Page 532 - Way of Life Encyclopedia of the Bible Christianity. Based on the King James Bible

REPENTANCE

7. Repentance is a sinner raising the white flag of obviously still wants to hold onto his sin, the personal
surrender to God. Repentance is a sinner who is at worker must deal with the fact that he must be ready to
enmity with God laying down his arms, raising the allow God to deal with it.
white flag of surrender, and submitting to the One When my wife and I first began our work in the land
against whom he was before in rebellion. of Nepal in 1979, our landlord began coming to our
8. Repentance is a U-Turn. Repentance is when a house to have Bible studies. He was a wealthy middle-
sinner is heading one direction, which is the way of sin aged Hindu and had a concubine that he spent most of
and self-will, and he stops and turns around so that he his time with, though he was married and had grown
is now going God’s way. This definition of repentance is children. After we went through the gospel a few times,
seen in Exodus 13:17: “Lest peradventure the people he told me he was interested in receiving Christ, but he
repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt.” needed to know what he would have to do about two
The repentance of the Jews would mean they turned specific things in his life—his shady business practices,
around from following God to return to Egypt. This is and the illicit relationship with his concubine. I could
the opposite of what a sinner does for salvation, but it have said, “Don’t worry about those things. Just pray to
gives the correct definition of the term repentance. receive Christ and those things will work out later.” I
9. Repentance is an assassin laying down the knife. don’t believe that is proper biblical counsel. I don’t
“The hand that clutches the assassin’s knife must open believe he could receive Christ and be saved unless he
‘ere it can grasp the gift its intended victim proffers; and was willing to repent of his immorality and his
opening that hand, though a single act, has a double dishonesty. I told him God required that he repent of
aspect and purpose. Accepting the gift implies a turning these great evils. He argued that it was not possible to
from the crime the heart was bent on, and it was the gift be honest in Nepal and to be rich, and he never
itself that worked the change. Faith is the open hand, returned for another Bible study.
relatively to the gift; repentance is the same hand, During our work in South Asia, we could have gotten
relatively, not only to the gift but more especially to the half the people in Nepal to pray a prayer if we had
dagger that is flung from it” (James Stewart, wanted to do that. If we would have approached them
Evangelism). by asking them if they wanted to go to heaven if they
10. Repentance is the thief returning the stolen died, and if so, would they pray a sinner’s prayer, 90%
property. “I believe we ought to make right what we can of them would have muttered a prayer. They were
make right. What if I was staying with a group of accustomed to mantras, chants, and mysterious
preachers and one of them stole my wallet while I was utterances and would have seen the sinner’s prayer in
sleeping? The next day he comes up to me and tells me the same light. If we had urged them only to believe
he is terribly sorry and asks me to forgive him. I would without dealing with them about repentance, we would
be glad to hear that he is sorry for stealing my wallet, have had a multitude of unrepentant, “believing”
but I would certainly want and expect more than that Hindus on our hands—but believing in what? They
from a repentant thief. I would want my wallet back! I eagerly believed that Jesus was a god, that he was good,
don’t believe he has really repented unless he brings my that he loved them; but they commonly wanted to add
billfold back. I DON’T BELIEVE YOU HAVE REPENTED him to their other gods, not receive Him exclusively as
UNTIL YOU GET RIGHT AND SAY, ‘LORD, I’M GOING God.
TO LIVE DIFFERENTLY FROM NOW ON,’ AND BY THE During our gospel meetings there, if we had asked
GRACE OF GOD YOU WILL LIVE DIFFERENTLY” (Lester for a show of hands of those who wanted to be saved,
Roloff, Repent or Perish). most of the hands would have gone up. But we knew
To Preach Repentance Means to Deal Plainly with Sin that most of these Hindus were not ready to turn to
The sinner who would be saved must repent, which Christ FROM THEIR IDOLS and to bear the heavy
repentance will always result in a changed life. This reproach and persecution of their government and
means that we cannot have the attitude that we will neighbors. In other words, they were not ready to be
only deal with specific sin after the person receives saved. Without repentance, there is no salvation. “I tell
Christ. That is the philosophy of many. If the sinner you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise
brings up his love for liquor, or his love for immoral perish” (Lk. 13:5). It is imperative to deal with people
relationships, or his love for gambling, some think it about their sin and about repentance.
best to delay dealing with such things until after that Someone might say, “Yes, but that is in Nepal where
one has come to Christ. And sometimes this is the best people have never heard the gospel. Things are different
policy, but only if the sinner is clearly under the here in North America.” Sure, things are different here,
conviction of the Holy Spirit about his sin and is clearly but the fact is that the average person in North America
ready to turn to Christ. On the other hand, if the sinner today is almost as gospel ignorant as someone in India.

532 Way of Life Encyclopedia of the Bible & Christianity