Redemption: True Repentance and Saving Faith

Welcome! For a variety of reasons, including illness, it has been quite a few weeks since I have taught up here. With all that has been going on, I am reminded freshly that it is and has always been a tremendous honor and privilege to serve you in this way. One never knows how long we have to do anything in this life, when doing something will be our last time, and so I want to take this opportunity to say that I love you and that it has been a total joy to dig into Scripture for you and share what the Lord has shown to me. To the Lord, and to the Lord alone, goes all the credit for anything that I have shared that has instructed you, inspired you, corrected you, or encouraged you. Soli Deo Gloria. To the Glory of God alone!

We are going to dive into some challenging topics today; our title is True Repentance and Saving Faith. Repentance is a word that has fallen out of use. From time to time I like to look up words in Google’s ngram viewer, which looks at word use in publications through history. I decided to look up “repentance” and “repent.” Other than antiquated words like “thine” and “heretofore”, I don’t think I have ever seen a more precipitous decline in use, a drop of fully 90% from the peak back in the early 1800s. I wish there were a way to only search Christian publications; sadly, I suspect that we would find the same decline in the usage of “repentance” there as we do here in general.

I remember as a child a bunch of kids in our neighborhood were wandering around bored on a weekend afternoon with nothing to do – a recipe for trouble if there ever was one. Well, for some reason we ended up in the side yard of a house that didn’t have any children, and growing along the side of the house were a type of plant that is quite common in Southern California; over there they call them succulents. These plants are more like cactus than like your typical plant. They don’t have thorns, but their leaves are super thick and filled with fluid, much like a cactus leaf. Anyway, on that day we discovered that they were great for drawing pictures on the side of that neighbor’s house.

There were probably 10 of us kids there, drawing all kinds of things, laughing at each other’s artwork because it is difficult to draw with a spongy leaf, making quite a racket, when all of a sudden the man of the house comes storming out, shouting at us, “What are you doing?! I’m going to call the police!” Well, we fled in all different directions. There were so many of us that we knew he couldn’t catch us. But as we fled, he shouted something that terrified me and likely terrified everyone else too – he said, “I know where you live, and I’m going to tell your parents!”

It was then that I realized I was maybe in deeper trouble than many of the other kids, some of whom lived blocks away. I lived two doors down, on the other side of the street, and I knew that my parents knew and talked from time to time with the couple that lived at this house. I didn’t know how well he knew me, so if my memory is correct, I think I didn’t run to my house, but to the end of the block; from there I went behind our row of houses, where there was a six-foot wide hill of dirt that separated our entire street of houses from a church and a school that were on the next block. This little strip had fences and/or brick walls on both sides; it was a fun place to play, and maybe another day I’ll tell you about one of my adventures or misadventures there. But anyway, I went back that way and climbed the brick wall at our house and came in through the back. But my worst fears were realized; not more than an hour later, our doorbell was ringing and after my Dad opened the door, I recognized the voice, and it was him. I ran out the back door and hid behind our garage until a little later I heard my Dad, calling for me to come in. Busted!

I came in, was asked if I had participated, and said yes. I was made to apologize to the neighbor, which I did, and then the neighbor said that he wanted the boys involved to clean up the mess. My father agreed, without asking me. And so, I think a few hours later that afternoon, I and only a few other boys found ourselves back at that neighbor’s wall, provided with buckets and sponges. The neighbor apparently didn’t know the other boys, so they got away with it. As we quickly learned, those succulent things weren’t like crayons, they were much more like stain. It was ridiculously difficult, slow, and tedious work. The wall was stucco, which is common there, and the bumps in the stucco shredded our sponges to almost nothing. That wasn’t a problem, because the neighbor had plenty more sponges!

After several hours, and our arms were so exhausted that it hurt to wipe our brows, all we had really managed to do was to smear that green stuff so that instead of bright green lines we now had diffuse green over an even greater area. By this point the sun had set, dinnertime for us was at least an hour ago, and it was getting so dark that we couldn’t see much of anything. At this point, the neighbor came out, with a flashlight, and although I didn’t appreciate it at the time, showed tremendous grace to us because he said we had done enough and let us go home. About a week later we saw that he had hired a painter who ended up repainting that entire wall of the house.

