Questions and Answers on the Doctrine of Repentance
Q. How would you define the meaning of Biblical repentance?
A. Repentance is an evangelical grace. Like faith it is essential to salvation (Luke13:3). It involves a sorrow for sin and an apprehension of the mercy of God in Jesus Christ. These two elements are important because there is a repentance that comes short of the latter. Any repentance that does not lead to salvation is not evangelical no matter how sorrowful one is about his or her sins.
While the word metanoia put emphasis on a change of mind, we cannot and must not divorce the mind from the heart and the will. Like faith, the whole man is involved in repentance: mind, heart, and will.
In the mind we gain a saving understanding about our sin and about our Savior, Jesus Christ. It is in the mind that we understand that our sin has offended an infinitely holy God and that all we deserve is his wrath; but alongside of that knowledge is an understanding that there is mercy at the cross.
Secondly, it is in the heart that we not only feel a deep sorrow for sin but we also feel something of the weight and the enormity of them because they are an affront to God. It is in the heart that we feel like the criminals that we are. It is in the heart that all repentant sinners feel the pain of sin. This pain comes in varying degrees, depending upon our prior lifestyle and religious upbringing. For example, if the sinner has lived a life of gross immorality like those described in Roman chapter one, he may have a deeper sense of guilt than one who has lived (at least outwardly or in the eyes of men) a life that is descent and respectful. Secondly, those who were brought up under the sound of the gospel may have a deeper sense of sin than those who were not. And so, the depth and the weight of guilt and sorrow for sin will vary from person to person based upon the two factors just mentioned.
The will is also involved in true, evangelical repentance. This is where the repentant sinner makes a willful choice to turn from his sin and turn to God through Jesus Christ. It is in the will that the sinner makes a willful change of direction. This is when he turns from something that has been so dear to him (his sins) and he turns to someone who has loved him and has given himself for him (Jesus Christ).
And so the mind, heart, and the will are involved in true evangelical repentance. The mind is the intellectual element, the heart is the emotional element, and the will is the volitional and directional element.
Before moving to the next question let me just say a word about what true, evangelical repentance is not. It is not a sorrow for sin because of a fear of its consequences. Like the little boy who is caught in the cookie jar. His sorrow for his actions is due to his fear of punishment. Theologians call this attrition or legal repentance.
True saving repentance is due to the fact that we have offended the true and the living God. This is contrition or evangelical repentance. Psalms 51:10 says, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise”
Q. How does the necessity of repentance influence the presentation of the gospel message to sinners?
A. Because repentance is a necessary element in salvation it must be preached. Prophetic and Apostolic preaching should be the model for all preachers to follow. Their preaching was saturated with the doctrine of repentance. This is the missing element in today’s preaching.
It is my conviction that most people that go to hell today are sent there by so-called gospel ministers who will not sound the message of repentance. The gospel in the average church has been diluted and watered down to a fizzle that cannot and will not save anyone. It has no power to save and will only deceive the hearer.
So, because repentance is a necessity in salvation it is the duty of the servant of the Lord to preach it. One writer has said that “Repentance is an evangelical duty, and no preacher is entitled to be regarded as a servant of Christ’s if he be silent thereon.” Luke 24:47 says “And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”
Q. Since we are justified through faith in Christ alone, why is repentance necessary?
A. The answer to this question lies in the fact that repentance and faith work together. One necessitates the other. They are two sides of the same coin. They both are essential elements in salvation. Where one is the other must be close by. While one point to sin (repentance), the other points to Christ (faith). These two are mutually exclusive and are so intertwined that John Murray calls faith “a penitent faith” and calls repentance “a believing repentance.” Murray says that “saving faith is permeated with repentance and repentance is permeated with faith.” One cannot do without the other.
Theologians have spent much time arguing over whether faith comes first or whether repentance comes first. If I had a choice in the matter I would choose the latter, but since the two are so closely connected I will leave such a question to be answered by minds that are much sharper than mine, if there is an answer at all.
Q. What is the relationship between regeneration and repentance?
A. In the order of salvation (ordo-salutus) regeneration precedes repentance. To put it another way is to say that repentance is the immediate fruit and effect of regeneration. This is true because the old heart that we were born with from our parents is proud, arrogant, and is vehemently opposed to the gospel. It is called in Ezel.36:26 a “stony heart.” True repentance cannot take root in such a hard heart. Therefore, we must have a heart transplant; whereby the Spirit of God takes away the stony heart and gives us “a heart of flesh.” This is a picture of what happens at regeneration. A true sorrow for sin can only come from the latter (a heart of flesh), and a true turning from sin unto salvation in Christ can only spring from the same. And so, repentance is the product of the new heart received in regeneration.
Q. How is repentance shown to be true and what are its practical effects?
A. Repentance is shown to be true, evangelical repentance ultimately in where the sinner finds relief from his guilt and sorrow for sin. Judas found it in committing suicide, but the ultimate end of the repentance that we are considering in this article is found only in Jesus Christ and the forgiveness that only he can give. This repentance always ends in Christ alone. Remember it is a sorrow for sin but it is also an apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ Jesus.
Some of the practical effects of repentance are:
• A continual lifestyle of repenting of sin – Repentance is not just a one time thing that happens at conversion, but rather it is an ongoing exercise of the believer throughout the remainder of his life (Psa.51; Rom.7:24).
• A continual lifestyle of confessing sin – Confession of sin is another fruit of repentance whereby we agree with God that we are what his word says that we are, namely sinners (IJohn 1:8-10).
• A continual and genuine hatred of sin – The believers relationship to sin will never be the same again; its power has been broken (Rom.6:14, 17, 18, 20, 22, 22); and in his remaining years he will always have a genuine hatred for the sins that he commits (Psa. 51; Rom.7:24).
• A continual joy in knowing what Christ has provided for the believer -
Our Lord has provided a righteousness that was imputed to our account when we believed the gospel, and now our sins cannot be imputed to us (Rom.4:8); he is our intercessor and our advocate (Heb.7:25; IJohn 2:1) therefore we can never be lost because of our sins; and finally, his blood keeps on cleansing us from all sin (IJohn 1:7). This gives the believer great hope and joy!
To my unbelieving friends I would urge you to “repent and believe the gospel.” “Except you repent you shall all likewise perish!”
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