The Doctrine of Repentance

THE DOCTRINE OF REPENTANCE

What the Bible Teaches about Turning to God

By Pastor Brian Wilbur

Date: April 23, 2023

Series: Neglected Doctrines

Note: Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Introduction to Sermon Series

This sermon is the second sermon in a sermon series that will be preached intermittently over the next few years. The sermon series is entitled “Neglected Doctrines” and emerges out of my observation that certain important biblical doctrines are often neglected or undervalued by evangelical churches in America. By God’s grace, let’s be a congregation that gives careful attention to all that the Bible teaches!

Introduction to Sermon

Repentance is not an optional add-on to the Christian life, but is instead essential to it. Whenever people teach the idea that you can be saved without repentance, or whenever people give the impression that you can be in right relationship with God without repentance, they are misleading people and promoting falsehood. In the Old Testament as well as in the New Testament, repentance is an essential aspect of being reconciled to God. God promises His mercy to those who repent. God doesn’t promise mercy to those who merely agree that it would be beneficial to receive mercy and who express good intentions for making positive changes in their life but who never actually repent. It is not uncommon for people to get stuck in a circle of thinking that falls short of repentance: they agree in principle that they are sinful, they agree in principle that they need mercy, and they agree in principle that they should make profound changes in their life, but they never get around to actually turning from their sin and turning to the Lord. It is easy for such people to mistakenly think that they are spiritually okay because they mentally agree with some importance principles. Mentally understanding and agreeing with what the Bible teaches is certainly one important factor in repentance, but repentance involves the whole man turning to God. The urgent duty of all sinners is to turn to the Lord with all their heart.

Judgment is coming: repent or perish!

Perhaps you don’t want to be one of those people who stand on a street corner holding up a sign that says Judgment is coming: repent or perish! As far as my priorities go for this particular sermon, I don’t care whether or not you hold up such a sign on a street corner in Paris or Oxford. However, I care deeply that you believe the truth of it with all your heart. The thirteenth chapter of Luke begins by saying,

“There were some present at that very time who told him [Jesus] about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”” (Luke 13:1-5)

Those who were murdered by Pilate and those who weren’t had this in common: they were great sinners in grave danger of perishing. Those who were killed by the accidental disaster of a falling tower and those who weren’t had this in common: they were great sinners in grave danger of perishing. Jesus refuses to get sentimental about the tragedies of those who had already died. Instead, He pivots from those tragedies to speak an urgent message to those who are still alive: if you don’t repent of your sinful offenses, then you are going to meet a bitter end. Their bitter end – at the hands of Pilate or under a collapsing tower – is a parable of the bitter end that you will face if you don’t get your sin problem straightened out. Repent or perish!

Immediately after these sobering words spoken by Jesus, Luke recounts a parable that Jesus told:

“And he told this parable: “A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vinedresser, ‘Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?’ And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”” (Luke 13:6-9)

Anytime an unrepentant sinner is cut down, no injustice is done. But God is patient – you weren’t murdered by Pilate; the tower didn’t fall on you; you still have breath and life and opportunity – God is patient and He delays His judgment so that you might turn from your sin and become like a healthy tree that bears good fruit.

The urgent appeal to repent or perish is made in reference to the other part of that imaginary sign being help up on the street corner: judgment is coming. This is exactly how Paul pressed repentance upon the men of Athens:

“The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” (Acts 17:30-31)

Each one of us has an appointment with the holy Judge. Divine judgment is coming and it will be done according to God’s perfect standard of righteousness. Repentance is the God-ordained way of being well-prepared for that sobering day: the repentant will meet the day of judgment with courage as they stand before the Lord who rescued them, but the unrepentant will meet that day with terror as they stand before the Lord whose words they ignored. The day of the Lord is coming: repent or perish!

God promises His mercy to those who repent

Before we go any further, I think it is important to get it squared away in our minds that both the Old Testament and New Testament convey the same message: God promises His mercy to those who repent. I’m afraid that some people have taken repentance out of the mercy equation.

