I’ve taken a couple of ocean liner cruises with my family over the years.  Early in the adventure everyone is required to partake in a muster drill.  You know what that is.  All on board need to know what to do should the ship encounter trouble and begin to sink.  We needed to know how to put on our lifejackets and where the lifeboats would be in the case of an evacuation.  

Boring!

You can imagine why I call it boring.  That’s because we don’t really think the ship is going down. Same with the pre-flight airline briefing.  We just don’t see the need to give attention to these informative sessions.  But what if we knew ahead of time that the ship was going sink, that the plane was going to run out of gas in mid-flight.  Certainly, we would then pay much more attention.  We would desire to know ahead of time what we could do to keep ourselves safe, what to do in order to be saved!

So it is for life in general.  Souls move about on our little planet, for the most part, with little attention and incentive to live with God’s standards and precepts in mind.  Much like the muster drill, we don’t see the need to make any changes to the way we live.  Unfortunately for us, this is where the analogy breaks down. That’s because, in the case of the ship or the plane, they are not likely to sink or crash, but in the World’s case and for the souls of this orb, we are all going down, we all are in the process of dying.  We are all going to meet our Maker.

So, repentance was our Lord’s first message.  Before he taught about the Kingdom of Heaven, before we could learn from him how to be born again, about forgiveness, hypocrisy, Heaven, Hell, money and faith we had to understand about repentance.  We needed to learn that we are not really all that good, we’re not that all together.  In fact, for a person to perceive that he needs a Savior, he must comprehend that he is a sinner.  That he frequently, if not continually, misses the mark.  Hence, we learn from Paul, that the Law, i.e., the Old Testament, is our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, (Galatians 3:24).  To show us our need for Christ and his saving sacrifice.

Thus, our Lord’s initial message after his baptism in the Jordan River and the forty days spent in the wilderness preparing for his ministry was to speak of repentance.

From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Matthew 4:17

Interestingly, this was also is last message.  His final instructions to his disciples before ascending up to Heaven sounded this way: 

Thus, it is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day:  And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.  And you are witnesses of these things. Luke 24:46-48

Not coincidentally, this was John the Baptist’s entire message in preparing the way for the Messiah.  “Repent & be baptized for the Lamb of God is amongst us!”

In our day today, the word repentance is somewhat misunderstood by most.  The common perception of repentance is to be apologetic, to have sorrow or remorse for a bad attitude or action that one may have or do.  And while having godly remorse over sins committed is good, this is not the Bible’s primary definition of repentance.  This is not what Jesus & John were teaching when they both came on the scene preaching repentance for the Kingdom of Heaven, the Kingdom of God was at hand.  No, the primary meaning of repentance is to literally to do an about-face, to change directions, to go from thinking one way about something to thinking the polar opposite.  The secondary, more commonly held but less important, definition of repentance is to have remorse over sinful acts and to confess them.

In light of the gospel message, in light of the “good news,” to repent means changing the way I think about salvation.  To change from a “works” based theology of salvation to a “sacrificial” based one. Specifically, to go from believing that I can save myself by having more good works than bad verses realizing that I am hopelessly doomed and need the blood of the Lamb of God to secure my salvation. 

Despite the Jews having a sacrificial system in place for covering their sins, two parables of Jesus found in Luke’s Gospel display where their hearts were.  What follows illustrates that many pseudo-righteous people were being tricked by Satan, the culture and their flesh into thinking they were pretty good and not in danger of losing their salvation based on their lifestyle.  As you may consider, this worldview is still very prevalent in our day.  Let’s visit a couple of Jesus’ timeless responses to this type of thinking.

And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: (Self-righteousness always leads to a legalistic critical spirit!).  Two men went up to the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.  The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.  I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I possess.  And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other:  For every one that exalts himself shall be abased; and he that humbles himself shall be exalted. Luke 18:9-14 (italics added)

The Pharisee was a “good” person.  Not being an extortioner or an adulterer is moral.  Fasting and tithing is virtuous.  But unfortunately for him though, he missed the point of life.  This “works” based worldview can’t save. Works are the response to God’s grace, not the end in themselves.  Contrastingly, the Publican realized he had been missing the mark and begged for God‘s mercy.  You see, a prayer of repentance is always about mercy and not about merit!  Really, when I confess my sin, I don’t even want to promise that I won’t do the same thing again.  This confidence in my flesh will only lead to embarrassment later when I inevitably fail!

When discussing God’s mercy towards us, many of us who follow Christ realize we are forgiven, but forget that others are.  We lack mercy towards other sinners, and can be harsh towards them, forgetting that both we & they have been granted grace from our Lord.  Since we have been given grace, we want to pass it forward.  As Jesus taught, mercy should triumph over judgement.  When I am judging over living graciously, I need to have a ‘love” check as often the problem is a legalistic, loveless rut that I have fallen into! 

Continuing, in Luke 7, Simon the Pharisee invited Jesus and his disciples over for dinner.  Given the Teacher’s notoriety, many others, some invited and others not, attended.  One such party crasher was a woman of ill repute.

