EVANGELICAL REPENTANCE #4 : REPENTANCE IS A SPIRITUAL MEDICINE MADE UP OF SIX INGREDIENTS

 

OUTLINE

1.  The Heart of Biblical Repentance

2. True and False Repentance

3. Repentance -  A New Testament Overview

4. Biblical  Repentance is a  Spiritual Medicine

 

4. BIBLICAL REPENTANCE IS A SPIRITUAL MEDICINE 

Psalm 51

I (and I suspect, most preachers) find preaching on repentance difficult. It is a subject that easily comes across as harsh and heavy – and those preaching the subject often seem to come across as angry. A note to all preachers: this is not about us. This is about God. And we are one of them which are called sinners.   There is no doubt that there has been a reaction against such preaching in which the preacher sees himself as apart from his hearers. On the other hand, we find that preaching that urges repentance upon our hearers is hardly heard.  If we consider what we have said previously, then we cannot ignore this subject, lest we deprive our people of a necessary remedy for their healing. Jim Packer says that “repentance is the drainage routine on the highway of holiness on which God calls us to travel.”[1] 

Life in this sinful world demands continues cleansing. We need preaching that reminds us of this necessary spiritual discipline. George Whitefield (1714-1770) once heard the American Presbyterian Gilbert Tennent (1703-1764) preaching. Whitefield responded, "I never before heard such a searching sermon.[2]" By this he meant that the hearers were brought to conviction and repentance. Under Whitefield’s own ministry he saw much evidence of people responding to the gospel, repenting of their sin, frequently crying out as they were convicted of their sin. In a letter dated July 1739, addressed to the Bishop of Gloucester, George Whitefield complains that Anglican ministers generally do not mention this subject. He refers specifically to Dr. Stebbington, a noted Anglican minister of his day: “he does not speak a word of original sin or the dreadful consequences of our fall in Adam upon which the doctrine of the new birth is entirely founded.”[3]

Little is said about the spiritual discipline of regular repentance in modern pulpits. This is a serious omission, because we have seen that the call to repentance was so central in the ministries of Jesus, John the Baptist and the apostles.  Note, that repentance was often also accompanied by physical healing. We suspect that there may be greater benefits to repentance than we may think.

Thomas Watson says that “Repentance is a spiritual medicine made up of six special ingredients”[4]. We shall find that repentance is a medicine that kills the sin virus. John Owen is famously attributed with the saying, Be killing sin before it kills you. 

He warns against[5]

(i)                  Being hardened by the deceitfulness of sin (Hebr.3:12-13)

(ii)                Coming under God’s chastisement  (Psalm 89:30-32)

(iii)              Loss of peace 

(iv)              The danger of eternal destruction

(v)                Grieving the Holy Spirit 

(vi)              Wounding the Lord Jesus (who died for sin) afresh.

(vii)            Taking away a man’s usefulness in his generation.

I will generally follow the outline of Thomas Watson’s   chapter on the nature of true repentance. 

1. Seeing sin for what it is

2. Sorrow for sin

3. Confession of sin 

4. Shame for sin 

5. Hatred for sin

6. Turning from sin  

I want to however add a 7th aspect from the 51^st Psalm.  If you have discovered a good remedy for your soul’s healing, PLEASE HELP OTHERS by teaching others to turn from sin (Psalm 51:13)

1. First Ingredient: Seeing sin for what it really is.  We see this from the experience of David. When he was shown his sin by the prophet Nathan, he immediately owned it.  One further illustration from Scripture illustrates this point - The parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15:11-32.  This younger son who left his father’s house defiantly …“he came to himself” (Lk. 15:17). He saw himself for what he was, a sinner (15:18), and he confesses: “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you.“ Note: not only against the earthly father but also the Father who is in heaven!

Before a person can be converted, they must firstly be helped to come to themselves.  Someone must put on the light. Thomas Watson very helpfully says, “The first creation God made was light. So the first thing in a penitent sinner needs is illumination“.  This is, as we have previously said, the work of the Holy Spirit. He works by the agency of God’s Word. The Word of God is a mirror for our soul, showing us the nature of our sin and also the remedy for that sin.  

