‘What happens then, in a true
conversion, is that faith comes to life in the mind as the reality of the
truths about Christ (whether they have been read or heard) begin to take life
and to felt. (Acts 2:36; 16:14b; Romans 7:7b-10; 10:17; 1 Cor.15:1-5ff.; 2
Thess.2:13)
‘In some shape or form, these truths
center on:
· God’s holiness and love (Ex.20:1-21;
Jn.3:16-21, 36; Rom.1:18ff.; 3:9-26; 11:22; Eph.2:1-10)
· Christ’s self-giving for us and in our place, on the Cross (Isa.53; Matt.20:28; Rom. 4:25; 5:1-11; 2 Cor.5:21; Eph.1:7; 1 Pet.1:18-19
· His triumph over sin, death and the devil, (Rom.5:20-21; Rom.6:1-14; 1 Cor.15:54-57;
Col.1:19; 2:13; 2 Tim.1:10; Heb.2:14-15)
· And our sense of corruption, guilt, misery and despair. (Ps.51:5; Isa.1:5-6; Jer.17:9; Rom.3:10-18;
7:14-24; 8:7; Eph.2:12; Titus 3:3)
‘Then we hear the words of grace in
the Gospel. Emotions may well be
stirred, for although the perception of spiritual reality is not itself
emotional, distress, fear, shame, and hopeful joy are at different times the result
of coming to realize the truth of the Gospel.
(Ps.32:1-5; Isa.6:5; 12; Luke 18:13; Acts 2:37; 16:34; Rom.6:21; 1
Thess.1:6; 1 Pet.1:8-9)
‘Faith, beginning as this knowledge (this real understanding of
the truths of the Christian faith) (Acts 11:13-14; Ro.10:13-17; Col.1:5-6; 2
Tim.1:11; Titus 1:1; Jas.1:18; 1 Pet.1:23-25; 2 Pet.1:3ff.) blossoms into assent in which the will is now
engaged; (Acts 2:37; 8:36-38; Ro.1:5;
6:17; 1 Thess.1:9-10) assent issues into heartfelt trust…. (Jn.3:16;
Acts 16:31; Rom.1:16-17; 3:22; Rom.10:6-17; Eph.2:8-9; Col.1:4; 1 Jn.5:4-5,10) and
from this trust flows real repentance
and the turning from sin to Christ.’ (Lk.19:8-9; 24:27; Acts 2:38; 3:19; 26:20;
Rom.6:17-23; Eph.2:10; Gal.5:6;
Eph.4:17-32; 1 Thess.1:3; Heb.4:14-16; 12:2; Jas.2:14-26; 2 Pet.1:5)
------------------------------------------
"However this relationship
[with God, through Christ] is initiated -- quietly or dramatically, over a long
or over a short period of time -- it inaugurates a life devoted to serving
God.
"Conversion is not an isolated
event but is related to the entire life of faith that follows from it. It is
the moment of birth into a new life. It is like a doorway into a room. A person
is born to live, not to linger on the edge of the womb in a time limbo. A
person opens a door not for the pleasure of standing forever on the threshold
but to enter the room. The evangelical world has strangely perverted this
truth.
"Evangelicals often make the
test of spiritual life one's willingness to testify about the moment of birth.
Describing one's sensations in passing through the doorway is considered proof
that one is in the room! This shifts the focus from where it ought to be -- the
evidence of the Spirit's renewing work in producing a God-centered life, a
God-fearing heart, and God-honoring character and witness -- and places it
on a person's autobiographical account of the conversion crisis.
"The only real proof of
conversion is an obedient and fruitful life."
-- David Wells, "Turning to
God"
(cp. Matt. 7:21-23; 28:18-19; John 8:31; Acts 20:21; 26:20; Rom.
6:4,17ff.; Eph. 4:17-24; 5:5-6; 1 Thess. 1:9; Titus 2:11-14; 1 Pet. 1:2,22; 2
Pet. 1:5-11; 1 Jn. 2:3-6)
Continuing the theme of the
necessity for real repentance (change of mind/change of allegiance that leads
toward changed way of living).
n cp. Jesus re: the repentance of the people of Nineveh (Mt.12:41, cp. Jnh.3:5;
n Acts 2:38; 3:19; 20:21; 26:20
Cp. Rom.6:17; Eph.4:17-5:7
-----------------------------------------
This is consistently the perspective
of evangelical, Bible-believing Christians of all denominations. The idea that you could have Jesus ‘as
Savior’ without submitting to him ‘as Lord’ is very much a minority viewpoint,
popping up every now and then in the history of the church, but consistently
contradicted and refuted by the overwhelming consensus of Christian theologians
and teachers.
