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WEEKLY
Volume 2 Number 25
18 November 2007
Repentance and Forgiveness
(Message delivered by Rev Hien
Nguyen at the Sunday Worship Service, 2 pm, Nov 11, 07)
Text:
Acts 5:31-33
We have learnt the Five Points of Calvinism (TULIP), which are Total
depravity, Unconditional election, Limited atonement (sufficient for
all, efficiency for the elect), Irresistible grace, and Perseverance of
the saints. We must give thanks and praise to the Lord for His grace,
love and mercy, and salvation in Christ. While we were dead in
trespasses and sins, hopeless and helpless with our depraved, corrupt,
rebellious and sinful nature, God has graciously chosen us, convicted us
of our sins, drawn us to Himself, granted us faith, repentance,
forgiveness, eternal life and all spiritual blessings in Christ, and
kept us faithful unto the end. Today we shall learn more about
repentance and forgiveness, which is also a gracious gift from the Lord:
“Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a
Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness
of sins” (Acts 5:31), and “Then hath
God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life” (Acts 11:18).
The Message of Repentance
“Repentance toward God” (Acts 20:21) is the first step for
sinners to enjoy God’s salvation in Christ. It is vital because it is
the message preached by our Lord Jesus Christ and His servants, because
it is God’s desire, “not willing that any should perish, but that all
should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9),
because it is God’s command for all mankind everywhere, “And the
times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every
where to repent” (Acts 17:30), and because it is
Christ’s commission to His followers, “And that repentance and
remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations,
beginning at Jerusalem” (Luke 24:47).
John the Baptist
preached, “Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt
3:2).
The Lord Jesus preached, “The time
is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe
the gospel” (Mark 1:15), and “I
tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish”
(Luke 13:3, 5). After His ascension, our Lord Jesus
Christ still preached the messages of repentance through the apostle
John to the seven churches in Asia Minor except the two churches in
Smyrna and Philadelphia, “Remember therefore from whence thou art
fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto
thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except
thou repent” (Rev 2:5), and “Repent; or else I will come
unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my
mouth” (Rev 2:16), and “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten:
be zealous therefore, and repent” (Rev 3:19), and so forth.
Jesus’ Disciples
“went out, and preached that men should
repent” (Mark 6:12).
Peter
preached, “Repent, and be baptized every one of
you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall
receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:38).
Paul’s
preaching is “Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks,
repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts
20:21), and “But 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” (Acts 26:20).
Nowadays, many like to preach an easy and broad-way
Gospel to attract and draw many people, ignoring the message of
repentance or failing to emphasise the true meaning of repentance. How
about you and me? The message of repentance is for sinners and
backsliders, then how hard it is to preach this message when many do not
acknowledge their sins, shortcomings, compromise, unbelief, or even
their apostasy!
The Meaning of Repentance
Dictionaries usually define repentance as a feeling
of regret or remorse for something wrong one has done. That is not
biblical repentance. Repentance may include a feeling of remorse or
sorrow about sins, faults or mistakes in the past, but a feeling of
regret or remorse is not repentance; rather it is regret, in Greek,
metamélomai, denoting a regret, a desire that what is done
may be undone, with regrets or remorse, but with no effective change of
heart and mind. Judas Iscariot “repented himself” or
regretted (metamélomai) because of his betraying the Lord Jesus
and then he hanged himself (Matt 27:3-5). That is “the sorrow of the
world worketh death” (2 Cor 7:10). Many say that they have repented
but without any humble return or submission to the Saviour Jesus
Christ. Then, what does repentance mean?
The term repentance in Greek, metánoia, has
24 occurrences, and the KJV translates as “repentance” 24 times,
denoting a change of mind. To God’s attribute, “without repentance”
denotes His immutability, unchangeability, “For the gifts and
calling of God are without repentance” (Rom 11:29). To human beings,
biblical repentance must be a turning to God from sins, self,
idolatry, or anything displeasing Him. A good
illustration is about the first son’s attitude when his father sent him
to work in his vineyard, “He answered and said, I will not: but
afterward he repented, and went” (Matt 21:29). He changed his mind
from disobedience to obedience to his father. Another illustration is
the believers in Thessalonica, who “turned to God from idols to serve
the living and true God” (1 Thess 1:9). It should be noted that
biblical repentance and faith in Christ is inseparable. The Gospel of
John does not have any term of “repentance,” but when Jesus says,
“whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting
life” (John 3:16), we must understand that the saving faith must
show the fruit of repentance, turning away from sin and submitting to
the holy God.
Then biblical repentance is a change of mind toward
God, toward oneself, and toward sins: from disobedience to obedience to
God, from rebellion to submission to God, from unbelief to faith in God,
from self-love, self-glory, self-righteousness, self-promotion or
self-centredness to God-centredness, God’s glory, and God’s
righteousness, from a love of sin and self to an abhorrence of sin and
self. Then, with a totally depraved, corrupt, rebellious and sinful
heart and mind, can a sinner repent of his sins and turn to God by
himself? Absolutely not! True repentance cannot be effective without
God’s grace.
