Foundations of Genuine Salvation: REPENTANCE:
Prepare to Meet God (Matt 3:1-12; Mk 1:1-8; Lk 3:2-22; John 1:19-37)
The purpose of John the Baptist’s Baptism of Repentance was to prepare people to have a glorious life changing encounter with God. So it demanded a profound repentance of sin manifested in a changed life (Matt. 3:8). His Baptism vividly portrayed the death & burial of the sinner under the wrath of God, & resurrection to a new hope & new life under God’s mercy (Lk. 3:7-14). This baptism marked the transition from the Old Covenant of the law to the New Covenant of grace under the ministry of Christ (John 1:17; Lk. 16:16). It was a transition from being unprepared to meet God to being prepared for a life saving encounter with God, in Christ, through genuine repentance (Matt. 3:10-12; 5:3-4; Isaiah 57:15; 66:1-2; Ps. 34:18; 51:17; Ezek. 9:4).
7 Key Truths about John, his message, and his ministry:
- John came in fulfillment of O. T. Prophesy: he was the voice of “one crying in the wildness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD (Matt. 3:3; Isa. 40:3 & Mal. 3:1). The LORD is Jehovah God! Jesus is LORD!
- Multitudes came from all over Israel to be baptized by John in the River Jordan (Mat. 3:6). This left thousands of eye witnesses many of whom were still alive, scattered throughout the world when the written Gospel began to be circulated (Act 19:3-5; I Cor. 15:6).
- John’s baptism was a “baptism of repentance for the remission of sins” (Luke 1:76-78). Remission is similar to forgiveness; it refers to sending away our sins (Ps. 103:12). Repentance is absolutely essential for the remission of sins (Lk. 24:47).
- John’s call to repent was urgent because “the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 3:2) and people are “warned to flee from the wrath to come” (Matt. 3:7-12; I Thess. 1:10; Rev. 6:16-17).
- When they were baptized the people confessed their sins (Matt. 3:6). Important because “He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth & forsaketh them shall have mercy” (Prov. 28:13).
- John warned people to manifest “fruits meet for repentance.” Repentance requires a change of life style! Those who didn’t bear good fruit would “be hewn down, & cast into the fire” (Matt. 3:8, 10).
- 7. John revealed that the Messiah “shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost” [the Holy Spirit] “and with fire” (Matt. 3:11-12; Lk. 3:16).
WHAT IS REPENTANCE & WHY IS IT SO IMPORTANT?
Understanding Repentance is a matter of Life & Death! John preached repentance (Matt. 3:2); Jesus preached repentance (Matt. 4:17). Jesus said: “except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish” (Lk. 13:3, 5; 2 Pet. 3:9). “Perish” – means you will spend eternity in the torments of Hell! Repentance is absolutely essential for salvation (Acts 11:18; 2 Cor. 7:10). The Disciples preached repentance (Mk. 6:12; Acts 2:38). God “now commandeth all men everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30; Lk. 24:44-47). We must understand what repentance is to determine whether or not we ourselves have truly repented and been saved.
REPENT IN THE OLD TESTAMENT:
One Hebrew word translated repent is “nâcham.” It is a primitive root meaning “to sigh, breathe strongly; by implication to be sorry.” It means to lament, to grieve about one’s sins (Job 33:27-28; Ps. 32:5). Thus “saith the LORD, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning: And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the LORD your God: for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness…” (Joel 2:12-13).
Another Hebrew word translated repent is “shub” meaning “to turn back, repent, return.” “Thus saith the LORD God; Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations” (Ezek. 14:6). If I really repent there is a lot of Internet, TV and movies I will have to turn away from! “Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin” (Ezek. 18:30). Repentance is a 180 degree turn. Somebody asked, “How do you know you’re not going to hell?” The man replied, “Because I’m headed in the opposite direction!”
REPENT IN THE NEW TESTAMENT:
The Greek word for repent is used as a noun “metanoia” and a verb “metanoeo.” It literally means “to change one’s mind or purpose.” As a verb Repentance requires action! It is a change of mind that causes us to make a deliberate, willful turning away from sin as revealed and defined by God. True repentance is life changing! (2 Cor. 7:9-11). “Repentance is being so sorry for your meanness that you ain’t going to do it any more.” (Illustration: Eustice in Voyage of the Dawn Treader)
Some of Christ’s strongest calls to repent are to Church people (Rev. 2:5, 16, 21; 3:3, 19; 2 Cor. 12:21). Thus repentance is not just a one time event we do to get saved; it is a lifelong process that maintains our fellowship with God & the power of His Holy Spirit (I John 1:9). Martin Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses sparked the Protestant Reformation in 1517 because they helped restore the truth about Repentance.