I remember coming home utterly spent only to then receive a lecture from my Dad and a list of punishments from him. (I don’t remember what those were.) And in the coming days or weeks as I lived out the consequences of those punishments, I made some important decisions. From now on, I decided, I would listen to that little voice inside me that was telling me, as I started to draw on that wall, “This is wrong! Don’t do this!” By the way, I did hesitate to join in at the beginning, but one of the kids told me that he knew the neighbor and that he said it was OK, that they could do this any time they wanted. Looking back at this today, how I could not have seen this for the absolutely outrageous lie that it was utterly bewilders me. The truth is I still had my doubts, but once I started, I found it was really fun, and as a generally shy kid, this was a rare opportunity to be treated as just one of the gang among this group of kids, and that meant a lot to me. Peer pressure at its “finest”!

But as I was saying, I decided to listen to that voice of conscience. I also decided that I needed to choose my friends more carefully. This turned out to be an excellent decision, because only a few years later most of these guys got into drugs and only went further downhill from there.

I tell this story because it is an example of repentance. In terms of my life before I became a Christian it is the most significant example of repentance that I can remember. But I believe it still was only a very shallow sort of repentance. And as such, it serves as a good example of the shallow sort of repentance that pervades our culture, even often among professing Christians.

How was it shallow? Well, it was almost entirely self-centered. My focus was on me. My thinking was that I needed to do things differently in the future so that I wouldn’t get into that kind of trouble ever again. I also only saw error in judgment, not sin. In my thinking, my only error was going along with the crowd. I did not see that it was sin to deface the neighbor’s property. I didn’t think about how I sinned against him at all.

I like the definition of repentance in Wayne Grudem’s systematic theology: “Repentance is a heartfelt sorrow for sin, a renouncing of it, and a sincere commitment to forsake it and walk in obedience to Christ.” The only thing I might change is near the beginning; I would add “Repentance is heartfelt sorrow for sin to God.” This first step of repentance, a heartfelt sorrow, should be personal, because we have offended a Person (with a capital P). I think this is so important! I think of David’s prayer after Nathan confronted David about his adultery with Bathsheba and his arranging of the death of her husband Uriah. Here is what David prayed:

Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your unfailing love; according to Your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight; so You are right in Your verdict and justified when You judge. – Psalm 51:1-4

Now obviously David sinned against Bathsheba, and he most definitely sinned against Uriah. But even more, incomparably more, he sinned against God. This is why David says “against You only have I sinned.” The prophet Nathan, in confronting David, also understood this; he asked David, “Why have you despised the word of God?” My repentance was shallow in that I couldn’t even see how I had sinned against the owner of that house, but it was even dramatically more shallow in that the thought of despising my God, of rejecting Him, of defying Him, wasn’t even remotely in my thoughts.

Repentance includes an intellectual understanding that sin (whether a particular sin or sin in general) is wrong, but it does not stop there. Knowledge is not enough. It also includes some kind of an emotional response, typically sorrow for one’s one own sin (and even better, specifically, sorrow directed to God for sinning against Him). But this too is not enough. The final component is a personal decision to turn from sin (by God’s help). This is a decision not just to stop sinning but to obey and follow Christ.   

You see each of these elements implied in this prophetic passage from Isaiah:

Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and He will have mercy on them, and to our God, for He will freely pardon. – Isaiah 55:6-7

I love the Hebrew word translated as “forsake” here, azav. It literally means to loosen bands, or to release a beast of burden from its bonds. “Let the wicked forsake their ways” means to let go, to drop the sins that you have bound to you, leave them there, and to walk unburdened to God, to Christ. “Let the unrighteous forsake their thoughts” – this passage strikes me because we tend think that it is only at Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount that thoughts are equated with sins; not so – we see the same thing here. Even your thoughts make you unrighteous. Let them go too; release them, and walk to Christ, walk with Christ. In the context of Isaiah it is a beautiful prophecy; for us, it is reality available to us now. Look at those verbs – seek, call, forsake, and turn – this is repentance.

And this understanding of azav should remind you of Jesus’ own words:

Come to Me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. – Matt. 11:26

The implication of course is that, in Jesus, the weariness will be gone; in Jesus, the burden will no longer be yours to lift.

Repentance is part of the process of coming to Christ, and it is also a part of the normal Christian life. Not that we can possibly repent for each and every sin we commit – we are unaware of most of our sin – but as God brings things to mind, we should in fact repent of them. In preparing for this message I was surprised to learn that there are Bible teachers who say that you should never repent after becoming a Christian! I like what Paul wrote to the Corinthians. Speaking of an earlier letter to them, he writes:

Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it—I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while—yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done. – 2 Cor. 5:8-11

This passage is a little confusing in that he is talking about repentance that leads to salvation at the same time that he is addressing people who are primarily already Christians, but in both cases the message is that real repentance brings fruit. That’s not to say that people don’t struggle with certain sins, or that people never backslide, but it does demonstrate that repentance is an essential part of both the initial steps that lead to salvation and the ongoing life of a believer.

