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September 21 - September 21, 2018
How should the evangelist direct desperate people when they cry, “What must I do to be saved?” The Scriptures are clear: people must repent and believe the gospel. When Jesus appeared to Israel, He did not plead with them to open their hearts and ask Him in, nor did He direct them to repeat a certain prayer. Instead, He commanded them to turn from their sin and believe the gospel.2
“Repent and believe!” is the gospel call for yesterday, today, and forever.
The Westminster and New Hampshire Confessions state respectively: Repentance unto life is an evangelical grace; the doctrine thereof is to be preached by every minister of the Gospel, as well as that of faith in Christ (15.1). We believe that repentance and faith are sacred duties, and also inseparable graces (art. 8).
eight essential characteristics of true biblical repentance: • change of mind • sorrow for sin • personal acknowledgment and confession of sin • turning away from sin • renunciation of self-righteousness or good works • turning to God • practical obedience • continuing and deepening work of repentance
Repentance, therefore, involves a radical change in a person’s perception of things or in his view of reality. In
In summary, genuine repentance begins with a work of the Holy Spirit in the life of the sinner, whereby He regenerates the heart, illumines the mind, and exposes error by a revelation of divine truth. Because of this divine work, the sinner’s mind is changed and his view of reality is radically altered—especially with regard to God, self, sin, and the way of salvation.
To put it simply, the unconverted person is wrong and yet arrogantly continues to do what is right in his own eyes.10 He is on a way that seems right to him, but its end is the way of death.11
biblical repentance not only involves a change of mind but also a genuine sorrow for sin.
The slightest true comprehension of our sinfulness and guilt will lead to genuine sorrow, shame, and even a healthy hatred or loathing of our sin and ourselves.
It is important to note that such sensitivity to sin and confession of it is a mark of a true believer, but the lack of such is evidence that a person may still be in an unconverted state.
One of the greatest evidences of true conversion is not sinless perfection, as some have erroneously supposed. Instead, it is sensitivity to sin, transparency before God regarding sin, and open confession of sin.
one of the telltale signs of genuine repentance will be honest and sincere forsaking or turning away from sin.
The abundance of tears a person may shed or the apparent sincerity of his confession alone is never definite evidence of biblical repentance. All this must be accompanied by a turning away from that which God hates and opposes.
believers should not despair about the battle they wage or their frequent need of repentance as they struggle against sin. The reality of such a struggle is a mark of true conversion. The false convert—the hypocrite—knows no such battle. It is important to remember that God does not promise His presence to the one who is perfect, but to the one whose life is marked by a broken and contrite spirit and who trembles at His word.28
On one hand, genuine Christians will experience a gradual progress in sanctification and frequent victories over sin. He who began a good work of repentance in them will continue that work so that it grows and deepens and becomes a greater and greater reality in their lives.29 However, Christians will never be free from sin completely or without need of the divine gift of repentance. On the other hand, professing Christians who demonstrate no real progress in sanctification and who rarely bring forth fruit worthy of repentance should be greatly concerned for their souls. They should test and
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This abandonment of self-righteousness in favor of Christ alone is one of the great works of the Spirit of God in regeneration. Through the Spirit, the truly repentant person has come to see something of the unattainable righteousness of God and the unsearchable depths of his own depravity.
The works the Christian accomplishes, which God prepared beforehand so that he would walk in them, are not the cause of his justification but the evidence of it.
The goal of the Christian life is the pursuit of an intimate knowledge of God that leads to a greater estimation of His worth, a greater satisfaction and joy in His person, and a greater giving of oneself for His glory.
genuine repentance does not stop at turning away from sin, but it is still incomplete until there is a thorough turning to God as the “chief end” of all desire.
The evidence of true conversion among the believers in Thessalonica is that they not only turned from their former idolatry, but they also turned to the living and true God in obedient service.
A life marked by simple and heartfelt obedience to God’s commands may be the most obvious and certain proof of true repentance.
A fruitless life proves counterfeit emotional manifestations of contrition. This is a warning to us all, for the axe of God’s judgment is already laid at the root of the trees. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. As faith without works is both dead and useless, so repentance without fruit is a powerless counterfeit that cannot save.40 However, if a person’s heart has truly turned Godward, he will evidence it by a newfound practical obedience to the will of God.
Scripture strictly condemns any attempt at earning a right standing before God through human merit or works; however, repentance and faith are the result of the supernatural recreating work of the Spirit of God.41
The evidence that a person has truly repented unto salvation is that he continues repenting throughout the full course of his life.
In the Old Testament, the word believe comes from a Hebrew word that means “to stand firm, to trust, to be certain or sure about something.”1
In the New Testament, the word believe is translated from a Greek word that means “to perceive something as true, to be persuaded of it to such a degree that one trusts or places his or her confidence in it.”3
The word assurance comes from a Greek word referring to that which is placed under something, such as substructure or foundation.4 It came to denote a steadfastness of mind, a firm resolution, a confidence or assurance. The word conviction comes from a Greek word that denotes certainty or conviction about the existence or truthfulness of something.5 In light of the meaning of these terms, we may define biblical faith as the Christian’s assurance or confidence that what he hopes for is or will become a reality and the conviction or certainty that what he has not seen actually exists.
