Part one of a miniseries that answers the question, “How are we to respond to the Gospel?” In this talk, Pastor Clint discusses the role of repentance in faith.
Summary by Darrin Koehler
In this sermon and in the following short series, Clint explains from the Scriptures the nature of Biblical faith. He begins with these five premises.
1. The Gospel demands a response.
2. We are saved by grace through faith alone, apart from our own righteousness.
3. Biblical faith consists of two mutually dependent elements: repentance and belief (two sides of the same coin).
4. The Bible distinguished between empty intellectual belief and saving experiential belief.
5. Even our response of repentance and faith is a gift of grace and direct result of God?s initiation and mercy that enables us to respond to him.
John writes that to all who receive Him, they are given the right to be children of God. But what does it mean to receive Jesus? Surely, most religions receive Jesus in some fashion. But the Bible calls us to receive Him as God. When Peter received the Holy Spirit, he spoke with power about the Gospel of Jesus. And when the hearers heard, they were cut to the heart, asking “what shall we do?” To this, Peter responded, “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 Holy Spirit.”
What sets Biblical Christianity apart from every other religion in the world is that the work is already finished. There is nothing that we can do to merit our own salvation because our deeds and works can never be good enough to please God. He is perfect, and His standard is perfect – it can only be met in the perfect and sinless blood of Jesus Christ. Anything that we try to add to the blood of Christ is insulting to God because it means that we do not believe His blood is sufficient, His work is finished, and that He alone is mighty to save.
What we believe about Jesus and His work on the cross is crucial. It is therefore important that we understand what John meant when he said, “to all who… receive Him.” Reading the Bible for its face value, it seems impossible to separate repentance from “receiving Him.”
“It has been said that Repentance is the first word of the gospel. It was the message of John the Baptist as he prepared the way for the arrival of Jesus (Matt 3:2). It was the message of Jesus when he began his public ministry (Matt 4:17) and announced the gospel?s arrival in Galilee (Mark 1:14-15). It permeated not only his preaching (Matt 18:3, Luke 24:46-47), but also the preaching of those he sent out (Mark 6:12). It was the response Peter provoked after preaching the gospel at Pentecost (Acts 2:38), at the temple (Acts 3:19), before the Sanhedrin (Acts 5:31), and to Cornelius? household (Acts 11:18). It was the message of Paul at Mars Hill (Acts 17:30) and in Ephesus (Acts 20:21); before Agrippa (Acts 26:20) and in Rome (Acts 28:25-31).”
So what is repentance? He continues:
“Repentance is turning from the reign of sin and the preeminence of self (self-rule, self-reliance and self-righteousness) to the Lordship of Christ, acknowledging his rightful authority over all things, including our own lives. This repentance accompanies biblical faith — believing Jesus to be the promised Messiah, recognizing our inability to do anything to save ourselves and relying solely and totally on the completed work of Christ?s substitutionary death and resurrection to save us.”
It is impossible to “receive Jesus” without acknowledging Him as Lord. He gives us no other option.
To be continued in the next sermon…
>> See Related: Repentance Defined
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CrossWay Church is a modern expression of the biblical community of faith, hope and love serving the cities of Debary, Orange City, Deltona, Deland, Sanford and the surrounding central Florida area. Our passion is for the glory and fame of Jesus Christ. Our vision is to effectively engage our contemporary culture with his timeless gospel. Our mission is to help people find and follow hard after him. Visit us on the web at crosswayflorida.com
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light.
The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John bore witness about him, and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’”) And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.
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