2. Second Ingredient:  Sorrow for sin:  4 important aspects

(i) Brokenness. David was broken by the revelation of his sin. There must be real pain in the soul. Thomas Watson says, “A woman may as well expect to have a child without pain as one can have repentance without sorrow.”[6] David ‘s language in Psalm 51 makes it clear that here is a broken man who shows heartfelt sorrow for his sin: “Have mercy on me … wash me … I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me … against you and you only have I sinned … my bones are broken …“. David here speaks of a brokenness of soul that may have well also led to physical manifestations. The Hebrew word “to be sorrowful’ is closely aligned with the thought of being crushed. So, he speaks of his bones being crushed/broken (51:8). That same word is also used in 51:17, where it is said that,  “a broken / crushed  and contrite heart, God will not despise”. What do we learn from such language? We learn that repentance is not a superficial emotion.  Thomas Watson says, “This sorrow for sin is not superficial: it is a holy agony. It is called in scripture ‘a breaking of the heart’…”  (Ps. 51.17). It is a hard, unpleasant experience.

(ii) Godly sorrow: Paul speaks about such godly sorrow in 2 Cor. 7:9. Godly sorrow is a sorrow of the heart. It goes deep. The people listening to Peter’s preaching on the day of Pentecost received these words deep into their hearts: “they were cut to the heart“ (Acts 2:37).  Paul continuously grieved for the fact that he saw sin in himself (Rom. 7:23).  We have seen that shallow repentance is mostly sorry that it has been caught out. Godly sorrow by contrast deeply grieves over the fact grieves that it has offended God. The essence of all sin begins with a rebellious heart against God.

(iii)  Restitution where necessary. (See Numbers 5:7). It is upon this principle that Zacchaeus the tax collector proved his repentance (See Luke 19: 1-10) “… if I have defrauded anyone, I restore it fourfold.” In David’s case the restitution is not explicitly stated, but following his repentance he took responsibility and did take care of Bathsheba.  He wept over the child that was conceived and died, with exceeding sorrow. God was His prime focus in that sorrow.

(iv) Consistent or habitual:  In Hosea 6:4 God through his prophet speaks to the insincere repentance of his people (see 6:1-3).  He says, “What can I do with you, Ephraim? What can I do with you, Judah? Your love is like the morning mist, like the early dew that disappears.”  Their repentance is not consistent. It is not habitual. To the woman caught in adultery (Jn.8:1-11) Jesus says – “Go and sin no more”. Be consistent in your repentance! Judging by David’s life as seen in the prayers of the Psalms we see this consistent habit in him. He was a repentant repenter.

3. Third Ingredient: Sorrow must have an outward expression. That expression we call confession. David confessed to God in the presence of the prophet Nathan, “I have sinned!“ (2 Sam.12:13). Achan confessed his sin in Joshua 7 against God and against the people. This is an admittance that sin is never private. Many had died as a result of Achan’s unfaithfulness.  How do we confess our sin? 

(i)      It must be voluntary and not forced. Confession must come as water out of a spring, freely.

(ii)    It must be felt.

(iii)  It must be sincere.

(iv)  It must be named. 

(v)    It must be owned. (This sin that possesses us is so deep that it begins at our conception (see Ps. 51:5).  While Satan is the tempter and incites us to sin, we cannot blame him for our sin.  We are sinful! We must take responsibility for our sin.

Confession, says Thomas Watson, “is like pumping at the leak; it lets out that sin which would otherwise drown. Confession is the sponge that wipes the spots from off the soul.”  Though it is primarily against God, there are cases when we need to make our confession before men. [7]Can you see that a life of confession and repentance is biblically therapeutic? Keep short accounts with sin. Keep your soul unclogged. This will bring true freedom. 

4. Fourth Ingredient: Shame for sin. Shame underlies the whole of Psalm 51.  Every sin makes us guilty, and guilt usually breeds shame. Adam never needed to feel ashamed while he was in the state of innocence.  Gen. 2:25 says “And the man and the woman were both naked and were not ashamed.”  As soon as they sinned and knew they were naked, they were ashamed, for they sewed fig leaves for themselves (Gen. 3:7).

Zephaniah 3:5 says that “the unjust knows no shame…”.  Have you noticed that the more callous and sinful a nation becomes, the less shame it has? In fact, it appears that the more ungodly people become, the more they glory in their shamelessness (Phil. 3.19). In such societies people usually boast in their sexual exploits. They boast how drunk they were over the weekend. They are not ashamed of their sin. 

A sense of shame is good for individuals as well as a nation. The more we are aware of sin, the healthier the individual or nation will be.

5. Fifth Ingredient: Hatred for sin. As soon as his sin was out in the open,  David hated what he had done. A true repenter will hate his own sin and the sin that he sees in others.   He knows that it comes straight from the devil (1 Jn. 3:8) and it makes people into devils. Through sin the image of God in man has become severely distorted.   It has ruined our purity and innocence before God. It has separated us from God and from one another, so that we do not know God as we ought to. We do not love and respect one another as we ought to.  But most of all, sin dishonours God (Rom. 2:23), and despises God. Sin is the reason why Christ was killed by crucifixion.    If this is what sin has done for us, we should truly hate it. Our repentance should be a reflection of this. 

6. Sixth Ingredient: Turn from sin. David firmly resolved to turn from sin. Dying to sin is the life of repentance. This starts on the very day on which you become a Christian. Watch what your eyes see. Watch what your ears hear - do not lend your ears out to slander. Watch what you say. Do not use your tongue to distribute gossip and lies. Let your feet stay on paths that are firm.  This turning from sin implies a notable change!  It is so visible that others see it.  Therefore, it is called a change from darkness to light (Eph. 5:8). This gives the devil no opportunity, no foothold to trip us up.  

These are the vital ingredients found in the medicine of repentance.  And now one more aspect:

7. Teaching others to turn from sin: David not only turned from sin, but he was now resolved to help others to turn from sin (see 51:13).  True Repentance is strengthened when we resolve not only to sin no longer, but when we have a desire to help others to do the same. Our society will improve under the application of this gospel medicine, as we help one another, graciously, one sinner patiently teaching another sinner to find spiritual remedies for our sin-stained souls.

We do ourselves no favour, and we do others no favour by ignoring this greatly important doctrine. In fact, it is the absence of preaching and teaching this doctrine with pastoral love and care that hurts our church and society. It is the chief reason why the church and society stagnates and regresses.  I repeat what Jim Packer wrote, 

“Repentance is the drainage system on the highway of holiness on which God calls us all to travel. It is the way we get beyond what has proved to be dirt, rubbish and stagnant floodwater in our lives. This routine is a vital need, for where real repentance fails, real spiritual   advance ceases and real spiritual growth stops short.”

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[1] Jim Packer: A Passion for Holiness, p.

[2] George Whitefield’s Journals, p. 347

[3] ibid, p.300

[4]  Thomas Watson: The Doctrine of Repentance, Puritan Paperbacks, p.18

[5] John Owen: The Mortification of sin, Puritan Paperbacks, pp 65-75

[6] Thomas Watson: The Doctrine of Repentance, Puritan Paperbacks  p.  19

[7] See Watson , p.37

EVANGELICAL REPENTANCE #2 : True and False Repentance

 

OUTLINE

1.  The Heart of Biblical Repentance

2. True and False Repentance

3. Repentance -  A New Testament Overview

4. Biblical  Repentance is a  Spiritual Medicine

 

2. True and False Repentance

Psalm 51; 2 Corinthians 7:5-13

The subject of repentance can be a minefield if we do not make a careful distinction between true and false repentance. The doctrine of repentance is complicated by the fact that our great enemy, Satan, is a skilled imitator. He disguises himself after all as an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14,15).  The magicians of Egypt likewise imitated many things that Moses did, but ultimately there were limitations to their abilities. There are counterfeit repentances. One of the most disturbing issues about our fallen, sinful human nature is the awful capacity that we have to deceive ourselves (Jer. 17:9) thinking that we have repented of our sin, when nothing of the kind is true before God.  For this reason, Augustine, in his Confessions wrote these words: “Repentance damns many.”  Superficial repentance damns many. It is therefore in our interest to understand this subject.  I have been greatly helped in this regard by the Puritan pastors. [1] [2] [3]  

TWO FALSE VIEWS OF REPENTANCE

1.  Trusting in man’s word for absolution from sin:  Many seek their absolution of sin from people and not from God Himself. A classic example is the Roman Catholic system of confession. You go to your priest and you tell him your sin. He then prays for you, tells you to say that and do this and he absolves you from that sin.  Protestantism has not escaped this tendency, as people come to their pastor with a sin burden, hoping that he will help them to get rid of it for them! This is a fundamentally false approach to repentance and we need to be helped in this regard by learning the biblical logic.

Please note that David did not make the prophet Nathan, his confessor. He did not first go to Bathsheba to say ‘sorry’.  When David’s sin was exposed by Nathan the prophet, he said, “I HAVE SINNED AGAINST THE LORD!“ (2 Sam. 12:13).  We learn that David went first to God and he said,  

“Have mercy on me, Oh God according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy“. (51:1).