Illustration: Repentance is part of the ABC’s of Salvation; as
important to the spiritual life of man as the alphabet is to a scholar.
TRUE REPENTANCE IS “A GIFT OF GOD.”
We are to preach the Gospel in the hope that “God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will (2 Tim. 2:25-26; Acts 5:31; 11:18).
True repentance cannot take place without a supernatural work of God in the sinner’s heart (Acts 3:26; Rom. 2:4; Ps. 80:3, 7, 19). God temporarily tolerates our sins & permits us to live until we have a chance to be saved (Rom. 2:4; 3:25; Neh. 9:30-31). How I tremble when I think of all the years I lived doing my own thing, ignoring God; & then realize all the times I could have died in such a sinful state… and if I had, I would be suffering the torments in hell today.
Illustration: Suppose you had a child living a drunken, sinful, profligate life. Would you be satisfied with them coming home every day with tears and saying: “I am so sorry, father, I have been living in such sin,” but he never made any changes in his life? Of course not!
TRUE REPENTANCE REQUIRES SERIOUS SOUL SEARCHING.
“Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD” (Lam 3:40). “…no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done?” (Jer 8:6; Lk. 15:17-19). Some people have a natural tenderness of heart. They will weep under the preaching of the cross not because it was their sin that nailed Christ to the cross, but simply because Jesus suffered so. Those kind of tears save no one! Judas is a prime example of that kind of fatal false repentance (Mat. 27:3-5).
If we truly repent we will no longer justify our past sins or blame someone else for our failures. We will accept full responsibility for them & forsake them. Too many people grieve simply because their sin has been discovered. The shame of exposure hurts their pride. That kind of sorrow over sin saves no one! True repentance is not sorrow for being caught but a deep grief over the realization of the evil that dwells in my heart. Repentance is not regretting the fruit of one’s sin but the root. “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord”(Rom. 7:24-5).
YOU MUST LOOK TO CHRIST TO FIND TRUE REPENTANCE!
“I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, & repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5-6)
If I judge myself by comparing myself to others I am not wise (2 Cor. 10:12). But when God in His mercy allows me to see myself in light of a clear revelation of Christ’s glory, then, and only then, do I really learn what Job meant when he repented in dust and ashes! (Lk. 7:36-50). It is liberating & life changing! (Rom. 8:29; 2 Cor. 3:17-18).
REPENTANCE REQUIRES TURNING FROM SIN TO GOD.
This is the decisive manifestation of repentance most emphasized by the Word of God. “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” (Act 3:26; 26:20; Jer 26:3; Jonah 3:4-10)
JOHN’S BAPTISM OF REPENTANCE WAS REVOLUTIONARY!
It was common in Jesus day for Jews to Baptize Gentiles but a “Jew” would never think he had to be baptized in this manner. John taught the religious Jew, as much as the sinful gentile, needed to Repent! By submitting to immersion they would confess they deserved to die for their sins under the wrath of God. Rising out of the water would symbolize their resurrection to a new life of obedience to God.
To this day throughout the World, water baptism still arouses great emotions & often open hostility. Water Baptism is a life changing event that challenges the status quo of any society or false religion.
Baptism is a public identification or association with a person or message or group. The word “identification” [union with] is the single most important concept in describing exactly what baptism means. Those baptized by John the Baptist identified [or united] themselves with John’s ministry & message thus committing to accepting the Messiah, once He was identified through John’s baptism (John 1:31-4). Those Baptized by John acknowledged they were sinners worthy of death! John’s Baptism was a transitional means by which God offered remission of sins [forgiveness] to those who repented, till Christ died on the Cross as the eternal propitiation for our sins (Rom. 3:24-26). But the Repentance John preached is a permanent part of God’s means of Salvation in Christ! Those who rejected John’s baptism also rejected his message about Jesus as the Promised Messiah (Lk. 7:29-30). Those who refuse Christian baptism today also reject Christ and His message.
KEY LIFE CHANGING LESSONS FOR US TODAY
True repentance produces a dramatic change in a persons life and lifestyle. John’s Baptism was designed to reveal this inner change of heart (2 Cor. 7:1). Repentance is not something we do once and then not worry about it again. No! Repentance is a way of life made necessary because of the ever present danger of indwelling sin.
The warning of John “to flee the wrath [of God] to come” is still relevant for every one of us today. As a car bumper sticker said: “Jesus is coming back soon, and boy is He mad!” Have you fled the wrath to come by trusting Jesus to save you from all your sins? Have you publicly confessed Jesus by being Baptized? (Matt. 10:32-33; Rom. 10:9-10)