Genuine faith does not trust in Jesus Christ as a Savior, but as the Savior.
Our faith pleases God and brings glory to Him because it is a personal declaration regarding the integrity of His character.
unbelief is a direct affront upon the character of God. It casts doubt upon His works in the past, and it questions His integrity in the present: Does He really exist? Is He really the rewarder of those who seek Him? Did He really make such a promise? Such questions put God on trial by submitting His claims to human scrutiny. They are spawned from the heart of the devil and are the very means used to murder our first parents.15 To disbelieve God is to bring the whole of who He is into question, but to believe Him is to affirm His testimony regarding Himself and to bring Him glory.
A true knowledge of God and self is essential in the conversion of the sinner, but it is also equally essential in the ongoing sanctification of the saint. The believer must continue to grow in his knowledge of God and self until he becomes so convinced of grace alone that he would be disgusted at the mere suggestion that his salvation might be the result of his own virtue, merit, or piety.
The law places demands upon fallen people that they cannot accomplish any more than they can “ascend into heaven” or “descend into the abyss.” However, faith is entirely different. It requires no heroic feat or impossible religious conformity. Instead, it calls a person to acknowledge his “helpless estate” and to rest upon the person and accomplishments of Christ.4
A sinner is justified and reconciled with God the moment he truly believes in the person and atoning work of Christ. However, the evidence that he truly believed and was genuinely converted in that moment is that he goes on believing and confessing all the days of his life.
genuine saving faith is validated by its perseverance and fruit, and the evidence that we have been saved from the condemnation of sin is that we are currently being saved from the power of sin.9
Therefore, it is absurd to think that a person could believe something “in” or “with” the heart without it also having a dramatic or even drastic effect upon the totality of his person.
true saving faith is not a passive or partial reliance upon Christ, but a reliance that is active and growing. Through the continuing work of sanctification, it eventually encompasses the entirety of the believer’s life. The proof of saving faith is not that once upon a time we merely “accepted Christ” through a prayer we repeated by rote, but that since the moment we first believed the gospel, Christ’s claims about Himself and His claim upon us continue to be a greater reality in our lives.
We are saved by faith alone in the person and work of Christ, but the evidence that our faith is genuine is our confession of the lordship of Jesus Christ and our allegiance to Him, even when such a confession costs us dearly.
True faith in Jesus shows itself in a real submission to and an open confession of His lordship, which deepens as the believer matures and grows stronger even in the most adverse of circumstances. The great evidence of salvation is that a person continues on to maturity in this same faith and confession.
true belief involves an element of risk on the part of the believer because he is literally staking his life upon the claim that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matt. 16:16).
to “receive Christ” is to trust or rely upon Him to such a degree that we stake both our temporal and eternal well-being on the truthfulness of His claims, and we direct the entire course of our lives according to His will.
To receive Jesus in a manner that results in salvation and sonship is to receive the whole of Him as prophet, priest, and king. Although the believer’s faith in Christ as Savior and submission to Christ as Lord may be meager at first, it will be real, and through the continuing work of salvation, it will grow to maturity.
If we truly know Christ and we are honest ambassadors, we must throw off any language that would suggest there could be anything good in heaven or earth apart from Christ.
The true gospel message ransacks the soul and carries off every spoil. It leaves the heart with nothing so that Christ may enter in as everything! If a person saw everything in comparison to Christ, as Flavel did, wouldn’t his heart be much improved? It is not wrong to preach a gospel that takes everything away from a person, yet leaves him with Christ alone. Is Christ not enough? Is He not more than the entire world?
That we are to receive Christ as the source and sustenance of our life leads us to two important applications. First, Christ is not merely a course in the meal, but He is the meal in its entirety: our all-sufficient source of everything pertaining to life and godliness.18
To receive Christ is to renounce self-sufficiency, to put away all former trophies, and to refuse all present and future accolades. It is to bear joyfully one title alone throughout all of eternity: “recipient of grace.”
The second application of the truth that Christ is the believer’s sustenance is that the feast is not a once-for-all meal confined to the moment of conversion and never to be repeated but rather a continual feast throughout the entirety of the believer’s life.
Conversion is simply the beginning of a lifelong, eternal meal that the Holy Spirit grants in ever-increasing measure to the ever-maturing Christian.
Jesus is not a ticket to heaven that a person purchases with a prayer, then hides in a pocket until he finally withdraws it at the moment of death to obtain entrance into heaven. Salvation is not real if it is considered a one-time transaction that supposedly seals the fate of those who have prayed the sinner’s prayer.
to respond to the gospel message by opening their hearts and asking Jesus in. Instead, Scripture commands people to repent of their sins and trust in Christ.3
The preacher should make much of God’s longsuffering toward sinners because it is God’s kindness, tolerance, and patience that lead people to repentance.13 However, the preacher is obliged to warn the sinner of a day known only to God when the call of salvation will end, and judgment will be all that remains.
