By Gary Ray Branscome
The
Bible uses the word repentance in three ways. When the Bible says that, Judas
repented, and brought the
thirty pieces of silver back to the chief priests and elders, it is
telling us that Judas was sorry for what he had done (Matthew 27:3). However,
his repentance was incomplete because it never led him to seek Gods mercy or
look to Christ for forgiveness. The words, Repent of this wickedness, and pray to God, that the thought of your heart
may be forgiven you, again speak of repentance as sorrow for sin (Acts
Because
the focus of this section is conversion, we want to look at the internal change
that leads to faith in Christ. And, the words, This
is the man to whom I will look, even to him who is humble and of a contrite
spirit, and trembles at my word, give us a description of that internal change (Isaiah 66:2). To be contrite is to be sorry for sin.
Picture a young child who, upon being rebuked for wrongdoing, breaks into tears
and cries Im sorry, meaning it from the heart. The words, Whoever will humble himself like this
little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven, tell us that
God wants us to come to Him as little children, who are truly sorry and want to
do what is right (Matthew 18:4). At the same time God does not want us to take
sin lightly as did King Saul, who said I
have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and your
words
Therefore, I pray, pardon my
sin (1Samuel
The words, If you love the LORD, hate evil, and The fear of the LORD is to hate evil, tell us that all who fear
and love God will hate evil (Psalm 97:10, Proverbs 8:13). And, all who truly
hate evil will not want it in their life. Moreover, the words, He who covers [excuses] his sins will not
prosper: but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy, tell us that those who truly fear and love God
will not excuse their sins, but will confess and forsake them
(Proverbs 28:13). In fact, we could say that those who excuse their sins, and
try to justify wrongdoing, really love those sins, and that is the opposite of
true repentance.
When Ezekiel said, If
the wicked person turns from all the sins that he has committed, and keeps my
law, and does that which is lawful and right, he will surely live, he will not die, he was describing repentance
by its fruits (Ezekiel 18:21). What those who pull this verse out of context
fail to realize is that Gods law demands a heart that is humbled and sorry
for sin, not just a heart that just puts on an outward show of
righteousness. (Psalm 51:17). Christ condemned such outward show when He said,
You also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of
hypocrisy and wickedness, (Matthew
When
The Pharisee stood up and prayed thus
to himself, God, I thank you, that I am not like other men are, extortioners, evil doers, adulterers, or even like this publican.
I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of everything I possess, he
undoubtedly thought that he had turned from any sins he had committed, and was
keeping Gods law (Luke
The Pharisee lied when he posed as an example of goodness and obedience.
He had harbored unclean, lust-filled, greedy, hate-charged thoughts. His soul,
as every mans, was a source of vicious, destructive evil. Deny it though he
did this Bible verdict condemned him: From within, out of the heart of men,
proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness,
wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride,
foolishness. (From the 1947 sermon, "The Prayer God
Answers.)
In contrast, when the publican, standing afar off, would not
even look up to heaven, but beat upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me
a sinner. He was doing what Gods law required (Luke
In
short, the law prepares our heart for conversion by revealing our sin and need
for forgiveness. The internal change that God works in us through the law takes
place when we stop excusing our sin and come to God with a humble heart that is
sorry for sin and wants to be delivered from it. Conversion then takes place
when we believe Gods promise of forgiveness in Christ. For, Scripture has concluded all under sin, that
the promise [of forgiveness] might be given to those who believe, through faith
in Jesus Christ (Galatians