---------------------------------------------------------
Repentance (metanoia), acc. to
“Theological Dictionary of the New Testament” (Kittel):
“…radical conversion, a
transformation of nature, a definitive turning from evil, a resolute turning to
God in total obedience (Mk.1:15; Mt.4:17; 18:3)…. This conversion is once for all. There can be no going back, only advance in
responsible movement along the way now taken. It affects the whole man, first and
basically the center of personal life, then logically his conduct at all
times and in all situation, his thoughts, words and acts (Mt. 12:33ff. par;
23:26; Mk.7:15 par.).
“The whole proclamation of
Jesus…is a proclamation of unconditional turning to God, of unconditional
turning from all that is against God, not merely that which is downright evil,
but that which in a given case makes total turning to God impossible….
"It is addressed to all without
distinction and presented with unmitigated severity in order to indicate the
only way of salvation there is.
“Repentance calls for total surrender, total commitment to the
will of God…. It embraces the whole walk
of the new man who is claimed by the divine lordship. It carries with it the founding of a new
personal relation of man to God…. It
awakens joyous obedience for a life according to God’s will.”
---------------------------------------------------------------------
“Conversion
can be spoken of as a single act of
turning, just as consuming several
dishes and drinks can be spoken of as a single
act of dining.”
n cp. a ‘progressive dinner’
According to
David Wells, “…conversion, our turning to God, is better understood if we view
it as a complex [that is, many-faceted] process.
“The process
involves thinking and re-thinking, doubting and overcoming doubts and
objections, soul-searching and self-admonition, struggle against feelings of
guilt and shame, and concern as to what a realistic following of Christ might
mean, whether or not [the process] culminates in a personal crisis that will
afterward be remembered as ‘the hour I first believed.’ Sometimes, of course, it does….”
The truth of
the Word/the Gospel, and it’s presentation, is the ‘objective’ side of conversion.
“The subjective means of conversion is what
the sinner is called upon to do in repenting, believing, and acting upon the
promised forgiveness in Christ. It is
all that God accomplishes within the person to enable him or her to overcome the
pressures of unbelief, to begin centering upon the invisible and eternal
realities of God despite the contention of a multitude of distractions, to
struggle for self-denial against inbred self-assertion. In short, it is all that moves us from being
unbelievers to becoming believers.”
“Evangelical
faith…is knowledge of, assent to, and trust in Christ and God’s promise of
grace through him. Evangelical
repentance is turning from sin, now recognized as ruinous, to a new life of
following Christ in righteousness, now embraced as the only hope of life.”
-- contrast Zacchaeus and the rich
young ruler
How much
knowledge of the Gospel is necessary? The
answer is a functional one: as much as it takes to bring us to true faith and
repentance, as described, recognizing that sometimes the Holy Spirit uses
what seems to us to be a very small amount.
D.A. Carson Regarding Repentance: "There is no alternative to repentance,
no other way to experience the blessing of the Lord. The nature of repentance in Scripture
precludes the nonsense of partial repentance or contingent repentance. Genuine repentance does not turn from one sin
while safeguarding others; partial repentance is as incongruous as partial
pregnancy. Loyalty to God in
selective areas is no longer loyalty. To
repent of disloyalty in select areas while preferring disloyalty in others is
no repentance at all. God does not
ask us to give up this or that idol while permitting us to nurture several
others; he demands, rather, that we abandon idolatry itself and return to the
God against whom we have 'so greatly revolted.' For God is more than able to
defend his people...." (DA Carson
on Isaiah 31).
TDNT again:
“Conversion applies to all people,
demanding a complete commitment that seeks forgiveness in full trust and
surrender. Faith is its positive aspect
(cp. Mk.1:15). It is God’s gift, but as
such a binding requirement. By the
baptism of the Spirit Jesus imparts the divine power that creates those who are
subject to the divine rule, i.e., converted people. In all its severity, then the message is one
of joy. ‘Repentance’ is not law, but
gospel.
“In the apostolic kerygma conversion
is a total requirement. The disciples
preach it in Mk. 6:12 and are directed to summon people to it in Lk.24:47. ‘Repentance is at the heart of their message
in Acts (5:31; 8:22; 11:18, etc.
“It is a basic article in Heb.
6:1. Peter’s sermon connects it with
baptism (Acts 2:38). It is a turning
from evil to God (8:22; 20:21). It is
both a divine gift and a human task (5:31:2:38)…..Its basis is Christ’s saving
work (5:31). The Spirit effects it
(11:18). Faith goes with it
(26:18). The imminent end gives urgency
to its proclamation (Re..2:5,16; 3:3).