Repentance Ineffective
without God’s Grace
Although God desires all mankind to repent (2
Peter 3:9) and to be saved (1 Tim 2:4), and the Lord Jesus Christ died
for them all, rose again, and is welcoming all to His salvation with His
open arms, “him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out”
(John 6:37), human beings with their depraved and sinful nature are not
able to change their corrupt mind toward God, self and sin even though
they may see miracles or be punished severely.
Miracles:
Many think that there must be performance of miracles, signs and wonders
to bring sinners to Christ, but the truth is not so. A sinner who is
able to repent from sin and to return to God with a submissive heart is
surely by His grace alone, not by signs or wonders. Our Lord Jesus tells
a story of a rich man and a beggar named Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). After
their death, Lazarus was carried into Abraham’s bosom while the rich man
was in torments in Hell. The rich man prayed Abraham to send Lazarus to
his father’s house to testify unto his five brethren, lest they also
come into his place of torment. Abraham said unto him, “They have
Moses and the prophets (God’s Word, the Scripture); let them hear
them” (v 29). The rich man said, “Nay, father Abraham: but if one
went unto them from the dead, they will repent” (v 30), but Abraham
said unto him, “If they hear not Moses and the prophets (God’s
Word), neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead”
(v 31). No miracles, even the resurrection from the dead, can truly
bring a sinner to repentance. We should not be surprised or deceived by
the claims of charismatic leaders, who are boastful of many who have
been converted through their performance of signs and wonders. Whether
they truly repent from sin and return to God in faith and submission
does count, and this comes from God and by His grace alone, not by signs
or wonders.
Punishment:
Sometimes we think that when unbelievers suffer from severe rebukes,
trials, disciplines, punishment, they may repent from their sins and
come back to God, but the truth is not so. When their sins were exposed,
they showed their hatred and anger (John 7:7; Acts 5:33; 7:54-59). Many
were angry with God when they lost their loved ones in natural disasters
like Tsunamis, earthquakes, floods, or cyclones, etc. The Scripture
tells us that when God pours His judgment or punishment upon this wicked
world with great tribulations, plagues and disasters, the people do not
repent, but blaspheme His name, “And the rest of the men which were
not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works… Neither
repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their
fornication, nor of their thefts” (Rev 9:20-21). “And men were
scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath
power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory…
And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their
sores, and repented not of their deeds (Rev 16:9, 11).
To God’s children, whom He has chosen and saved, God
lovingly chastised or corrected them so that they may “be partakers
of His holiness” (Heb 12:10). We should give thanks to God when we
are chastised, knowing that it is His love and grace to bring us to
repentance and forgiveness and sanctification, “For godly sorrow
worketh repentance to salvation” (2 Cor 7:10).
Repentance, a Gift from God
We must thank God for His grace and goodness leading
us to repentance (Rom 2:4). Saving repentance must come from God alone,
neither by miracles nor by punishment. God’s Word confirms, “Him hath
God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to
give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins” (Acts 5:31), and
“When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified
God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto
life” (Acts 11:18), and “In meekness instructing those that
oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the
acknowledging of the truth” (2 Tim 2:25). Seeing this truth, we
shall give God all the glory and praise when a sinner repents as “joy
shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth” (Luke 15:7). We
should not take God’s grace for granted, but repent right away when the
Holy Spirit convicts us of our sins. It was too late for Esau, who
despised God’s blessings, “For ye know how that afterward, when he
would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no
place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears”
(Heb 12:17).
Forgiveness, a Gift from
God
Next, God does not only give repentance but also forgiveness of sins.
The term forgiveness, in Greek aphesis, has
17 occurrences, the KJV translates as
“remission” nine times, “forgiveness” six times, “deliverance”
once, and “liberty” once. Of 17 times, it is used together with the term
sins 12 times, “forgiveness of sins” (Acts 5:31; 13:38, et
al) or “remission of sins” (Matt 26:28; Luke 24:47, et al). Our
Lord Jesus says, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon
me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he
hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance
(aphesis) to the captives, and recovering of sight to the
blind, to set at liberty (aphesis) them that are bruised”
(Luke 4:18). Then, we must thank God that our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ has authority to forgive us our sins as well as to deliver us
from the power of sin, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever
committeth sin is the servant of sin… If the Son therefore shall make
you free, ye shall be free indeed” (John 6:34, 36), and “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 7:24-25).
Conclusion
Dear friends, repentance toward God and
forgiveness/deliverance from sins are from God alone, not by any human
efforts, miracles or punishment. It is by God’s grace alone that we have
been chosen, converted, forgiven, saved, justified, sanctified, and kept
faithful unto the end. May the Lord help us see this truth so that we
may give thanks and glory to Him alone in all things even when we are
chastised to repent or when a sinner hears the Gospel and repents, and
not be discouraged when facing the rejection, hatred, or persecutions
from sinners. Amen.
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