The Divine Gift of Repentance: A Transformative Journey
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"We are in a series called The Gift, and we're examining what Scripture says about the gift itself, the gift of salvation. And there are 17 responses to this question, what is the gift, that we've been talking about. And up to this point, we have looked at eight of them. We looked at salvation, redemption, the forgiveness of sin, eternal life, peace with God, abundant life, the Holy Spirit, and grace." [00:00:00]
"And the first one that we'll look at today is repentance. Repentance, that is a gift. In 1988, John MacArthur wrote a book called The Gospel According to Jesus. And in this book, it was a response to a growing theological debate that was often referred to as the Lordship Controversy. The book addressed misconceptions about grace, about faith, about salvation, as it was taught by some Christian teachers and preachers." [00:01:04]
"Because one of the prevailing teachings said that if you require repentance as part of salvation, that would make it a work that was added to faith. And they said that it would compromise the doctrine of salvation by grace. In other words, if you require repentance, you would be adding to salvation. And they say the same thing when you require people to confess Jesus is Lord. They're saying that that is a work and that is not part of the gospel." [00:01:38]
"If, perhaps, God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses, and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will. So in this passage, and in this chapter, the Apostle Paul is writing to Timothy, and he's talking to him about interacting with those who are opponents to the gospel, those who are rejecting the truth. And he tells them when he corrects them to do it with gentleness." [00:05:10]
"So here he is telling Timothy that as you're correcting those who are in opposition, you be gentle, and, perhaps, God will give them the gift of repentance. I mean, because he's already said in verse 24, don't be quarrelsome. If you're quarrelsome with those who are in opposition, you're just going to drive them away. But you must be kind. You must be gentle. You must be patient when you're wronged. You must be able to teach." [00:06:12]
"That says a lot. So the word grant, it implies that repentance is not something a person can achieve on their own, but rather, as I said, it is a gift of God. It's something God enables in a person through His grace and through His sovereign will. In fact, the verse itself highlights that repentance cannot originate from God. It doesn't originate solely from human effort. It is God who grants. It is God who enables repentance in a person's heart through the convicting ministry of the Holy Spirit." [00:06:49]
"And in 1 Thessalonians chapter 1, we hear the Apostle Paul writing to this church, very fascinated over what has taken place at this church and in such a short time, and how this church was demonstrating the work of God. He begins there in verse 3 by bearing in mind their work of faith, their labor of love, and their steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. He said when he saw that, in verse 4, he knew that God had elected them, that God had chosen them." [00:07:50]
"These are very choice words. There is... Returning from idols to serve the living and true God was something that would have been counter-cultural and extremely difficult apart from God's intervention in their lives. I mean, you can look back on your own life and where you were at when the Lord opened up your heart, and you can probably remember if there were things in your life that you were so attached to and how difficult it was to let those things go. But you were enabled divinely by God to let these things go, and you did." [00:11:13]
"See, even when we talk about faith, we're not talking about human faith. We live by human faith all the time. You know, we trust the water coming out of the pipes until you see the pipes, right? But, I mean, we trust so many things. We live by faith every day. But there is a difference between human faith and supernatural faith. Human faith works. It won't save you. Supernatural faith will. And that also is a gift. Remember Ephesians 2, 8, 9? For by grace you have been saved through what? Through faith." [00:14:21]
"Repentance culminates in an actual forsaking of sin, a deliberate and permanent turning away from sinful thoughts, behaviors, and attitudes. Repentance culminates in an actual forsaking of sin, You've got to physically turn from this. And here he emphasizes that repentance is incomplete without reformation. He says we must not only turn from sin, but turn to God. Turning from sin without turning to God is merely moral reformation, not true repentance." [00:37:25]
"True repentance, like fire, burns the house down. It does not leave sin standing. So repentance is essential. It is essential for the salvation process, representing an acknowledgment of sin and a conscious decision to pursue a life that aligns with the gospel. Let me have you to turn into the book of Psalms. There's two places I want us to look at before we close. One is found in Psalm 51. Psalm 51. And if you're familiar with Psalm 51, you know that Psalm 51 contains the confession and repentance of David for the murder of Uriah and the adulterous affair he had with Bathsheba." [00:38:00]
