The forgotten feature of faith: Repentance
We continue in our series Dare to be Different and this month our focus has been on Different Features, Different Characteristics. Tonight I want us to consider together the forgotten feature of faith.
There seems to be a forgotten word in our modern Christian vocabulary, a word that describes a feature that should still be visible and active in our lives today as followers of Jesus.
So what is the forgotten feature, what is the forgotten word? The word is Repentance.
In the original text of the New Testament, the term for repentance is metanoia.
Metanoia has two primary aspects: a “change of heart or mind” and “regret or remorse.”
Repentance is a condition of salvation, in Matthew 3:2 John the Baptist said, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near”
Mark 1:14-15, Later on, after John was arrested, Jesus went into Galilee, where He preached God’s Good News. “The time promised by God has come at last!” He announced. “The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!”
And again in Matthew 4:17 Jesus said, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.”
The Apostle Paul preached to the Jews, Gentiles and Greeks “turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus”
Our motives for repentance are found in the goodness of God, in His divine love, in His desire to save sinners, in the inevitable consequences of our sin, in the demands of the gospel, and in the hope of eternal spiritual life in the heaven.
True repentance leads a person to say, “I have sinned” and then make a 180-degree change of direction.
Repentance is NOT something we do once and then continue living how we want.
Repentance requires change, real change.
Repentance is NOT asking the Lord for forgiveness with the intent to sin again.
Repentance is an honest, acknowledgment of sin with a commitment to change.
If you examine the way you live your life today, is there something you need to repent of?
Have you allowed sinful wants, needs, desires to create a barrier between you and God?
Even if you have been a follower of Christ for many years, is your relationship with Him in the right place?
Do you need to once again say “I have sinned” and turn away from sin and turn again to Christ?
Repentance. The call to repent is strangely absent in many modern churches today.
The message preached is ‘God loves you’, which is true, ‘God cares for you’, which is also true, and ‘God has a plan for you’, which again is true.
But, some churches are more concerned about being “seeker friendly” than biblically literate and legitimate.
To proclaim the words of Jesus, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” or the words of the Apostle Paul from Romans 6:23 “the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” that is the real message of the Gospel that still needs to be preached.
It seems some churches think the message of repentance should only be preached in an occasional evangelistic service just in case someone is offended by the truth of the Word of God.
Let me remind you what the Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, Christ sent me to preach the Good News—and not with clever speech, for fear that the cross of Christ would lose its power. The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God.
Repentance was the message of all of the prophets.
Repentance was the message of John the Baptist as he preached in the wilderness.
Repentance was the message with which Jesus began His public ministry.
Repentance was also the message with which Jesus concluded His ministry. In Luke 24:46-47 Jesus said,
“Yes, it was written long ago that the Messiah would suffer and die and rise from the dead on the third day. It was also written that this message would be proclaimed in the authority of His name to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem: ‘There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent.’
Repentance was the message of the apostles as they preached and later scattered throughout the known world, Mark 6:12 records, the disciples went out, telling everyone they met to repent of their sins and turn to God.
Repentance was the message that birthed the church at Pentecost, Acts 2:37-38, Peter’s words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?”
Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Repentance was the missionary message of the Apostle Paul, Acts 17:30, “God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him.”
In Revelation, the last book of the Bible, repentance is the message of John on Patmos to the believers in the churches of Asia, Revelation 2:5, Look how far you have fallen! Turn back to me and do the works you did at first. If you don’t repent, I will come and remove your lampstand from its place among the churches.
The call to repentance is not just to the unsaved, not just to the unbeliever, the call to repentance is also to the backslider and the wanderer from the truth. Repent. Turn back to God.
The call to repent is woven throughout the tapestry of the entire Bible on almost every page.
Dare to be different. Repentance is not meant to be a forgotten feature of your faith, Jesus’ commands us to “repent”.The word from the lips of our Lord is not offered as an option it is a command.
What is real repentance?
Repentance is not just remorse. It is not simply being sorry for our sin. The rich young ruler went away “sorrowful,” but he didn’t repent (Luke 18:23).
Repentance is not regret, or merely wishing that the deed had not happened. Pontius Pilate, washed his hands in regret over his turning Christ over to the crowds (Matthew 27:24).
