Repentance and Faith
RTS Papers / Evangelism / Summer 2016
What we have seen so far is that we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in the performance of Christ alone. We have also seen that God gives to His people a whole new creation where sin’s debt to the law, dominion over our hearts, and devastation to the world are all wiped away. All of it is the free gift of God in Christ.
So there are really two basic ways to relate to God. One is on the basis of our performance (works) and the other is on the basis of God’s promise (grace).
This is very often misunderstood even by we Christians. Sometimes we speak of the unconditional love of God. Of course if what we mean to say is that God’s decision to save a people is unconditional — that nothing we did could ever put Him in our debt — then of course that would be true: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9) and “if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; otherwise grace would no longer be grace” (Romans 11:6).
GRACE means God’s undeserved favor. But just because something is given to us unearned, that does not mean that it comes cheap. And I am afraid that this “cheap grace” is what is often meant by the saying. Just as surely as God’s promise still required a perfect performance (Christ did that for us), so his word calls us to live new lives that tell his good news. It matters how we live.
Turn From Idols to the Living God
The Apostle Paul opens up one of his letters by saying, “For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because … [of] how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God” (1 Thessalonians 1:4, 9). That is actually a much longer passage. But the punchline to Paul’s confidence that these believers were the real deal was how they turned from idols to the living and true God. What does this mean? It does not primarily mean what you wear or what you watch or what you listen to. Although any of those can be idols! The issue is always your heart.
This is what you will want to ask yourself. Have I really come to love the Lord and despise all that would tear me away from Him? The best picture of this that I know of is that parable of Jesus that takes up one verse: “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field” (Matthew 13:44). It is true that we cannot see into each others’ hearts, but life and death do look very different from each other. Over time, we can see it. The man in this parable was not begrudgingly putting away his idols. He did not go and sell his earthly goods out of fear or guilt. Jesus said he did it out of joy. This is what becoming a Christian looks like.
Earlier in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus had said that “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (6:21). It is no coincidence that Jesus spoke so frequently about money. The point is not that money is inherently good or bad. What matters is how easily our treasures reveal whether we are alive in Christ or still among the dead. Either way, we are worshiping. We are always worshiping something.
Repent and Believe is a Way of Life
When Jesus preached the gospel, He said things like “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). To REPENT means to have a total change of mind and therefore a change of direction. Some may say that all that is required is the change of mind. The new desires and decisions are not important. But we must ask what kind of mind-change this is that desires nothing new and does nothing different. We are talking about a total “180” here.
To BELIEVE just means to trust God about what Jesus did for us, to take Him at his word. We could think of the “repent” part as the turning away from the idol and the “believe” part as the turning toward the one true God.
When Jesus calls us to follow Him, this thing called “repent and believe” is not a door to pass through once, but a life-long path. Luther once said that the Christian life is “a life of repentance.” Is this biblical? Well let me ask it in this way. Do you think you will continue to sin? Those sins (even the slightest) — do they dishonor God and corrupt you? I think we will have to admit they do. If you are a genuine believer, will you hate those sins? If you understand the good news, what will you turn to in order to feel loved by God? The answers to those questions can only mean one thing. Repent and believe … today … tomorrow … and the day after that too. As one Christian author put it, we should preach the gospel to ourselves every day.
“Wait a minute,” someone might say, “I thought it doesn’t matter what we do! There isn’t anything we can do! Are you not adding works back into the equation?”
The answer is No — not at all. And by the way, I never said anything like “it doesn’t matter what we do”! What we do earns nothing in God’s court of justice, but what we do plays a key role in God’s theater of glory. The very same Paul that says we are saved by grace, in the very next breath, says, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10). Our new life matters.
Repent and believe and preach the gospel to yourselves every day until the day you die — that doesn’t mean you need to be saved over and over again! Quite the opposite! As you realize what a great sinner you are, you’ll learn afresh what a great Savior you need. And as you get deeper into the gospel, a funny thing will happen. You will find deeper levels of assurance that you are saved. But good works and deep sins and deeper grace will all rise together.
What Do You Do Now?
God is a person. That means that when you are restored to Him, you will quite naturally communicate with Him. How do we communicate with other people we know? We use words. And hopefully we also speak from our hearts. This is even more the case when it comes to communion with God. That is what PRAYER is. And while we certainly do not want to turn prayer into a magic mantra where we simply get what we want from God — including the most important good that we have been talking about, which is eternal life — still we should pray that God would forgive us for all of our sins because of what Jesus has done for us. Consider praying in this way,
Father in heaven, I confess that I am a sinner.
I have not lived with a thankful heart and have not cared about your glory.
I have done more selfish things than I can count and I have wasted the life you’ve given me.
But I have heard from your good news that you sent your Son to take my place.
Please make his life count for mine, and his death wash away my sins.
Please forgive me. Please make me new. Please give me your Holy Spirit.
I want to follow Christ and be more like him every day.
I want to live in his kingdom and for your glory alone.
I ask you all of this for his sake and in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Now I do not want to tell you that “if you repeated those words after me, then you have been born again.” Salvation cannot be reduced to a formula like that. On the other hand, the Bible promises that “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9). And Jesus says, “whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life” (John 5:24). So trust in the promises of God and live!
Now if you do repent and believe, there are some things that God has designed for you to walk out your new life in Jesus. You will want to trust God for these things too because He is a loving and wise Father. These things are sometimes called things like “means of grace” and “spiritual disciplines.” But whatever you call them, they are the ways that the Holy Spirit begins to strengthen your soul for the exciting work ahead.
Resources for Spiritual Growth
First and foremost, get into God’s word.
I recommend the English Standard Version (ESV), but if you already have an New International Version (NIV), New American Standard Bible (NASB) or New King James Version (NKJV) those are also fine translations. The important thing is that you begin to nourish your soul with the story of God: his laws and songs and teachings and visions of the future. The words of God are compared to “bread” (Matthew 4:4) and “pure milk” (1 Peter 2:2) and “imperishable seed” (1 Peter 1:23). So feed your soul on his word.
Second, keep the fires of prayer burning.
God doesn’t make us fit for heaven overnight. One of the things you will experience in the early going (if you haven’t already in our conversation) is that you will still sin. The enemy of your soul will try to overwhelm you with shame and doubt in these moments. But your Father is still there and Jesus is still praying to Him for you about this very thing! The desires of the Spirit inside you will make war against your temptations. So keep praying.
Third, find a church that believes God’s word and loves Jesus.
Please do not buy into the notion that you can be a lone ranger at this. Even our grasp of truth, from the Bible, was designed to operate within community. The most basic thing the church does is worship. This is what we were made for. It is true that your new brothers and sisters in Christ will often disappoint you. But we do not go to church as if it were our Savior. We go to church to worship Him together, and that happens primarily through hearing the word preached, being baptized, and partaking of the Lord’s Supper on a regular basis.
Fourth, get to know all those “one anothers” of the New Testament church.
Everywhere in the apostles’ letters to the churches, we find instructions such as to welcome one another, love one another, confess our sins to one another, comfort one another, serve one another, outdo one another in showing honor, and bear each others’ burdens. And a few other “one anothers” that could be mentioned.
In other words, do not go to church only for what you can get out of it, but for what God will empower you to do for others: “so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them” (Romans 12:5-6). No a church cannot save you. Yes the church will disappoint you. But the church is God’s design — a hospital for sinners, the school of Christ, and the sender on a great mission that awaits.
(#gospel #repentance #faith #belief #bornagain #spiritual #Christian)
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