"Repent ye and believe the gospel."--Mark 1:15.
"Repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus
Christ."--Acts 20:21.
"And ye when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might
believe him."--Matt. 21:32.
"Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish."--Luke 13:3.
"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must
the Son of man be lifted up; that whosoever believeth in him should
not perish, but have eternal life."--John 3:14,15.
"Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And they said, Believe on the
Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved."--Acts 16:30, 31.
Wherever repentance and faith are mentioned in God's word without one
exception, repentance comes before faith. There is a faith that comes
before repentance; but it is pure historical faith, and does not
result in salvation. "He that cometh to God must believe that he
is,"--Heb. 11:26; the demons believe in God's existence, that He is;
Thomas Paine believed in God's existence, that He is. But the faith
that results in salvation invariably comes after repentance; "And ye
when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, _that ye_ might believe
him."--Matt. 21:32. If, therefore, the faith that saves must come
after repentance, then those who have no saving faith after
repentance, have no salvation, are not really redeemed. Not only so,
but if saving faith must come after repentance, then those who place
the only faith they claim, before repentance, do not understand what
saving faith is.
Jesus preached, "Repent ye and believe the gospel."--Mark 1:15. Paul
preached "repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus
Christ."--Acts 20:21. What does "repent" or "repentance" mean?
God's word teaches that one must repent _in order to believe_. "And ye
when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, _that ye might believe
him_."--Matt. 21:32. "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise
perish."--Luke 13:3. Then whatever "repentance" or "repent" means, it
is something that must take place before one can be saved, before he
can "believe the gospel" (Mark 1:15); before he can have "faith toward
our Lord Jesus Christ."--Acts 20:21. The Saviour gives a complete,
perfect picture of salvation, and in that picture we can find what
repentance means: "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
even so must the Son of man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in
him should not perish, but have eternal life."--John 3:14, 15. Jesus
says "As," "even so"; then in the case of the serpent in the
wilderness we have a complete, perfect picture of the way of
salvation. By seeing what came back there before the lifting up of the
serpent, we can see what comes before believing in Him, or "faith
toward our Lord Jesus Christ." Notice the incident to which the
Saviour referred as showing the complete picture of the way of
salvation: "And they journeyed from Mount Hor by the way of the Red
Sea, to compass the land of Edom: And the soul of the people was much
discouraged because of the way. And the people spake against God, and
against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in
the wilderness? For there is no bread, neither is there any water; and
our soul loatheth this light bread. And the Lord sent fiery serpents
among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel
died. Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned,
for we have spoken against the Lord, and against thee; pray unto the
Lord that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the
people. And the Lord said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and
set it upon a pole, and it shall come to pass, that every one that is
bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. And Moses made a serpent
of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a
serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he
lived."--Num. 21:4-9. These people realized that they had sinned
against God; that their sins deserved punishment; that they were
justly condemned--"we have sinned";--that they were helpless, "Pray
unto the Lord that _he_ take away the serpents from us"; and in their
helpless condition they turned from their sins and turned to God.
There had been, then, an entire change of mind and purpose, or they
would never have turned from their sins to God. When they faced the
fact that they had sinned and were justly condemned, there resulted
sorrow, and their sorrow led to the change of mind and purpose to turn
from their sins to God. Had there been no conviction of sin, no
realization that they had sinned and were justly condemned, there
would have been no change of mind, or purpose to turn from sin to
God. Here, then, we have what repentance is,--a conviction of sin,
such a realization of the fact that one has sinned and is justly
condemned that it produces such sorrow as leads to an entire change of
mind and purpose to turn from sin and turn to God. God then provided
the easiest way for them, "every one that is bitten, when he looketh
upon it [the brazen serpent] shall live."--Num. 21:8. The Saviour
says, "Even so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life."--John
3:15.
Notice the case of the jailor, Acts 16:22-34. When the jailor fell
down before Paul and Silas and brought them out and said, "Sirs, what
must I do to be saved?" (Verse 30), they did not say, "Repent"; they
said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved."--Verse 31.