Some people might do this because they put a wedge between the Old Testament and New Testament, and they mistakenly assume that the very demanding Old Testament demanded repentance but that the very liberating New Testament liberates us from this demand. But to be ‘liberated’ from repentance would only consign us to remain stuck in our sin – and that is neither liberating nor gracious. Other people might make a similar mistake because they have a superficial understanding of grace and they mistakenly assume that grace doesn’t require anything of us, and they mistakenly assume that if repentance is required of us then grace isn’t free. These types of mistakes are the result of reasoning from what makes sense to us instead of reasoning from the Scriptures.

So, I want you to see in both testaments that God promises His mercy to those who repent.

Isaiah 1

In Isaiah 1, God gives instruction to a sinful nation that is up to its head in sin. Their moral rebellion was so great that God abhorred their acts of religiosity in the temple. God delights in His people’s worship when they are walking with Him in everyday life. But when the worshipers aren’t walking with Him in everyday life, God regards their worship as a sham. Here is the instruction that God gives to these moral rebels:

“Wash yourselves; makes yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause. Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be eaten by the sword; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” (Isaiah 1:16-20)

The flow of thought is easy to recognize: God promises mercy, forgiveness, and life to those who make a clean break from evil and turn to what is good and just as defined by God’s Word.

The same flow of thought is carried forward into the New Testament.

The ministry of John the Baptizer

In one of the opening scenes in the New Testament, we learn that John the Baptizer “[proclaimed] a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” (Mark 1:4) He said, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 3:2) Through His faithful prophet, God promised merciful forgiveness to those who repent.

The ministry of Jesus

When “Jesus began to preach”, He declared the same message: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17) The Pharisees were not happy that Jesus took His message to the riff raff, and so they disapprovingly asked, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” (Luke 5:30) Notice that Jesus doesn’t answer their question by saying, ‘Because they need to understand that they are okay just the way they are.’ The Pharisees knew that the tax collectors and sinners were not okay, but they tragically failed to realize that they were not okay either. In any case, Jesus’ answer to the Pharisees shows that the tax collectors and sinners were not okay, and the beautiful thing about the gospel is that Jesus came to administer gracious care to people who are not okay, that is, to unrighteous and sick-hearted sinners. “And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”” (Luke 5:31-32) Jesus is the great physician of the soul, and part of His administration of grace to spiritually diseased sinners is to “call [them] to repentance”.

In another passage, Jesus makes it clear that in order to truly turn to Him, one must turn away from a self-centered and self-promoting way of life: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.” (Mark 8:34-35) Jesus promises His gracious salvation to those who abandon every other defining allegiance and order their lives around Him and His gospel.

The ministry of the apostles

Jesus commissioned His apostles into this mission:

“Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” (Luke 24:46-47)

When the apostles proclaimed the gospel in the Book of Acts, they urged repentance: “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38) “Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:19).

The fact that some passages in Acts refer to repentance and not faith (e.g., Acts 2:38), and that other passages refer to faith and not repentance (e.g., Acts 16:31), and that other passages refer to both (e.g., Acts 20:21), should not be taken to mean that the message changes. The message doesn’t change. There are different valid ways of articulating the message: there isn’t a cookie cutter way of presenting the gospel. But the underlying reality of the message doesn’t change. The apostles proclaimed the necessity of repentance and faith. They proclaimed the necessity of repentant trust, of believing repentance. True repentance involves faith, and true faith involves repentance.

When Paul described his conversion and call to ministry before King Agrippa, he said that Jesus sent him to Jews and Gentiles in order “to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.” (Acts 26:18) The order is clear: first, you have to get spiritual sight; second, with your eyes now open, you turn away from satanic darkness and turn to the light of God’s glory and grace; and third, having turned to God, He meets you with saving mercy and sanctifying power. Paul’s description of his commission is entirely consistent with the commission that the Lord had given to the other apostles. God promises His mercy to those who “turn from darkness to light”. God promises His mercy to those who “turn… from the power of Satan to God”. God promises His mercy to those who repent.

It is clear throughout the entire Bible that repentance is absolutely necessary if a sinner would be truly reconciled to God.

Unpacking Repentance

With that in mind, now let’s turn our attention to unpacking what repentance is.  Repentance means turning away from your idolatry and wickedness, and turning to the Lord with all your heart, in response to His gracious Word.