The goal is remission of sins (Acts 3:19) and final salvation (11:18).
Billy Graham (from “Peace with God”):
“If repentance
could be described in one word, I would use the word renounce. ‘Renounce what?’
you ask. The answer can also be given in
one word – ‘sin.’…
“Not only are
we told that we must renounce the principle of sin but we are also to renounce sins – plural. We are to renounce the world, the flesh and
the Devil. There can be no bargaining,
compromise or hesitation. Christ demands
absolute renunciation…..
“…repentance
and faith go hand in hand. You cannot
have genuine repentance without saving faith and you cannot have saving faith
without repentance….
“…[To repent]
means a great deal more than just regretting and feeling sorry about sin. The Biblical word repent means ‘to change, to turn.’
It is a word of power and action.
It is a word that signifies a complete revolution in the
individual.
“When the
Bible calls upon us to repent of sin, it means that we should turn away from
sin, that we should do an about-face and walk in the opposite direction from
sin and all that it implies….
“….True
repentance means ‘to change, to turn away from, to go in a new direction.’ To be sorry is not enough in repentance….
“….repentance
cannot take place unless first there is a movement of the Holy Spirit in the
heart and mind….”
“….There must
be a determination to forsake sin – to change one’s attitudes toward self,
toward sin, and God; to change one’s feelings; to change one’s will,
disposition and purpose.
“Only the
Spirit of God can give you the determination necessary for true repentance….
“There is not
one verse of Scripture that indicates you can be a Christian and live any kind
of a life you want to. When Christ
enters into the human heart, He demands that He be Lord and Master. He demands complete surrender….
“…He must have
first place in everything you do or think or say, for when you truly repent you
turn toward God in everything.
“We have the
warning of Christ that He will not receive us into His kingdom until we are
ready to give up all, until we are ready to turn from all sin in our
lives. Don’t try to do it part way. Don’t say, ‘I’ll give up some of my sins and
hang on to some others. I’ll live part
of my life for Jesus and part for my own desires.’”
“God demands a
total change, a total surrender.”
(“Peace
with God, pp. 100-107)
Scriptural warrant: 2 Chron.7:14;
Isa.59:20; Ezek.18:30ff.; Matt.5:29ff.;
12:41, (cp. Jnh.3:5ff.); Matt. 19:16ff.; 22:37ff.; 28:18ff.; Lk.3:8; 13:1-8; Acts
2:38; 3:19; 11:18; 17:30; 20:21; 26:20; Rom.6:17 (and the entire chapter); 2
Cor.7:1, 10; Eph.4:17ff.; 1 Jn.2:3; 1
Thess. 1:9f.; Rom. 1:5; 16:26
All the
passages that talk about getting ride of “all” vice, or doing “everything” for
God’s glory or to please Him, etc. (cp. “whatever you do…”)
Positively: Matt.22:37ff.; Rom. 6; Col.1:10, et
"…now God
commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he
will judge the world with justice….” (Acts 17:30-31)
“By this we
know that we have come to know Him, if we keep his commandments. The one
who says, ‘I have come to know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a
liar….” 1 John 2:3
“…We died to
sin; how can we live in it any longer?....But thanks be to God that, though you
used to be slaves of sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to
which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become
slaves to righteousness.” Rom. 6:17-18
John Stott, from his book, “Christian
Basics”
[He is
describing the ‘ABC’s of becoming a Christian, and says first there is
something to Admit: that we are sinners, then there is something to Believe:
that Jesus Christ is the Savior we need, and then….] ‘C stands for something to
Consider, namely that Jesus Christ wants to be our Lord as well as our
Savior. He is in fact ‘our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ’ (e.g., 2 Pet. 3:18), and we have no liberty to cut him in
two, responding to one half and rejecting the other. He offers us salvation (forgiveness and
the liberating power of the Spirit); he demands our thoughtful and
total allegiance.”
“For when
Jesus is truly Lord, he directs our lives and we gladly obey him. Indeed, we bring every part of our lives
under his lordship – our home and family, our sexuality and marriage, our job
or unemployment, our money and possessions, our ambitions and recreations.”
Charles Spurgeon: “Another
proof of the conquest of a soul for Christ will be found in a real change of
life. If
the man does not live differently from what he did before, both in private and
in public, then his repentance needs to be repented of, and his conversion is a
fiction.
“Not
only action and language, but spirit and temper/attitude must be changed….
