Acts 2:32, this Jesus God raised up, and of that we are our witnesses, being therefore exalted at the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit. He has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, the Lord said to my Lord, set at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.

Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. And when they heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, brothers, what shall we do? And Peter said to them, repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, and everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself. And with many other things, words, he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, save yourselves from this crooked generation. So those who received his word were baptized and there were added that day about 3,000 souls.

So in our study of Revelation, I mentioned that we would deal with a couple of other subjects before we leave and move into other stuff for the summer. Well, two of those, one was last week we talked about rewards, and this morning I want to talk to you about a question of repentance. Now my message is structured with three questions, but I do not know that I will get to the third question today. I have it ready in case I do.

I want to remind you that in those churches which were not reprimanded or were reprimanded, the seven churches, five of them were reprimanded for something that was wrong in their mission, their history, their ministries, etc. And those two, I will read to you this morning, two of those, and calling our minds to repentance.

Revelation 2:4‑5, I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen, repent and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place unless you repent.

Revelation 3:1‑3 And to the angel of the church in Sardis write, I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Remember then what you received and heard. Keep it and repent.

Now today, as I said, I’ve put this into three questions. And most naturally, the first question is, what is repentance? This is a word you probably never hear except in church. Not likely to read it in the paper or see it on the news. Maybe in an old movie that you will see that word. So what is repentance? What does it mean to repent?

Well, let me answer or try to answer the question with another question that I hope will help illustrate. Have you ever experienced a life change which turns you in a completely different direction? You were going this way, and something happened, and now you’re going in a different direction altogether. And let me give you some examples. They’re not perfect, but they can help convey.

Military duty. If you ever go into military, you leave home and it’s a whole completely different world. Different people, different places, different structure. You were going in a completely different direction. If you go away to college, it’s similar to that because you’ve now, you’ve got a whole new routine and regimen. If you have a career change late in life, a few weeks ago, I talked to a man at the Biolife Center who had been a pastor, and he had to step away from the pastorate, and now he’s teaching high school math. What a contradiction. What a complete change. And turn around, and he was talking to me about how difficult it was to make that change.

The death of a spouse or a divorce can be a situation where you were going along this way, and suddenly you’re going in a different direction. The relocation related to a career. Here’s what you do, but you have to go somewhere else. My neighbor’s daughter‑in‑law works for Barron’s Financial, and she was sent recently, or about a year ago now, to London for five years. Completely different country, completely different culture, just a complete change. And then, of course, which can be agreed to by Ty and Clarissa this morning, a birth of a child. The two parents are going along fine, and all of a sudden there’s this little person in the world, and it changes your whole approach and outlook on life.

Now, this can be symptomatic, symptomatic of repentance, because without getting into the complexities of the Greek word, the word really means, and the concept simply means, you were going that way, and now you’re going this one. It’s a turnaround, a complete 180‑degree turnaround going into the opposite direction. And this is the most basic, fundamental definition of repentance.

You may have heard the old saying that goes like this, how do I get saved? Go to the cross and make a U‑turn. This is how we become believers. And this is what repentance is. And as I said, this is the simple, fundamental, everybody agrees on this definition of repentance. If I’m going to repent, it means I’ve changed direction.

For example, John Frame, a Reformed theologian, says faith is turning to God and Christ, and repentance is turning away from sin. I. Howard Marshall says the word indicates a change of direction in a person’s life. It signifies the turning away from a sinful and godless way of life. The noted British commentator F.F. Bruce says the call to repentance in this passage of Acts is Peter’s basic and primary demand, a complete change of heart, a spiritual right‑about turn. And finally, the New American Commentary says the essential response Peter called for from the Jewish crowd is the complete turn‑about that comprises true repentance to turn away from their rejection of the Messiah and to call upon His name.

And this is the essence Peter says there, repent for your repentance and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins. Repent. What is he advocating? Change direction. You’re going the wrong way and you’ve got to turn around and go the other way.

Now, this concept is so prevalent in Scripture that in many passages you see the idea without the word. So, for example, Isaiah 55:6‑7, seek the Lord while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake His way and the unrighteous man His thoughts.

Let him return to the Lord that he may have compassion on him and to our God for He will abundantly pardon. 1 Thessalonians 1:9 Paul says, you turn to God from idols. There was a turnaround. They were going in a different direction. In Acts 26, when Paul was on trial before King Agrippa, he says, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, but declared to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance. The fundamental concept is that you turn.

Repentance simply means when we encourage people to repent of their sins, we’re encouraging them to turn from the path they’re on and take a different path. Acts 3:19 Repent therefore and turn back. Turn back that your sins may be blotted out. I would call your attention as well to the essence of the letters and the words of repentance in the seven letters. Jesus says that the Ephesian church had left their first love. They’re going in the wrong direction. They have to turn. They have to repent and come back to God.

And this is what he says, remember, from where you have fallen, repent and do the works you did at first. So in response to the question, what is repentance? Repentance is the choice to and the act of turning from our sins and turning back to God for salvation, if you’ve never been saved, and for restoration, if you have drifted in your experience. This is the message of the letters to the seven churches. They’ve drifted. Christ calls them back. To the lost, He calls them back. Both involve repentance, and that can tell us what? Repentance is the duty of the saint and the sinner. If you’re under the mistaken idea that I repented and got saved back then and I no longer have a need of repentance, we have bought into something.

Because God and the people in the Bible and Jesus and the writers of the New Testament remind us again and again that repentance is something Christians need to engage in as well. Now, question number two. Is salvation possible apart from repentance? Is salvation, that is, can I go to heaven without repenting of my sins?

Now this, children, we want to tie it together. What is salvation? When we talk about it, I told you before, it’s simple, most fundamental concept. What is salvation? The forgiveness of sins. Can I go to heaven without repenting of my sins? No. Because in the Scripture, forgiveness is tied to repentance. Repent for forgiveness. And if there’s no forgiveness, you can’t go to heaven, and there’s no forgiveness if you don’t repent of your sin. This is fundamental, basic Christianity.

If we only had this text this morning, if we only had Acts 32, chapter 2, verse 34, 38, repent, be baptized for the forgiveness of, if we only had that, that should end the discussion, shouldn’t it? Do you know there’s a whole denomination, I couldn’t find the book in my office, I never can, probably because I’m remembering it’s this color and it’s not that color, it’s a different color. But there is down there in my office somewhere, a book by Wayne Grudem called free grace theology.

Did you know that there are denominations today that say you don’t have to repent? Just believe. All you have to do is believe. That’s all it takes. You hear me say that so many times. There are whole denominations teaching that. But what do we do with the Scriptures then that say repent for the forgiveness of your sins?

I want you to notice this, and it’s very important. Listen to these passages of Scripture, and some of them are very familiar, and I don’t know how we could argue against these. Luke 13:1‑5 There were some present who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus said, do you think these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans? Or those 18 on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them? Do you think they were worse offenders than the others in Jerusalem? I tell you, no, unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.

It’s pretty significant, isn’t it? Jesus says, you want us to be saved? Repent. Listen to Mark 1:4 John appeared baptizing in the wilderness and proclaiming a baptism for the forgiveness of sins. A baptism of repentance. I’m going to stay with my outline. A baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Just not baptized, you’re forgiven. Baptism of repentance for forgiveness of sins.

Luke 24:46‑47 Jesus said to them, note this, please. Thus it is written that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all nations beginning from Jerusalem. Repentance and forgiveness of sins.

Now notice this. Mark’s gospel begins with a reference to repentance and forgiveness. Luke’s gospel ends with a reference to repentance and forgiveness. The gospel is about repentance in the hope and in the assurance of forgiveness. Can I go to heaven without repenting of my sins? I don’t know how you could come to such a thing or such a viewpoint.

Listen to 1 John 1:9, a verse that all of us know backwards and forward. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And the application is pretty safe. We don’t confess our sins. We’re not forgiven of our sins. And what causes us to confess what is confession? It is an act of repentance and acknowledgement that I have sinned against the Lord, and I must be forgiven.

Didn’t I read it? Am I wrong that in the parable of the prodigal son, he comes home and says, Father, I’ve sinned against you? He makes confession and then receives the grace and mercy of his father. A grace and mercy of the father always had. But the boy did not benefit from it because he would not repent and persisted in his sin.

