What Is Repentance?

Repentance is not one of the favorite topics among most of today’s clergy. Perhaps it’s due to their fear of driving off their congregations with such ‘negativity.’ After all, didn’t everyone come to be cheered up? So, I’ve rarely heard repentance preached from the pulpit.

The Westen Church’s tendency toward all the sweet and little of the sour has created a spiritual vacuum in the world, in my humble observation.

What is repentance, and if we are saved by grace and not works, is repentance even necessary for salvation? I’m under grace and not the law, right? I came as I was, and I’m forgiven, both for the sins of my past and the sins I haven’t thought of yet, right? Even if I believe it with all my whole heart?

If I don’t repent, if I don’t change direction, if I don’t turn back from the path I’m on, even if it’s a pretty decent path, ultimately, the path will lead me to a bad place.

As with most confusion regarding Christianity, I blame the church for the confusion regarding repentance. I believe that there is also an intentional element brought about by false teachers.

I mentioned last week that the city in which I live, Tulsa, Oklahoma, has some pretty high per capita church presence. It is part of the ‘Bible Belt’ after all.

In my experience, where there are (what could be seen as) too many churches or, perhaps a better way of seeing it, too much church competition, there is going to be too much focus on messages that will attract all those capitas, fill those seats, and fill those collection plates.

Good old-fashioned laziness could also be a factor. So, let’s not bother with all the fire and brimstone of accountability. Let’s not preach from the book of Revelation beyond the letters to the seven churches anyway. People didn’t come to hear that.

People want to be inspired. They want to hear how God loves us and strengthens us, how He died for us, how Jesus freed the captives and granted us life everlasting. We can do all things through Christ, who strengthens us. Cue the lights and the smoke machine. We’re saved. Wave your hands. Where are we going for lunch afterwards?

WHAT IS REPENTANCE?

Somewhat recently, I received a comment from a reader. It said, “I noticed that your article didn’t say anything about repentance.” My first thought was that the article wasn’t about repentance. The more I thought about it, though, I realized that none of my articles really mentioned repentance. Not outright, anyway.

My presentation of the Gospel covered it, but only in passing. I told the reader that I agreed I needed to say something about it and would make my next article about it. So here goes.

The Lexham Bible Dictionary defines repentance as a change of attitude and action from sin toward obedience to God. That seems simple enough, yet a church denomination’s opinion of repentance and its importance can vary from one church to another.

I was a non-believing altar boy in a Catholic church when I was a little guy. I had heard the word penance quite a bit. After being saved as an adult, I think I still mentally filed repentance in the same drawer. Something like a penalty that one had to pay when they sinned. I’m not a Catholic anymore, so it doesn’t matter, I thought.

When I began my walk as a new believer, I was exposed to that easy-believism, “come as you are” Gospel—the one that ended in smoke and lights and a lot of arms waiving with no changed lives. In many circles, it seemed the most popular doctrine was that we were under grace and not the law. Now that Jesus had paid everything, there was nothing for me to do.

WHAT IS REPENTANCE NOT?

In my very first article, Welcome to New Christians, I spoke of a men’s group that I had joined in my first week of coming to the faith. It wasn’t a very well-written article, mind you, but it was from the heart.

Anyway, in that same group, which happened to be part of a church I still appreciate very much to this day, I was taught something that drove me to the Bible, just not in the way you might think.

We were broken into smaller groups for discussion. There were probably 15 tables with five or six guys at each table. I have zero memory of the topic, but the guy who led our table tried to make the point that we’re forgiven for our sins no matter what we do, even in the future.

I suppose I was okay with that, but, probably for emphasis, he gave an example. He said (true story) that after church, he could drive downtown, buy an eight ball of coke, rent a hooker, then kill her when he was done, and he’d still be forgiven. That gave me pause. I hadn’t read the Bible, but that couldn’t be right.

Was that really what I had become a believer in? I could still be a horrible person, but I could just go to heaven when this life was over because… what? Because I had asked?

God works in strange ways, doesn’t He? He knew to appeal to me through my atheism to get my attention. Then He knew to get me to read the Bible by having someone at the church try to teach me something that was so obviously not true. Obvious to me, anyway.

I read the Bible in five months flat. I’m not proud of that fact. Anyone who has read the Bible would tell you that it’s unlikely that I understood it from reading it in five months, and they would be right. But it got me started. It gave me a foundation from which I could build.

I BLAME THE CHURCH

Early on, I’d spent quite a bit of time in study and church shopping. For some reason, the messages coming from a lot of the pulpits amounted to the Sinner’s Prayer and a whole lot of sugary greeting card messages, but no changed lives. In fact, the only thing changing at these churches was God.

