Repentance

“And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” Luke 24:47. Repentance and forgiveness of sins are inseparable. There cannot be any talk of forgiveness if a person does not want to repent from sin. Repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be preached to all nations—and not just forgiveness, as is being done nearly every place in these days.

The preaching about the forgiveness of sins has become a comfortable pillow for many people, and they feel uncomfortably disturbed when they hear about repenting of every sin that can be mentioned by name. “No!” they cry out with one voice. “That is bondage, striving in your own strength, a dangerous doctrine of being free from sin, a false doctrine. Watch out young people!” and so on. Yes, we hear such terrible calls from all directions from harlot Christians. The only thing that matters when it concerns inheriting eternal life and blessedness is the forgiveness of sins, they say with a contemptuous smile when we speak about an overcoming life. They gave up such “striving” long ago; for example, fighting, striving, watching, praying, pursuing, running etc. None of that matters any more, they think, after everything has been said and done. All that matters is the forgiveness of sins, and when they get to heaven they will receive a “reward of grace.” Yes indeed, the darkness is great, and perhaps such people will not awaken before they will hear these words: “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” Matt. 7:23.

Jesus says that everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin and has the devil as his father. We must never believe that we can go around as pardoned children of the devil and in the end get to heaven and receive the “reward of grace.” No, it takes godly sorrow and true repentance. We must go from darkness to light, from the power of Satan to God to become a child of God and do the works of God. We must hate the devil and all his works—his entire being—and love Christ and all His works and all His being, according to the light that God has given us. There is no condemnation in areas where we do not have light. However, the nature of Satan must be unveiled more and more for us as we walk in the light; thus we also have more responsibility.

John writes, “And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father.” 1 John 2:1. However, it is not the intention that we shall sin. We must never be content in defeat, reckoning that God is gracious, because there is no grace for anyone unless he regrets what he has done and seeks to be set free from sin. The kingdom of heaven is not for lazy, rich, and satisfied people, but for those who are poor in their spirit, and who hunger and thirst for righteousness.

Jesus joyfully receives each repentant sinner. He came into the world for the very purpose of saving sinners. But if we do not want to be set free from sin, it is impossible for us to partake of His salvation. The power of the gospel is so great that we cannot mention one sin from which we cannot be saved. All excuses have to vanish before Jesus’ saving power and grace. “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not!” Rom. 6:15.

The prophets in the old covenant called out powerfully to the children of Israel that they should turn away from their evil ways and works, so that the Lord could heal them and be merciful to them.

On the day of Pentecost Peter called out to the people and said, among other things, “Repent . . . and be saved from this perverse generation.”

The call to repentance in the new covenant goes far deeper and is more powerful than the call to repentance in the old covenant—it pierces into the secret intents and counsels of the heart. Ananias and Sapphira wanted to hide some of the impurity of their hearts, and they fell over dead.

Unfortunately, the call to repentance has grown mostly silent in our days, and grace upon grace over all sin and misery is preached instead. This results in a false grace and comfort, which is what Jude calls turning the grace of our God into licentiousness. Jude 4.

May the call to true repentance and forgiveness of sin sound clearly and powerfully in these last days. Let us therefore be witnesses of this.