Repentance that leads to salvation is not just repentance of sinning. But repentance toward God.
Acts 20:21 KJV
[21] Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance toward God is much more, much bigger than repentance of sinning.
Paul preached repentance toward God to the men at Athens (Acts 17:15-34).
Acts 17:23 KJV
[23] …Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you.
Repentance toward God starts with recognizing you know nothing about God, other than what He has revealed about Himself. Most people hold false beliefs about God that they got from wherever. You must rid yourself of these beliefs and go to the Bible for information about God.
Acts 17:24,28 KJV
[24] God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, …
[28] For in him we live, and move, and have our being; …
God is extremely important, more important than anyone or anything else. Repentance toward God involves taking Him most seriously. People typically give little or no thought to God, because they believe that He does not matter, that He is irrelevant.
Acts 17:27 KJV
[27] That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:
Repentance toward God includes being convinced of the urgent necessity of seeking the Lord. Nothing is more important in life than this, nothing more pressing (Luke 12:20).
Acts 17:31 KJV
[31] Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness…
You are under God’s judgment, because of your sinning, and you must do something about it.
Repentance toward God prepares you to ask, “What must I do to be saved?” And to receive and embrace the answer.
(Paul also preached repentance toward God in Acts 14:8-18.)
(Thank you, Joshua S., for teaching me this!)
Comments