Turn around!

Repentance always involves this twofold aspect of turning: there is a turning away from evil, and a turning to the Lord. If you have ever heard repentance described in terms of a 180° turnaround or in terms of an about-face – you were traveling and facing one direction, and then you made an abrupt turn so that now you are traveling and facing the opposite direction – such descriptions are accurate. This is how Paul described the conversion of the Christians in Thessalonica:

“For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything. For they themselves report concerning us the kind of reception we had among you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.” (1 Thessalonians 1:8-10, italics added)

They “turned to God from idols”. Anyone who is not serving “the living and true God” is serving something or someone else – and whatever that something or someone else is, is an idol, a god-substitute, a false religious system. The only way into right relationship with God is to turn from these idols and to turn to “the living and true God” so that you might worship and serve Him alone. As the prophet Ezekiel declared to the house of Israel: “Repent and turn away from your idols, and turn away your faces from all your abominations.” (Ezekiel 14:6)

The message of the prophets to the disobedient people of Judah is summarized in Jeremiah 25:

“Turn now, every one of you, from his evil way and evil deeds, and dwell upon the land that the LORD has given to you and your fathers from of old and forever. Do not go after other gods to serve and worship them, or provoke me to anger with the work of your hands. Then I will do you no harm.” (Jeremiah 25:5-6)

The Lord’s call upon our lives is that we love Him above all else, and that we demonstrate our love for Him by obeying His words with gladness of heart. Anything that undermines our loving and obedient devotion to the Lord is a massive problem from which we must turn away. It might be a self-serving agenda; it might be a proud heart; it might be a refusal to honor God’s authority and insisting on calling the shots yourself; it might be the sins of illicit pleasure because you want to feel something on the cheap; it might be fear of other people and enslavement to what other people think about you; it might be preoccupation with money or power or control; it might be your unwillingness to submit your mind to what Scripture teaches; it might be your self-centered heart that doesn’t want to humbly serve your spouse, your children, your parents, and your neighbors (you’re happy to have all of them serve you, because it’s all about you); it might be that you are impressed with your own moral assets (you come from good stock, you have a good heritage, you’re a decent enough person with a measure of churchiness to boot). The Pharisees knew that the tax collectors and sinners lacked moral assets. But Jesus knew that the moral assets possessed by the Pharisees were worthless, because they were trusting in themselves. The tax collectors and sinners needed to repent of their God-belittling immorality and injustice. The Pharisees needed to repent of their God-belittling self-trusting religiosity and self-promoting righteousness. Stop trusting in yourself. Stop trusting in any moral or religious ladder of your own making that will somehow reach to the heavens. Stop trusting in the deceitful promises of sin. Stop trusting in unreliable words. Stop hanging on the words of men, especially your own. Stop doing life your way. It’s a dead end. Turn around. Start paying attention to the words of God, and do whatever He tells you. And what does He tell you? “Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.” (Isaiah 45:22) “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)

Repentance is fundamentally relational

Repentance is not only turning away from your idolatry and wickedness, but also turning to the Lord. This means that repentance is fundamentally relational. “Thus declares the LORD of hosts: Return to me, says the LORD of hosts, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts.” (Zechariah 1:3) “For thus says the LORD to the house of Israel: “Seek me and live…. Seek the LORD and live”” (Amos 5:4, 6). “Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.” (Joel 2:13)

Did you hear those words? “Turn to me” (Isaiah 45:22). “Come to me” (Matthew 11:28). “Return to me” (Zechariah 1:3). “Seek me” (Amos 5:4). The heart of the biblical repentance that we proclaim is not to get busy, not to get religious, not to pull yourself into a moral reformation, not to become an advocate for the poor, not to become the resident expert on all things theological. Make no mistake about it: the gospel does not fail to produce a thousand good and beautiful fruits in those who are captured by it. But the center of the biblical repentance that we proclaim is: return to the Lord! Behold your God! “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) Paul didn’t go to the city of Corinth bearing a message about an elaborate religious system or a sophisticated philosophical framework. Instead, Paul went there as a weak vessel holding an incomparably good message about a person: “And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” (1 Corinthians 2:1-2)

There was a 19^th century theologian and church leader named J. B. Lightfoot. Years ago I wrote one of his quotes in the flyleaf of my Bible. Lightfoot said,

“Though the Gospel is capable of doctrinal exposition, though it is eminently fertile in moral results, yet its substance is neither a dogmatic system nor an ethical code, but a Person and a Life.”

