3. Repentance From Dead Works

What is Repentance?

Let's begin by having a look at what the word “repentance” actually means.

Chambers English Dictionary defines the verb "to repent" as:

"to regret, sorrow for, or wish to have been otherwise, what one has done or left undone;

(with 'of') to change from past evil; to feel contrition."

However, this is only the first stage of true repentance as it is taught in the Bible.

Mark's Gospel opens with the prophet John the Baptist "... baptizing in the wilderness and preaching a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins" (Mark 1:4). After Jesus was baptised by John, He himself began to go about preaching, "The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the Gospel" (Mark 1:15).

The Greek words here translated as 'repent' and 'repentance' are respectively the verb 'metanoeo' and the noun 'metanoia' (numbers G3340 and G3341 in Strong's Concordance). The basic meaning here is to have a change of mind, or a change of heart, brought about by a recognition that up until now you have been in the wrong.

The Chambers dictionary definition cited above more closely relates to remorse rather than Biblical repentance. We could say that:

• “Remorse” is a feeling similar to regret;
• "Contrition" is a state of anxiety brought on by unresolved guilt;
• “Penance” is self-punishment, an attempt to pay off the debt of guilt;
• “Repentance” is a decision: a change of mind, or a change of heart, which leads to a change of behaviour.

Let’s try to illustrate repentance with a modern-day parable:

Some time ago, in the days before satnavs, I set out on a journey by car, and inadvertently took a wrong turn. I did not know the area, so I did not realise that I was heading in the wrong direction. Only after half an hour or so, when I had not yet seen any of the signposts that I had been expecting, did I begin to think that I might be on the wrong track.

Spotting a service station on the side of the road, I pulled in and bought a map of the area. When I studied the map, I realised what had happened, and that I was travelling away from my intended destination. Annoyed with myself, I got into my car, turned it around, and headed back the way I had come.

This is a very simple every-day occurrence, but it illustrates clearly what repentance means.

We think that everything is going fine, then we begin to feel that something is not right. We ask some questions, do some investigation, ask for help, maybe even pray or read the Bible. We eventually see where we have gone wrong, and we take steps to put it right.

Maybe we need to say “sorry” to someone. Maybe we need to give back something that we have “borrowed”. Maybe we need to correct a misunderstanding because of something that we have said. Maybe we just need to pull ourselves together and start living like a sensible human being.

Whatever it is that we need to do to make things right, that “whatever” begins with what is called “repentance”.

Why is Repentance Necessary?

The Christian life is characterised by change. It is impossible to become a Christian, or remain a Christian, without changing. Becoming a Christian is not about getting a ticket to Heaven when you die; it's about becoming a different person here and now, and learning to fit in with the plans and purposes of God.

• It's about ceasing to live for me and mine and beginning to live for Him and His.
• It's about moving out of self-centredness and into Christ-centredness.
• It's about a whole new way of looking at the world, at human life in general, and at your own life in particular.

For many people, being a Christian is about being an honest, upstanding, law-abiding citizen, attending church regularly, doing good works, and being a respected member of society.

These are all very important, and the Christian life would be something of a sham without them; but it has to be said that there is something deeper, something closer to the heart, that we need to address if we are to understand fully what it means to be a Christian.

There are many people who do all of these things, and yet are not qualified to be called a Christian in the way that the word is used in the Bible. On the other hand, there are those who have only recently started out on the path of Christ, who are Christians according to the Biblical definition, yet who do not yet measure up to the lifestyle described above.

The word “Christian” is used only 3 times in the Bible. Here are the references:

• Acts 11:26
• Acts 26:28
• 1 Peter 4:16

Of these 3 passages, the one which gives us a definition of the word “Christian” is Acts 11:26, which says, “The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.”

A Christian is a disciple of Jesus Christ, and a disciple is someone who is learning – someone who does not have all the answers, and knows that they do not have all the answers, but is in the process of learning what to believe and how to live. In other words, someone who is being taught by God!

If we are to understand repentance, which is the solution to our problem, then we must first have an understanding of the problem itself so, at this point, if you have not already read the article entitled ‘the Human Condition’, please do so now before you proceed.