Let’s move from talking about repentance to faith. If repentance is fundamentally about turning from sin, that faith is about turning to Christ. Just like repentance, faith includes an intellectual understanding of who God is, who Christ is, and what Christ has done – bringing together a small band of disciples, teaching them and the crowds, performing miracles, dying on the cross for people’s sins, rising again after three days, appearing to various people for a short period of time after the resurrection, ascending into heaven, and, one day, returning again – faith encompasses an intellectual agreement with these facts, but it certainly does not end there.

Another aspect of faith is having some kind of emotional response. This can be joy that Jesus has come, encouragement that He will return some day and bring “peace on earth”, even awe and wonder at His deeds and His teaching. But this too is not enough. According to James, the demons had both an intellectual understanding and an emotional response, but they certainly didn’t have any kind of saving faith. As he puts it,

Even the demons believe – and shudder. – James 2:19

The third component of faith is a personal decision to turn to Christ to save you yourself. This goes hand in hand with repentance. Repentance is the realization that “I myself have sinned against You, God!” Faith is the follow-up statement “I cannot save myself. Only You can do this. You died on the cross for me. I turn to You now and ask You to save me. I put my hope and trust, indeed, my entire life, into Your hands.”

We talked about the decline of the word “repentance” in usage over time. This is much less true of the word “faith.” But the word has been corrupted. You talk to the average person on the street about faith, and he will have no idea what you mean. Faith has become this abstract thing – it’s not belief in a person, but an emotion. Grudem argues that trust is a better word, and I agree. To break trust is to be disappointed by a person. If you ask a person to fill in the blank to “Trust ___”, they probably will say me. There is an understanding of personal relationship in the word “trust” that seems to have vanished in “faith.” I’m not arguing that we shouldn’t continue to use the word faith when talking about spiritual things, but I am saying (as does Grudem) that trust may be a better word when sharing the gospel with unbelievers (unless you take the time to explain exactly what faith really means).

There are many passages that speak of this personal aspect of faith. One example is from John 1:

He came to that which was His own, but his own did not receive Him. Yet to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God. – John 1:11-12

The Greek word for “receive Him” is paralambano, which means to take with one’s self, to join to one’s self. It’s more than simply welcoming someone into your home, although that in itself is a nice analogy. It is more like welcoming into the family someone as a new family member, now and forever. There are verses that talk about how when we come to faith in Christ, He welcomes us into His family, and we are both described as sons and daughters, and also as brothers and sisters. But I don’t think we normally think of this the other way around. To receive Christ is to welcome Him into our families, messed up though they might be, into our lives, messed up though they might be, into our everything. It is not to receive Him as a guest into our house, but as a roommate, and even more than a roommate, more like a spouse, one who can not only go into every room, messy though they might be, but also look into every drawer, examine every possession, and even beyond this, every thought, one for whom there are no secrets harbored at all. This is what it means to receive Him!

Of course we also have John 3:16, which says,

For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. – John 3:16

Note that the Greek does not say “believes Him” but “believes in Him”. The phrase, which could also be translated as “believes into Him”, is not really found outside of the New Testament. John is going out of his way to make it clear that he is not just talking about intellectual belief; he is talking about trust, trust in the Person of Christ. Jesus repeatedly says “Come to Me” in the gospels; “Him who comes to Me I will not cast out” (John 6:37), “If any one thirst, let him come to Me and drink” (John 7:37), and “Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matt. 11:28). This is relationship. This is personal dependence on and trust in Jesus Christ.

Just as repentance is not only part of coming to Christ but also part of the normal Christian life, so is faith, this trusting in Christ. Our lives should be punctuated by moments where, often under trials, we reaffirm to the Lord our trust in Him. I think of the opening to the book of James:

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. – James 1:2-4

Trials here are equated to the testing of your faith. The fruit of these trials is perseverance; our faith is found to hold, to be real, to be strong. The trial itself strengthens it. This is a big deal! And this is why James can say to count such hard things as pure joy. Another passage I think of is from Psalm 37:

The steps of a man are established by the Lord, and He delights in his way. When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong, because the Lord is the One^]who holds his hand. – Psalm 37:23-24 [NAS]

Again, faith is trust. We grow in trust as we see the Lord come through. But we especially see the Lord come through as we fall. And so both moments of faith and of repentance should be a regular part of our lives.

