THE LOW EMPHASIS ON     

             REPENTANCE

                     By:  Retha Garten

 

    

 

     

    

     

     The word repent, or some variation as in repentance, repented, etc., is mentioned one hundred and twelve times in the King James Version of our Bible.  And yet, it is a word not so often heard in sermons or exercised in the lives of believers, not to mention as it relates to sinners.

       From Strong’s Concordance as it is used in the Old Testament, it records, “To repent means to make a strong turning to a new course of action.  The emphasis is on turning to a positive course of action, not turning from a less desirable course.  Hence, when one repents, he exerts strength to change, to re-grasp the situation and exert effort for the situation to take a different course of purpose and action.”

      In the New Testament, the Greek word for repent is metanoeo and its meaning is set forth in three steps.  They are:  a) new knowledge; b) regret for the previous course, displeasure with self, and, c) a change of action. 

 Someone summed up repentance’s action as used in a military sense when one is marching in one direction, he does an ’about face,’ which means turning,  and marching in the opposite direction.

      In Bob Gass’ daily devotional The Best of the Word for Today he wrote something that, to me, gives a clear example of repentance.  He writes, “Have you ever changed a baby’s diaper?  But to put on the new you have to take off the old or you’ll have problems.  Paul tells us to ‘put off your old self, which is being corrupted...put on the new self, created to be like God’ (Ephesians 4:22,24, NIV).”

       Have we pastors, in particular, and Christians, in general, failed to proclaim this truly biblical commandment?  Have we just tried to put the new on over  the old?   Are we preaching, teaching and living ‘feel good Christianity?’  “Just come and receive all that God has for you.  He wants to receive you, bless you, give to you.  All you need to do is receive.”  That, according to the Bible, is only half true!  Before a sinner can receive the Lord, as I read the Bible, he must repent.   And we also shy away from using the term sinner because we certainly don’t want to offend them

tainly wouldn’t want to offend a sinner! 

 

     John the Baptist said, “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear.  He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire” Matthew 3:11.  And then in the next chapter Matthew reports Jesus began to preach, and say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,’” verse 17. 

 

     Mark puts it this way, “Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand, repent, ye and believe the gospel’” 1:14-15.

 

     I remember my dear missionary friends, Drs. Mark and Betsy Neuenschwander telling me about their services in a particular Asian country  preaching the gospel  and then issuing a call to Christianity. They asked for everyone in attendance who wanted to receive Jesus as their personal Savior and Lord to stand.  Virtually every person in the place stood. Realizing that something had been misunderstood, they made another clear-cut call.  Again, almost everyone stood.  Having worked in that part of the world and understanding the culture, they were forced to say something like this.  “You cannot add Jesus Christ to the other 900 gods you worship.  To receive Jesus Christ as your Savior and Lord, you must repent of your worship of any other god and let go of them.”  When they gave this instruction, not too many stood the next time.

     That is not only true of this Asian country, but, sadly, can be said of America as well.  “Let me just tack Jesus on to the other gods in my life.” 

      God gave Moses commandments to tell the Israelites and the first commandment was, “Thou shalt have no other gods before (besides) Me” Exodus 20:3.  Later, Jesus repeated the words to Satan in His wilderness temptation by saying, “...it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve” Matthew 4:10.

      Other religions seem to draw people in because they do not preach all human beings were born in sin because Adam and Eve sinned and brought sin into the human blood line.  Pride keeps humans from admitting sinfulness and need for a Savior.  Pride has to bow its knee at the altar of repentance and confess, “I know I am a sinner and I need a Savior.  I repent of my sins and ask You, Father, in the Name of Jesus, to forgive me, cleanse me by the holy, sinless blood of Jesus that I can be accepted into Your kingdom.”  When the heart is sincere, the repentant one can close with, “Thank You, for forgiving me and accepting me into Your eternal family.”

      Peter, who spent three and one-half years as a close associate with Jesus, preached a fiery, convicting sermon on the Day of  Pentecost.  His sermon so burned in the hearts of the  hearers, they called out, “What shall we do?  Then Peter said unto them, ‘Repent and be baptized every one of you in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” Acts 2:37b-38.  His preaching and the people receiving produced incredible results:  “...there were added unto them about three thousand souls” verse 41.

 

     Jesus said of Himself, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” Luke 5:32.

 

     Feeling repentance was to be the subject of this article and having started writing, I felt impressed to open my Charisma magazine that had just arrived.  I was so pleased to read that organizers of ReignDown are summoning Christians across America to a time of prayer and repentance that they believe could lead to a national revival.

     They have dubbed it ReignDown USA which will be a three-hour prayer meeting to be held April 26 at the National Mall in Washington, D.C., and in satellite venues nationwide.  It will be a call for participants to worship, pray and repent of their own sins. 

      About this time, they have said, “We’re not pointing out the speck in our brothers’ or sisters’ eyes, but we are dealing with the log in our own, and we’re saying, ‘Start with me first, Lord.’” 

      The idea for ReignDown was birthed out of a vision in 2005 that a homemaker,  Shawn-Marie Cole, had.  She said, “It was gathering the body of Christ together in unity, humbly coming before our Lord, seeking His face and...asking Him to be placed back in the center of our lives and our nation.”

     “Although 2008 is an election season,” Cole said, “ReignDown would have no agenda beyond personal repentance.  We’re going to worship and as we hear what the Lord is saying, someone will get up and read Scripture.”

      I like what another supporter said.  “The qualifications to say something that day is to be willing to repent - not for the nation, not for anyone else, but personal repentance.  I feel that we can’t get past that.  Until we do this, there’s really nothing else we can do to have any influence on this country.”

     Prayer leader Bjorn Pedersen believes revival comes as a result of repentance.  He said, “But it’s up to our country how we respond, and that depends on the church.”

      Cole said in her vision of 2005 she saw miracles happening as a result of the prayer and repentance.  “It was an unprecedented move of God that took place and swept the entire nation.  But it didn’t just happen here, it ended up rippling and affecting other nations.”

      Christians in the Philippines, Haiti, Canada, Germany and various parts of Africa have agreed to join in prayer for the U.S. on April 26.  There are no plans to make this an annual event...just this one time of repentance and prayer for this nation.

     I think we can agree that our nation is in deep trouble economically, politically and spiritually.  It is not only a good thing for Christians to repent and pray, but I believe it is vital.  God does not call upon the non-Christians to bring about change, but He does have that expectation of His people. 

      The words the Lord gave to King Solomon so many centuries ago still ring true today:  “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” II Chronicles 7:14.

 

 

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

     

    

  

    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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