Is Repentance Necessary?

I seldom hear about repentance in Christian circles today and, to be honest, until recently I felt that it was not necessary. I thought that the Holy Spirit would change you after salvation. But after studying God’s Word and after seeing so many teenagers claim to be a Christian because they said a prayer, I now have changed my mind.

Jesus said that He came to call “sinners to repentance” (Matthew 9:13) and his first public word he preached was “repent” (Matthew 4:17). Paul preached “repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21). In his book One Thing You Can’t Do In Heaven, Mark Cahill say that, “if there is no desire to walk away from sin, the person is not really making a true heart commitment to the Savior. In John 6:44 Jesus says, ‘No One can come to Me unless the Father who sent me draws him.’ If God is drawing someone to Him, He would also be drawing the person away from his sin.”

In Acts 2:38 it says, “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 you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” In Acts 3:19 Peter further says, “Repent you therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.”

Ray Comfort in his book The School of Biblical Evangelism states, “If repentance wasn’t necessary for salvation, why then did Jesus command that repentance be preached to all nations (Luke 24:47)? When He sent out His disciples two by two, they “preached that men should repent” (Mark 6:12).”

One of the main reasons that so many people fall way from their Christian faith may be that they never truly repented in the first place. If so, they may have a false sense of their salvation. We do not have to clean ourselves up to come to God, but we do need to have the desire to turn away from sin. That does not mean that we will suddenly have no temptations or that we will no longer sin, but at least we are willing to give God control of our life.

Evangelism

My main concern right now is for evangelism. As Mark Cahill says, do we care that our friends and other people we meet are going to hell, and even more important, do we care enough to do something about it. If you are reading this and do not know for sure that you are headed for heaven, go to NeedGod.com . If you do know for sure, why are you not telling others about the Good News. Bill Bright of Campus Crusade said that only 2% of Christians witness on a consistent basis.

One way to get started witnessing is by leaving tracts. I still remember one tract that my mom used to use when I was a child. It had a big impact on my life and made me think about where I would spend eternity. It is still available today and you can see it at Chick Publications . The other thing that is helpful is to listen to Hell’s Best Kept Secret by Ray Comfort at LivingWaters.com and Mark Cahill at MarkCahill.org . They give a lot of help in knowing how to use the Ten Commandments in witnessing. Galatians 3:24 says, “Wherefore the law is our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.” Just imagine what this country could be like if all believers started obeying the Great Commission instead of living for themselves. Pray for a revival, but then join me in being part of the answer by sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ.