Repent and Believe

Scripture Passage

This morning we are starting our series on Christ, our King and we will be going through the Gospel of Mark and looking at some of the key passages that detail what life in God’s kingdom should look like for believers. Today, we are joining together with hundreds of churches across this country and taking time in our worship services to observe what we are calling Repentance Sunday. Admittedly, it is a very solemn period in our nation with all of the political division, racial injustice, and on-going spread of the coronavirus and in reality there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight nor viable answers to our problems.

To me, this feels like a classic example of a nation that is under the judgement of God because no matter what we try to do from a human perspective, the outcome seems bleak. There is no clear cut solution to the ills of our society. Whether you vote for Trump or Biden, our political problems will still exist. Whether we defund the police or not, racial injustice will still be a major issue. There is no vaccine that will cure us from what truly plagues us as a people and as a nation. I don’t want to make you feel hopeless because there is hope, just not where we want to it come from. When a nation stands under the judgment of God, the right and proper response of God’s people is one of repentance. As we begin our first message from the gospel of of Mark, we’ll see that repentance is foundational to life in the kingdom of God.

Mark 1:9–15 ESV

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him. Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

Historically, we know that the book of Mark was the first of the gospels that were written. In a sense, it gets right to the point and it doesn’t mince any words. And in this introduction to the gospel, we are given two themes that will run its course throughout the narrative. The first is Jesus’ identity as the only begotten Son of God and the second is the kingdom that He came to establish. And those two thoughts are obviously interconnected because if Jesus is the very Son of God then all authority, dominion, and power belong to Him. In other words, He is the the rightful king over our lives, over the church, and even over the nations of the world. This is the biblical orientation that we were meant to have as believers in Christ and it’s from that starting point, where we can begin to build a right relationship with God. I want you to consider how Paul describes his understanding of who Jesus is in Colossians 1 where he writes:

Colossians 1:15–17 ESV

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

But the problem is, we don’t give Jesus this preeminence in our lives, nor in our churches, and certainly not in our national affairs and if that is the case, we haven’t even reached the starting point of the gospel. In fact, the word gospel is a translation of the Greek word eungelion which historically was used to describe the worship of the Roman emperor whose birth, accession to power, and right to rule over the empire were described as good news. The early church took that very same word that was used for the false worship of Caesar and began using it to proclaim the worship of the one true King. This is at the heart of the gospel and anything that keeps us from enthroning Christ as Lord of our lives can rightfully be considered sin. As we all know, there are so many things that compete for our allegiance to Christ and this is why the first commandment that is given to us in relation to the gospel is a call to repentance. Repentance is something that goes hand in hand with believing the gospel and it is really to our detriment that we don’t understand the value of repentance in our modern churches. For the rest of the message, we are going to answer several questions surrounding the topic of repentance.

What is repentance?

What is not repentance?

What are the steps to true repentance?

What are the benefits to repentance?

What is crystal clear out of the Scriptures is the fact that repentance is the foundational starting point of the gospel. This is where the message of Christ begins, “Repent and believe in the gospel?” which implies that you cannot truly believe in the gospel unless it is accompanied by the kindness of God that brings you to repentance. The Greek word for repentance is metanoia, which refers to a significant changing of one’s mind with respect to one’s behavior. Within the context of this word, there is this idea of deep regret over a particular course of behavior. And it’s not simply regret at an intellectual level but also one that leads to an emotional and visceral response. This may or may not be accompanied by tears and we know that tears are not a fool-proof indication of a repentant heart. (Anyone who has raised children, tears can be incredibly deceptive.) But the emotional characteristics of repentance are regret, remorse, and deep sorrow for a previous form of behavior.

The book of Joel gives us a clear picture of what repentance should look like. Very much like the situation that we find ourselves in currently, the people of Israel were facing an unprecedented national calamity.

Joel 1:1–4 ESV

The word of the Lord that came to Joel, the son of Pethuel: Hear this, you elders; give ear, all inhabitants of the land! Has such a thing happened in your days, or in the days of your fathers? Tell your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children to another generation. What the cutting locust left, the swarming locust has eaten. What the swarming locust left, the hopping locust has eaten, and what the hopping locust left, the destroying locust has eaten.