When a sinner’s eyes are opened to see what is really there in the gospel message, what he sees is “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” (2 Corinthians 4:6) See the Lord, crucified and risen. Turn to the Lord, trusting His work instead of your own. Forsake all others, and call upon His holy name. As we sing in one of our songs,

“All I once held dear, built my life upon

All this world reveres, and wars to own

All I once thought gain I have counted loss

Spent and worthless now, compared to this

Knowing you, Jesus

Knowing you

There is no greater thing

You’re my all, You’re the best

You’re my joy, my righteousness

And I love you, Lord”[1]

With all your heart

Turning to the Lord must not be done mechanically or half-heartedly. Therefore I included in my definition that repentance means turning to the Lord with all your heart. True repentance is a heartfelt turning to the Lord. ““Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.” (Joel 2:12-13) The Book of Deuteronomy envisions repentance this way: “But from there [i.e., from a bad place!] you will seek the LORD your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.” (Deuteronomy 4:29)

When one turns to the Lord with all of one’s heart, then it represents the start of lifelong obedience. Turning to the Lord entails a willingness and readiness to obey the Lord to whom you are turning. The Lord declared through His prophets: “Turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes, in accordance with all the Law that I commanded your fathers” (2 Kings 17:13). “Return, every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your deeds.” (Jeremiah 18:11) Practical ongoing obedience to the Lord’s instruction demonstrates that one’s initial repentance was genuine. John the Baptizer proclaimed, “Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.” (Matthew 3:8) The apostle Paul followed suit by declaring that people “should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.” (Acts 26:20)

Repentance happens in response to the Lord’s gracious Word

It should be obvious from all that has been said so far that our repentance must be in response to the Lord’s gracious Word. The Thessalonian idolaters who became Thessalonian Christians didn’t make the switch because their thoughts mysteriously changed gears one day. Paul took the gospel to them (see Acts 17:1-9). He went to the synagogue and

“reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.” And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women.” (Acts 17:2-4)

When Paul wrote his first letter to the Thessalonians, he expressed his gratitude to God for them and his confidence that they were truly part of God’s elect people:

“For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, because your gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.” (1 Thessalonians 1:4-5).

So in the Thessalonian believers we have an example of idolaters who turned to the Lord in response to the word of the gospel. True repentance isn’t man’s calculated attempt to turn over a new leaf. True repentance isn’t man charting a better course for himself. True repentance isn’t man making new year’s or mid-year’s resolutions to improve himself. Repentance means turning away from your idolatry and wickedness, and turning to the Lord with all your heart, in response to His gracious Word.

Applying the doctrine of repentance

I have several applications stemming from the doctrine of repentance. As important as it is to get the doctrine of repentance right, getting the doctrine of repentance right is no substitute for living it and for actually walking in repentance.

An urgent application for unbelievers

The first application is a direct appeal to unbelievers to turn to the Lord in response to the Lord’s Word. I will make this appeal by walking through the Lord’s gracious words in Isaiah 55. The Lord’s gracious Word invites dissatisfied sinners to quit their sins and discover life in Him.

“Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.” (Isaiah 55:1-2)

All who are thirsty, all who are hungry, all who are dissatisfied, all who are bankrupt, listen up! You’ve been listening to a smorgasbord of gurus and ideas, and look at where it’s gotten you: you’re broken and broke and you can’t buy your way out. The good news is that God has an offer for you: He has abundant supply of refreshing waters, exhilarating wine, nourishing milk, living bread – and these are offered free of charge. Do you want to learn more? Then listen diligently to what the Lord is about to say, because it is through His words that He opens up to you a world of joy.

“Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.” (Isaiah 55:3)

True life depends on hearing the promise of the Lord, so come to Him with open ears. The Lord will set His covenant love upon you. The faithful, steadfast, unalterable, utterly reliable lovingkindness that the Lord has for David, and for the Son of David, will be for you also, if you come to the Lord. The Lord made David’s life impactful, and all the Lord’s redeemed people will likewise have an outsized impact (because the hand of the Lord is in it!), and you will be part of it, if you come to Him:

“Behold, I made him [David] a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples. Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know, and a nation that you did not know you shall run to you, because of the LORD your God, and of the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you.” (Isaiah 55:4-5)

You can let your own sin and folly run their course to poverty and ruin, or you can trust the Lord to make something beautiful of your life, and He will! But you must leave the sin and folly behind:

“Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:6-9)

I learned something very important about these verses many years ago when I listened to a series of sermons on Isaiah 55 by Pastor John Piper.[2] Interestingly, the context for my listening to those sermons was a small step of repentance. A co-worker had given me a handheld Yahtzee game, and in short order I found myself addicted to it. I decided that enough was enough, put electrical tape around the game, and put it away in a box, where it remains to this day. But when you turn away from something unhelpful, you must turn to something that is helpful – and what I turned to was those series of sermons from Isaiah 55. As it happened, I learned something very important from John Piper about these verses – and what I learned is reflected below in my comments on verses 6-11.

Many people take verses 8-9 out of context, and assume that verses 8-9 mean that God’s thoughts and ways are massively spectacular whereas our thoughts and ways are mundanely small. But the superiority of God’s thoughts and ways because He is the infinite God and we are finite human beings – though the concept is true – is not the issue in verses 6-11. What is the issue? The issue is that our thoughts are unrighteous and our ways are wicked (v. 7). The problem is not that our thoughts and ways are small and finite. The problem rather is that our thoughts and ways are sinful and unholy. As a matter of fact, God’s thoughts ought to be our thoughts, and God’s ways ought to be our ways, and they would be, if we listened diligently to His words and internalized them into our hearts and put them into regular practice. God’s thoughts are holy and His ways are faithful and true, but because of our wickedness and unrighteousness, our ways and thoughts have become ungodly. Even so, the Lord offers to restore the relationship and bring us into the realm of His thoughts and His ways.

Therefore, to take the Lord up on His offer, you must turn away from your wicked ways and your unrighteous thoughts. At the same time, you must turn to the Lord in view of His promise to “have compassion” on you and “abundantly pardon” you. Even in this very passage, the Lord of heaven is speaking forth His words, His ways, and His thoughts to you who are upon the earth. Yes, “as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are [the LORD’s] higher than your ways and [his] thoughts [higher] than your thoughts.” But the Lord sends forth His Word to bridge this gap between heaven and earth, that is, to bridge this gap between the Holy One of heaven and the sinful ones of earth:

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:10-11)

The word of the Lord spans the great gap between heaven and earth, and it will accomplish its purpose. Listen and obey this Word, and you will delight yourself in rich food (v. 2). Listen and obey this Word, and you will live (v. 3). Listen and obey this Word, and you will be a loved part of God’s impactful covenant community forever (v. 3-5). More than that, you will be in covenant relationship with the Lord to whom you have returned. Listen and obey this Word, and the Father will have compassion on you (v. 7). The Father’s compassion is incomparably better than the unsatisfying labor and empty bread of verse 2. Listen and obey this Word, and your sins will be wiped out (v. 7). Listen and obey this Word, and you’ll be part of something that grows healthy and strong and fruitful. Listen and obey this Word, and the thirst and hunger and bankruptcy of verses 1-2 will be your past, and verses 12-13 will be your future:

“For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress; instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle; and it shall make a name for the LORD, an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.” (Isaiah 55:12-13)

Contrary to the words of the climate change pundits, Isaiah 55:12-13 is where the universe is headed. “[The] creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.” (Romans 8:19) When God’s redeemed sons and daughters are unveiled on that glorious day, “the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.” (Romans 8:21) You don’t want to miss this! Therefore, I say to you what the apostle Peter declared to the people in Acts 2:

“Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself…. Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” (Acts 2:38-39, 40)

Three applications for believers

I also have some application for believers – three applications, in fact.