'…Remaining
under the power of any known sin is a mark of our being the servants of sin,
for ‘you are servants of the one you obey’ [Rom.6].
“Idle
are the boasts of a man who harbors within himself the love of any
transgression. He may feel what he
likes, and believe what he likes, but he is still in the gall of bitterness and
the bonds of iniquity while a single sin rules his heart and life.
“True regeneration implants a hatred of all evil; and where
one sin is delighted in, the evidence is fatal to a sound hope…..[that is, the hope that such a person is genuinely
saved”].
David Wells, “Turning to God”
“Conversion is
the process whereby we turn from our sin in repentance and turn to God through
faith in the finished work of Christ upon the cross for us.” p. 10
“The creative,
regenerative work of God produces an overwhelming desire to turn from sin and
conveys the ability to believe in Christ….” (21)
“True
conversion is not an isolated experience but one that is related to a life of
discipleship. It is the point in time
and experience at which we enter into such a
life. Discipleship belongs to and
should follow from conversion the way that natural life belongs to and should
follow from live birth…. And just as
there is no discipleship without conversion, so there is no conversion without
an ensuing life of discipleship that involves growth in moral maturity, a
deepening faith, and loving service.”
(25)
“Christianity
without conversion is no longer Christian, because conversion means turning to
God. It involves forsaking sin, with its
self-deifying attitudes and self-serving conduct, and turning to Christ, whose
death on the cross is the basis for God’s offer of mercy and forgiveness. Jesus was judged in our place so that God
could extend his righteousness to us.
Conversion occurs when we turn from our waywardness and accept Christ’s
death on our behalf.” (27)
“Conversion
encompasses both our behavior and what we are in Christ. It primarily refers to repudiating sin and
trusting in Christ, but this action does not stand alone. We repent and believe [so] that our sins
might be forgiven and [so] that we might be given a new nature by the Holy
Spirit to enable us to start living a life of obedience and service to
Christ.” (28)
“The
difference in our conversion stories lies not in what God has done for us in
Christ but in our process of turning
to him. A child raised in a Christian
home may find conversion so natural that he or she cannot pinpoint when this
change occurred. For others, however,
the transition is difficult, conversion is dramatic….” (28)
New Bible Dictionary (J.D. Douglas, ed.) regarding
“Repentance”:
“Repentance consists in a radical
transformation of thought, attitude, outlook and direction….repentance is a
turning from sin unto God and His service.
“Repentance is
a revolution in that which is most determinative in human personality and is
the reflex in consciousness of the radical change wrought by the Holy Spirit in
regeneration.
“It is a
mistake, however, to underrate the place of grief and hatred for sin and
turning from it unto God….”
“The necessity
of repentance as a condition of salvation is clearly inscribed on the biblical
witness….
“…there is no
salvation without repentance. This does
not interfere with the complementary truth that we are saved through
faith. Faith alone is the instrument of
justification. But justification is not
the whole of salvation, and faith is not the only condition…..
“Faith is directed to Christ for salvation from sin unto
holiness and life. But this involves
hatred of sin and turning from it.
Repentance is turning from sin unto God.
But this implies the apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ.”
Wayne Grudem’s “Systematic Theology”, in the section on Conversion (Faith
and Repentance)
“We may define
repentance as follows: Repentance is a heartfelt sorrow for sin, a
renouncing of it, and a sincere commitment to forsake it and walk in obedience
to Christ.
“This
definition indicates that repentance is something that can occur at a specific
point in time, and is not equivalent to a demonstration of change in a person’s
pattern of life.
“Repentance,
like faith, is an intellectual understanding
(that sin is wrong), and emotional approval
of the teachings of Scripture regarding sin (a sorrow for sin and a hatred of
it), and a personal decision to turn
from it (a renouncing of sin and a decision of the will to forsake it and lead
a life of obedience to Christ instead).
“We cannot say
that someone has to actually live a
changed life over a period of time before repentance can be genuine, or else
repentance would be turned into a kind of obedience that we could do to merit salvation for ourselves.
“Of course,
genuine repentance will result in a changed life, and we can call that changed
life the fruit of repentance. But we
should never attempt to require that there be a period of time in which a
person actually lives a changed life before we give assurance of
forgiveness.
“Repentance is
something that occurs in the heart and involves the whole person in a decision
to turn from sin.” (713)
“When we
realize that genuine saving faith must be accompanied by genuine repentance for
sin, it helps us to understand why some preaching of the gospel has such
inadequate results today. …[A]
watered-down version of the gospel does not ask for a wholehearted commitment
to Christ – commitment to Christ, if
genuine, must include a commitment to turn from
sin.
