Thus far we have given consideration to two words that are becoming more and more conspicuously missing from the church’s vocabulary: sin and hell. Still another word that is closely connected to these two words is repentance. It is a very sad reality that the modern church has become pretty much silent when it comes to the Biblical concept of personal repentance.

The Bible tells us that it is absolutely necessary for one to repent of sin in order to have a personal relationship with God. God has established a standard of righteousness – a standard that no one has ever been able to live up to – except, of course, for Jesus. The Bible states clearly that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and, therefore, all are in need of His grace of forgiveness. Individuals accept His offer of forgiveness through the co-actions of confession and repentance: confession of sin, and repentance, turning away from, that sin.

Read the following examples of the Bible’s demands for genuine repentance for one to gain entrance into the kingdom of God (all verses are taken from the NKJV):

Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord. Acts 3:19

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgives us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9

He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy. Proverbs 28:13

Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance. Matthew 3:8

From then on Jesus began to preach, ‘Repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near!’ Matthew 4:17

I tell you, in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous people who don’t need repentance. Luke 15:7

I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Luke 5:32

Hopefully this short selection of verses will be sufficient to show the Bible’s emphasis on the necessity of repentance. But, some might ask, what exactly is repentance? To boil it down to its simplest form, repentance is a change of mind that leads to a change of behavior. When one reads the Bible and is confronted about some sinful behavior in their life, then repentance begins with a change of mind to agree with what the Bible says. For instance, if one is living in a pre-marital relationship with a member of the opposite sex, and they read in Scripture that sex outside of marriage is sin, then repentance would call for them to agree with the Bible’s teaching. It would then be followed with a change of action: getting out of the pre-marital sexual relationship until they can be legitimately married according to the Bible’s instruction. So, repentance is changing one’s mind to get into alignment with the teachings of the Bible, and then to change the behavior to show a change of action based upon the change of mind.

Could it be that the church has become silent on the subject of repentance because so many people in the church are living in open sinful behavior, and thus the church’s leadership is afraid to offend them by calling for sincere repentance? Or, could it be that the church is silent on the matter of repentance because it now accepts the sinful behaviors as legitimate relational behaviors that God condones? Either way, it is a blight of the modern church that repentance is no longer clearly taught as being essential for one to have a relationship with God.

For one to read and study Scripture and not see clearly that repentance is a mandate from the Lord is an oversight of major proportions. May we ever be diligent in sharing with others the need of confession and repentance.

Until next time:

Blessings!