Is Repentance Necessary For Salvation?
Matthew
3:1-12
Imagine
one sunny evening when you were taking a stroll with your family on Boston
Commons, a crowded park. All of a sudden, you heard a thundering voice saying,
" You poisonous people, unless you all change your minds, you are all
going to die and go to hell." You move closer to see a man wearing a
goatskin, a leather belt around his waist, and holding a long stick. You hear
him shout again, " The time has come for you to burn in hell!" What
will you do?
You
might think, here is another lunatic preaching a fire-and-brimstone message,
and you will move on. If you were a state trooper, you might arrest him for
causing public unrest. But that was not the case with this man, who preached a
similar message over 2000 years ago.
Crowds
from the whole region came to listen. The crowd included law enforcement
officers, lawyers, religious leaders, tax officers, and a bunch of common
people. The crowd's response indicates that his message resonated with them.
Are you wondering who this commanding person was? What is his message, and how
will it impact you? Matthew 3:1-12
I. Thunder
in the Desert: John The Baptist.
In 740 B.C Isaiah prophesied about John, referring to
him as, "Thunder in the desert! Prepare for God's arrival! Make the road
smooth and straight." Matt 3:3 (Isaiah 40:3). The Message. Another prophet,
Malachi, 400 years before his arrival, said this of John, "See, I will
send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord
comes. Malachi 4:5.
So, when John arrived on the scene
in the wilderness of Judea, people everywhere had been waiting for Elijah to
come again. Seeing John wearing camel's hair clothing and a leather belt at his
waist, people may have been amazed at the fulfillment of the prophecy. John ate
a high-protein diet of Locusts and wild honey. By the way, the locusts were kosher
food. Lev 11:22. John had one message to the crowds: "Repent, for the
Kingdom of heaven has come near."
Let us break this very familiar yet
not usually spoken sentence in the world today: "What is repentance?"
Is it necessary for Salvation? Who should repent? What is the fruit of Repentance?
What does it mean for the Kingdom of Heaven to have come near you?
II.
What is Repentance?
The
call to repent is a consistent theme throughout the Bible, yet it is so often ignored.
Biblical Repentance is not feeling guilty and remorseful for wrongdoing. It is
much more than that. In the Bible, the word repent means "to change one's
mind." The Bible also tells us that true Repentance will result in a
change in actions. The short biblical definition of Repentance is "a
change of mind that results in a change of action."[1] To repent is to change our
wrong ways of thinking about God, ourselves, and the world, and to return to
God by faith, resulting in a life of right living that is pleasing to God and a
blessing to many.
II. Is
Repentance Necessary For Salvation?
To
summarize Matthew 3:5-7, the crowds from Jerusalem and all Judea, and the whole
region of the Jordan, came to John, confessing their sins and were baptized by
John in the Jordan River. Many Pharisees and Sadducees also came to where John
was baptizing, seeing them, John addressed them, saying: "You brood of
vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?
This
explains the connection between Repentance and Salvation. From the time Adam
and Eve sinned against God in the Garden of Eden, the whole of humanity has
turned away from God and deserves the wrath of God, resulting in us burning in
hell forever.
But
thank God! Out of His great love and
mercy for us, He calls us to repent and turn back to Him through the confession
of our sins and receive forgiveness. We see this call to Repentance several
times in the Bible, and it is clearly stated in Peter's address on the Day of Pentecost.
Acts 2:37-38.
"When
the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the
other apostles, 'Brothers, what shall we do?" Peter replied, "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."
Without any exception, Peter called all of them to repent. Repent from what?
Peter calls on people who rejected Jesus (Acts 2:36) to change their minds about that Sin and about
Christ Himself, recognizing that He is indeed "Lord and Messiah."
Even today, there are people who either willfully or unintentionally ignore and
reject Jesus and what He came to offer them. Let's not take God's patience for
granted and keep rejecting Christ. The Apostle Paul, who himself had a change
of mind, said this to those who are willfully rejecting Christ.
Acts
17:30-31, "In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands
all people everywhere to repent, for he has set a day when he will judge the
world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to
everyone by raising him from the dead."
The
scriptures also tell us that this is the day of your Salvation. 2Cor 6:2. If
you hear his word, do not harden your heart as you did in the past in your
rebellion. Hebrews 3:7-8. Paul lays out the connection between Repentance and Salvation.
The kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from Sin and
results in Salvation. There's no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly
sorrow, which lacks Repentance, results in spiritual death. 2 Cor 7:10. NLT.
Let
me share a story that explains why you need to repent now—Ex Eagle on the
carcass of an animal in the river. Similarly, the Devil offers us Sin as very
attractive and enjoyable. We are enticed by it! Some of us even think, "let
me enjoy it for now." I can turn away from Sin whenever I want. But if we
don't turn away from it and continue to live in it, we will perish in hell
along with the Devil. The Devil never repents, and he is destined for hell, but
you don't have to follow him. You can repent of your Sin before it is too late
and escape from hell.
When
you repent of your sins and accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you will be
saved from eternal destruction and have eternal life. Now do you see why Repentance
is crucial? Yet some people think they don't need to repent because they are
good people who do a whole lot of good to others, so God must be obligated to
let them into heaven. It doesn't work that way!
IV.
What Is the Process and the Product Of Repentance?
John
the Baptist and Jesus later on preached the same message, saying, "Repent,
for the Kingdom of heaven has come near you. (Matt 3:3, 4:17) We will deal with
what it means for the Kingdom of heaven to have come near you later on. For
now, let's look at the process and the fruit of Repentance. Our own efforts
cannot manufacture Repentance; it is the gracious work of the Holy Spirit in
the life of an individual, which begins with the conviction of Sin. (John 16:8)
Under
the conviction of the Holy Spirit, we acknowledge that we have sinned against
God, ourselves, and others, and confess our Sins to Jesus, asking for His mercy
and Pardon. Jesus is always eager to forgive whatever Sin we may have committed
and to offer us Salvation.
Then
comes producing fruit in keeping with Repentance, according to John. What would
that look like? John lays out a whole list of actions to follow after
Repentance in Luke 3:11-12. A person who has repented of their sins and
received forgiveness lives differently, being led by the Holy Spirit and
following the Kingdom principles. Fruit of Repentance is counter-cultural!
You
will no longer go with the flow of the culture of the world, but go against it
because you belong to another Kingdom and serve the King of Kings, taking His
orders.
A
repentant person is generous with his resources and willing to share them with
others who might be struggling. They live a life pleasing to God by producing
the fruit of the Holy Spirit. (Gal 5:22-23). In closing, if you are hearing
God's call to Repent, how will you respond today? Don't ignore that call. If
you are already saved, how are you producing the fruit of Repentance?