He is not exempted from asking for forgiveness and making restitution from the person(s) against whom he had sinned.  What we are establishing here is the PRIMARY PRINCIPLE, namely that all sin is foremost against God, and must therefore be addressed by first going to Him. Please note David’s words again in this regard: “Against you, you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.”  (51:4).   Let this primary truth sink in: When we sin against others, we sin primarily against God. We sin when we go against God’s Word, God’s law. The law that says that adultery is wrong! The 7th commandment (Ex 20:14 )comes from God! And so, if David has committed adultery, then he must FIRST go to God against whom he has transgressed.

Incidentally, all that we have said about trusting in man’s word for absolution from sin is also true also for our first act of repentance, when we become a Christian. Many people think that their coming forward at a meeting to meet a pastor, their praying the sinners’ prayer is what repentance is all about.  It may include that but this isn’t the definitive mark of repentance. The definitive mark of repentance is that you come with ALL your sin to Jesus- your Saviour. There may be someone present to hear your confession, but it is to God that we direct our heartfelt repentance. That may involve tears, emotions, coming to see your elders and praying the sinner’s prayer. But the difference is this: your eyes must be not on your tears, on your emotions, not on the man who is praying with you and for you. Your eyes must be on the LORD – the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world – your sin! (Jn. 1:29,36).  This is the first thing we must know. Feelings or experiences can mislead us. People may give us false assurance!  But when we deal with God Himself, our repentance, made on the basis of His Word, and the promises of salvation by trusting in Christ’s merits alone, and sealed by the Holy Spirit, give us the desired assurance that our sins are indeed forgiven: 

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away, behold the new has come.” (2 Cor 5:17).  

I know that Nathan gave a word of assurance to David, “The Lord has put away your sin; you shall not die”, but it was still the Word of the Lord through the prophet Nathan to David. And so, it must be for the rest of our earthly life. We must deal with Almighty God Himself every day concerning our sin.

2. Legalistic or shallow repentance: Here is a person who knows that she has sinned.  She is filled with guilt and remorse and she decides to repent, because she is sorry for what she has done.  She has seen the awful consequences of her sin. She does not want to do it anymore. She takes her Bible, and reads Psalm 51 and prays it word for word.  Now she concludes that she has done “penance“. She goes to church on Sunday and therefore she feels has fulfilled the law of repentance.  She has said ‘sorry’ to God.  On the basis of this she concludes that God must have forgiven her.  And so, she moves on in life.  Is this biblical repentance?    It is not that it was all wrong. Legally it was alright.  But what is missing here?   It is the broken and contrite heart that is missing: “Oh God, against you, you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.“ (Ps.  51:4).  

A case of shallow repentance is found in Hosea 6:1-3. See God’s response in 6:4-6

We must make this point because our sinful hearts are far more inclined towards a legal kind of repentance than a heartfelt repentance. Let me explain this by way of an example. I trespass the speed limit, and I must pay a fine.  I can do this in two ways: (i) The legal approach: I go to the magistrate’s court and pay the fine. A clinical process … I pay … I am absolved … but my heart is unmoved, and I am still inclined to trespass the law again.  (ii)  The repentant approach:  I go to the magistrate and pay the fine. I am absolved, BUT in my heart I am convicted to obey the law from now on. I have been liberated to obey the law from now on.  There is the difference!  

A biblical example to illustrate this difference between false and true repentance: 

Judas the traitor had a troubled conscience when he finally saw what he had done in betraying Jesus. In Matthew 27:3 we read,

“… when Judas, His betrayer saw that Jesus was condemned, he changed his mind and brought back the 30 pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, saying ‘I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.“ 

At face value this was an act of repentance. The Bible says that he changed his mind. He brought back the money to the chief priests. But what did he do then? His sorrow over his betrayal of Jesus did not lead him to godly repentance.  In his despair he does not turn to God in faith and heartfelt contrition, but he turns to the ultimate act of human self- centeredness – which is   suicide.  He did show remorse – but it was not biblical repentance.  It was true guilt to be sure, that drove him back to the priests. But it was a legalistic attempt to settle the matter – and God wasn’t in it. He would not even have God take him out of this world. He died at his own hand.  

