REPENTANCE REPENTANCE IS
PROBABLY THE MOST MISUNDERSTOOD WORD IN THE ENGLISH
LANGUAGE
What Saving Repentance Is Not:
- Saving repentance is not being sorry for your
sins.
- Saving repentance is not turning from your sins or
reforming your life
- Saving repentance is not the willingness to turn
your life over to God so that He can direct your
path.
Saving repentance has absolutely nothing to do with
regretting your sins or resolving to turn from them. God
is willing to save your just the way you are. The Bible
says:
While we were yet sinners, Christ died for
us. Romans
5:8 What
Saving Repentance Is:
Saving repentance is rejecting
religion, religious rituals, or obedience to God's law to
gain eternal life. The
word "repent" comes from a Greek word which means "to change
one's mind." Those who believe that eternal life can be
earned through good works are commanded in Scripture to change
their mind or "repent." They are told to stop trusting
in their works, and come to God on the basis of grace through
faith alone.
In Matthew 3:7-9 some religious men believed that they
were going to heaven because they were descendants of Abraham,
the father of the Jewish people. God Himself had chosen
the Jewish race and established their religion. These
men believed that because they were o f the right religion
they would go to heaven. John the Baptist told them that
they must repent. That is, they must stop trusting in
their religion to get them to heaven.
Luke 13:1-5 tells of some religious men who believed
that God's judgment fell only on the worst sinners. By
this reasoning, they believed that they would enter heaven on
their own righteousness since they had obeyed the Ten
Commandments better than most men. Jesus told them that
if they continued to trust in their own righteousness to save
them they would perish in hell. Jesus told them that
they must repent -- that is, they must stop hoping to earn
eternal life through their own righteousness, and trust in
Jesus alone for their salvation.
In Hebrews 9:9-14 the Bible calls sacraments or
religious rituals through which men try to reach God "dead
works." A few chapters earlier, the same author tells us
in Hebrews 6:1 that the "foundation" of the Christian faith is
"repentance from dead works and faith towards God." That
is to say, one must stop trusting in "dead works" (i.e.
religious rituals, sacraments, etc.) before he can exercise a
genuine saving faith in God.
The Biblical command is clear. If a man believes
that his religion will get him to heaven, he must
repent. (Matthew 3:7-9). If he believes that
obeying the law of God is necessary to get to heaven, he must
repent. (Luke 13:1-5) And if he believes that he
must perform some religious ritual or sacrament to be saved,
he must repent, and stop trusting in any of those things to
save him. (Hebrews 6:1) Like the one attempting to
buy grace, he must put his "money" back in his pocket and
accept eternal life as a free gift!
Faith in Jesus will not save you if, while believing
that Jesus died for your sins, you also believe that you must
be baptized, go to church, or obey the Ten Commandments to
"help" get you to heaven. You cannot simply add Christ
to a long list of other things that you must do or be to get
to heaven. You must utterly reject all of those other
things as having no saving value whatsoever and trust in
Christ alone.
SAVING REPENTANCE
IF FAITH IS THE HAND THAT ACCEPTS SALVATION THROUGH
JESUS CHRIST, REPENTANCE IS THE HAND THAT REJECTS SALVATION BY
ANY OTHER MEANS.
Saving faith does not simply affirm that Jesus' death
is "necessary," it must affirm that His death is enough!
That it is sufficient all by itself to pay for your sins apart
from any human effort or good work, and that it is a free gift
available only through faith and apart from any human effort
or good work. (see Galatians 2:21; 3:10-14;
5:1-5)
Recall the
questions you were asked in the beginning? What was
your answer to "Why God should let you into heaven? If
you said you must be baptized, live a good life, or anything
else other than simply trusting Christ, you must repent.
You must stop trusting in any religious things you have done
in the past or might do in the future, and trust in Christ
alone.
TO SUMMARIZE THEN:
Since sin separates man from God, and since Jesus paid
for our sins at the cross, man can have a relationship with
God only through Jesus Christ.
Jesus said unto him: "I am the way and the
truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except
through Me."
John
14:6
Have you ever believed that living up to some
standard of goodness or performing some religious
ordinance was necessary to go to
heaven? |
Do you understand what Jesus did at the cross
for you? Could you explain it in your own words
right now? |
Are you still trusting in those things to save
you? |
Has anyone ever explained it to you in this way
before? | The
Gospel, gospel, Jesus, Bible, gospel, heaven, eternal gospel
gospel gospel
Right now, in the best way
you know how, are you trusting in what Jesus has done on
the cross for you as being all you will ever need to
take away your sins and get you to
heaven? |
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