But God's word teaches plainly that we must repent in order to believe
(Matt. 21:32; Luke 13:3). Then repentance must have already taken
place,--he must have already repented,--or they would have taught him
"repentance toward God" as well as "faith toward our Lord Jesus
Christ."--Acts 20:21. Go back and notice the jailor's case: the night
before, he had taken Paul and Silas with their backs bloody from the
beating they had received, and had not washed their stripes (Verse
33), had given them no supper (Verse 34), and had thrust them into the
inner prison and made their feet fast in the stocks. He was utterly
hardened. The praying and singing hymns to God by Paul and Silas, the
sudden earthquake, Paul's crying out against his committing suicide,
had convicted him of sin, such a conviction as had produced sorrow,
for he came trembling and fell down before them; and the sorrow had
led to an entire change of mind and purpose, and he said, "Sirs, what
must I do to be saved?"--"what," anything God would have me do I am
ready to do,--he had turned from his sins and had turned to God. Hence
they did not say "Repent," for he had repented; but they said,
"Believe on the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved."--Acts 16:31.
Having seen what the Saviour meant by repentance, let us go to the
meaning of the word translated "repent." "This word," says J. P.
Boyce, the great theologian, in his systematic theology, "means to
reconsider, perceive afterwards and to change one's view, mind or
purpose, or even judgment, implying disapproval and abandonment of
past opinions and purposes, and the adoption of others which are
different." B. H. Carroll, President Southwestern Baptist Theological
Seminary: "We may therefore give as the one invariable definition of
New Testament repentance that it is a change of mind." B. H. Carroll,
again, "Repentance is a change of mind toward God concerning a course
of sin leading rapidly down to death and eternal ruin." Once more from
B. H. Carroll: "If in one moment the soul is contrite enough to turn
in abhorrence of sin against God from all self-help to our Lord Jesus
Christ by faith, it is sufficient." John A. Broadus, the great
American scholar and teacher: "To repent, then, as a religious term of
the New Testament, is to change the mind, thought or purpose as
regards sin and the service of God--a change naturally accompanied by
deep sorrow for past sins, and naturally leading to a change of
outward life."
As the Bible teaches that no man can be saved who has not repented
("Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish."--Luke 13:3), and as
no one has repented who has not been convicted of sin, who has not
seen himself a guilty, justly condemned sinner, it follows that no one
is saved, no one can be saved, who does not believe that God will and
ought to punish sin. But to those who have repented, the way to be
saved is simple, easy, sure: "Believe on the Lord Jesus and thou shalt
be saved."--Acts 16:31.
_FOR FURTHER STUDY_:--There has been much misunderstanding about
repentance. Some men, as Moody, Harry Moorehouse, J. H. Brookes, etc.,
have been charged with not preaching enough repentance, simply because
they did not use the words "repent" and "repentance" as much as
others; whereas, others who use the words often, and tell touching
incidents, are said to preach "old-fashioned repentance." It is not
the word repentance that God requires, but the thing repentance, and a
sinner must repent or he cannot believe (Matt. 21:32) and he will
perish (Luke 13:3). The gospel of John is the only book of the Bible
given specifically to sinners to lead them to be saved. The way of
salvation can be found in many of the books of the Bible, and is
taught in them; but the gospel of John is the only book of the Bible
given for the special, specific purpose of leading a sinner to be
saved. "Many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his
disciples which are not written in this book: but these are written
that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and
that believing ye might have life through his name."--John 20:30, 31.
In this book, given specifically to lead a sinner to be saved, the
word "repentance" or "repent" does not occur, but the thing repentance
does (John 3:14, 15).
On the difference between the thing repentance and the word
repentance, give attention to the words of John A. Broadus, the great
American scholar and teacher already quoted: "Great difficulty has
been found in translating this Greek word 'metanoein' into languages.
The Syriac version, unable to give the precise meaning, falls back
upon 'turn,' the same word as the Hebrew. The Latin version gives
'Exercise penitence' (poenitentiam agere). But this Latin penitence,
apparently connected by etymology with _pain_, signifies grief or
distress, and is rarely extended to a change of purpose, thus
corresponding to the Hebrew word which we render 'repent,' but _not_
corresponding to the terms employed in Old Testament and New Testament
exhortations. Hence a subtle and pernicious error, pervading the whole
sphere of Latin Christianity, by which the exhortation of the New
Testament is understood to be an exhortation to _grief_ over sin, as
the primary and principal idea of the term. One step farther and
penitence was contracted into _penance_, and associated with mediaeval
ideas unknown to the New Testament, and the English Version made by
Romanists now represents John and Jesus and Peter as saying
(poenitentiam agere) do penance. From a late Latin compound
(repoenitere) comes our English word 'repent,' which inherits the
fault of the Latin; making grief the prominent element, and change of
purpose secondary, if expressed at all. Thus our English word
corresponds exactly to the second Greek word (metamelesthai), and to
the Hebrew word rendered repent, but sadly fails to translate the
exhortation of the New Testament."