This was probably my first exposure to the idea that the churches were largely responsible for the faulty doctrines and faulty Gospel messages in circulation within the Christian community.

It was the church, it seemed, that was creating an environment of all of heaven without repentance. All the upside, with no effort on our part. All the cheeseburgers and milkshakes you want, with none of the calories. I kept hearing things like, we’re all sinners or I’m just a sinner saved by grace. People were relieved by it. They were celebrating it.

Okay, these statements contain truth, but they get used as convenient escape hatches from fault and accountability.

Additionally, I kept noticing that when I read a promise from God, they seemed somewhat conditional. Here are a few examples with some emphasis added.

• For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)
• And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)
• 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)
• Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4)
• but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:31)
• The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)

Suddenly, there it was. Apparently, God was wishing (desiring) for me to reach repentance. And He was being patient about it, too. So, what else did God Himself say about repentance?

I thought I knew. True confession time, I was never really aware of how ubiquitous the idea of repentance was in Scripture until I studied for this article.

God demanded it. Jesus heralded it. The prophets called for it. It was in the Psalms. John the Baptist called for it and baptized in it. We’re called to do it. God granted it to us. Peter, Paul, James, John, it’s more of a challenge to find an author who did not mention it.

So why, then, do I feel like so many feel it’s best not to make too big of a deal about it?

Ironically, much of the mixed messaging is proliferated by well-meaning Christians who are repeating the Christian faith systems that they were taught. They will usually champion important truths regarding God’s sovereignty or Christ’s supremacy and rob all validity from other important doctrines in the process.

As a result, if you’ll pardon the metaphor, certain aspects of Scripture can be sacrificed on the altar of others. Faith, obedience, and repentance are components of the Christian faith, but because there is no faith without salvation, and salvation only comes from Christ, every other salvation-adjacent doctrine winds up as doctrinal roadkill on the narrow path.

JESUS SAVES

Ephesians 2:8 says that we are saved by grace through faith. This verse is often used, rightly, to defend the notion that we cannot save ourselves by obeying the law. Doing so to the point of righteousness is not only impossible, but even if it were possible, it would not deal with the sins of our past. Only Jesus can do that.

We Christians also have a core theological belief that I have used myself that says something like Jesus plus anything is not a proper Gospel. I feel this, too, is correct soteriology (the doctrine of how individuals are saved). Nothing can save us but Jesus (John 14:6).

This point, however, gets expanded, wrongly, from soteriology into everything-ology. Suddenly, we get taken from we can’t save ourselves through works (which is right) to faith is a work, obedience is a work, and repentance is a work and must be cast from the highest mountaintop with all other works.

This theology, which rightly adheres to the supremacy of Jesus Christ, unfortunately, winds up leaving faith, obedience, works, and repentance on the ash heap of non-essentials.

It cannot be overstated that none of the above items saves us except Jesus. Humanity must respond to Jesus, however. It’s because of our need to respond that after Jesus’s resurrection, the New Testament still has 23 books left to read.

Simply because something doesn’t save us does not rob it of all importance. And let’s not forget that the Bible mentions a necessity for these very things.

• And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” (Luke 7:50)
• And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)
• For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. (1 John 5:3)
• Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. (Matthew 3:2)

We can’t just say sorry; those things don’t save you. There’s obviously something more there.

Let’s just think about it for a second. Jesus died for all of humanity. But only those of us who believe in God and Jesus will actually be saved (John 20:31). So, though our belief in Jesus does not save us, what Jesus did to save us won’t save us if we don’t believe in Him. (Acts 16:31).

Similarly, if we believe we are saved, then one day decide we no longer believe in God or Jesus, then we are not saved and perhaps never were (Eph 2:12-13; Col 1:21-23; 1 Jn 2:19).

With that concept under us, let’s see if we can expand upon it. James explains that works in our lives are evidence of our salvation (James 2:18), though certainly not the cause of it. Contrary to popular belief, Paul felt the same way (Acts 26:20).

When we are saved, we can’t just assume forgiveness. We must seek forgiveness. We must ask for it (Matt 6:12). Using the above logic, is it then the asking that saves us? Of course not. That fact does not render it wholly unnecessary, though.

Moreover, what sense would it make to seek forgiveness for something we have no intention of ceasing to do? It’s like saying I’m going to keep sleeping around with women who are not my wife, but I still want to go to heaven. God, would you be so kind as to forgive me of this so it doesn’t keep me from going to heaven?