Another   example of this half-hearted, legalistic repentance is found in Jeremiah 2:20- 23 and Hosea 6:1-6.  Here the people of Israel make verbal acts of confession before the LORD.  They know what the law says.  But in reality they play fast and loose with God and continue to run after their idols.  What sort of repentance is that?  We see this so often when a person is in trouble e.g. when sick or in financial difficulties.  They ask others to pray that God will help them - and so very often, by God’s mercy, they do recover.  However, when they have recovered, what do they do? They are like 9 of the 10 lepers (Lk. 17:11-19). They had forgotten Him who healed them. They are thankless, and they carry on as before – if not worse!   Legalistic repentance is not induced by true remorse; not by a sincere weeping over the sinfulness of sin. There is no change of heart. There is no sense of God in it!

Mere words of repentance will not do before God. Biblical repentance depends a change of mind that leads to a change of heart. It leads us to   godly sorrow – a sorrow that has God in view (2 Corinthians 7:8-11)

TRUE REPENTANCE

“Against you and you alone have I sinned!”  We observe this very clearly in David’s  act of repentance in Psalm 51. When David was finally confronted by Nathan the prophet, his response was unconditional repentance. Not only was he deeply grieved by his sin, but he took himself to God and pleaded with God   not to cast him from His presence, pleading also that God would not take His Holy Spirit from him (51:11). He then prayed for the restoration of the joy of his salvation (51:12), which was gone at this time, for there can be no peace and joy for a sinning Christian. He therefore also prayed for a strengthening of his will (51:12), not only for courage to face the consequences of his sin (there were many consequences!), but also praying for a resolution to resist future temptations to sin.  Lastly, he commits himself towards helping others to turn from their sin (51:13).

One of the most valuable personal encouragements gained from the 51^st Psalm is that God hears the prayer of the repentant sinner. God does not reject a broken and a contrite sinner (51:17). Jesus came to sinners (Matt. 9:12,13) – sinners who came to Him and begged Him to heal them.  He not only healed their broken bodies, but He restored their souls!  The gospel is good news for such broken people. Merely religious people will easily miss this!

True repentance is the work of the Holy Spirit (John 16:8-11), and if this is so, it is a grace gift from God. It proceeds from the power of God who comes to touch the heart and to humble the heart before Him. The direction and the impulse of your heart is changed toward sin and God. Unless it is of the heart, it is not the grace of repentance. It is behaviour modification.

HOW IS TRUE REPENTANCE POSSIBLE?  

1.      The basis of repentance: Christ’s atoning death. It is only possible because Christ made it possible for us to be able to repent. By His death He is able and willing to secure the salvation of every repenting sinner.  All repentant and believing sinners (whether from a N.T. or an O.T. perspective) are justified by the cross of Christ. The key phrase for David was, “according to your steadfast love“ (Hebr. “hesed”- covenant love) Ps. 51:1

2.      How is repentance applied?   By the Word and by the Spirit.

(i)                 The word of God preached is the engine which God uses to bring about repentance.  “When they heard this, i.e. the gospel preaching of Peter, they were cut to the heart ...” (Acts 2:37).  David was cut to the heart when the prophet Nathan brought the Word of the Lord to him.  

(ii)               The Holy Spirit who is central to the narrative of Acts 2 applies that Word in convicting power. True repentance is enabled by the work of the Holy Spirit (John 16:8-11), and if this is so, it is a grace gift from God. It proceeds from the power of God who comes to touch the heart and to humble the heart before Him. The direction and the impulse of your heart is changed toward sin and God. Unless it is of the heart, it is not the grace of repentance. It is behaviour modification. If the Holy Spirit does not act upon the Word, no true repentance will be effected in the lives of hearers.  It may actually even have the opposite effect. The same sun that melts the wax, hardens the clay. What is the reason that the word of God has such different effects in people?  It is because the Spirit of God carries in some the word to the conscience by way of conviction, and to others, whose hearts are not warmed it carries the effect of resentment. Ultimately, the preacher is just the instrument: “Ministers are but the pipes and the organs. It is the Holy Spirit breathing in them that makes their words effectual.“ (Thomas Watson)[4] This is well illustrated  in Acts  10:44 :

 “While Peter was still saying all these things, the Holy Spirit  fell on all who heard the word…”

David repented when the Word of the Lord came to Him via the prophet Nathan.  And David was very concerned that God’s judgment would be of such a nature that the Holy Spirit would be withdrawn from Him (51:11). David knew that the withdrawal of the Holy Spirit would mean that he would no longer be able to hear and feel the Word of God.  

