Repentance Is Required.
By Victor
Gluckin
www.HigherGroundOnline.org
Imagine yourself walking down a well trodden path
in a peaceful wooded area. This path has
been walked down by many before you and there is a wide area to walk down,
often without any stones or sticks to step around. The path twists and winds through the region
and there are many interesting sights to see.
The birds are chirping, the sun is shining, and the sky is blue. You are thinking how nice it is to be walking
in this road. To make yourself more
comfortable as you walk this path, you stop and grab nice, cool lemonade from
someone selling it along the road. You
are wearing comfortable shoes and one of your favorite outfits. As you journey down this road, you have
stopped at different places, sometimes to get something to eat, attend a
country church, or interview local residents.
This road goes on for a many miles. You have kindly passed those slower than you
to their left. Very few people are
passing by you in the other direction, although there are a few. You really enjoy this walk and you are
excited to see what will await you at each turn. You have some curiosity about what might
await you at the end of this road.
Admiring your surroundings, you unintentionally
run shoulder to shoulder to someone passing you in the other direction. You get knocked to the dirt. Looking up, you see a figure with an extended
arm reaching your way. Once on your feet
again, you apologize to this stranger for running into him. You must have been mindlessly traveling
along.
In what seems to be an odd response, the stranger
tells you that he is happy to have literally “run into you.” “Why?” you ask. “Haven’t you heard,” the stranger replies,
“there is a huge cliff ahead, a few miles up the road.” “I’m told that people can’t even see it as
they are walking because of the landscape and tree cover. Men and women are walking right off the path
into the chasm. Listen friend, if you
continue on this path, you will die.”
As flawed as this story may be, this is the
account of mankind. Mankind is on a path
that is leading to their eventual cliff fall.
Many, in fact, do not even know that that is the case. For the Bible reader, it should be clear that
the consequence of sin is death (Romans 6:23, etc). Every man has committed sin which is equal to
crimes against GOD. A certain punishment
is set for that crime – death. This
consequence is the pitfall awaiting mankind as they travel the path of life.
For GOD to be just, He must punish sin. It would be unloving for a judge to allow a
guilty child molester or murderer to go away for free. Part of GOD’s character is that of the just
judge (Psalm 96:13; Hebrews 10:30, etc.).
In the eight attributes of GOD revealed by GOD to Moses in Exodus 34,
the final attribute was that of “He will by no means leave the guilty
unpunished…” (Exodus 34:7b). Those who
are guilty of breaking His laws must be punished.
Mankind is walking down the path that is leading
to death. If you were the individual in
the story told above, what would the logical response be to the news you have
heard? Hopefully you are thinking that
you would turn around. This is what GOD and Christ want from mankind – repentance.
Repentance is literally the idea that one changes
direction – in thoughts and in actions, in light of the Kingdom coming. The evidence of the changed mind and heart is
shown by the change in actions. Jesus,
through the gospel of the Kingdom, is calling to people to warn them of what is
to come. Indeed a time of unparalleled
peace, safety, and righteousness will begin when the King returns to the
earth. At the same time, the day of
justice, judgment, and vengeance from the LORD comes. For those who have repented and faithfully
obey Jesus, the message of the Kingdom brings peace, the wolf and the lamb,
comfort, and joyous hope. For those who
remain unrepentant, the same Kingdom news is a message of judgment, wrath, and
distress. If you survey the message of
the Biblical prophets, these two perspectives are constantly and consistently
upheld.
If we truly believe the following verses about the
state of mankind, we should place a real importance on the inclusion of the
call for repentance in the preaching of the gospel:
Romans 3:10 – “there is none
righteous, not even one.”
Romans 3:23 – “for all have sinned and
fall short of the glory of God”
Romans 6:23a – “For the wages of sin
is death...”
Ephesians 2:2, 3 – “the sons of
disobedience are…by nature the children of wrath.”
Also consider John 3:16 in this light. Those who do not believe in the only begotten
son of GOD should perish and will not have life in the age to come. The only way that mankind will avoid falling
into the inevitable cliff ahead of them is if we call them through the gospel
to turn around and walk instead down the path of Christ towards the Kingdom.
If our “gospel” promises people a “better life
now” or does not include the truth about the coming Kingdom judgment that
currently awaits them, why would they be motivated to turn around? Going back to the person on the path in our
story, it was a nice day, the lemonade was fresh, and his clothes looked
good. Why would he need to turn around
if all that the stranger told him was that if he came with him there was better tasting lemonade going in the other direction or
that there was a great church that he went to that he thought our traveler
might enjoy? Our traveler may follow the
stranger’s advice, but when he finds out that the lemonade is a long way off,
or that there are many churches next to each other along the way, what would he
gain by turning? Besides, his lemonade
is already enjoyable and he already goes to church. Instead, what if he were told that the way he
is headed is leading to death and that he must turn around to avoid it? What if he were told that if he continued to
walk in the other direction on the path he would be led into the most glorious
place ever? Would he not be convicted to
change direction? Even though he might
trip or fall while he walks, he must get back up and continue in that
direction.
