This is from pages 29-37 from Measures of Our Faith, A Survey of Major Bible Doctrines by J. Mark Jordan, copyright 1987 by Word Aflame Press
Beginning with the appeal to Cain, the first murderer,
down through every age, and extending even to our
times, God has always demanded repentance on the part
of sinful humanity. Prophet after prophet exhorted backsliding
Israel to repent. Every revival in Israel was
launched from the platform of repentance. There is no
greater folly than for a man to think he can walk in fellowship
and harmony with God and yet neglect the divine
requirement of repentance. In our study on this most
important subject, let us look at an Old Testament example,
see how it was incorporated into the teachings of
both Jesus Christ and the apostles, and then dissect its
real meaning.
Repentance in the Old Testament
An entire city was saved in the Old Testament through
repentance. Nineveh was a grossly sin-ridden city, and
God pronounced judgment upon it. He first sent the people
a warning of the coming doom through the prophet
Jonah. Jonah preached an eight-word sermon, and the
Ninevites were deeply stirred. “So the people of Nineveh
believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth,
from the greatest of them even to the least of
them. For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he
arose from his throne . . . and covered him with sackcloth
. . . saying, . . . But let man and beast be covered
with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let
them turn every one from his evil way, and from the
violence that is in their hands” (
Jonah 3:5-8). Their
wholehearted repentance stayed the hand of God’s judgment
against them, and their city was spared.
From this and other stories in the Old Testament, we
see that God places tremendous value upon the act of
repentance. We could cite many other accounts that
greatly stress repentance or in which men humbled themselves
in repentance.
New Testament Repentance
No one should ever say, however, that repentance
belongs to the Old Testament era. John the Baptist
preached the same message of repentance as did the
prophets of old, “saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of
heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by
the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in
the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make
his paths straight” (
Matthew 3:2-3). His was also a mes-
sage of stern bebuke. “But when he saw many of the
Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said
unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned
you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore
fruits meet for repentance” (
Matthew 3:7-8). John
was a strong preacher of repentance.
The ministry of John was completed when Jesus
Christ began the years of His public ministry. Upon hearing
that Christ had commenced his work, John said, “This
my joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase, but I
must decrease” (
John 3:29-30). But what did Jesus first
begin to preach? Repentance! “From that time Jesus
began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom
of heaven is at hand” (
Matthew 4:17).
Later, when Christ gathered the twelve around Him
and commissioned them to go out and spread the good
news of the kingdom of God, their message began from
the same point. “And they went out, and preached that
men should repent” (
Mark 6:12).
Repentance and the Gospel
Jesus expected the message of repentance to be a cornerstone
in the preaching of the gospel. “And that repentance
and remission of sins should be preached in his
name among all nations” (
Luke 24:47). That is exactly
how the apostle Peter began his answer to the question of
salvation on the Day of Pentecost. “Repent, and be baptized
. . .” (
Acts 2:38). Always, for a person to receive salvation,
he must obey the command to repent.
Repentance is nothing short of a universal command.
Paul pointed out to the philosophers on Mars’ Hill that
God “commandeth all men every where to repent”
(
Acts 17:30). God has unleashed the great force of conviction
through the Holy Ghost to bring every man to the
place where he will repent of his sins. God is “not willing
that any should perish, but that all should come to
repentance” (
II Peter 3:9).
It is not difficult, therefore, to establish firmly that
repentance is a fundamental doctrine of the Scriptures.
As such, it is clearly necessary to salvation. The words of
Jesus affirm this: “Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise
perish” (
Luke 13:3).
A Closer Look
Let us take a closer look at what repentance actually
is. There are several false conceptions about repentance
that we should examine so that we can arrive at a purely
scriptural understanding of the doctrine. One of these
false ideas is the confusion between repentance and penitence.
Penitence is the emotional side of repentance. It
is, of course, a part of repentance, but it stops short of
full repentance. The dictionary definition is “feeling pain
or sorrow for sins or offenses.” In a further explanation,
we find that “penitence implies little more than sorrow or
genuine regret.”
A good example of penitence without true repentance
is the alcoholic who deeply regrets the day he took his first
drink but refuses to turn from his habit. From the Bible, we
have the tragic case of Judas Iscariot, who betrayed the
Lord for some paltry pieces of silver and was stricken with
great sorrow. Instead of leading him to repentance, however,
his sorrow led him to suicide. There have been many
persons who, when they were confronted with the piercing
and painful fact of their sin and were forced to reap some
of sin’s bitter harvest, have wept with great sobs at the
altar. Somehow feeling that shedding a few tears was
enough, they soon returned to the same evil practices as
before. They felt the twinge of sorrow but certainly did not
repent. In
II Corinthians 7:9-10 Paul addressed this matter:
“Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye
sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after
a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in
nothing. For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation.”
Feeling sorry for sins is only part of repentance.
Repentance should not be confused with penance. The
definition of penance is an “act of self-abasement, mortification,
piety, or devotion performed to show sorrow.”
This implies that the grace and forgiveness of God, which
is the object of repentance, can be earned through an act
of humiliation. By doing penance, some feel that they are
paying for their own sins. But no one can gain God’s favor
by doing anything. Dropping a little more money than
usual in the offering plate, or doing an extra good deed
today to compensate for yesterday’s wrong deed, or merely
trying to “do better” is not repentance. “For by grace are
ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is
the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast”
(
Ephesians 2:8-9). Who can improve on Calvary? Who can
say that something has to be added to that perfect sacrifice
for the sins of the whole world? Our pardon comes not
from our own actions, but “through his blood, even the
forgiveness of sins” (
Colossians 1:14).
to be continued in part 2
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