Repentance is not just resolve. It is not like a New Year’s resolution where we resolve to take on a new set of moral standards.
Repentance is not just reform, it is not just turning over a new leaf. Some Bible scholars use Judas Iscariot as an example of reform without repentance. Judas took the thirty pieces of silver, the payment for his betrayal of Jesus, and flung them down the corridors of the temple. Judas reformed, but he did not repent (Matthew 27:3).
I said at the start repentance comes from the Greek word Metanoia which literally means “to change one’s mind.” It is a change of mind that affects a change of will and, in turn, brings about a change of action.
Remember the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15. After finding himself broke and broken, in a pig pen, the son “came to himself”, he had a change of mind, a change of will. In the next verse, he exclaimed, “I will arise and return to my father.”
The prodigal changed his mind, changed his will, and then he changed his actions, he returned home to his father and said, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.’ (Luke 15:21)
The son repented and then his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ (Luke 15:22-24).
The Father welcomed his son home, the father did not reject his son. When we repent and turn back to Father God we are not rejected, we are welcomed home, and the robe we are clothed with is the righteousness of Christ.
Without Christ we are lost, wandering, in Christ, we are found, we are secure, we are saved.
Where is repentance in salvation?
Does repentance precede faith?
Or does faith come before repentance?
Repentance and faith are both gifts of God’s grace. They are different sides of the same coin.
C.H. Spurgeon said they are “Siamese twins ... vitally joined together.”
Repentance and faith are inseparable. Repentance alone will not get you to heaven, but you cannot get there without it. Jesus’ commands: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
In His ministry, Jesus emphasized the goodness of God’s grace.
The Apostle Paul stated, “The goodness of God leads you to repentance” (Romans 2:4).
Our Lord finds us stumbling in the darkness of sin, discouraged by circumstances and situations, disoriented by the problems and issues of life, takes us by the hand, and His goodness “leads us to repentance.”
When all is said and done, what difference does it make if we drive a luxury car, eat vitamin-enriched foods, wear expensive designer clothing, sleep on a name-brand mattress, live in a mansion with acres of land, and are buried in a mahogany casket in a cemetery as lovely as a botanical garden ... only to rise up in judgment to meet a God we do not know?
Jesus still calls all to, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” And it is His goodness that leads us to repentance.
God has designed us to have a conscience. God has designed us to realize when we’ve sinned or messed up or failed or fallen short. Romans 3:23-24 reminds us: For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, in His grace, freely makes us right in His sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when He freed us from the penalty for our sins.
Friends we have been set free from the penalty for our sins, as disciples of Christ, God has already forgiven us.
The Bible teaches us He bore all our guilt and shame and suffering at the cross. My sins, your sins, our sins past, present, and future are already forgiven. But that does not give us a license to behave however we want to.
Our actions, our inactions, our words, our attitudes can cause us to willfully sin.
Are you allowing yourself to fall short of God’s standard in some way?
Each of us needs to regularly examine ourselves, the way we live, the way we act and be willing to confess and repent.
1 John 1:8-10 says: If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that His word has no place in our hearts.
The Bible tells us that when we willing sin we need to repent. To turn around, to change what we DO or THINK so that we are obedient to God. To follow His plan, His purpose, His will for our lives, to live like Christ - that is true discipleship.
As Christians, we are meant to be people who have died to self and sin, we are meant to be people who are willing to live our lives for God.
As I draw to a close, consider the words of the Apostle Paul in Romans 6:6-14, We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin.
And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with Him. We are sure of this because Christ was raised from the dead, and He will never die again. Death no longer has any power over Him.
When He died, He died once to break the power of sin. But now that He lives, He lives for the glory of God. So you also should consider yourselves to be dead to the power of sin and alive to God through Christ Jesus.
Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace.
Friends, it’s only when we crucify self that we live in genuine repentance.
May I encourage you to examine your life?
Do you need to repent this evening?
Do you need to turn back to God again?
Will you dare to seek Him?
Will you dare to turn to Him?
Dare to be different!
Sermon audio available here: https://sermons.estuaryelim.church/20190519_apm_dean_courtier(forgottenfeaturesoffaith).mp3 and here https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/four-features-of-faith-series-dare-to-be-different/id1016102507?i=1000437344759
