SABBATH SCHOOL INSIGHT #6

"Confession and Repentance: The Conditions of Revival"

August 10, 2013

     The confession of faith may precede repentance, but the confession of sin follows repentance.  What then is repentance? It includes both sorrow for and turning away from sin. It is both a duty and a gift. The duty to repent is given in the commands of Jesus. When He began His public ministry He gave two imperatives: 1) “repent” and 2) “believe” as He proclaimed, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15). The time element referred to Daniel’s final week of his seventy-week prophecy which outlined the timetable for the coming of “Messiah [the Anointed One] the Prince” and for His crucifixion (Dan 9:25-27). The time element mentioned by Jesus was the beginning of the seventieth week.  When He was baptized by John’s baptism of repentance He was anointed by the Holy Spirit as Representative and Head of the fallen human race. More on this later.

     Repentance is produced in at least three ways: 1) by the command of God; 2) through the goodness of God; and 3) by judgments.

     It must always be remembered that “In every command and in every promise of the word of God is the power, the very life of God, by which the command may be fulfilled and the promise realized.”¹ So the command to repent has in it the very life of God by which it may be fulfilled.

     Not only is repentance a duty. It is also a gift of God (Acts 5:31). Repentance comes from a realization of God’s goodness (Rom 2:4). When Christ is seen on the cross bearing a person’s sin and guilt something happens within the heart and mind of that person. Either he/she will realize true sorrow for sin accompanied by a turning away from it or he will rise up against the gospel, the goodness of God, and repentance. Two examples follow, both of which involve the cross. The first occurred on the day of Pentecost as Peter was preaching Christ and Him crucified:
    

     “Three thousand souls” responded, repented, believed and were baptized (Acts 2:41).In contrast, on another occasion, Peter preached Christ crucified along with the gifts of repentance and the forgiveness of sins. But instead of repentance there was a refusal resulting in a murderous plot against the apostles on the part of those who heard but rejected the gospel:
 

     Repentance sometimes comes as the result of judgments. One example of this is that which occurred in the time of Elijah. Through judgments the hardened hearts of Israel were brought to repentance. God commissioned Elijah to speak for Him. Elijah made no apology for his abrupt appearance before king Ahab. He told the king, “As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word” (1 Kings 17:1). It took three and a half years of drought to bring Israel to repentance. 

     There are two kinds of repentance – godly sorrow and worldly sorrow (2 Cor. 7:9-11).  Worldly sorrow comes because of consequences of being caught or because of suffering, but with no true mourning for the sin itself. A person may sorrow for his sins while at the same time refusing to turn from them. Esau is an example of this. He sold his birthright inheritance for a bowl of legume soup. Later he wanted that inheritance. But this was after it was too late. He “was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it diligently with tears” (Heb. 12:16–17). His sorrow was because of the consequences of his sin, not because of the sin itself. Four other examples are Cain, Pharaoh, Balaam and Judas each of whom felt sorrow because of the consequences of their sin, but not because of the sin itself.

     On the other hand, David’s sorrow for his sin is an example of true repentance. He did not cloak, or conceal, his sin by excuses and apologies. He saw the enormity of his sin and the defilement it caused within his mind and heart. Not only did he confess his sin, but he prayed for purity of heart. He prayed for the removal of the underlying sin and not merely for the consequences of his sin. He longed for the communion he previously enjoyed with God (see Psa 51).

     Let’s return to the baptism of Jesus and its deep significance. John’s baptism was one of repentance. Those who were baptized were to give evidence of repentance accompanied with their confession of sin. As the Representative of the race, Jesus repented, confessed the sin of the world as His own, and was baptized. Psalm 69 prophesied of the steps in conversion Jesus took in order to redeem us. There it was stated, “Though I have stolen nothing, I still must restore it” (Psa. 69:4). Here is the picture of Jesus as our Surety. A surety is like today’s bondsman who puts up bail for someone awaiting trial in a court of law. If the accused refuses to show up for his trial the bondsman loses everything he put up in behalf of the accused. The bondsman becomes responsible for the accused man’s failure to show up for his court hearing. Likewise with Jesus. Although innocent, He assumed our failure and paid the supreme price.

     In the next verse we hear Jesus confessing sin. “O God, You know my foolishness; and my sins are not hidden from You” (Psa. 69:5). Here He confesses your sins and mine. Jesus had no personal sins to confess, for He was sinless in behavior, but He took your sin and mine. He became responsible for them. He took them as though he had committed them. He repented for them and He confessed them. His repentance and confession were perfect. There are times when you and I, although we have repented and confessed our sins and doing so to the best of our ability, may still feel that these are not good enough. Then it is that we need to claim Christ’s perfect confession and His perfect repentance on our behalf. Ours must come under the umbrella of His perfect repentance and confession. In closing, consider the following insights:
 

And then when He came up out of the water He heard the voice of God saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matt 3:17). This is the word of God speaking to you, to me, and to every individual of the fallen race. God speaks to us in Jesus our Representative and Head.
 

     Revival yes. But it will never come apart from repentance. The closer we come to Jesus, our repentance will not be less and less but more and more.