Repentance

Colin Melbourne

© 01-08 Born-Again-Christian.info

Repent, repentance; what do these crucial words mean?

Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God; 'The time has come,' he said, 'The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!' Holy Bible Mk 1:15 (NIV)

Christ commissioned Paul, and all believers, to;

Declare to both Jews and Greeks (Gentiles) that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus. Holy Bible. Acts 20:21

Nominal 'Christians' (Christian in name, but not in fact) are encouraged by their false-teachers, to gloss over repentance, they basically ignore it, and so delude themselves that they are believers.

On the other hand, many genuine Spirit-filled Christians imagine that repenting means; getting on your knees, or face, weeping and crying out to God for mercy and, as my mate puts it, "Eating carpet".

Listen to me: you can do all of that without a shred of repentance.

Repentance is simply a change of mind, so that what you think lines up with what God thinks.

By consulting God's Word, the Holy Bible, we are left in no doubt what God thinks on every important matter.

You'll agree that there's a lot you cannot change about yourself. But you can always change your mind. God has made repentance that easy. When a person genuinely changes their mind; their will and actions will soon correspond with it, and they will comply with what God wants them to do. That's repentance.

It is that simple

You can pray and bawl to God all day long, yet still not have your mind changed. For some Christians, this becomes a 'holy routine' they feel they must go through regularly.

That is not repentance.

If a change in will and action does not follow: then you have not repented.

Paul knew this... I preached that they should repent and turn to God, and prove their repentance by their deeds. Holy Bible. Acts 26:21

Notice that the deeds were not their repentance, but simply proved that the repentance (change of mind) was genuine.

It is important to establish the following Gospel fact.

The only 'act' of repentance that saves, is repentance from unbelief in the Lord Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.

I emphasise this because people sometimes get the idea;

I'll become a Christian. I'll quit doing drugs, drink, and fooling around, and be real good from now on. I'll read my Bible, go to church, get baptised, pray every day, be nice to folks, and help handicapped kids, or some other charity work.

Go ahead, do all of that, but you will still die in your sins and go to Hell, unless those actions spring from genuine heart-repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Religiously indoctrinated people find this very hard to accept, but it is the heart of the Gospel, the only way to be at peace with God, and yourself. In their hearts they believe that God accepts them because of their religious observance, their creeds or rites, and good works. They need to repent of such religious delusion and believe in the only salvation available to sinners. The Good News that whoever truly believes in the LORD Jesus Christ and His finished work, is redeemed.

Conclusion

Repentance is a change of mind so that what we think is the same as what God thinks. Whenever someone genuinely does so; their will and actions will naturally correspond with it, and they will comply with what God wants them to do.

Increase Your Word Power Even More

How to Repent and Believe in Christ:
It's easier than you think