The ultimate answer to an effective repentance is Grace in the soul.  The difference between the true and false believer is seen in how they respectively react to the discovery of their sin. The true believer, when convicted of sin immediately confesses their sin and repents and responds to God with heartfelt contrition and godly sorrow.

A false believer tries to cover up, wiggle their way out, make excuses, blame-shift or deny the fact that they have sinned. When caught out, they may show signs of sorrow, but that sorrow is not based on the heartfelt repentance of Psalm 51. This, we believe is the difference between Paul’s differentiation of godly sorrow and worldly sorrow (2 Cor. 7:9-11)

This is the difference between king David and king Saul, Judas and Peter.   

I trust that we are seeing something about the deceitfulness of sin, and the way that our warped minds and hearts so easily work to justify ourselves before God and man. We need to be absolutely certain that we understand the nature of biblical repentance lest we deceive ourselves and find ourselves condemned at the end.  Let me close by paraphrasing John 3:18

“He who believes in (looks to) the Son  is not condemned  (because he is truly repentant), but he who does not believe in the Son  (but looks to other means of justification – hence false repentance)  is condemned already , because he has not believed in the Name of the only Son  of God “

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I freely acknowledge the help that I have received  from Thomas Watson, John Owen and John Colquhoun

[1] John Colquhoun (1748-1827) , former pastor New Church in South Leith, Scotland. Educated at Glasgow University

[2]  Thomas Watson (c. 1620–1686) was an English Puritan preacher and author. He was ejected from his London parish after the Restoration, but continued to preach privately.

[3] John Owen (1616 – 24 August 1683) was an English Nonconformist church leader, theologian, and academic administrator at the University of Oxford.

[4] Thomas Watson: The Doctrine of Repentance, Puritan Paperbacks, p.14

EVANGELICAL REPENTANCE #1 : The Heart of Biblical Repentance

 OUTLINE (4 Sessions) 

1. The Heart of Biblical Repentance

2. True and False Repentance

3.  Repentance -  A New Testament Overview

4.  Biblical  Repentance is a  Spiritual Medicine

 

1. THE HEART OF BIBLICAL REPENTANCE 

Psalm 51

When Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the castle door at Wittenberg on the 31^st October 1517, the very first thesis read: “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, ``Repent'' (Matt. 4:17), he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance”. We are going to say much about this.

Some context is needed here. The years leading up to Luther’s conversion were an agonising exercise in trying to understand how a just and holy God might forgive a sinner. He essentially struggled with the question, “What is effective repentance? How do I know that I am truly forgiven by God”? Now Luther, an Augustinean monk, and a doctor of Theology had understood the essential nature of God.  He had understood that God was righteous and holy. He had also understood  the  problem of original sin, and all the sin that flows  from that. His greatest problem was that he did not yet understand how this holy and righteous God could accept human works of repentance for salvation. He did not yet understand how God could effectively justify sinners. He had not yet understood the ‘once and for all’[1] death of Jesus. What made it worse was that the Latin Vulgate, the official church Bible of the day had misleadingly rendered ‘repent’ in Matthew 4:17 as, ‘do penance’[2], which is consistent with the works-based teaching on repentance by the Roman Catholic church. It is a mistranslation and misrepresentation of the Greek word ‘metanoia’, which indicates a radical change of mind, that leads to a deep transformation of the life[3].  Luther was stuck on the concept of a works- based justification. When he finally understood “that the righteous shall live by faith” (Rom. 1:16,17), everything changed. He understood that by Faith ALONE, in Christ ALONE, a sinner can be fully justified, by trusting in Christ’s ‘’once for all work”. That change of mind is ultimately brought about by the Holy Spirit, the Agent of our regeneration.  And it is a Trinitarian work. God the Father, by giving His eternal Son as a substitute for the sin of the world, by means of the convicting work of the Holy Spirit, leads the sinner to a life of true repentance. And so, we learn that repentance is firstly a gift from God, BUT it is also a duty commanded to every person  (Acts 17:30; Lk. 13:3).  The gift enables our duty. A true Christian is one who has repented of their sinful and vain efforts to justify themselves. A Christian is one who continually looks to Christ for justification. A Christian is one who turns their back on the old life and follows God commandments in newness of life.

