"St. Peter in Penitence" c 1605 by El Greco
Welcome back to another installment in our series on the Doctrine of the Application of Redemption (from Dr. Wayne Grudem's textbook on Systematic Theology).
Here we find ourselves discussing the topic of conversion. It seems that "conversion" has two elements. That of "saving faith" (placing your trust in Jesus Christ) and repentance. I covered the topic of saving faith here. In this post we will turn our attention to the topic of repentance.
It seems that postmodern America doesn't put the word repentance on its top ten list of things to do during the week. In fact, I suspect if you asked 100 Christians about repentance, it would fall in that category of things that we don't like to talk about. You could put this word in the same basket as hell, sin, and born again.
The problem is that repentance was the first word out of Jesus mouth when he started his preaching ministry. Here is the record according to Matthew 4:12-17:
"When He heard that John had been arrested, He withdrew into Galilee. He left Nazareth behind and went to live in Capernaum by the sea, in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, along the sea road, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles! The people who live in darkness have seen a great light, and for those living in the shadowland of death, light has dawned. From then on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near!"
As I have mentioned, and come to learn, it is wrong for us to cherry pick through the Bible and pick out those things that appeal to our sensibilities. I believe that every single word of the Bible is "God breathed". It seems to me that Jesus chose this particular word to begin His ministry for a reason.
Lets find out, together, just what repentance is and how it plays into the conversion process. Please read on...
My notes from Systematic Theology:
Faith and Repentance Must Come Together
Repentance is defined as follows:
"Repentance is a heartfelt sorrow for sin, a renouncing of it, and a sincere commitment to forsake it and walk in obedience to Christ."
Here is further explanation from Dr. Grudem's text:
"This definition indicated that repentance is something that can occur at a specific point in time and is not equivalent to a demonstration of change in a person's pattern of life. Repentance, like faith, is an intellectual understanding (that sin is wrong), and emotional approval of the teachings of Scripture regarding sin (a sorrow for sin and a hatred of it), and a personal decision to turn from it (a renouncing of sin and a decision of the will to forsake it and lead a life of obedience to Christ instead). We cannot say that someone has to actually live that changed life over a period of time before repentance can be genuine, or else repentance would be turned into a kind of obedience that we could do to merit salvation for ourselves."
Dr. Grudem goes on to say:
"It is important to realize that mere sorrow for one's actions, or even deep remorse over one's actions, does not constitute genuine repentance unless it is accompanied by a sincere decision to forsake sin that is being committed against God.
In other words, we can't just be sorry that we got caught. We need to:
- Understand that sin is wrong
- Have a real sorrow in our heart for our sin and hate the behavior
- and finally, renounce it and decide to move in the opposite direction of sin.
We have all seen people who have been caught in their sins and were very sorry that they got caught. But that is not repentance. That is being sorry that you got caught!
Dr. Grudem describes the following picture in his text: Imagine the non-Christian with his back to Christ hanging on to a bag of his sins. In the conversion process, the new Christian will drop the bag of sins and turn away from his sins (toward Jesus Christ) and seek to begin a new life. If you bring the bag of sins with you, Dr. Grudem reckons, then it is unlikely that your conversion is genuine.
Unfortunately, there is some controversy on the subject of repentance. Surprise, surprise. Some would argue that repentance is not necessary and that requiring it amounts to salvation by works. I am not going to get into that discussion in this post. John MacArthur would argue that you must have repentance in his book, "The Gospel According to Jesus" and Zane Hodges would argue against the requirement of repentance in his book, "The Gospel Under Siege". If you would like to pursue this debate, check out these books.
For my two cents, it certainly doesn't seem unreasonable that I would bring repentance along with my new faith in Jesus Christ. The Bible is full of places where Jesus told people to turn from their sin before they follow Him. The rich young ruler comes to mind.
Here are a series of podcasts from John MacArthur that I recommend you listen to for a better understand of the concept and issue.
Both Faith and Repentance Continue Throughout Life
The conversion process is one that happens in a specific place in time. Even so, it is also a process that will continue and grow throughout our lives. Just because we have placed out trust in Jesus, it doesn't mean that we will never sin again. We will. Therefore, repentance should be practiced regularly in our walk with Christ. Likewise, our faith in the beginning is small. However, a consistent diet of God's Holy Word will greatly increase our faith and understanding over time.
If you remember, this is one of the main reasons I am doing this blog in the first place. My faith has been struggling along with a consistent diet of oatmeal. I have now decided to place a steady diet of meat on my plate. I must confess, I have chocked a bit, but I am also learning to chew more thoroughly before I come to conclusions and swallow anyones doctrine. Everything must pass the test of scripture.
