Personal
Evangelism Handbook
CHAPTER VI
Repentance
THE IMPORTANCE OF REPENTANCE
What place should repentance
have in your presentation of the gospel? Is repentance
the same thing as belief? Or is it something distinct
from it? Is it important to emphasize repentance, or
should we never mention it in this age of grace? What
does repentance really mean, anyway? These are some of
the questions the soulwinner must face (and answer)
regarding the subject of repentance.
There can be little doubt that
all men, from Adam on, have had to repent in order to
have a right relationship with God. The importance of
this is brought home when we realize men of every
Biblical age preached it. John the Baptist preached it
(Mark 1:15); the Apostle John proclaimed its necessity
(Rev. 2:5); Paul preached repentance wherever he went
(Acts 17:30; 20:21 ); and the Lord Jesus Christ Himself
strongly emphasized that men who refused to repent would
perish (Luke 13:3, 5). So, you see, repentance is
necessary for salvation.
THE MISUSE OF THE WORD
The question is, "What
does the Bible MEAN by 'repent,' and how should it be
presented to the lost?" The important thing is NOT
what repentance has COME to mean down through the
centuries since Christ's time, but rather-and this is of
utmost importance-what the word did mean WHEN IT WAS
SPOKEN by Christ, Paul, Peter, and others in Biblical
times.
If you look up
"repent" or "repentance" in a modern
dictionary you will read definitions like the following:
"regret; to feel sorry for sin and seek
forgiveness; to turn from sin." Based on these
definitions, preachers have been going about earnestly
trying to get men to quit their sinning, or at least to
work up a genuine sorrow for sin. But is this the
divinely appointed task of Christians to get men to
change their ways?
No! This kind of preaching
often leads to a form of self-righteousness and
self-reformation-not to salvation. Does a sinner have to
turn from or give up his sins to be saved? COULD he do
this? Did you? Have you yet given up all sinning?
"If we say that we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves, and the truth is not in us" (I John
1:8).
It is sadly apparent that our
modern-day misuse of the word "repent" has
done a great deal of harm and has confused multitudes.
Because of the wrong use of the word "repent"
men have gotten the idea that a Christian is one who
doesn't smoke, drink, curse, go to dances or movies, or
do anything that is wrong or immoral.
This negativism has blinded
people to the fact that a Christian is "one of
Christ's"-one who, through faith, has received
Christ as his Saviour. Once a person has Christ and His
power in his life, THEN his behavior often changes. But
this change is the RESULT of being a child of God; it is
not the CAUSE.
Being good is not the way to
become a child of God. Remember Ephesians 2: 8, 9,
"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."
Because preachers have allowed
themselves to propagate this error in the teaching of
repentance, our churches are full of "good,"
self-righteous, moral people who are certain they are
"Christians," yet when they are asked if they
are going to heaven, the best answer they can give is,
"I hope so."
They do not have the assurance
that comes from knowing Christ as their Saviour.
Instead, they are plagued by the uncertainty that comes
from trying to be good enough by their own efforts to
gain heaven.
All too often this idea that
"I must be good to gain God's favor" comes
from Bible-believing men who preach that one must either
"turn from sin or burn in hell." How sad and
tragic it is that so much damage can be caused by the
misuse of one word.
THE CORRECT MEANING OF
"REPENT"
The word in the New Testament
usually translated "repent" is the Greek word
"metanoeo," and the word translated
"repentance" is "metanoia." Both of
these Greek words have the same basic meaning: "to
change your mind; reconsider; or, to think
differently."
Granted, if a person changes
his mind (repents) toward certain sins in his life, he
may become very sorrowful and may even stop those
particular outward sins, but the sorrow and the ceasing
from certain sins would be the RESULT of repenting, not
repentance itself.
When God tells an unsaved man
to repent, He means for that man to change his mind
about how to reach God and accept GOD'S way of
salvation. The person must CHANGE HIS MIND from any idea
of religion he may have to save him, and trust Christ's
payment for everything he has done wrong.
PASSAGES ON REPENTANCE
EXPLAINED
Luke 13:1-5, "There were
present at that season some that told Him of the
Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their
sacrifices. And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose
ye that these Galileans were sinners above all the
Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell
you, Nay: but except ye repent (change your mind) ye
shall all likewise perish (i.e., like these Galileans
did). Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam
fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners
above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, Nay:
but, except ye repent (change your mind), ye shall all
likewise perish."
Try to get the picture. Christ
in this passage was talking to good people who believed
the old tradition that people suffered only because of
their sins. So they logically concluded that those in
Galilee and at the Tower of Siloam who died such
horrible deaths must have been great sinners.
Christ contradicts what they
"suppose" (v. 2) and "think" (v. 4)
and tells these self-righteous people that they need to
change their minds and see themselves as sinners, too.
Christ is not saying "Turn from your sin," but
that they should recognize that they are sinners, or
they will perish in their own self-righteousness.
Even if one doesn't know Greek,
it is obvious from the passage itself that the meaning
of "repent" here cannot be "sorrow
for," or "turning from, sin." These
people obviously needed, above all else, to think
differently-in this case, to think differently about
themselves, about others, and about God.
Acts 17:30, "And the times
of this ignorance God winked at (or, overlooked); but
now commandeth all men everywhere to repent."
To understand what God means
here by "repent" only requires one to read the
last part of verse 29 of the same chapter, "we
ought not TO THINK that the Godhead is like unto . . .
silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device."