The prophet Joel could very well be preaching to leaders of the church today, “Have you seen anything like this in your lifetime or in your parent’s time? These are historic events that will be told to your children and for generations after. Ironically, what the Israelites faced during the time of Joel is similar to what we are faced with today. We too have a locust problem but strangely locusts seem to be the least of our concerns. Our missionaries in China are warning us about possible food shortages because swarms of locust from Africa have now merged with native locusts from Asia and it’s decimating the crops needed to feed a billion people. Children in schools are being taught how to conserve their food as part of their basic lessons. And yet, this is not the biggest news in our world because there are so many other problems just in our own country. Half of the West Coast was on fire at one point. Joel, also describes an eerily similar situation in his time.

Joel 1:19 ESV

To you, O Lord, I call. For fire has devoured the pastures of the wilderness, and flame has burned all the trees of the field.

All we need is a war and the prophecies of Joel will describe exactly what we are going through and war may not be that far off given the political volatility of our world. Now I’m not telling you these things to make you feel hopeless but rather to direct you to the real source of hope. In the face of all these calamaties, I believe the prophet Joel would proclaim the very same words that he shared with the nation of Israel.

Joel 2:12–13 ESV

“Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.

The call to repentance is a call to return to the Lord with all of our hearts because we know Him to be gracious, merciful, abounding in love, and that his anger lasts but for a moment. If we fail to do this or refuse to do it, then we will have missed out on perhaps the primary reason for why God is allowing such disaster to happen in our times. This is a point of decision for all of us and choosing to turn to the Lord with all of your being is the single most important act of repentance that any person can undergo. This is exactly where I believe God is leading the world. In the months and years to come, I sense that God will release will release a revival where multitudes of people will make decisions to follow Christ and countless more who will recommit their lives to Him. That is the silver lining that drove the ministry of men like Joel. They understood, that in His love, God was doing something deep in the hearts of men and women.

Joel 3:14 ESV

Multitudes, multitudes, in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.

The reason why Jesus links repentance with the gospel is the simple fact that conversion is the single most important type of repentance that changes the trajectory of your life where Jesus in the King of your life rather than yourself. No longer are you living for the things of the world but you are seeking God’s kingdom first. This is the way RC Sproul describes our conversion.

Before metanoia, before the repentance of conversion, one’s life is moving away from God. The longer we live in impenitence, and the longer we remain in an unconverted state, the farther we move away from God. Conversion doesn’t mean we instantly jump from sin to perfection, but that our lives are fundamentally turned around. From the moment of our conversion, our lives are moving in a different direction, back toward God.

Now what we see in the passage from Joel is that there is true repentance which is the rending of the heart versus a counterfeit repentance which is described as a tearing of our garments, superficial show of religion. And what I’ve come to realize is that the line between true and false repentance can be razor thin. So thin, that we don’t even know that our repentance is nothing but a show. I had a friend who confessed that as a teen, on the last night of youth retreats, he would see all the other kids crying and praying and feeling like he was not being touched by God, he would think about a really sad scenario in order to force some tears to come out.

Thomas Watson, the Puritan pastor, speaks of 3 forms of counterfeit repentance.

A troubled mind that comes from guilt. Like the song by Rihanna, we can be quite ugly when we cry because we try to act like we are sorry when we are not, baby when we know we’re only sorry cause we got caught, and you put on quite a show, really had me going. Guilt can trouble our minds but it’s the grace of God that brings repentance. Being caught or the fear of being caught and feeling bad about it, is not and has never been true sorrow in the eyes of God. That is also why the threat of hell cannot be a reason to repent. It is very plain that Jesus says repent not because hell is close by but repent because the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

A resolution against sin. You’ve made some vows and some changes to your life and you assume that those are signs of repentance. But its only repentance, if those changes take place for the right reasons.

If you change for the purpose of self-betterment and you want to be your best you, that’s not repentance. You simply desire to have a higher view of yourself. Ironically that is the furthest thing from repentance.

If you change because you’re concerned about what others will think about you, that’s not repentance. (You’ll notice what all these scenarios have in common, the resolution is all about you and not your offense before God. This is why David in Psalm 51 says, “Against you, only you, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.”

Leaving sinful ways behind

Old sins may be left but it’s replaced by a new sin. Leaving one sin but quickly treasuring another. Maybe you’ve stopped swearing but now you’re busy using your words to gossip.

