Articles
What It Takes to Be Saved 16 – Man’s Part – Repentance
What It Takes to Be Saved 16 – Man’s Part – Repentance
Mike Willis
What must one do to be saved by Jesus? After he learns the facts of the gospel, believes them, and makes a commitment to devote himself to become a disciple of Jesus, he must repent of his sins.
1. REPENTANCE IS NECESSARY. Jesus said, “. . . unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3, 5). When the people who heard Peter’s sermon in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost asked, “what shall we do?”, Peter answered, “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” (Acts 2:38). The word “repent” (metanoeō) means “change one’s mind, . . . feel remorse, repent, be converted . . . repent and turn away from something” (BDAG, 640).
2. REPENTANCE IS MORE THAN REMORSE. Paul wrote the Corinthians about a matter that they needed to repent of having done. He said, “For even if I made you grieve with my letter, I do not regret it—though I did regret it, for I see that that letter grieved you, though only for a while. As it is, I rejoice, not because you were grieved, but because you were grieved into repenting. For you felt a godly grief, so that you suffered no loss through us. FOR GODLY GRIEF PRODUCES A REPENTANCE that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death” (2 Cor. 7:8-10). So repentance is more than regret for having committed a sin. Sin’s consequences can be so painful that one wishes he had never done the wicked deed that he did. Many people who are incarcerated in prisons regret what they have done, but that they have not repented is seen when they are released and go back to doing their sinful deeds again and again.
3. REPENTANCE BEARS FRUIT. When men went to hear John the Baptist preach, he told them, “Bear fruit in keeping with repentance” (Matt. 3:8). The fruit of repentance is the change in life that occurs when he quits the practice of his sin and starts practicing righteousness. So, let’s get down to the nitty-gritty of repentance by looking at the demands provided in the Ten Commandments. If a person treats his parents disrespectfully, he must begin to honor his father and mother (Exod. 20:12); if he has been committing murder, he must stop murdering people (Exod. 20:13); if he has been involved in adulterous affairs, he must quit committing adultery (Exod. 20:14); if he has been stealing, he must quit stealing, get a job and provide for himself and those for whom he is responsible (Exod. 20:15; Eph. 4:28); if he has born false witness against another, he must correct that sin and start telling the truth (Exod. 20:16; Eph. 4:25); if he has been coveting his neighbor’s wife, he must quit lusting after women and put away his pornography (Exod. 20:17).
The fact is that Jesus instructed people that they could not live like devil and expect to go to heaven when they die. Repentance requires a change in how one lives. If one has being using his tongue to lie, curse, and tell filthy jokes, he must stop those practices and start speaking like the Lord expects. Do not take the name of the Lord your God in vain (Exod. 20:7). “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear” (Eph. 4:29).
This change in one’s life begins at conversion and continues until his death. There are times that the most sincere Christian who is genuinely trying to serve God will stumble into sin, need to repent again, and pick up the pieces and continue to serve Jesus. Even the Apostle Peter denied the Lord three times on the night of Jesus’s arrest. He immediately regretted his sin and went out and wept bitterly (Matt. 26:69-75). Every Christian knows from personal experience how Peter felt.
In conclusion, one cannot be saved without repenting of his sins and bringing forth the fruit of that repentance by a change in one’s behavior before God.