Instead, what ought these philosophers of Mars' Hill to
think? They needed to CHANGE THEIR MINDS and see that
God is quite different from stone!. He is judge (v. 31),
and He is alive (w. 31, 32). Again, from the context,
the true meaning of "repent" is clear.
Acts 20:20, 21, "And how I
kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have
shewed you, and have taught you publicly, and from house
to house, Testifying both to the Jews and also to the
Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord
Jesus Christ."
Notice that the Bible states
here that we are to proclaim repentance TOWARD GOD.
There is nothing here about turning from sin. Paul is
giving his last words to these be loved Ephesian elders
whom he had led to Christ. They had formerly been
heathen idol worshipers (Acts 19) and very immoral.
However, Paul's preaching to them was that they needed
to change their thinking about God.
Think what an impact on these
sinful heathen the truth of Romans 5:8 would have had:
"But God commendeth (displayed) His love toward us,
in that, WHILE WE WERE YET SINNERS, Christ died for
us."
Remember, the word
"gospel" means "good news." Do you
think it would have been good news to them if Paul had
said, "While we were trying to give up our sins,
God tried to love us a little bit," or, "While
we were yet sinners, Christ died for our past sins, and
now if we stop all our present sins and never commit any
sins in the future, God will love us"?
No! These sinners needed to
know that the God of the universe loved them even as
they were. They needed the assurance that God was not
requiring of them the impossible -that they stop
sinning-but simply that they would trust Christ and His
payment for their sins and thus receive salvation.
Later Scripture makes it clear
that God certainly did work in their lives to bring
about changes, but this took place only AFTER they were
already saved (Eph. 2:10).
Acts 2:38, "Then Peter
said unto them, 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."
Chapter Nine covers the part of
this verse dealing with baptism. Here we will
concentrate on the part of the verse having to do with
repentance. One of the first rules to follow in
understanding any Bible verse is to consider the
context. In the second chapter of Acts we discover that
these Jewish unbelievers thought the disciples were
drunk (vv. 13, 15) and that Jesus was only a man whom
they crucified (vv. 23, 36). Peter lets them know that
the disciples were not drunk but in God's will (vv.
15-17), that Jesus is the Christ (Messiah) sent by God,
and that even though men crucified Him, God raised Him
from the dead (vv. 24, 32, 36).
These Jewish men, having been
set straight on these matters, were "pricked in
their heart (Greek, 'thoughts') and said unto Peter and
to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what
shall we do?" (v. 37)
Peter's immediate answer was,
"Repent . . . every one of you ... for the
remission of sins...." In the frenzy of the day
that Jesus stood before Pilate the mob had cried,
"Crucify Him, crucify Him." Then they saw Him
only as a man and a troublemaker. Now Peter tells them
they must repent (think differently) toward this One and
realize that He is "both Lord and Christ" (v.
36), and that salvation comes only through Him (vv. 21,
38, 41 ) . This, again, is Biblical repentance.
USING "REPENTANCE"
IN WITNESSING
If you are going to use the
word "repent" or "repentance" in
your witnessing, you should always explain what it
really means. You can perhaps teach the meaning of
repentance through your personal testimony, explaining
that you used to think God hated sin so much that He
hated you as well, and not until you heard the gospel
did you understand that God loves you and wants you to
go to heaven. (If this IS part of your testimony.) Then,
after understanding the gospel, you began to think
differently about God. This way you could have the
person understand the plan of salvation . . . he could
repent . . . and you would never have to worry about
whether or not you confused him by the word
"repent."
The important thing in
witnessing is to lead the lost person from wherever he
is spiritually to having faith in Christ as his Saviour.
You should try to do this as smoothly and naturally as
possible. Using first or third person illustrations in
your conversation is an excellent way of achieving the
desired results, and particularly in giving a proper,
Scriptural explanation of repentance.
That great giant of the faith
Dr. William L. Pettingill put it well in his book, Bible
Questions Answered. Under Repentance and Salvation, page
215, he answers the following question: "What place
has repentance in salvation? Should we tell people to
repent of their sins to be saved?"
"The Gospel of John is the
Holy Spirit's Gospel tract, written that men might
believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and
that believing they might have life through His Name (
20: 31 ) . And it does not mention the word
'repentance.' But that is only because repentance is a
necessary part of saving faith. Strictly speaking, the
word repentance means a 'change of mind.' It is by no
means the same thing as sorrow (II Cor. 7:10). Since it
is not possible for an unbeliever to become a believer
without changing his mind, it is therefore unnecessary
to say anything about it. The only thing for a man to do
in order to be saved is to believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ: and to believe on Him is the same thing as
receiving Him (John 1:11-13)."
Any teaching that demands a
change of conduct toward either God or man for salvation
is to add works or human effort to faith, and this
contradicts all Scripture and is an accursed message
(Gal. 1:8, 9; Deut. 27:18). Study the book of Galatians.
Remember, the closer a
counterfeit comes to the truth, the more people it will
fool. Don't be fooled. Yes, a Christian should make
every effort to discipline his life, to lay aside every
weight and the sins which so easily beset him, but this
has to do with SERVICE, which can come only AFTER
salvation. Salvation is always a gift; it is nothing we
do ourselves.
Let's make salvation as clear
as we possibly can. If something might possibly confuse
someone, let's find some other way of expressing the
truth so that it will be crystal clear instead of
confusing.
"Beware lest any man spoil
you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the
tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and
not after Christ" (Col. 2:8).
"But I fear, lest by any
means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty,
so your minds should be corrupted from the SIMPLICITY
that is in Christ" (II Cor. 11:3).
