Repentance and the Sinners Prayer
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· 317 viewsSometimes, in our attempt to be theologians, we make simple things complicated. Repentance simply means to turn away from sin and turn to God.
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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;
Introdution:
This evening I want us to look at what is two topics but in reality they are one and work hand in hand with each other. I wish I had the time to really develop a background for this lesson and go into it more in depth but we would really need a week long teaching session or conference to do that. With that said I’m going to do my best to speak on the subject of “Repentance and the Sinners Prayer”
I will admit some of this material is not original with me but it is something we all need to hear and understand for sure!
So let me ask you.
What should you say to someone who acknowledges his sins, but says, “I just hope God is forgiving?”
This person could be referred to as “awakened, but not alarmed.” We must explain that God is forgiving—but only to those who repent of their sins. We should ask him, “If you died right now, where would you go?” If he says, “Hell,” ask if that concerns him. If it does concern him, ask, “What are you going to do?” Then tell him that God commands him to repent and trust the Savior. If it doesn’t concern him, speak of the value of his life, the threat of eternal damnation, and the biblical description of hell. Caution him that he doesn’t have the promise of tomorrow, and plead with him to come to his senses.
“There are many who speak only of the forgiveness of sin, but who say little or nothing about repentance. If there is nevertheless no forgiveness of sins without repentance, so also forgiveness of sins cannot be understood without repentance. Therefore, if forgiveness of sins is preached without repentance, it follows that the people imagine they have already received the forgiveness of sins, and thereby they become cocksure and fearless, which is then greater error and sin than all the error that preceded our time.” – Melanchthon
Sometimes, in our attempt to be theologians, we make simple things complicated. Repentance simply means to turn away from sin and turn to God.
So let’s take a look at what repentance really is and the necessity of repentance in connection with Salvation.
Before we go any further let me warn you we are going to look at a lot of scripture because this is a topic that can be very confusing when it doesn’t have to be.
Body:
Some people insist “repentance” is an old-fashioned word that the world cannot understand. “Sin” is another word that falls into that category. However, we must carefully check our motives for avoiding their use. Do we want to substitute different words to help the world understand, or do we simply want to shake off the reproach that comes with their use? If the world cannot comprehend spiritual words, then we should explain their meanings. Sin is the transgression of the Law, and repentance means to turn from sin.
Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
It is more than contrition or sorrow for sin; to repent means to confess sin and forsake it—to agree with God that it is wrong and to turn and go in the opposite direction. An old soldier once summed up repentance this way: “God said, ‘Attention! About turn! Quick march!’”
It is true that numerous Bible verses speak of the promise of salvation with no mention of repentance. These verses merely tell us to “believe” on Jesus Christ and we shall be saved
And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
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.
However, the Bible makes it clear that God is holy and man is sinful, and that sin makes a separation between the two
Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save;
Neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:
But your iniquities have separated between you and your God,
And your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.
Without repentance from sin, wicked men cannot have fellowship with a holy God. We are dead in our trespasses and sins.
And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
until we forsake our sins through repentance, we cannot be made alive in Christ. The Scriptures speak of “repentance unto life”.
Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only.
We must turn from sin to the Savior. This is why Paul preached “repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ”.
Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus said that He came to call “sinners to repentance.”
But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
The first public word Christ preached was “repent”.
From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
John the Baptist began his ministry the same way
And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Jesus told His hearers twice that without repentance, they would perish.
I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
If belief is all that is necessary for salvation, then the logical conclusion is that one need never repent. However, the Bible tells us that a false convert “believes” and yet is not saved; he remains a “worker of iniquity.”
They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.
In his book One Thing You Can’t Do in Heaven, Mark Cahill notes that, when witnessing to the lost, “if there is no desire to walk away from sin, the person is not really making a true heart commitment to the Savior. In Juan 6:44 Jesus says,
No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
If God is drawing someone to Him, He would also be drawing the person away from his sin.”
Look at the warning of Scripture:
If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
The Scriptures also say,
He that covereth his sins shall not prosper:
But whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.