And one of the Pharisees desired that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to meat.  And, behold, a woman in the city, brought an alabaster box of ointment, and stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to kiss his feet, wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with ointment.  Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, this man, if he were a prophet, he would have known who and what manner of woman this is that touches him; for she is a sinner.  And Jesus answering (demonstrating that he was indeed a prophet, as he read his mind!) said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee.  And he saith, Mater, say on.  There was a certain creditor which had two debtors; the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty.  And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both.  Tell me therefore, which of them will love him the most?  Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most.  And he said to him, thou have rightly judged.  And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, see thou this woman?  I entered into thine house, thou gave me no water for my feet, but she has washed my feet with her tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head.  Thou gave me no kiss, but this woman since the time I came in has not ceased to kiss my feet.  My head with oil thou did not anoint, but this woman has anointed my feet with ointment.  Wherefore I say to thee, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much.  But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little. Luke 7:36-47 (italics added)

This parable teaches that sin is a debt we owe to God.  Differing amounts clearly, but unpayable by all.  Again, Jesus is parabolically showing to the pseudo-righteous person the fallacy of thinking they can make the payment. 

This brings me to the second great benefit of true repentance (the first being losing the self-righteous critical spirit). That is, the forgiven one loves much.  When we see that an about-face is needed, not just a little clean up, we love much and start to live beautifully, basking in the light of God’s forgiveness, like the women in this parable.  That is what I want, you too I suspect.  Remember, repentance leads to reconciliation.  And oh, how good that feels!

A third benefit to repentance is that it leads to revival.  Revival for individuals, revival in congregations and even revival of nations.  The great Welsh revival of 1904 was centered upon four points starting with national repentance.  Evangelist Evan Roberts said that the keys were confession of sin & restitution, the forsaking of sin, responding to the spirit promptly and profession of Jesus publicly.

A beautiful picture of repentance being followed by revival is seen in the names of the gates of Jerusalem.  Specifically, the Dung Gate which was used to take out the city’s refuse, proceeded the next gate, called the Fountain Gate.  So, track with me here.  That Dung Gate pictures repentance, taking out the trash of our lives.  Next, the Fountain Gate pictures the filling of the Holy Spirit, the spirit-filled walk!  The order being most relevant and important.  Spirit-filled living always follows confession of sins, not the other way around.

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

Truly, it is like taking a bath to repent, to confess, to agree with our Maker.

The fear of the Lord is also very much an important ingredient both to repentance and revival.  The Bible teaches that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, (Proverbs 9:10).  It proclaims that our God is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29), that he is a warrior.  It is important to always remember who we are dealing with when we come to the God of the Universe.  He is not some impotent, out of touch deity, no, he is the Author of Life, he is a Man of War! (Exodus 15:3)

The balance of this healthy fear is our Lord’s great love, grace and mercy towards us.  Because of this we understand that the proper fear of the Lord is not being afraid of him per say, but because he is so awesome, it is to be terrified at the thought of being away from him. 

The Proverbs teach that the fear of the Lord, that is, the reverence of him, leads to repentance.

By mercy and truth iniquity is purged; and by the fear of the Lord men depart evil. Proverbs 16:6

Truly, when I fear the Lord, I don’t want to disappoint him by sinning.

Revival is also spoken of in the wisdom of the Psalms.

O fear the Lord, ye his saints; for there is no want to them that fear him. Psalms 34:9

The secret of the Lord is with those who fear him; and he will show them his covenant. Psalm 25:14

How cool is this.  God will give revelation to the soul who fears Him!

Lastly, I want to show you that God reveals himself in his glory to those who venerate him.  In other words, his palpable presence is perceived when he is reverenced.

God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him. Psalm 89:7

A better rendering of the latter part of this verse is that God will be present with those who are draw near to him, to those who are around him, to those followers who reverence him.

So, repentance is a major doctrine of the Bible.  It is not necessary because God demands it, but God demands it, because it is necessary!  It is primarily the confession of our Savior from sin and then secondarily, the confession of our specific sins.  Confession of the Savior leads to our salvation, losing the legalistic critical spirit and having much love.  Confession of our sins leads to revival & reconciliation on all levels…individual, corporate and national.

Lastly, in closing out this discussion of repentance, a good Bible picture I have in my mind concerning our confession of the Savior, not self, from sin is seen in the yearly Passover sacrifice in which the Jews partook.  Every year the sinner and his family would come to Jerusalem with a lamb to sacrifice for their sins.  Before the sacrifice was made the priest would inspect the lamb, not the sinner.  Likewise, our Lamb was inspected and found spotless.  That is why my sins, which are many, are not seen by the Father.  They are covered by the Son.  He was inspected, not me!

Summary:

1. The road to salvation begins with repentance.

2. The primary definition of repentance is to change ones thinking concerning salvation.  Realizing works won’t save, only his sacrifice.

3. The secondary meaning of repentance is to remorsefully agree with God concerning specific sins in my life.

4. Benefits of repentance:  Develop mercy over judgement. Love much. Revival. 

For Further Study:

1. What is the purpose of the Law?

2. How does sorrow over sin sometimes not equate with true repentance?

3. What are some of the benefits of having the fear of the Lord?  Of not ever wanting to be apart from him?