It seems that the doctrine of repentance has fallen upon hard times. It just seems that we don’t hear much about it. That really is strange in that it holds such a primary place in the preaching of the early gospel preachers.
Repentance is the first word recorded in the ministry of John the Baptist. Repentance is likewise the first word recorded in the preaching of Jesus Christ. And the apostle Peter, after explaining to the crowds on the day of Pentecost the event that had just happened, in responding to their query of what they should do, said repent. The condition and experience of repentance is essential to salvation and is a “grant” from God.
Acts 11:18 (KJV)
When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.
The ability of man to see his own sinfulness and to understand his need is a gift from God. It is not an academic thing so much as it is a humbling and heart breaking realization of how incredibly self-centered and wicked we are. It is the reality of seeing that we are rebels against God and hold tenaciously to our own personal freedoms and that we do in fact resent any implications that we are accountable to God.
We would all do well to look much further into the subject of repentance and its relationship to the blessed doctrine of salvation. Repentance is not something we can effect in the lives of others by logic or other persuasive arguments, it is something that comes as a gift from God through the ministry of his Word and the Spirit.
May God grant you the wonderful gift and spirit of repentance.