Jesus said that there was joy in heaven over one sinner who “repents”
Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.
If there is no repentance, there is no joy because there is no salvation.
As Peter preached on the Day of Pentecost, he commanded his hearers to repent “for the remission of sins” in Acts 2:38. Without repentance, there is no remission of sins; we are still under God’s wrath. Peter also said, “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out” Acts 3:19. We cannot be converted, or have our sins blotted out, unless we repent. God Himself “commandeth all men every where to repent:” Acts 17:30. Peter said a similar thing at Pentecost: “Repent, and be baptized every one of you” Acts 2:38. Scripture says that the Lord is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9. Clearly, those who do not repent will perish.
If repentance wasn’t necessary for salvation, why then did Jesus command that repentance be preached to all nations in...
And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
When He sent out His disciples two by two, they “preached that men should repent”
And they went out, and preached that men should repent.
The necessity of repentance underscores the importance of going through the Law with a sinner. If a man doesn’t know what sin is, how can he repent? Any “repentance” would be merely “horizontal repentance.” He’s responding to the Savior because he’s lied to men, he’s stolen from men, etc. But when David sinned with Bathsheba, he didn’t say, “I’ve sinned against man.” He said to God, “Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, And done this evil in thy sight:” Psalms 51:4. When Joseph was tempted sexually, he said, “how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?” Genesis 39:9. The prodigal son said, “I have sinned against heave” Luke 15:18. That’s why Paul preached “Repentance toward God” Acts 20:21. When a man doesn’t understand that his sin is primarily vertical, he’ll merely exercise superficial, experimental, horizontal repentance, and will fall away when tribulation, temptation, and persecution come.
The King of France Philip III once said “What an account I shall have to give to God! How I should like to live otherwise than I have lived.”
I hope this has helped you understand what repentance really is. It’s not what saves us because that is by grace through faith alone in Christ alone that saves us but now you can see what we mean by the necessity of repentance in salvation.
I also want to encourage you all to make sure you are sharing the Gospel with the lost. A really good way for you to practice what you preach is when companies call you on the phone to sell you things. Think about it! You don’t have to look them in the eye. You can’t be injured by them. The worst thing they can do is hang up in your ear. If that happens, you can rejoice that they were convicted enough to do so. You not only had the privilege of planting the seed of the word of God in the heart of a stranger, but you proved yourself to be faithful to the Lord, you conquered the fear of man, and now you can rejoice that you were rejected for the sake of righteousness. If they hang up, spend a moment in prayer for them.
If they are open to hearing more, take them through the commandments, the cross, repentance, and faith. Ask if they have a Bible at home, encourage them to read it daily, and then thank them for listening to you.
We know we must use the law in presenting the gospel and the necessity of repentance toward God and faith in Jesus- but now what? Is it good to “close the sale”? Should you ask “Would you like me to lead in a sinner’s prayer right now?” Or should we just leave the person in the hands of a faithful creator?
Perhaps the answer comes from looking at the natural realm. As long as there are no complications when a child is born, all the doctor needs to do is guide the head. The same applies spiritually. When someone is “Born of God,” all we need to do is guide the head or make sure that person understands what they are doing. Philip the evangelist did this with the Ethiopian eunch when he asked, “Understandest thou what thou readest?” Acts 8:30.
In the Parable of the sower, the true convert (the “good soil” hearer) is the one who hears “and understands.”
What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet.
This understanding comes by the law in the hands of the Spirit, who will “reprove (or convict) the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:” John 16:8. If a sinner is ready for the Savior, It is because he has been drawn by the Holy Spirit.
No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
This is why we must be carful to allow the Holy Spirit to do his work and not rush in where angles fear to tread. Praying a sinner’s prayer with someone who isn’t genuinely repentant may leave you with a stillborn on your hands. Therefore, rather than lead them in a prayer of repentance, encourage him to pray himself.