"Be gracious to me, O God, according to your lovingkindness, according to the greatness of your compassion. Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, I have sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may forgive me. So that you are justified when you speak and blameless when you judge. See, he didn't blame his sin on somebody else." [00:39:38]
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"And the first one that we'll look at today is repentance. Repentance, that is a gift. In 1988, John MacArthur wrote a book called The Gospel According to Jesus. And in this book, it was a response to a growing theological debate that was often referred to as the Lordship Controversy. The book addressed misconceptions about grace, about faith, about salvation, as it was taught by some Christian teachers and preachers." [00:01:04]
"Because one of the prevailing teachings said that if you require repentance as part of salvation, that would make it a work that was added to faith. And they said that it would compromise the doctrine of salvation by grace. In other words, if you require repentance, you would be adding to salvation. And they say the same thing when you require people to confess Jesus is Lord. They're saying that that is a work and that is not part of the gospel." [00:01:38]
"If, perhaps, God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses, and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will. So in this passage, and in this chapter, the Apostle Paul is writing to Timothy, and he's talking to him about interacting with those who are opponents to the gospel, those who are rejecting the truth. And he tells them when he corrects them to do it with gentleness." [00:05:10]
"So here he is telling Timothy that as you're correcting those who are in opposition, you be gentle, and, perhaps, God will give them the gift of repentance. I mean, because he's already said in verse 24, don't be quarrelsome. If you're quarrelsome with those who are in opposition, you're just going to drive them away. But you must be kind. You must be gentle. You must be patient when you're wronged. You must be able to teach." [00:06:12]
"That says a lot. So the word grant, it implies that repentance is not something a person can achieve on their own, but rather, as I said, it is a gift of God. It's something God enables in a person through His grace and through His sovereign will. In fact, the verse itself highlights that repentance cannot originate from God. It doesn't originate solely from human effort. It is God who grants. It is God who enables repentance in a person's heart through the convicting ministry of the Holy Spirit." [00:06:49]
"And in 1 Thessalonians chapter 1, we hear the Apostle Paul writing to this church, very fascinated over what has taken place at this church and in such a short time, and how this church was demonstrating the work of God. He begins there in verse 3 by bearing in mind their work of faith, their labor of love, and their steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. He said when he saw that, in verse 4, he knew that God had elected them, that God had chosen them." [00:07:50]
"These are very choice words. There is... Returning from idols to serve the living and true God was something that would have been counter-cultural and extremely difficult apart from God's intervention in their lives. I mean, you can look back on your own life and where you were at when the Lord opened up your heart, and you can probably remember if there were things in your life that you were so attached to and how difficult it was to let those things go. But you were enabled divinely by God to let these things go, and you did." [00:11:13]
"See, even when we talk about faith, we're not talking about human faith. We live by human faith all the time. You know, we trust the water coming out of the pipes until you see the pipes, right? But, I mean, we trust so many things. We live by faith every day. But there is a difference between human faith and supernatural faith. Human faith works. It won't save you. Supernatural faith will. And that also is a gift. Remember Ephesians 2, 8, 9? For by grace you have been saved through what? Through faith." [00:14:21]
"Repentance culminates in an actual forsaking of sin, a deliberate and permanent turning away from sinful thoughts, behaviors, and attitudes. Repentance culminates in an actual forsaking of sin, You've got to physically turn from this. And here he emphasizes that repentance is incomplete without reformation. He says we must not only turn from sin, but turn to God. Turning from sin without turning to God is merely moral reformation, not true repentance." [00:37:25]
"True repentance, like fire, burns the house down. It does not leave sin standing. So repentance is essential. It is essential for the salvation process, representing an acknowledgment of sin and a conscious decision to pursue a life that aligns with the gospel. Let me have you to turn into the book of Psalms. There's two places I want us to look at before we close. One is found in Psalm 51. Psalm 51. And if you're familiar with Psalm 51, you know that Psalm 51 contains the confession and repentance of David for the murder of Uriah and the adulterous affair he had with Bathsheba." [00:38:00]
"Be gracious to me, O God, according to your lovingkindness, according to the greatness of your compassion. Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, I have sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may forgive me. So that you are justified when you speak and blameless when you judge. See, he didn't blame his sin on somebody else." [00:39:38]
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