Be Not Unrepentant: Part 1 – Repentance, The Amazing Grace Of the Father
“In repentance we clear our path to God; in granting us this repentance, God clears His path to us” (Richard Owen Roberts, Repentance – The First Word of the Gospel, pg. 25).
In Jesus, the Kingdom of God is breaking into the kingdom of the world – light is beginning to displace darkness; goodness is overcoming evil, and the prince of this world, satan, has been dethroned. That is the good news – the gospel. Jesus says, “The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe the gospel (Mark 1: 15). The first word of the gospel is ‘Kingdom”. The first command of the gospel is ‘repent’.
Repentance is a big deal to Jesus. In Scripture, Jesus makes it clear that apart from repentance, there is no Kingdom life; where there is no Kingdom life, there is no Kingdom power. But that is not the whole story. Even if someone has entered the Kingdom of God and is saved, it is possible that they have not appropriated and received their Kingdom gifts – including power and authority. Or, they hit a wall in their walk with Jesus; they are not living in His presence. Why, what is happening? Most commonly, there is a veil around their hearts, woven from threads of a life-time of unrepented negative emotions and sins, preventing them from coming into the presence of God and appropriating and receiving from Him all that He has for them
By repenting and being repentant, God enters into our hearts and removes the veil, one thread at a time. Emotional healing opens the door for spiritual deliverance; healing and deliverance are commonly the prerequisites for physical healing. To be effective Kingdom disciples – ones who are pushing back the darkness and taking back the territory from satan, walking in signs, wonders, and miracles – which is how the early church grew – we need His power. To appropriate and receive all of His power, the veil must be removed. Only God can remove the veil, but we have a role to play. That process involving the partnership between God and me is repentance. As the veil is removed, we are healed emotionally; therefore, emotional healing and repentance are one and the same.Throughout scripture we are called to repent. Repentance (in the New Testament: the noun – metanoia; the verb – metanoeo) is a turning – a turning away from one thing and a turning toward another. More specifically, repentance is turning away from evil and turning toward God. It involves our conscious decision and God’s mercy and power.
Repentance is a turning away from the mind of the flesh to the mind of the Spirit. “Because the carnal mind, or the mind of the flesh, is hostile against God and can never be otherwise, a new mind is mandatory. Repentance, then, is not merely changing the mind upon certain subjects, but an exchange of the mind of the flesh for the mind of the Spirit” (‘Repentance: The First Word of the Gospel’, Richard Owen Roberts, pg. 275). True repentance is the work of God in a person. It results in a changed mind and heart – healing. It is a transaction between me and Jesus.
When we repent, we turn away from evil or sin. The ‘turning away’ is called renouncing. For example, “Repent! Turn away from your idols and renounce all your detestable practices” (Ezekiel 14: 6). That is a decision we must make, and until we do, we cannot repent. We renounce when we make a firm and final decision to reject and abandon a belief or a way of living; it is a serious, active decision. For example, “I renounce the anger I have for my father”, or “I renounce my use of drugs”. So, renouncing is a step in the repentance process; usually we need the Holy Spirit to help us renounce.
When we repent, we turn toward God. The turning toward God is called faith or belief, and always involves trust. And faith is a gift from God.
To renounce and to have faith are the two parts of the dynamic process the Bible calls repentance – two sides of the same coin – involving the partnership between me and the Holy Spirit. When a person truly renounces sin, they must have faith in Jesus; to have faith in Jesus, a person must have renounced sin. Which comes first? They come together. Repentance is essential to our walk with Jesus.
The Bible often calls us to repent without using the words ‘repent’ or ‘repentance’. For example, Paul calls us to repent when he writes, “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord”, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10: 9). For everyone in an unregenerate state, their ‘lords’ are self and satan – as they live in the kingdom of the world. Confessing that “Jesus is Lord”, requires us to turn from the kingdom of darkness and turn to Jesus and the Kingdom of Light – in other words, ‘repent’.