Who Needs to Repent?

Think for a moment about something that you do that you’ve been doing for a long time – it might be in church, or at work, or in your family. Now imagine that someone comes in and tells you that it should be done a different way from the way that you’ve always done it and have become used to. What is your initial reaction?

Now think about another situation where you have a very strongly held opinion on a certain matter, but someone comes along and tells you that you’ve got it wrong, that you’re mistaken, and that you need to think or believe differently from now on. How does that make you feel?

As we all know from personal experience, there are two things that human beings tend to resist fairly vigorously; one is change, and the other is admission of guilt or failure. We always like to put a brave face on things and endeavour to justify our beliefs, opinions, and actions. Nobody likes to own up to being wicked, foolish, or selfish. We like to think of ourselves as being honest, decent, fair-minded, and tolerant. We also like to believe that we're always right, and we take exception to anyone suggesting otherwise.

There are many ways of enlightenment on offer in the world today, with varying degrees of popularity. They tend to have in common the belief that man is able, of his own resources, to attain to enlightenment (however that may be defined in the system of your choice).

The Gospel of Jesus Christ, however, begins with the following assertion:

In other words, whoever you are, whatever you may have done, whatever you may have achieved, however many accolades you may have received from other people, as far as God is concerned you're just not good enough - you don't make it in God's estimation. As Paul also says elsewhere:

That doesn't sound very encouraging. I can hear you saying, "I thought the gospel was supposed to be good news. This sounds like pretty bad news. It seems that God's got it in for me".

Well, in a sense that's perfectly true. If you have set your heart on going your own way and doing your own thing without any reference to God; or, even worse, if you're pretending to be godly and holy and righteous, but all the time you're following your own agenda; then, yes, God is going to deal with you quite severely.

The truth is that the Kingdom of God is not open to self-righteous people, no matter how good-living they may appear to be, or may think themselves to be. God's judgement is that "all have sinned". That doesn't leave many out.

Does it leave you out?

No? Well, welcome to the human race.

The good news is that it doesn't stop there. In Romans chapter 3 Paul continues:

We’ll be looking at faith in detail in the next article. All that needs to be said about it at this point is that without faith you're going nowhere, because if you are going to make good out of what Jesus has done for you, you need to believe two things:

1. That you need His help, because you can't do anything for yourself. You're a sinner; you've incurred the wrath of God; God is going to deal with you; there's not a thing that you can do to appease Him. Anything you try to do will only make matters worse, because the root motivation of everything that you do is selfish, and that is obnoxious to God.

2. That He has done everything that needs to be done to make a way for you to be accepted by God, forgiven, cleansed, healed, delivered, set free, and empowered. What Jesus accomplished through His death on the cross and His subsequent resurrection is all that is necessary to enable you to come into the presence of God and find grace and mercy there.

So, if Jesus has already done it all, is there anything that you need to do?

Indeed there is. You need to repent.

Jesus has made it possible for you to be accepted by God, but you must make yourself available to Him. You must come to Him on His terms, not your own or anyone else's. God presents us with a level playing field. No-one has any advantages, and no-one is in any way disadvantaged.

In the book of Job, one of the speakers, named Elihu, puts it this way:

As someone has said, the gateway into the Kingdom of God is very broad and very low. In other words, there's plenty of room for everyone, but only the humble will get in.

The essence of repentance, then, is recognising that your condition is desperate and that radical change is called for. You need to change the way you think about yourself, the way you think about God, and the way you think about other people. The centre of your universe needs to change, so that instead of it being you it becomes Jesus.

A genuine repentance results in a Christ-centred life, where nothing is said or done without reference to Christ, to His word, to His will. If you remain self-centred and self-willed, you have not yet fully repented. You may well have repented of certain specific sins, such as gambling and getting drunk, but the tenor of your daily life is still focused upon your own needs and desires. Jesus is still not seated on the throne of your heart. You have still not entered into the Kingdom of God.

How Do You Repent?

Practically, then, how do we go about repenting?

It's as easy as ABC ...

