This is a continuation of the series that started here and continued here (Part 2) and here (Part 3).

THE BIBLICAL GOSPEL SOUNDS A CLEAR NOTE OF REPENTANCE.

Thirdly, the Biblical Gospel sounds a clear note of repentance. Summarizing 3 years of ministry in Ephesus, Paul stated that he had preached “repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21). Summarizing his whole life, he stated that he had preached that men should “repent and turn to God, and do works” answering to that repentance (Acts 26:20). Nowhere in the Bible did any apostle or evangelist preach that, “all you need to do is accept that Jesus died and rose again, ask Him to be your Saviour and you will go to heaven.” Why? Because the Lord Jesus had commissioned them to preach three things: firstly, Christ died; secondly, He rose again; and, thirdly, repentance for the remissible of sins (Luke 24:45). Would we be happy with a cross-less gospel or a resurrection-less gospel? How then can we be content to preach a repentance-less gospel?

Contrary to contemporary thinking, salvation is not just mental assent or a mere nodding of the head to the death and resurrection of Christ. There is no saving faith without repentance. If you are a stranger to conviction, you are a stranger to repentance and therefore a stranger to salvation, for no one ever truly believed without repenting and vice versa. The first sentence the Lord Jesus uttered in His public ministry was, “Repent and believe the gospel ” (Mark 1:15); and He continued to repeatedly warn that unless sinners repent they will perish. Jesus said “believe or perish” (John 3:16) and “repent or perish” (Luke 13:3. See also 2 Pet 3:9). All that will matter a million years from today is, did I repent and believe the gospel?

Only one sentence in the Bible states that God loves the world (John 3:16). A handful of other verses speak of God’s love for undeserving sinners. Yet this precious and sublime truth is cheapened today, by its overemphasis at the expense of repentance, a subject which is mentioned 58 times in the New Testament alone. That is the reason why there is little or no true convicting power and blessing in the preaching of the gospel today. The Holy Spirit will not endue with power a message He has not authorized. A gospel without a clear note of repentance is another (false) gospel that brings God’s curse on those who preach it (Gal 1:6-10). Why would God curse a ‘preacher of the gospel’ (one who adds or takes away from the essence of the true message)? Because his repentance-less message is damning souls, corrupting local churches and hindering revival.

But what is repentance? It is not penance or restitution (Judas paid the money back – he regretted, but never repented, Matt 27:3). It is not merely tears, fear of judgment (Felix trembled) or sorrow for sin (godly sorrow may lead to repentance, but is not the same as repentance, 2 Cor 7:10). It is not mere confession or admission of sin. The Greek word for repentance is metanoia (from meta, ‘after’, and nous, ‘mind’). It means a complete change of mind – involving turning from sin to God, which resuIts in a change of life. It is illustrated by David in Psalm 51 and the Prodigal Son in Luke 15. It is defined in the following text: “Let the wicked for-sake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him” (Isaiah 55:7). Let us be sure to sound a clear note of repentance every time we preach the gospel.

NEXT – THE CONCLUSION: THE BIBLICAL GOSPEL PRESENTS A WHOLE CHRIST FOR THE WHOLE MAN.