Our salvation depends upon our repenting. Jesus said, “Unless you repent, you too will perish” (Luke 13: 3). In Athens Paul preached, speaking of idol worship, “In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now He commands all men to repent” (Acts 17: 30). In Romans, Paul admonishes us, “Because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath” (Romans 2: 5). And Peter reminds us, “He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3: 9). Jesus says, “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5: 32). And emphasizing the role of God in repentance and salvation Paul writes, “Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regrets, but worldly sorrow brings death” (2 Corinthians 7: 10). The Greek word for salvation – ‘soteria’ – in this passage means health, deliverance from the molestation of enemies, as well as saved from the penalty, power, presence, and pleasure of sin.
Sins are not forgiven apart from repentance. John the Baptist “went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Luke 3: 3 NIV); and the same verse in the KJV, “And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins”. Peter told the Sanhedrin, speaking about Jesus, “God exalted Him to His own right hand as Prince and Savior that He might give repentance and the forgiveness of sins to Israel” (Acts 5: 31).
In the New Testament, the words ‘forgiveness’ and ‘remission’ are translations of the same Greek word, ‘aphesis’. The definition of ‘aphesis’ in Strong’s Concordance is “freedom, deliverance, forgiveness, liberty, and remission”. In Thayer’s Concordance the definition of ‘aphesis’ is, “release from bondage or imprisonment, forgiveness or pardon of sins – letting them go as if they had never been committed, and the remission of penalty”. So, forgiveness and remission mean more than God ceases to feel resentment toward us. It also means that God sets us free from the effects of our sins; He sets us free from the spiritual and emotional bondage or imprisonment caused by our sins; and He also sets us free from the penalty of our sins. ‘Aphesis’ is more than what the world means by forgiveness – it is liberty and freedom from the dominion of darkness. ‘Aphesis’ does not just describe how God feels toward us; it also describes what God does for us and in us when we repent and are forgiven. Repentance leads to liberty and freedom, just as Jesus said, “The Spirit of the Lord is on Me . . . He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners” (Luke 4: 18) and “The Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2 Corinthians 3: 17 NKJV).
While repentance is necessary for the forgiveness of sins and salvation, repentance is also necessary for our journey of sanctification; we do not just repent unto salvation, we are repentant. Everyday, we must set things right with Jesus. In a picture of repentance, James writes to believers:
“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and He will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded . . . humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up” (James 4: 7 – 10).
“Submit”, “resist”, “come near’, “wash”, “purify”, and “humble yourselves” – these are our responsibilities. This is not only a picture of repentance, but also a picture of God bringing us into His presence through repentance – and coming into God’s presence daily is worship; it is also part of our journey of sanctification and, in a larger sense, revival.
So, repentance is necessary for salvation, but is not just a salvation issue. It is also important if we want to grow daily in holiness and in intimacy with God, live more fully in His presence, and receive our full inheritance from Father God, including the indwelling Holy Spirit. Peter writes, “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that He may send the Christ, who has been appointed to you – even Jesus” (Acts 3: 19, 20). How often do I need times of refreshing? Every day! Want to be filled with the Holy Spirit? Peter tells us: “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2: 38).
Finally, repentance is important for revival. For example, revival in America will depend upon repentance (see 2 Chronicles 7: 14).
I close with these words from a book on Christian Doctrine:
“Therefore, the proper response to sin is deep, full, true, broken, earnest, devoted, tearful, prayerful, thorough, and continual humble repentance. Repentance is a glorious gift given to the children of God because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, our great and grand dragon slayer . . . We leave you with the gift of repentance and encourage you to use it often, share it liberally, and rejoice in it continually for God’s glory, your joy, and others’ good” (Driscoll and Breshears, ‘Doctrine – What Christians Should Believe’, pg. 173).
Repentance is the essence of Kingdom life. But, Jesus did not tell us how to repent. What does repentance involve? How do I repent? Is it enough to say, “Jesus, I repent?”. And what about the veil? How does Jesus remove the veil through repentance? These are the topics of the next 2 posts titled, “Be Not Unrepentant: Part 2 – How do I Repent?”, and “Be Not Unrepentant: Part 3 — The Veil Around Our Heart”.
Grateful to be His,
John