By: Pastor Rick Smith

“And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.” (Acts 17:30-31).

What is repentance? Repentance is the changing of the mind that produces a change of actions. It is an “about face”. You were heading one way then you did an 180 degree turn and are heading in the opposite direction. Once you didn’t trust in Jesus as your Savior, but you changed your mind and have entrusted your life to Him. It does not matter whether you think that you are a good person or someone so wicked that you feel that there is no hope for you, all need to repent. Repentance is necessary for salvation, to live the life of a believer in Christ, and for a Christian church to get right with the Lord.

The first thing that I want everyone to know is that repentance is necessary for salvation. I mean you must repent in order to be saved. You may say, “I thought that salvation is by faith alone in Jesus. What do you mean that we must repent to be saved?” You can read the context on your own, but in Matthew 21:31-32 Jesus says, “Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.” They saw the sinners believed John, but the Pharisees and scribes did not repent “…that they might believe him.” Paul, in explaining his ministry to the Ephesian elders, said, “Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” Repentance and faith are two sides of the same coin of salvation.

Secondly, I want you to know that repentance continues on in the believer’s life after he is saved. As someone has said, as believers in Jesus Christ our Lord, we are unrepentant repenters. We aren’t finished repenting once we are saved. We continue to repent almost daily for the rest of our lives. Part of the process of repentance is conviction of sin. As long as we live in this sinful flesh, the Holy Spirit is going to convict us of sins and we are going to have to repent. And when we repent we have the promise of God: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9).

Also, as we have seen in the second and third chapters of Revelation, repentance is necessary for a church to get right with God. For example Revelation 2:5 says, “Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.” Also, Revelation 2:16 says; “Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.” (See also Revelation 2:21-22; 3:3, 19) We all want revival, but are we willing to repent in order to see it. The principles of 2 Chronicles 7:14 apply to the local church: “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” The command is to the church, but the response is that of the individual members in the church.

Who needs to repent? All need to repent, because God commands “…all men every where to repent…” Why does God do this? “…Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.” (Acts 17:30-31). God the Father has appointed Jesus to be the Judge and the proof of it is that Jesus arose from the grave. “And he commanded us to preach unto the people, and to testify that it is he which was ordained of God to be the Judge of quick and dead.” (Acts 10:42). Are you prepared to stand before Jesus, the Judge of all the earth? If not, then repent of your sins and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

If you have any questions, we invite you to visit with us this Sunday. Worship at 10:50 A.M. We are located at 711 West Washington Ave. Check our sermon videos on Youtube @ricksmith2541. Send comments and prayer requests to prayerlinecmbc@gmail.com.

Rick Smith is the Pastor at Calvary Missionary Baptist Church in Artesia.