A sin is left not because of God’s grace but you realize that it’s harmful to you and it’s in your best interest to stop. Someone who stops an excessive habit like smoking and drinking may think it is for God when it could be the furthest thing from it.

True leaving of sin is when the acts of sin cease because of the infusion of a principle of grace, just as it ceases to be dark when there is an infusion of light.

Having looked at some examples of false repentance, what are the steps to true repentance of the heart.

You have clear sight of your own sin and the drastic difference between you and a holy God. When Isaiah, the prophet, experienced the glory of God, he cried out in despair, “I am ruined for I am a man of unclean lips and I live among a people of unclean lips and I have seen the King, the Lord Almighty.” You might be thinking what is the big deal Isaiah, everyone lets a bad word slip here and there, a little slander, a little lie, no one can be perfect in the things they say. And this may be true but in the sight of a holy God, the words we say reveal the condition of the heart. As Jesus taught, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.

Godly sorrow for sin. I love what Thomas Watson says in regards to repentance without sorrow. Someone who can believe without doubting should suspect his faith. Someone who can repent without sorrow, should suspect his repentance. It should alarm us when we can so easily dismiss our sin without a tinge of sorrow in our hearts. Some believers make the false assumption that because Jesus died for them, they don’t have to feel sorrow in regards to their sin after all his blood covers all our sin. This line of reasoning is contrary to the nature of the Gospel.

2 Corinthians 7:10 ESV

For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.

Why do you think the apostle Paul stated that he is the greatest of sinners near the end of his life when he arguably understood the mystery of the gospel more clearly than any man who has ever lived? And the answer is simple, when you sin against someone who has given everything to love you, that sin is greater than the sin against a stranger. If God had done nothing for you except create you, your sins would not be as grievous but for the Christian when we sin, we do so against a God, who gave His one and only Son as a demonstration of his love. Zechariah says about Christ, “We will look on the one that we have pierced, we will mourn.” That is what we call gospel sorrow and it’s sorely lacking in our time.

3. Closely tied to sorrow over sin is a sense of shame in light of sin. We live in a world that is very bold-faced about sin and as a culture we reject anything or anyone who points out areas of sin that causes us feelings of shame. Admittedly that is very hard thing to receive from another person but it becomes dangerous when we will not even receive that correction from God, himself. In the book of Jeremiah, God charges his people with not knowing how to blush.

Jeremiah 8:12 ESV

Were they ashamed when they committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed; they did not know how to blush. Therefore they shall fall among the fallen; when I punish them, they shall be overthrown, says the Lord.

The Greek philosopher once told a young man who was blushing, “Courage my boy, that is the complexion of virtue.” Jeremiah defines blush as does Diogenes, it is associated with “the complexion of virtue.” When Jeremiah says the people have forgotten how to blush, he is saying they are no longer embarrassed or shamed by sin. The prophet was living in a society that had become desensitized to sin. They could flaunt their sin with no shame, embarrassment, or discomfort.

Shamelessness when it comes to sin is the forerunner to destruction, as a society who lives shameless in their actions can find themselves sinning past feeling.

4. Confession of specific sin. It is too easy to simply generalize the sin that we don’t want to deal with. It’s like a person who is overweight and keeps telling himself that he needs to lose weight. It’s never going to happen until you start to attack specific foods in your diet and begin cutting them out. In the same way, too many of us generalize our sin and never get down to the business of attacking particular sins that are keeping us from growing in our relationship with God.

5. Hatred for sin. Notice I didn’t say hatred for yourself and perhaps this is why we don’t hate sin as we should. We have identified ourselves with that sin but the gospel separates that sin from us as far as the east is from the west. The gospel allows us to objectively hate the things we do but still see ourselves as being beloved of God, full accepted, and redeemed.

Romans 7:15 ESV

For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.

The more you hate the sin in your life and the sin in society, the more desperate you will be to have power over that sin.

6. Turning away from sin.

Out of love for God.

So that you can turn closer towards Him

With a conviction not to return to that sin.

I’ve walked you through how to repent but I want to leave you on a more positive note. What are the benefits of repentance.

Restoration of your relationship with God. A closer walk with the Lord, an intimacy with God that you may have not known before.

Refreshing for your soul. Repentance cleanses our hearts and soul.

The Transformation of your character into the likeness of Christ.

“When our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, said “Repent”, He called for the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.”