And so it is that we find at the heart of Luther’s Theses this emphasis: Repentance is a characteristic of the whole life and not the action of a single moment. I want to stress this frequently: The believer in Christ is a lifelong repenter.  The Christian life begins with repentance and continues in repentance (Rom. 8:12-13).[4] Ongoing repentance is necessary on this side of the grave because sin is an ongoing reality for us. In this regard we must work out our salvation with fear and trembling, whilst leaning strongly on the grace of God. (Phil. 2:12-13)

REPENTANCE – THE PROPER RESPONSE TO THE GOSPEL

Knowing this then, the great work of the church is to preach the gospel - THE GOOD NEWS, because there is bad news. The proper response to this bad news is repentance, which is to believe the Gospel.  This gives us vital perspective on the work of the church. The most essential part of a church’s ministry, and of a Pastor’s work has to do with calling people to repentance. This was essentially the work of John the Baptist and of Jesus. You will remember that their essential message was, “Repent for the kingdom of God is near!” John and Jesus knew what was at stake. Guilty people were perishing in their sins. And so, the church’s ministry ought to be built upon this conviction: Without repentance a person cannot get to heaven. That is a weighty truth! What is at stake if men, women and children do not repent? Answer: The wrath of God remains on us (Romans 1:18ff). Therefore, we must repent! We must turn from sin. We must turn to God. We must flee from the coming wrath. We must urge repentance! No repentance, no heaven! Listen to how Thomas Watson (c.1620–1686) puts it:

“After Paul’s shipwreck he swam to shore on planks and broken pieces of the ship (Acts 27:44). In Adam we all suffered shipwreck, and repentance is the only plank left us after shipwreck to swim to heaven”.[5] 

Therefore, the doctrine of repentance is no theological side issue. It is cardinal. It is crucial.    It is alarming that concerning the wrath to come we hear little urgency from our pulpits. We hear little preaching that urges repentance upon its hearers. Moral Therapeutic Deism[6] rules the day.   This has become a pastoral problem because we constantly battle with people who want to feel good, but who have no inclination to be as good as the Bible calls them to be. It has become a pastoral problem because this mindset  is sapping the energies of the pulpit, tempting pastors to become therapists, forsaking their prophetic callings. It is a pastoral problem because the people that are walking into our evangelical reformed churches are walking in with their heaped-up sins. They want our help but very often they want feel- good- help.

How will we help them? Jeremiah asked this question in his day:

“Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has the health of the daughter of my people not been restored?” (Jer. 8:22)

It is clear that people with heaped up sins must turn to someone. And they do.  In this vacuum modern psychology has generally found a lucrative market gap. In fact, Psychology is a ‘Johnny-come-lately’ in the attempt for the cure of sin sick souls that refuse heavenly remedies. I am excluding here genuine medical problems. Sadly, many pastors and churches have endorsed the dictates of secular psychology. Psychology calls sin ‘sickness’ - something that happens to you and which is beyond your control, and by implication therefore repentance becomes irrelevant. The general remedy is psychotherapy and psychotropic medication, which does grant some relief, but fails to deal with the heart.  Sin, man’s greatest problem according to the Bible, and its remedy, repentance, is hardly addressed. This is what the prophet Jeremiah refers to when he says,

“They have healed the wounds of my people lightly, saying ‘’peace, peace’’ when there is no peace” (Jer. 8:11 cf. 6:14).

So I ask again:  How we help people that  are anxious, guilt riddled, angry, bitter, depressed - and who manage their days by living on endless pills, alcohol, drugs, pornography, continual spending (and staying in debt)  to suppress  their deepest  problems?

A life of ongoing repentance is the key! Jim Packer says,

“Repentance is the drainage system on the highway of holiness on which God calls us all to travel. It is the way we get beyond what has proved to be dirt, rubbish and stagnant floodwater in our lives. This routine is a vital need, for where real repentance fails, real spiritual   advance ceases and real spiritual growth stops short.” [7]

And now as we have Psalm 51 before us, we must ask: What is the issue here? Was David a sex addict in need of psycho-therapy and medication, or was he a sinner in need of a fresh  encounter with God – by way of a process called repentance?   We all know that in the midst of his years as a God’s anointed king and as a believer, David fell under a dark spell of sin, which he tried to ignore until he was convicted by the Holy Spirit, at the hand of Nathan the prophet. That is when David repented of his sin. Psalm 51 is the result.