Repentance is not a price that the sinner pays for salvation; neither
is the sorrow that leads to repentance a price that he pays for
salvation. And repentance does not make the sinner a fit subject for
salvation; nor does the sorrow that leads to repentance make him a fit
subject for salvation. No one can see that he has violated God's just
and holy law and is guilty, justly condemned, helpless, without its
producing sorrow and this sorrow will lead to repentance, to an entire
change of mind and purpose, to turning from sin, and, as B. H. Carroll
expressed it, from all self-help ("repentance from dead works,"--Heb.
6:1) to God.
Some are sometimes troubled as to how much sorrow there must be. There
are different degrees of sorrow in different people, but there must be
enough sorrow to lead to repentance, to an entire change of mind and
purpose.
"In both the Old Testament and the New Testament exhortation the
element of grief for sin is left in the background, neither word
directly expressing grief at all, though it must in the nature of
things be present."--_Jno. A. Broadus._
"To repent is to change your mind about sin and Christ and all the
good things of God. There is sorrow implied in this; but the main
point is the turning of the heart from sin to Christ. If there be this
turning you have the essence of the repentance, even though no alarm
and no despair should ever have cast their shadow upon your
mind."--_C. H. Spurgeon._
"Conviction of sin is just the sinner seeing himself as he is and as
God has all along seen him."--_H. Bonar, in "God's Way of Peace."_
"The object of the Holy Spirit's work in convincing of sin is to alter
the sinner's opinion of himself and so to reduce his estimate of his
own character, that he shall think of himself as God does, and so
cease to suppose it possible that he can be justified by any
excellence of his own. Having altered the sinner's good opinion of
himself, the Spirit then alters his evil opinion of God, so as to make
him see that the God with whom he has to deal is really the God of all
grace."--_Bonar._
"It is impossible, therefore, in the nature of things, for a sinful
being to appreciate God's mercy unless he first feels His justice as
manifest in the holy law."--_Walker, in "Philosophy of the Plan of
Salvation."_
"Man cannot repent and turn from sin till he is convicted of sin in
himself."--_Walker, in "Philosophy of the Plan of Salvation."_
"The more we feel the want of a benefactor, temporal or spiritual, and
the more we feel our inability to rescue ourselves from existing
difficulties and impending dangers, the more grateful love will the
heart feel for the being who, moved by, and in despite of, personal
sacrifices, interposes to assist and save us."--_Walker, in
"Philosophy of the Plan of Salvation."_
"As a feeling of want was necessary in order that the soul might love
the being that supplied that want, and as Jesus came to bestow
spiritual mercies upon mankind, _how could men be brought to feel the
want of a spiritual Benefactor and Saviour?_"... "According to the
constitution which God has given the soul, it must feel the want of
the spiritual mercies before it can feel love for the giver of those
mercies. And just in proportion as the soul feels its lost, guilty,
and dangerous condition, in the same proportion will it exercise love
to the being who grants spiritual favor and salvation. How then could
the spiritual want be produced in the souls of men in order that they
might love the spiritual benefactor?"... "The only possible way by
which man could be made to hope for and appreciate spiritual mercies
and to love a spiritual deliverer would be to produce a conviction in
the soul itself of its evil condition, its danger as a spiritual
being, and its inability, unaided, to satisfy the requirements of a
_spiritual law_, or to escape its just and spiritual penalty.
If man could be made to perceive that he was guilty and needy; that
his soul was under the condemnation of the holy law of the holy God,
he would then, necessarily, feel the need of a deliverance from
sin and its consequences; and in this way only, could the soul of
man be led to appreciate spiritual mercies, or love a spiritual
benefactor."--_Walker, in "Philosophy of the Plan of Salvation."_