Repentance Unto Life
The Rev. Louis B. Tiscione, Pastor, Weatherford Presbyterian Church (PCA)
“For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation… If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us [Peter and the Jews] when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I [Peter] that I could stand in God’s way? When they [the Jews] heard this they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life”’ (2 Cor. 7:10; Acts 11:17-18).
Repentance is a change of mind that includes much more than thinking in a different way. It causes us to change every aspect of our lives informed by our minds. The penitent one changes the way he thinks and makes decisions. His motivations to serve himself are changed to serve God. An essential doctrine of the Christian faith is that genuine repentance means to turn away from sin. “Repentance unto Life is an evangelical grace…” (Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter 15, Par. 1). That is, God gives the gift of repentance to one whom He raises from spiritual death, regeneration.
Further, repentance that leads to salvation is always coupled in the Bible with faith. Here’s why. Repentance is to turn away from and faith is to turn to. The Apostle Paul said that Christians are to count themselves dead to sin (turning from) and alive to God in Christ Jesus (turning to) (Romans 6:11).
If genuine repentance leads to salvation, then it is reasonable to ask, “Why doesn’t everyone repent”, or at least all those that hear this truth? The obvious answer is that some choose not to repent. But this answer only raises another question. Why do some choose to repent and others not?
This same question could be asked of believing. Why do some choose to believe and others not? The Bible answers both questions the same. Repentance and faith are God’s gifts.
When the Jews in Jerusalem who had believed heard Peter’s testimony concerning Gentile believers, they said, “… God has granted repentance that leads to life” (Acts 11:18).
I have gone to this depth at the risk of repetition in order to emphasize the biblical answer to why some repent and believe. As stated above, the answer is: both repentance and faith (believing) are gifts from God. They are given to those whom God converts from a sinner to a saint. They are given and received at conversion.
Just as saving faith has three parts: knowledge, agreement, and trust. Repentance also has three parts: acknowledgment of sin, sorrow over sin, and finally turning from sin. When we believe, we look to a certain body of information, i.e. the fundamentals of the Christian Faith. Also, we agree or assent to the truth of that body of information. Finally, saving faith requires trust. That is, we rely upon the truth of what we know and affirm (Hebrews 11), living our lives by this faith.
Concerning repentance, the Bible teaches that the sinner acknowledges his sin which leads to a godly sorrow for it. But even these two are not adequate for true repentance. There must necessarily follow a turning away from sin.
There is a moment in time, appointed by God when He calls and regenerates a sinner converting him and giving him the gifts of repentance and faith. From that moment the Christian strives to live penitently and faithfully.
God’s promise of heaven is for everyone who repents of his sin and believes in Jesus as He is offered in the gospel! Further, on the believer’s way home to heaven, the Spirit of God continues to sanctify him. The Holy Spirit works in the believer prompting a life of faith and repentance. Drawing from a line in an Indiana Jones movie… only the penitent may pass (survive).
By God’s grace and mercy alone, He gives the gifts of repentance and faith without which there is no good news. As we come face to face with our own sinfulness, being grieved by it and committing to turn from it, God causes a light to shine in our hearts to see the beauty of Christ and run to Him. I can’t emphasize this truth enough. The gifts of repentance and faith are received in a moment in time, and they continue to be expressed throughout life.