Be gentle in your ministry to those who need to repent

First, when you are ministering to unbelievers and seeking to win them to repentance, follow Paul’s instruction to Timothy. In our zeal to see people repent, we might be tempted to get frustrated and impatient. Or we might be tempted to pressure and overwhelm an unbeliever. Or we might be tempted to get drawn into a heated argument, at which point we aim to win the argument and forget about attempting to win the person. At such times, you must remember that God is the One who must bring forth repentance in the sinner’s heart. The knowledge that God is the One who must work on the sinner’s heart takes the pressure off of you to play ‘restorer of hearts’. You are not the Restorer of hearts. You are not the Holy Spirit. You cannot turn the lights on in their soul. You cannot release them from the devil’s snare. Instead, you are the Lord’s servant who is responsible to share the message, and to share it graciously. This is what Paul told Timothy:

“And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.” (2 Timothy 2:24-26)

“God may perhaps grant them repentance” – or He might not. That’s for Him to decide. Your job is to stay in your lane and winsomely present the truth to those who need to hear it.

Believers who fall into serious error need to repent

Second, even though my sermon has focused on a sinner’s initial turning to the Lord, it should be noted that there are times when believers fall into serious error and need to be summoned to repentance. A great example of this is the Lord’s words to the church in Ephesus, in Revelation 2:1-7. This church was a discerning church, a doctrinally and morally sound church, a church that was willing to patiently endure suffering for Jesus’ sake. And yet, in the midst of their right and admirable action, they had somehow drifted at the heart level. Jesus said,

“But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.” (Revelation 2:4-5)

You’re dotting the i’s, crossing the t’s, checking the boxes, doing the right things, drawing the right lines in the sand, running the classes, well-curated worship services, impressive output – and yet you’re three steps away from a God-orchestrated implosion. Why? Because the heart has grown dull, and the love has grown small, and the capacity for godly impact is shrinking by the day. Do you cherish Him with all your heart? Do you treasure His words? Do you love His people? Does your heart break for the lost? Has your Christian life grown mechanical, routine, dutiful, self-reliant, casual, comfortable, indulgent, disconnected from the heart and mission of God? Can you imagine what it would be like for a congregation to jealously guard its first love?

Let’s be a people whose hearts are turned to the Lord

Third, we ought to see our church family through the lens of repentance. A repentant congregation is a congregation of people whose hearts are turned to the Lord. As our hearts are turned to the Lord, we do so as humble and grateful recipients of His mercy, and His favor and grace are upon us.

A repentant congregation is a savory and winsome congregation. Repentant people are not proud. Cancer patients don’t boast in the fact that they turned to a doctor. They might be humble and grateful recipients of the doctor’s care, but they shouldn’t be proud of themselves for placing themselves under a doctor’s care. The very fact that they had to place themselves under a doctor’s care is a reflection of their weakness and sickness.

Likewise, repentant people recognize their own weakness. Every day we are to walk in an attitude of repentance. We still have to put off the sinful things that pertain to the old way of sin, and we still have to put on the righteous things that pertain to the new way of life in Christ. As we recognize our own weakness, we turn to the Lord for His help.

It is remarkable the way that the psalmist prays in Psalm 119. If you are familiar with Psalm 119, then you know that the author of Psalm 119 is a man whose heart was turned to the Lord. But even though the man’s heart was already turned to the Lord, he recognized that he still needed the Lord’s help to keep walking in the right direction. Therefore, he prayed:

“Incline my heart to your testimonies, and not to selfish gain! Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways.” (Psalm 119:36-37)

So then, let’s also be a people who pray for the Lord to keep turning our hearts toward Him and His ways. And let’s be a people who seek to encourage and strengthen each other in our walk with God. 

ENDNOTES

[1] From the song “Knowing You” by Graham Kendrick. © Make Way Music

[2] I didn’t go back and review John Piper’s sermon series in preparation for this sermon. The series is entitled “The Great Invitation: A Sermon Series on Isaiah 55” and all five sermons are available on the Desiring God website: https://www.desiringgod.org/series/the-great-invitation-a-sermon-series-on-isaiah-55

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Mark J. Boda, ‘Return to Me’: A biblical theology of repentance (New Studies in Biblical Theology 35). Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2015.