So, ceasing to commit our sins doesn’t save us, but that fact does not render it wholly unnecessary. On the contrary, like belief, faith, works, and obedience, repentance is necessary (not to be confused with causational) and evidential in our salvation.

OPEN YOUR BIBLES

Firstly and most importantly, only Jesus can save us through His atoning work on the cross. The ‘can’ is the operative word here. Salvation is not universal and is not automatic. To appropriate that salvation, however, the sinner has responsibilities too.

There are, of course, the foundational beliefs: belief in God, Jesus, that Jesus is the Son of God, died for our sins, and rose again. Simply possessing these beliefs does not save you (James 2:19), but you can see that in the absence of any of them, salvation is not available.

Another crucial point I need to make is that every good thing is a gift from our Creator God (Matt 7:11; James 1:17). Like faith (1 Cor 12:9), eternal life (Rom 6:23), and God’s surpassing grace (2 Cor 9:14-15), repentance is also a gift from God (John 6:44). The gift of repentance was first given to Israel (Acts 5:31), then to the Gentiles (Acts 11:18).

Once God gives us this gift, He calls us to act on it. He gives us gifts to assist in this area as well. First, God is patient with us to come to repentance (2 Pet 3:9). His kindness leads us to repentance (Rom 2:4). He drives us to godly grief, which produces repentance (2 Cor 7:8-10).

All throughout Scripture, God is calling us to repentance.

First,  He called Israel.

• if my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14) note: the word “repentance” isn’t present, but that is the perfect picture of repentance.
• Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity. Take with you words and return to the LORD; say to him, “Take away all iniquity; accept what is good, and we will pay with bulls the vows of our lips.” (Hosea 14:1-2)
• 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. (Joel 2:13)
• “Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, declares the Lord GOD. Repent and turn from all your transgressions, lest iniquity be your ruin. Cast away from you all the transgressions that you have committed, and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord GOD; so turn, and live.” (Ezekiel 18:30-32)
• For thus said the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.” But you were unwilling. (Isaiah 30:15)
• Therefore say to them, Thus declares the LORD of hosts: Return to me, says the LORD of hosts, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts. (Zechariah 1:3)

Then, He sent Jesus, who was announced by John the Baptist.

• “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 3:2)

Next, it was Jesus who called us to repent, and He preached a message of repentance.

• “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:15)
• I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” (Luke 5:32)
• No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. (Luke 13:5)
• Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance. (Luke 15:7)
• So they went out and proclaimed that people should repent. (Mark 6:8)
• Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. (Matt 11:20)

Jesus commissioned His disciples to take His message of repentance to the nations.

• Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. (Luke 24:46-47)

So they did. Peter began by preaching repentance to the Jews who had condemned Jesus to die.

• Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus. (Acts 3:19-20)

And Paul taught a message of repentance.

• From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. (2 Corinthians 5:16-17)
• Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires. (Romans 13:13-14)
• In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. (Colossians 3:7-10)
• remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. (Ephesians 2:12-13)
• Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work. So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will. (2 Timothy 2:21-26)

Near the end of Paul’s Apostolic career, he continued to preach at his trial.

• “Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance. (Acts 26:19-20)

When John was the only Apostle left alive, Jesus appeared to him.

• Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. (Revelation 3:19)

Job complained to God. When God appeared, he repented (Job 42:6). Jonah reluctantly preached to the Ninevites that God would destroy them in 40 days. They repented, and God spared them (Jonah 3:4-5).

Zacchaeus told Jesus that he had given half of his wealth to the poor and that he repaid everyone he defrauded four times what he had stolen. Jesus brought salvation to Zacchaeus’ house (Luke 19:8-10).

Jesus told the parable of the Prodigal Son, where the younger son squandered his life until he was living in the pig pen of a Gentile. He returned to his father, and before he could apologize, his father received him back and threw him a feast (Luke 15:11-32).

And on and on it goes. It has always begun with repentance.

The sinner must turn from their life of sin and turn towards God. Ask God to forgive you of your sins, then stop committing the sins He forgives you of. Don’t continue to commit the sins that Jesus died to forgive.

Based on what the Bible says about repenting, God, and Jesus’s commands of it, along with all Their spokespeople in Scripture, I cannot understand how members of certain faith systems can tell you with a straight face that repentance is not necessary… in no uncertain terms.

All the wrath and punishment you’ve read or heard of in the Old Testament is the result of a failure to repent.

If anyone ever advises you that repentance is not necessary for salvation, run, don’t walk, to your Bible. You won’t have to read long before you see repentance there.

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Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.