I want to point out that faith and repentance really are a package deal; they work intimately together. Paul, in his farewell message to the Ephesian believers before heading to Jerusalem, says,

You know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I came into the province of Asia. I served the Lord with great humility and with tears and in the midst of severe testing by the plots of my Jewish opponents. You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus. – Acts 20:18-21

Similarly, look at Hebrews 6:1:

Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God… – Heb. 6:1

Repentance and faith are #1 and #2 in this list. Now it is true that sometimes Scripture speaks of one or the other for salvation, but that simply means that both were implied together. Examples of verses that speak of faith alone for salvation include John 3:16, Acts 16:31, Rom. 10:9, and Eph. 2:8-9. Examples of verses that speak of repentance alone for salvation include Luke 24:46-47, Acts 2:37-38, Acts 3:19, Acts 5:31, Acts 17:30, Rom. 2:4, and 2 Cor. 7:10. From this I conclude that each must imply the other. They are two sides of the same coin. Or perhaps put a better way, true repentance includes saving faith; saving faith includes true repentance.

I even see repentance and faith implied together in the Old Testament. An example is in Ezekiel:

Therefore, you Israelites, I will judge each of you according to your own ways, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, people of Israel? For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live! – Ezek. 18:30-32

Where do you get a new heart and a new spirit? Only from calling out to the Lord, only from Him. So again, we see repentance and faith working together.

I want to remind you that although there may be times where it is appropriate to call on others to repent, we need to be extremely careful not to become like Job’s friends, calling for repentance when it is not appropriate. We should never conclude simply from the presence of trials in a person’s life that this means they are sinning, that God is bringing these trials into their life to force them to deal with their sin. As we have already discussed, God uses trials also to test or strengthen people’s faith. Trials come upon sinners and saints. And even when we do know of sin, it may not be our place to confront it. It may be someone else’s place because they have a better relationship with the person. Or it may be simply something that we should pray for God to do directly. Each situation is different. And Jesus reminds us not to get so bent out of shape about the speck in that other person’s eye while we ignore the plank in our own! So be measured, be appropriately cautious. Be prayerful, seeking God’s wisdom for each situation.

I want to close by asking some questions of you and where you are in your relationship with God right now. I encourage you to close your eyes to avoid distractions, and really think about these questions.

1. Where are you with regards to repentance and trust in Christ? Have you come to the point of a personal relationship, you with Him, and He with you, opening up every part of your life to Him, or are you still holding back? Are you only at the point of intellectual understanding? Intellectual understanding combined with emotional approval? If you have not moved beyond these to real relationship, what is holding you back? He loves you! He died for you! If nothing is holding you back any more, tell Him in silent prayer, invite Him into your life, confess your sin against Him and your need for Him, now.

2. If you have in the past given your life to Christ, if you have in the past confessed your sins to Him, but you haven’t confessed your sins to Him, been “real” with Him, in a long time, why is that? (Note that unconfessed sin can do that all by itself, as it leads to a distance between you and God.) Is there any reason you cannot confess your sins, maybe a particular sin that you have committed repeatedly, right now? (I can’t think of any reason to wait!) If you can’t think of a reason either, spend some time now talking to Him in prayer. Be honest. Be open. Admit your inability to truly cut the strings without His help. Ask Him to cut the strings for you.

3. Again, if you have in the past given your life to Christ, if you have in the past felt like you were really living by faith, but you now feel your faith has grown weak, or cold, why is that? Any relationship grows cold if you don’t spend time with the other person. Are you spending time in the Word and in prayer with God each day? Again, if not, why is that? Is there any reason not to spend time with Him now, talking about your faith, asking for help in restoring the relationship? If not, spend some time now reconnecting to Him. Be real. Be humble. Confess your sin and your need for His help.

4. If none of these apply to you, is there anything else you sense the Lord is prompting you about, something you need to make right, something you need to confess to Him, something you need to do? If so, spend time in prayer now, responding to the Lord.

5. Finally, if you are drawing a blank, if you relationship with God is good, if the Lord is not prompting you with anything specific, I ask you to spend this time in prayer for those around you, for Satan will not be happy with what is happening here. Pray in love for your brothers and sisters here today.