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This is Part 6 of an ongoing series on Salvation.
In this post we cover a couple of aspects of being saved that are often incompletely understood, Repentance and Confession. I've attempted here to provide a basic, accurate understanding of both with the idea that we can study more together. I hope you learn something, and are edified by this teaching. God has called everyone to repent of their sins, and desires that we all Confess "Jesus is Lord"
A summary of all posts can be found here:
Salvation Page.
Please take your time and read each post in turn, you'll get a better picture of what's going on.
A. Repenting of Your Sins.
Do you hate the evil in this world? I do, and I believe God does too. Many people use the excuse of evil to disbelieve in God. I wish they’d consider how their own personal evil affects the world around them. Many times people like to play a game where they compare their sins to the sins of others. When we do this, we neglect one important fact: We sin against God. Let me say that again, We Sin Against God. One more time, just in case, WE SIN AGAINST GOD. He is Holy. He is utterly and completely different from sin. When He created Humans, we owed Him our work, and when we sin, we take from Him. Sin is such a big deal to God, He promises judgement on the wicked. If we are to love God, if we believe His promises of Life to us, we must learn to hate evil, no matter how small, no matter how much we do or continue to do. Our sins required payment, and God’s payment was nothing less than the blood of Jesus: “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). I would like to therefore propose to you something maybe you’ve heard before, and maybe not.
When you sin, Jesus’ suffering on the cross was that much more. When you sin today, Jesus’ suffering was that much more then. God isn’t limited by time and space, but has been working since even the very foundation of this world to bring all to Him. His efforts have been all because of your sin. God does not desire that we continue in this sin! It is an affront to His Holy nature, and sin is against the purposes for which He has created you. Sin brings death, and God brings life. Therefore, if we would receive life from Him, we must rid ourselves of the cause of death, and put aside our sins! Jesus says it like this: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17) “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.[1]“ He wanted to stress that point of repentance so much that He repeats that instruction to repent in Luke 13:5! When a woman caught in adultery is brought before Him, He does not condemn her, instead He calls her to repentance saying, “from now on sin no more”. The Apostles echo Jesus’ instructions to repentance. When the crowd on the day of Pentecost asks, “What should we do?” Peter replies for them to “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.” Not long after, he tells people gathered at Solomon’s Portico: “Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out…” Since we are to repent, two questions obviously present themselves for consideration. What is repentance? How do we repent? In considering these things, we will look at scripture for definitions, and we will also need to look within ourselves. I have to warn you, in either case, you may find some things out about yourself that are unpleasant. I know I will. That’s the point. When we define repentance, we are defining new life.
“Repent” in the New Testament, as Jesus commanded, as the Apostles taught literally means “Change your mind”. When Jesus says “repent for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand!” He wants you to change your mind! When Peter says “Repent and be baptized for the remission of your sins” he wanted those people (and us, the promise is for all who the Lord God calls) to change their minds. When God delays Judgement on this earth, the delay is because He desires all to change their minds! (2 Peter 3:9) We need to change our minds about who Jesus is. If Jesus is, in your mind, just a good man/teacher/prophet, but is not the son of God: Change your mind! If Jesus is, in your mind, one choice among many: Change your mind! If Jesus is not Lord of your mind: Change your mind! Paul describes repentance without saying repentance like this:
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. [2]
In this description we begin to answer the how of repentance. When we change our minds, we change our actions. When we change our actions, we begin to see things God’s way. As we begin to see God’s way, we find more and more in us that needs to change! That’s repentance. We constantly change and move toward God. We must move away from worldly thinking. This affects our entire being, especially when you consider all the things the world does that are good, but subtly warped away from God’s purposes. We must change our minds.
Much of what we do as Christians is the same from person to person. We believe the same things about Jesus, we confess the same things about Jesus, we’re all baptized into the same body of Christ, but repentance takes things to a more personal level. Just as we are all individuals, we have individual sin, and circumstances that need to be handled. In short, no one can really tell you how to repent, but they can hold you to account that you do repent. That’s part of what makes our relationships in church fellowship so special. We all have different weaknesses and in Christ, we can complement and build each other up in holiness and love. To know what you need to repent of, look to Scripture. God’s word is “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.[3]” By reading, learning, and practicing scripture, we build the habits we need to excel in all the good works God has for us to do. Changing our minds through repentance brings the church together in a very powerful way. We see and do God’s will through His word, and we begin to understand the cost to God for Him to extend to us His Grace.
What do you need to change in your mind, so that it changes your actions?
B. Because we Confess that Faith
Jesus said, “And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God.[4]” There’s something specific about Jesus that we must identify. Confession is linked to faith in that we apply our faith with our voice. The things we confess are what we believe about Jesus. We believe Jesus is the Christ, Son of the Living God. That simple but dividing statement is what begins to set Christians apart from other people and religions. Most religions require some sort of faith, and a turning away from sin and “the old ways”, but Christianity requires that we Believe in Jesus and Proclaim this to others. We also confess that Jesus is Lord. When we make that confession, we must understand that Jesus is in Heaven, at the right hand of God, ready to bring judgement for the world, and deliverance to His people. I love the description of Jesus in Revelation 19:
Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.
Many before Jesus have attempted to wear the title of King of kings, Lord of lords. Nobody obtained their Kingdom quite like Jesus. Jesus did not consider using His status of equal with God, but instead used obedience to the Father to achieve His Lordship, so that every knee should bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
Confession and repentance go hand in hand. Simply put, if you change, people need to know why. Conversely, if you say you have a reason to change, they need to see the change. If you believe Jesus, and if you believe what He says, you will believe Him when He talks about repentance, and you will confess Him before others. This confession is a continual process, usually starting with a formal announcement to the Church at Large that you believe Jesus is the Christ, the son of the Living God, that He is your Lord and savior. It continues in confessing His lordship when before others. I did this when I was about ten and a half, before the congregation of Alexandria Christian Church on June 12, 1988. I confessed to them that I believe that Jesus is THE Christ, the SON of the Living God. My confession echoed Peter’s words to Jesus when Jesus asked His disciples, “who do you say that I am?” Who do you say Jesus is, is He the Christ? We also must acknowledge Jesus is King to the world. This is a little trickier. When the Apostles were first taking the Gospel message to people, the message itself was contraband. It denied a central tenet of the state: that Caesar is a god. Many Christians were persecuted for their “atheism” by the state. Their confession was serious business, something they didn’t take lightly, nor did they give it without considering what Jesus said about suffering for His name. Even in modern times, the government doesn’t like competition. Throughout history, the state has opposed the church, to the point where people must keep their church meetings secret. In America, we have “freedom of speech” and “freedom of religion” but much of that freedom is restricted by rules, laws and social norms meant to enforce the de facto state religion of pluralism and humanistic philosophy. Some people will look at you crazy if you confess that Jesus is the King of kings. They believe they have no king but themselves. We seek to be different. We seek to align ourselves with the Creator of the Heavens and the earth. We seek the King who set Himself aside to do God’s will, and who then rose from the dead to proclaim full life to those who believe.
We’ve talked so far about faith, repentance, and confession. These things are all part of the obedience to the Gospel, but they’re not the full story. Jesus and the Apostles, have left us with one more thing to think about before we can say we’re done. We’ve talked about what we do when we believe, repent, and confess, but now we must consider what God does with us when we’re baptized into the Body of Christ.