Many of us have probably heard that it is the
kindness/goodness of God that leads men to repentance (Romans 2:4). That doesn’t mean that just being a nice
person will lead people to change their life or that the gospel message is a
theme of kindness and goodness without a sense of judgment or wrath. Consider the verse that follows right after
Romans 2:4:
“But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant
heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation
of the righteous judgment of God” (Romans 2:5).
Romans 2:4 is telling the reader that it is GOD’s kindness in light of His justice that leads men
to repent. GOD is not a spiritual Santa
Claus who simply wants to make little boys and girls happy and give them what
they want. That is not how His kindness
is shown. His kindness is shown in light
of His judgment. God does not want
anyone to perish. He “desires all men to
be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (I Timothy 2:4). The cliff is in front of you and you are
going to walk off it without a doubt.
GOD, through the Gospel of the Kingdom and the Cross, is running up to
you the other way and telling you what is ahead and what is available instead
if you turn around and follow Him.
As the Ambassadors for the Messiah in his place
now, we are those who run to people and plead with them to turn around and head
toward the Kingdom instead of the cliff.
They will see our love for them through the fact that we care enough to
tell them about that which can save them from death. We must tell them not only the “good” aspects
of the Kingdom that is coming as well as how to get there, but also what awaits
them if they do not repent. That is the whole gospel, not just half.
This is what Jesus preached:
Mark 1:14, 15 – Now after John had been taken into
custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying,
"The time is fulfilled, and the
This is what Paul preached:
Acts 17:30-31 - “Therefore having overlooked the
times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere
should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in
righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to
all men by raising Him from the dead.”
This is what Peter preached:
I Peter 4:5,6a – “[mankind] will give account to
Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. For the gospel has been preached for this
purpose…”
I admit that it is hard at times to preach the
gospel in this fashion. We are used to
doing things so that others will like us better after we talk to them. Confrontation is avoided by most people. I often look at Peter, Paul, and others in
Acts and wonder how they spoke with the boldness and conviction that they did
without compromising or holding back what was profitable for their
hearers. Not being a bold person like
these men I think that I am not able to speak like they
did, or perhaps that that is not my calling.
Honestly though, I am simply just scared. However, the words of my Lord have given me
new comfort.
“But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage
that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but
if I go, I will send Him to you. And He,
when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and
judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning
righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; and
concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.” (John
16:7-11)
I am not the one who will know what to speak each
time to convict my hearers; the spirit inside of me will enable me to convict
the world of sin, righteousness and judgment.
I must allow the spirit to direct me and not rely on my own
abilities. However, I must know that the
gospel of the Kingdom is what needs to be preached. It is that which must become the impetus for
the change that should follow those who have faith in it.
For us Kingdom believers, we must be persuaded in
our own minds and hearts about the things that we know so well on paper. Jesus is coming back to take over the
world. He will come and begin to make
everything that is wrong with the world right.
One of the things that is wrong right now is
the evil and rebellion of man. This will
be dealt with, and the Scriptures plainly tell us how. We may not like to talk or teach about the
Day of the LORD in this fashion, but this is the message of the Bible we hold
in such high regard. We may need to ask
ourselves whether we look to please God or man.
We must move out of our comfort zone and into the mission of
Christ. We must not just focus on going to
fellowships and church, but adopt the focus of our Father instead. We might even need to move out from behind
the familiarity of the pulpit and out onto the streets.
II Peter 3:9-15a (NLT) – The Lord isn't really
being slow about his promise to return, as some people think. No, he is being
patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to perish, so he is giving more
time for everyone to repent. But the day
of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass
away with a terrible noise, and everything in them will disappear in fire, and
the earth and everything on it will be exposed to judgment. Since everything around us is going to melt
away, what holy, godly lives you should be living! You should look forward to that day and hurry
it along-the day when God will set the heavens on fire and the elements will
melt away in the flames. But we are
looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world where
everyone is right with God. And so, dear
friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to
live a pure and blameless life. And be at peace with God. And remember, the Lord is waiting so that
people have time to be saved.
Repentance is required. If man does not repent he will not have
eternal life. Man does not know that he
needs to repent unless you tell him. The
gospel message is that information which gives the true record to mankind about
what is going to happen in the near future, both to this world and to
them. The gospel includes the news of
the coming wrath of our God as well as the information about how they can avoid
that very same wrath – through faith and obedience to the King of the
Kingdom. We need to tell them that they
need to repent and that, in doing so, they can be walking towards glory rather
than the grave. This is what our brother
and sisters did in the record of Scripture.
May we be the ones today who out of kindness and compassion reach out to
mankind and help rescue them from their current destiny. GOD is counting on us and, in a way, so is
the world.
Acts 4:29-30