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The Faith
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Saved By Repentance
by Tony Edwards
Repentance, like all other prerequisites to becoming a Christian, is a commandment. God will not make
anyone follow Him. He has given man the freedom to choose what road he wants to travel. However, God
is “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Pe. 3:9). God does not
want to send anyone to hell; He “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1
Tim. 2:4). For, He “so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him
should not perish but have everlasting life” (Jn. 3:16).
So, what is involved in repentance? Three important things come to mind when we think of repentance: 1)
Recognition, 2) Remorse and 3) Resolve.
Recognition has to do with a person realizing that they have sinned and is in need of God forgiveness. If
there is no recognition then how can a person say that they are sorry and are ready to change. A good
example of recognition is found in the words of David:
"Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your lovingkindness; According to the
multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly
from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my
transgressions, And my sin is always before me" (Psalms 51:1-3).
This attitude of David should be the very attitude of those who come to God. They should realize that they
have sinned and recognize that only God can clean them.
Remorse involves sorrow over sin. In 2 Corinthians 7:10, Paul said, "For godly sorrow worketh repentance
to salvation." This sorrow should be genuine sorrow. It should be produced through conviction of the
gospel and not conviction of being caught in the act (2 Cor. 7:10). On the day of Pentecost, after hearing
the gospel preached, the Bible says that the people were "cut to the heart" (Acts 2:37). This simply means
that the word of God penetrated their minds and convinced them that they were in sin. When a person has
truly repented remorse will be evident.
Resolve means separation. This act says that I am abandoning any ungodly activities. From using alcohol
and drugs, lying, stealing, cursing, fornicating, to living with someone outside of marriage and even being
married to a person you have no right to, resolve says that I am going to give up these things to serve the
living God. We find an instance of this in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11:
"Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither
fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous,
nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you.
But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and
by the Spirit of our God."
These verses attest to the fact that these people had been previously involved in some very sinful
lifestyles, including the sin of homosexuality (I mention this because of it's rising prevalence in our
country). However, they severed their relationships with those lifestyles, realizing that they could not go to
heaven living in sin. Once they did that, God could wash them from their sins through baptism.
Certainly, repentance is a necessity and if a person is not ready to repent them they are not ready for
salvation.
(Repentance alone doesn't save. You must CONFESS CHRIST)
by Tony Edwards
Repentance, like all other prerequisites to becoming a Christian, is a commandment. God will not make
anyone follow Him. He has given man the freedom to choose what road he wants to travel. However, God
is “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Pe. 3:9). God does not
want to send anyone to hell; He “desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1
Tim. 2:4). For, He “so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him
should not perish but have everlasting life” (Jn. 3:16).
So, what is involved in repentance? Three important things come to mind when we think of repentance: 1)
Recognition, 2) Remorse and 3) Resolve.
Recognition has to do with a person realizing that they have sinned and is in need of God forgiveness. If
there is no recognition then how can a person say that they are sorry and are ready to change. A good
example of recognition is found in the words of David:
"Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your lovingkindness; According to the
multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly
from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my
transgressions, And my sin is always before me" (Psalms 51:1-3).
This attitude of David should be the very attitude of those who come to God. They should realize that they
have sinned and recognize that only God can clean them.
Remorse involves sorrow over sin. In 2 Corinthians 7:10, Paul said, "For godly sorrow worketh repentance
to salvation." This sorrow should be genuine sorrow. It should be produced through conviction of the
gospel and not conviction of being caught in the act (2 Cor. 7:10). On the day of Pentecost, after hearing
the gospel preached, the Bible says that the people were "cut to the heart" (Acts 2:37). This simply means
that the word of God penetrated their minds and convinced them that they were in sin. When a person has
truly repented remorse will be evident.
Resolve means separation. This act says that I am abandoning any ungodly activities. From using alcohol
and drugs, lying, stealing, cursing, fornicating, to living with someone outside of marriage and even being
married to a person you have no right to, resolve says that I am going to give up these things to serve the
living God. We find an instance of this in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11:
"Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither
fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous,
nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you.
But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and
by the Spirit of our God."
These verses attest to the fact that these people had been previously involved in some very sinful
lifestyles, including the sin of homosexuality (I mention this because of it's rising prevalence in our
country). However, they severed their relationships with those lifestyles, realizing that they could not go to
heaven living in sin. Once they did that, God could wash them from their sins through baptism.
Certainly, repentance is a necessity and if a person is not ready to repent them they are not ready for
salvation.
(Repentance alone doesn't save. You must CONFESS CHRIST)
