REPENTANCE

         We find our thought today in Jewish Jewels[1], a newsletter for Messianic Jews.  These excerpts speak to all who believe in and are following Christ.

         Repentance in Hebrew Biblical thinking is not an emotion.  It is a decision, an act of the will.  Teshuvah, the Hebrew word for “repentance”, comes from the verb shub, which literally means “to turn around, return, or renounce”.  It suggests, as Marvin Wilson points out in Our Father Abraham, a “spiritual about-face”.  Maimonides, the renowned 12^th century medieval Jewish theologian and philosopher, divided Teshuvah into four specific steps:  1) Confession, or acknowledgement of guilt; 2) Remorse, regret, contrition, sorrow over having committed sin; 3) A strong resolution not to commit the sin again, and restitution where necessary; and 4) Reconciliation with God. 

         In Hebrews 6:1-2, in the new covenant, we find the order of the basic foundations of our faith in Christ.  The first foundational principle is repentance from dead works; the second is faith toward God.  Repentance first.  Faith second.  We have discovered the truth over the years that without true repentance, there can not be true faith.  A gospel that says “only believe” is not the true gospel message.

         “Repent” was John’s first word concerning the kingdom of God (Matthew 3:1-2).

         “Repent” was the word the disciples used first after being sent out to preach Mark 6:12).

         “Repentance” was to be preached after Jesus’ resurrection (Luke 24:47).

         “Repent was Peter’s instruction to those who heard his first sermon (Acts 2:38).

         “Repentance”, Paul said, was commanded for all men everywhere (Acts 17:30).

         “Repent” was what Paul told Gentiles to do (Acts 26:20).

         What causes men to repent?  This is where prayer comes in, since repentance is really supernatural.  It begins with God, not with man.  As Derek Prince explains in his Foundation Series, “Apart from the working of God’s grace and the moving of God’s spirit, man left to himself is incapable of repentance.”  When the psalmist cries out, “Restore us O God … and we shall be saved”, the Hebrew literally says, “Cause us to turn back” (Psalm 80:3, 7, 19.

         It is God who moves first and draws the sinner to repentance by His Holy Spirit.  Since the Bible makes clear in II Peter 3:9 that God is “…not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance”, He takes the initiative in moving on the heart of man to reveal man’s sin, his separation from God, and God’s great desire to overcome that separation.  God is longsuffering in His love toward us: “it is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance.  (See Romans 2:4).

         Repentance should be an abiding attitude, not something that happens once.  Self-righteousness creeps in.  So does pride. Spiritual laziness.  Lack of compassion.  Love of the world.  Unholy living. … May the fear of the Lord, and the goodness and grace of God, help us all to repent of our sin.  Jesus said to believers in Revelation 2:4 who had left their first love, “Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works…”  Does this apply to you?  All of us need to pay attention to Revelation 3:19:  “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten.  Therfore be zealous and repent.”

May God bless us to grow in grace.