When Nathan confronted David about his sin, he didn’t lead the king in a prayer of repentance. If a commited adultery, and his wife is willing to take him back, should you have to write an apology for him to read to her? No! Sorrow for his betrayal of her trust should spill from his lips. She doesn’t want eloquent words, but simply sorry of heart. The essence of his apology should be something like this: “Please forgive me. I have betrayed your trust. I am so sorry.”
The same applies to a prayer of repentance. If a person is genuinely repentant (that is he has sorrow of heart and his mouth is stopped from self-justification), he should pray himself; his words aren’t as important as the presence of “godly sorrow.”
The sinner should be told to repent- to confess and forsake his sins. He could so this as a whispered prayer, then you could pray for him. Tell him, “quietly confess your sins to God, asking him to forgive you, then put your trust in Jesus in the same way you would put on a parachute to save you. You wouldn’t just believe in it; you would put it on- entrusting your life to it. After you have done that, I will pray for you and give you some literature to help you.” If he’s not sure what to say perhaps David’s prayer of repentance in Psalms 51 could be used as a model, but his own words are more desirable.
If you study the ministry of Charles Spurgeon, you will find that he invited men and women to come to Christ, not to an alter. Listen to how he invited sinners to the Savior.
Before you leave this place, breathe an earnest prayer to God, saying, “God, be merciful to me a sinner. Lord, I need to be saved. Save me. I call upon Thy name… Lord, I am guilty, I deserve Thy wrath. Lord, I cannot save myself. Lord, I would have a new heart and a right spirit, but what can i do? Lord, I can do nothing, come and work in me to do Thy good pleasure.
Thou alone hast power,
I know To save a wretch like me;
To whom, or whither should i go
If I should run from thee?
But I now do from my very soul call upon Thy name. Trembling, yet believing, I cast myself wholly upon Thee, O Lord. I trust the blood and righteousness of Thy dear Son… Lord, save me tonight, for Jesus’ sake.”
Go home alone trusting in Jesus. “I should like to go into the enquiry-room.” I dare say you would, but we are not willing to pander to popular superstition. We fear that in those rooms men are warmed into a fictitious confidence. Very few of the supposed converts of the enquiry-rooms turn out well. Go to your God at once, even where you are. Cast yourself on Christ, at once, ere you stir an inch!
In Mexico we have a lot of spiders and i had on in my office window that built a web. So i got a broom and destroyed the web. well the next day when I showed up at my office guess what was in my window? Thats right a web from that dumb spider. So what I did was got a stick and a shoe and started tapping on the web with the stick making buzzing sounds. before long the spider showed itself and I used the shoe to kill the spider and got rid os the web then I had no more problems.
There is a stubborn web of sin that continually plagues mankind. It’s the web of violence, corruption, rape, greed, wars, theft, etc. We try to sweep it away through political means. Yet these crimes remain, and few seem to identify the root cause of the problem. That remains in hiding.
We must use the stick of God’s Law to gently tap on the human heart. Suddenly, the cause of sin appears. And that’s when sin can be put to death with the power of the Gospel. It’s God’s Law that reveals the human heart as desperately wicked, and it is the Gospel that delivers us prom the power of sin. In Christ we are born again and become new Creatures.
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
Conclusion:
Christian, please don’t get all caught up in the word repentance. It is something many people can argue about. I believe we have seen from scripture the importance of repentance but there is no need to debate other people about this. We now know what the scriptures say and there are people dying every day who need the gospel so let’s get out there and preach the gospel to the lost and make the proclamation that sinners must need to repent of their sins and trust Christ alone.
Christian, you have heard the Truth of the Word of God today. I know for some of you it’s a lot to chew on. This isn’t the most popular type of message we hear in churches today. But its the truth and its Scripture. So now what will you do with this truth? Will you ignore it or will you use it?
Let’s pray:
Father, Thank you for these truths from your word today. I understand this is not a popular topic in many churches today but every Christian needs to understand these truths. Help us to become better witnesses for you and my this motivate us to share the Gospel with the lost. In the name of Jesus I pray, amen.