversion.

If you can haphazardly sin without regard for what God says about sin, you need to listen carefully to these two passages.

2 Corinthians 13:5 “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?”

2 Peter 1:10 “Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:”

If you are saved, you became a new creature. If you did not become a new creation, if you did not experience the new birth, you need to get saved, and anyone can be saved.

Romans 10:13 “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

The simplest passage in the Bible that explains what you need to do to be saved is found in the Book of Romans.

Romans 10:9–10 “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

Are you saved? Do you know without a shadow of a doubt that if you were to die right now that you would go to Heaven? If you could not raise your hand, dear friend, you need to get saved.