A. Admit that you are in sin. When the people came to John the Baptist they came confessing their sins.

The apostle John reassures us that, "if we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). Note that it is not enough simply to admit to being a sinner; it is necessary to confess the sins and to be thorough and specific about it.

Of course, it is impossible for an adult to confess every sin that they ever committed since childhood, for it would take another life-time to go through them all, even if you were able to remember them. The Holy Spirit will convict you of the sins that He wants you to be specific about. Don't be afraid of this process. It may take some time - days, or weeks, or even months.

Your heavenly Father wants to cleanse you from all unrighteousness, and to be successful in that He needs you to be brutally honest with Him and with yourself.

B. Believe that Jesus has paid the penalty for your sins and that God forgives you for every sin that you freely confess.

You don't need to feel forgiven, you just have to take Him at His word and receive His forgiveness and cleansing. Always remember that with God, forgiven is forgotten. As far as He is concerned, it never happened; it's 'under the blood'; you have been cleansed from all unrighteousness. Don't rob yourself, and don't let the devil rob you, of your forgiveness.

Feelings are fickle and very unreliable. Only believe, and leave the rest to God.

C. Change. John Wimber said, "Repentance means you don't get to do it again!"

You may struggle with certain issues in your life, and it may take a few battles before you finally secure the victory, but don't give up. Keep fighting. You'll get victory in some areas of your life straight away; for others it'll be a long-term project. Whichever it is, never settle for anything less than the best.

Don't ever believe the lie that you can't change. God wants you righteous and holy. If Almighty God is working for you, how can you fail? His grace is always available for everyone who wants to live for Him and walk in His ways.

You're not on your own. "It is God who works in you, to will and to do according to His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:13).

When is Repentance Necessary?

Is repentance a one-off event? Do I repent of my sins one day, become a Christian, and live happily ever after, never having to think about repentance again?

Unfortunately it’s not as straightforward as that, although it would be nice if it were. There are two reasons for this:

Firstly: Although you have acknowledged before God that you are a sinner and that you have done many wrong things in your life, you will find that from time to time God wants to deal in depth with specific areas in your life – perhaps a quick temper, or an unhealthy attitude towards certain people, or lack of discipline with money. This may well involve bringing to your remembrance things that you said or did in time past, and requiring you to repent specifically of those particular actions.

This is part of the process known as “sanctification”, in which God, who has made you holy in principle, goes about the job of making you holy in practice. Depending on factors such as how many years of sin were behind you when you first came to Christ, how deeply you were affected by what you had done during those years, and your attitude towards God’s dealings with your soul, this process of sanctification might take weeks, or months, or even years.

In fact, for most of us it is the work of a life-time. If impatience is one of your weaknesses, then beware!

Secondly: Having made Jesus Christ Lord of your life, you now live for him alone and never do anything wrong. Well, that’s the way it should be; but in the real world we find that even the most Godly of saints still steps on the occasional banana skin.

A common saying in Christian circles is that we should keep short accounts with God. What do we mean by this?

If we do fall foul of the moral banana skin and give way to the temptation to do, say, or even think something that we know is not right, then the time to deal with it is NOW.

Remember, God not only knows that you did it, but before you did it he knew that you were going to do it. It did not take him by surprise. He is not shocked that such an outstanding specimen of righteousness as yourself has gone and said a bad word, or kicked the cat, or slipped a gill of whisky into your tea.

Sweeping the dust under the carpet doesn’t make for a clean floor, it just heaps all the dust into one place, and sooner or later the hump will become visible! The person who suffers most if you do not repent immediately is – guess who – yourself. Others may have suffered as a result of your behaviour, but as long as you “cherish sin in your heart” (Psalm 66:18 NIV) you are placing a barrier between yourself and God.

King David knew a lot about sin, repentance, and God’s gracious forgiveness, and we would be wise to learn from him. Why not take some time now to meditate on what he said in Psalm 32.

In Hebrews chapter 6 we saw that the two foundational doctrines of Christianity are Repentance From Dead Works and Faith Toward God. So let's go on now to look at this key twin sibling of grace: FAITH.