THE SIMPLICITY OF REPENTANCE

By Pastor Art Watkins of Coden Bible Church (Coden, Alabama)

April 19, 2010

Repentance is a doctrine people have debated for many years. The debate is about what it means to repent and if a person must repent to be saved. I believe there is a simple answer to these questions.

All of the prophets and apostles God sent preached repentance. Paul the apostle preached repentance throughout his ministry as he preached the gospel of grace. See Acts 17:30, 20:21.

He not only preached repentance, but he commanded those who repented to prove they had repented. In Acts 26:20 it says Paul shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance. John the Baptist said the same thing in Matt.3:8.

The question is; what does it mean to repent and is it neccessary for men to repent to be saved?

Repentance is the same throughout the Bible. The best way to define repentance is to notice what people did in the Old and New Testament when they repented. In the New Testament in Acts 17 Paul preached repentance. In that same chapter he founded the church at Thessalonica. When the Thessalonians heard Paul preach they did what all believers did, they repented. But what did they do when they repented? 1 Thessalonians 1:9 says: For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God;

Do you see what they did? They not only believed the gospel, but they turned from their idols to the true and living God. Repentance is more than changing your mind. When people repented in the Bible they not only changed their minds, but they turned away from something that was bad.

An example of repentance in the Old Testament are the Ninevites in Jonah 3. In Matthew 12:41 Jesus said: The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.

The Lord tells us if we want to know what repentance is to look at the Ninevites who repented at the preaching of Jonas. What did the Ninevites do when they repented? It says in Jonah 3:10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way.
Do you see what they did when they repented? It says they turned from their evil way. Again, repentance is more then changing your mind, it’s turning from something bad.

Paul preached repentance to both Jews and gentiles when he preached the gospel of grace. In Acts 20:21 he said: Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

When the Jews who believed Paul’s gospel repented what did they do? They turned away from the works of the law and animal sacrifices unto Christ alone to be saved. As long as a Jew believed he could be saved by the works of the law and animal sacrifices God could not and would not save him. He had to repent. He had to turn from works and animal sacrifices to Christ alone before God could save him. It was the works of the law that prevented him from being saved by grace. Therefore when he repented he turned from the thing that hindered him from being saved. That’s what the Jews did when they repented.

What about the gentiles? Many of them were idol worshipers. They had faith and trust in their idols to save them, deliver them, protect them, guide them and to keep them. As long as they had faith and trust in their idols God could not and would not save them. For them to be saved they had to do what the Thessalonians did; they had to turn from their idols to the living God to be saved. It was their idols that prevented them from being saved. Therefore when they repented they turned from the thing that hindered them from being saved. That’s what the gentiles did when they repented.

Another example is my wife. My wife was a Roman Catholic for nearly 20 years before she was saved. She went to Mass 6 days a week. She was taught and believed salvation was in the Mass, the sacraments and keeping the laws of the church. As long as she believed this God could not and would not save her. She had to repent. She had to turn away from the laws and works of the Catholic Church and trust Christ alone to save her. It was her religion that prevented her from being saved by grace. Therefore, when she repented she turned from the religion that hindered her from being saved. She was like the Jews in Paul’s day; she had to repent of her religion! But as long as she continued to go to Mass and do the works Rome told her to do God would not save her.

The question is; does repentance save? Yes and no. Judas repented, but he went to hell. (Matt.27:3) But can a person be saved without repenting? The answer is no. I ask you; could a Jew in Paul’s day be saved as long as he continued to do the works of the law and offer animal sacrfices for his sins? The answer is obvious, no. He had to turn away from his works before God could save him by grace because men cannot be saved by grace and works at the same time. When he turned is when he repented.

Could a gentile be saved as long as he held on to his idols to save and deliver him? The answer is obvious, no. He had to turn from his idols like the Thessalonians did before God could save him by grace because a man cannot be saved by false gods and the true God at the same time. When he turned is when he repented.

When a Jew turned from the law and a gentile turned from his idols they put all of their faith and trust in Christ alone to save them. If they simply turned from the law or idols and did not put their faith and trust in Christ they would have still been lost as if they never repented at all.

Could a Jew be saved by the gospel and offer animal sacrifices for his sins at the same time? Of course not. Could a gentile be saved and worship his idols at the same time? No. The law is what hindered the Jew from being saved and until he renounced it God would not save him. The same is true of the gentiles when it came to idols.

You preachers that read this, would you tell a person that they can be saved while at the same time they take the Mass and the sacraments and do the works of the Catholic Church? I hope not.

Look at lost people today. If salvation is so wonderful why do the lost choose to stay lost? Because there is something that hinders them from being saved. Look back over your life and you will see there was something in your life that kept you from being saved. It was a stumbling block to you. It hindered you from totally trusting Christ alone to save you. And when you got saved you turned away from it. That’s repentance. Repentance is not cleaning up your life till you become good enough for God to save. No one can do that. Its turning from whatever keeps you from being saved such as the law and idols.

Making it simple.

Repentance is turning away from the thing that prevents and hinders you from being saved. With my wife and many others, it was her religion. You see it’s just that simple.