SCRIPTURE: Acts 3:19 and 26
REPENTANCE COMMANDED: Acts 3:19 "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"
REPENTANCE DEFINED: Acts 3:26 "Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities."
PROPOSITION: to use this text and others to show what repentance is and also to show that it is a gracious gift given by God when a person comes to the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation.
1. What is Repentance?
Repentance is a change of mind that leads to a change of heart that leads to a change in actions.
This change of heart and mind involves both an inward turning from the darkness of sin and an inward turning to Christ who is the light of the world.
Acts 26:18 "To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me."
John 8:12 "Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."
Acts 20:21 "Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ."
Mark 1:15 "And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel."
2. How is repentance defined in the scripture?
Repentance in the scripture is defined as a turning from all sin.
Ezekiel 18:30 "..."Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin."
1 Thessalonians 1:9 "...ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God;"
Ezekiel 14:6 "...Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations."
Acts 3:26 "Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, IN TURNING AWAY EVERY ONE OF YOU FROM HIS INIQUITIES."
3. Is repentance works? or a free gift from God?
The scripture teaches that repentance is a gracious free gift of God, and not works as some have erroneously and foolishly concluded.
Acts 5:31 "...for to GIVE repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins."
2 Timothy 2:25 "...if God peradventure will GIVE them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;"
Acts 11:18 "...Then hath God also to the Gentiles GRANTED repentance unto life."
4. Does the book ofJonah teach that repentance is a works based salvation, as some would have us believe?
NO! An inward transformation can only lead to an outward manifestation, Jonah 3:5 "the people of Nineveh believed God" and God (gave) "give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;" 2 Timothy 2:25, and because repentance was given unto them, Jonah 3:10 "they turned from their evil way". if the repentance of the ninevites was a works based salvation as many would teach, why was God pleased with their repentance? God is never pleased with a works based salvation, but Christ was so pleased with their repentance he said they would rise in the judgement with that generation and condemn those who repented not, the only way this could be true is if the Ninevites were saved by grace.
Luke 11:32 "The men of Nineve shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here."
When God gives repentance the change of heart is so great that there are works that follow, these Works have nothing to do with our Salvation they are just an Evidence of it. Jonah 3:10 "And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not."
quoting Jonah 3:10 to prove that repentance is works Salvation is like quoting John 6:28 and 29 to prove that believing is a work.
John 6:28-29 "Then said they unto him, What shall WE DO, that we might WORK the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the WORK of God, that ye BELIEVE on him whom he hath sent." John 6:28-29 Doesn't teach works anymore than Jonah 3:10 teaches that the ninevites were saved by works salvation.
5. There are portions of scripture that tell us that God repented does this mean that God changes his mind as some would have us believe?
No, God never changes his mind he lives in the eternal present and is "the same yesterday and today and forever" but the great omniscient God will at times change his course of action and God has the Sovereign right to do this. The scripture makes it very clear that God will not repent in the same way as a man because God is not a sinner.
1 Samuel 15:29 "And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent."
6. In this modern age some Bible teachers are persuading others that the only sin they need to turn from at the moment of salvation is the sin of unbelief they tell sinners that they can keep all their sins but the sin of unbelief. Is this biblical?
First, the sin of unbelief is a transgression of the law just like all sins. 1 John 3:4 "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law." Second, when we sin in one point of the law we sin in all points. James 2:10 "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." If when we sin in one point we sin in all points how can we repent in one point and not repent in all points? The heart of unbelief has its foundation in covetousness. trying to place ourselves above God leads to believing in one's self instead of believing in God.
7. Is getting rid of repentance by calling it works salvation mans way of keeping his sins and still making it to heaven?
That may be what some sinners believe but what does Gods word teach?Matthew 7:21-23 "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity."
Notice in the above portion of scripture that all these false converts believed in Jesus and did what they believed to be wonderful works in the name of Jesus and yet none of them had repented, Jesus called them workers of iniquity and where there is no true repentance of sins there is no faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus said "I never knew you." A skeptic and a false convert have this in common that they have never repented of their sins and they have no saving faith, they are not trusting Christ alone for salvation.
8. Have modern day "soul winners" perverted the gospel with a 1-2-3 repeat after me? a method never used by Jesus or anyone in the scripture?
If a sinner repeats a prayer of salvation without a repentant heart we can know it is a prayer without faith? Can you imagine Jesus doing this with the Rich Young Ruler? Oh how willing he would have been to oblige, but we have false teachers today who do this on a regular basis and call it "soul winning" and some even brag of their many converts.
Matthew 15:8 "This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me."
John 2:23-25 "Now when he was in Jerusalem at the passover, in the feast day, many believed in his name, when they saw the miracles which he did. But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men, And needed not that any should testify of man: for he knew what was in man."
9. Does Jesus save us from our sins or in our sins?
The scriptures makes it abundantly clear that Jesus saves us from our sin he doesn't save us in our sin, but there are modern bible teachers that would have us believe that you can keep the sins you love if you just repeat a prayer after them this is not biblical.
Matthew 1:21 "And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people FROM their sins."
CONCLUSION: When a person is converted to Christ there is always "repentance toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ" this is why Jesus started his public ministry preaching repentance and faith.
Mark 1:15 "And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel."