Psalm 51 is the profound statement of repentance spoken by an adulterer - one who broke up the marriage of one of his most loyal and committed soldiers. He even caused this man’s death! The context is found in 2 Samuel 11 & 12. Nathan was sent by God to expose David’s sin (2 Sam. 12:1). We find that upon exposure David’s confession is immediate. “I have sinned against the Lord.“ (2 Sam 12:13). No arguments. No denial. No excuses. No - “the devil  made me do it“,  and  no pulling of rank,   even though he was a successful  and powerful king in the Middle East  at that time. David knows that he is guilty as charged.

And so, we have here the outpouring of David’s heartfelt, godly sorrow for sin – and hence a meaningful Psalm of repentance. We know that His repentance was genuine, for God accepted it (2 Sam. 12:13), even though it still meant that David had to face a number of the grave consequences of his sin.

What Led To David’s Sin, And Why Was Repentance Necessary?

Something went wrong in David’s heart before he took Bathsheba and before he disposed of Uriah her husband. David’s problem began with God. His heart had been drifting from God, and so he saw, coveted, and took.  When he had understood this it amounted to a heartfelt sorrow, an owning up to his sin before God. His sin against God was the real cause, and the rest was the effect. And so he rightly says in Psalm 51:4: 

“Against you, you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight”. 

He expresses his brokenness over that cardinal sin which led to every other sin he committed thereafter.  

If the root of sin is unfaithfulness towards God, then it is axiomatic to say that repentance must begin with a look at our own hearts in the light of the God against whom we have transgressed.

How Will The Doctrine Of Repentance Help Us?

Biblical repentance includes, but it does not begin by saying sorry and making restitution   for having done a wrong to someone. Too often repentance is only dealt with by way of saying ‘sorry’, or ‘please forgive me’ to the person offended. But biblical repentance is far profounder than that. It looks beyond the action to the heart of the problem – that problem which underlies the action. The heart of the problem is the heart. Notice then the genesis of sin in Genesis 3:6 which underlies your and my fundamental problem:   Eve said, “I saw… I took… I ate”.  Or in Joshua 7:21  - Achan said, “I saw … I coveted… I took”.  The sin of Eve and Joshua and David  and every other sin begins in the heart. It is essentially an expression of disbelief in God’s words and therefore in essence it is rebellion against God and God’s law. So, if begins in the heart, and if sin is not killed there, it will spread like a virus – and if unchecked, it will kill you.  John Owen famously said, "Be killing sin, or sin will be killing you."[8]

Therefore, biblical repentance must begin with God. We must begin with the God whose law we have transgressed, and if this so then it follows also that we must begin by looking to Him for the forgiveness of that sin.  The biblical doctrine of repentance is given us to deal with the heart of our most basic problem - the ongoing sin problem. It is given for our good and it is a necessary chronic medication to be used daily for our soul’s well- being.  

IMPLICATION

From David’s life we see that it is possible for true believers to sin – and even to sin grossly.  Sin will not spare us for one day. The difference between a true believer and a false believer is not that the true believer never sins and the false believer inevitably sins does!  No!  The truth is that true believers may sin as heinously as any non-Christian. So where do we find the difference?

We’ will wait for the next session!

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[1] Hebrews 7:27, 9:12,26 ; 10:10,12,14

[2] The Latin Fathers translated metanoia as paenitentia, which came to mean "penance" or "acts of penance. Tertullian protested the unsuitable translation of the Greek metanoeo into the Latin paenitentiam by arguing that in Greek, metanoia is not a confession of sins but a change of mind. (Wikipedia)

[3] Sinclair Ferguson: The Grace of Repentance (2010), Crossway , p.14

[4] https://www.ccwtoday.org/2022/11/the-unrepenting-repenter/

[5] Thomas Watson: The Doctrine of Repentance, p.13, Puritan Paperbacks

[6] This term first introduced in the 2005 book “Soul Searching: The Religious and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers"  by the sociologists Christian Smith and Melinda Lundquist Denton. Based on interviews with 3000 US teenagers, the following describe their common beliefs:

1. A God exists who created and ordered the world and watches over human life on earth.

2. God wants people to be good, nice, and fair to each other, as taught in the Bible and most world religions.

3. The central goal of life is to be happy and to feel good about oneself.

4. God does not need to be particularly involved in one's life except when God is needed to resolve a problem.

5. Good people go to heaven when they die.

[7] J.I. Packer : A Passion for Holiness, Crossway, p.122

[8] John Owen: The Mortification of sin : Puritan Paperbacks ,p.5