“Preaching the
need for faith without repentance is preaching only half a gospel. It will result in many people being deceived,
thinking that they have heard the Christian gospel and tried it, but nothing
has happened. They might even say
something like, ‘I accepted Christ as Savior over and over again and it never
worked.’ Yet they never really did
receive Christ as Savior, for he comes to us in his majesty and invites us to
receive him as he is – the one who deserves to be, and demands to be,
absolute Lord of our lives as well.”
(717)
Spurgeon
sermon: “…if
we would be servants of God, we must be believers in his Son Jesus Christ. Come
and trust Jesus Christ, and you are saved. When you are truly saved, you are to
be saved from all hesitation about obedience to God—so saved, that henceforth
God's law is your rule. Then, with that holy law imperative upon you, you will
go forth into the world, and say, "It is not mine to ask what others will
do. It is not mine to shape my course by them, not mine to enquire what will
bring me most profit, what will bring me most honor. It is mine to look up to
thee, my God, and ask, what wouldest thou have me to do? I will do it at all
costs."
--http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/2217.htm
----------------------------------------------
REPENTANCE
A CHRISTIAN CHANGES RADICALLY
by J.I. Packer
.... I preached that they should
repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds. ACTS 26:20
The New Testament word for repentance means changing one’s mind so that
one’s views, values, goals, and ways are changed and one’s whole life is lived
differently. The change is radical, both inwardly and outwardly; mind and
judgment, will and affections, behavior and life-style, motives and purposes,
are all involved. Repenting means starting to live a new life.
The call to repent was the first and
fundamental summons in the preaching of John the Baptist (Matt. 3:2), Jesus
(Matt. 4:17), the Twelve (Mark 6:12), Peter at Pentecost (Acts 2:38), Paul to
the Gentiles (Acts 17:30; 26:20), and the glorified Christ to five of the seven
churches in Asia (Rev. 2:5, 16, 22; 3:3, 19). It was part of Jesus’ summary of
the gospel that was to be taken to the world (Luke 24:47). It corresponds to
the constant summons of the Old Testament prophets to Israel to return to the
God from whom they had strayed (e.g., Jer. 23:22; 25:4-5; Zech. 1:3-6).
Repentance is always set forth as the path to remission of sins and restoration
to God’s favor, impenitence as the road to ruin (e.g., Luke 13:1-8).
Repentance is a fruit of faith,
which is itself a fruit of regeneration. But in actual life, repentance is
inseparable from faith, being the negative aspect (faith is the positive
aspect) of turning to Christ as Lord and Savior. The idea that there can be
saving faith without repentance, and that one can be justified by embracing
Christ as Savior while refusing him as Lord, is a destructive delusion. True
faith acknowledges Christ as what he truly is, our God-appointed king as well
as our God-given priest, and true trust in him as Savior will express itself in
submission to him as Lord also. To refuse this is to seek justification through
an impenitent faith, which is no faith.
In repentance, says the Westminster
Confession, a sinner, out of the sight and sense not only of the danger, but
also the filthiness and odiousness of his sins, as contrary to the holy nature,
and righteous law of God; and upon the apprehension of his mercy in Christ to
such as are penitent; so grieves for, and hates his sins, as to turn from them
all unto God, purposing and endeavoring to walk with him in all ways of his
commandments. (XV.2)
This statement highlights the fact
that incomplete repentance, sometimes called “attrition” (remorse,
self-reproach, and sorrow for sin generated by fear of punishment, without any
wish or resolve to forsake sinning) is insufficient. True repentance is
“contrition,” as modeled by David in Psalm 51, having at its heart a serious
purpose of sinning no more but of living henceforth a life that will show one’s
repentance to be full and real (Luke 3:8; Acts 26:20). Repenting of any vice
means going in the opposite direction, to practice the virtues most directly
opposed to it.
-----------------------------------------
Baptist Catechism:
88.
What does God require of us, that wwe may escape His wrath and curse due
to us for sin? Answer: …God requires of us faith in Jesus Christ,
repentance unto life…”
90.
What is repentance unto life?
Repentance unto life is a saving
grace, whereby a sinner, out a true sense of his sin, and apprehension of the
mercy of God in Christ, does, with grief and hatred of his sin, turn from it
unto God, with full purpose of, and endeavor after, new obedience. [Acts 11:18; Acts 2:37-38; Joel 2:12-13; Jer.
31:18; Ps. 119:59] “The[Westminster]
Shorter Catechism: A Modest Revision for
Baptists Today”
--------------------------------------------------
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