What about these passages? Because this isn’t, by the way, a New Testament idea. This is Old Testament as well as New. But that’s why I pointed out, it is written. When Jesus says it is written, repentance and forgiveness should be proclaimed. It is written. Where is he talking about? The Old Testament? Listen to Proverbs 28:13. Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.

Listen to Psalm 32:5. I acknowledged my sin to you. I did not cover my iniquity. I said, I will confess my transgressions to the Lord and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Forgiveness in the Bible is always tied to confession and repentance. And if forgiveness is necessary to go to heaven, then any idea that I could go without repenting of my sins just cannot be sustained biblically.

If we’re going to be true to the Bible. If we’re going to be true to the Bible. What is repentance? It is a turning to God from sin and how is it manifested? Confessing that I have sinned and acknowledging my sin before God. This is what, again, the Bible ties these two concepts together in the Scripture.

Notice you see this same thing in our text. Verse 38, repent and be baptized for the forgiveness of sins. Now, of course, we allow in the 21st century period of time between baptism and repentance. And I’ll say this is a commercial for any that have not been baptized. It really is a biblical duty; you really need to do that. The main part is repent, but the baptism is an open expression of the fact that I’m making a commitment to follow Christ. And you should go through with that if you’ve never done so. But notice—repent for the forgiveness of sins. Then notice verse 40. Notice verse 40 and how it connects to repentance.

He says, with many other words, he bore witness and continued to exhort them saying, “save yourselves from this crooked generation.” What are the implications? The culture is going that way. And God is calling you to come this way. Repent. Turn around. Go the other way.

And then notice verse number 41. Those who received His Word were baptized. Those who received His Word. What does that mean?

It means when Peter said, “you must repent,” they said, “you’re right, we must repent.” And they confessed then that they had done wrong in killing the Lord.

Repent. Salvation, children, is the forgiveness of sins which follows after and is accompanied by repentance. No purpose for God to say all these passages.

And I’ve touched; I’ve barely touched on them. 20, 40, 40—sometimes in the gospels. Repent or repentance is found. And in almost all of those, it’s about us repenting of our sins to the Lord.

Salvation is the forgiveness of sins which follows after and is accompanied by repentance. And this is the gospel. The gospel is not merely God loves you; that’s been truncated in our culture. We brought it all down to “God loves you.” And we think when we tell people God loves them, they’re right.

But what God’s love allows us is the opportunity and calls us to repent of our sins. And until we repent of our sins, we cannot be right with God, because this is what we’ve offended God. And His love doesn’t do away with that. His love makes a way for us to come home. But we must repent of our sins. This is tied in here.

F.F. Bruce brings this out for me in a good way. But I’ll read it to you, because he’s talking on this passage from Acts. Listen to what he says.

Peter’s preaching has been effective in convicting their consciences. If Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the appointed Messiah, then no guilt could be greater than treating Him as He had been treated. They had refused Him in whom all hope of salvation rested. What hope was left to them now? They had refused Him. What hope was left?

Peter’s reply, thus their cry, he says, thus their cry, what shall we do? We have, we’ve messed up big time. How do we fix this? Peter’s reply was unspeakably reassuring. Incredible as it must appear, he told them there was hope for them even now.

Repent of your sins. That’s all it took. That’s all it would take for these people who had killed Christ. Repent of your sin. Acknowledge that it’s sin.

And so today, we must answer question two—“Is it salvation possible apart from repentance?” I believe we must answer with an emphatic no.

I do not tell people when I have prayed with them and I pray for them about salvation. I don’t tell them they’re saved. I don’t know their heart. I cannot look into the heart and say they’re genuinely repentant. I can say they’ve made a commitment to Christ, but I cannot see whether that commitment is sincere or genuine.

I’m puzzled. And I apologize. People say, “Don’t judge.” Don’t judge.

But when I look at somebody and say they’re saved because they repeated a prayer, I am judging. I’m judging their heart. And I cannot see their heart.

I was encouraged as I finished off this book this week. This is from Joel Beakey. Joel Beakey. And he’s talking about visiting with the sick and the dying. While you are evangelizing, keep praying for the patient, but leave the outcome in God’s hands. Do not fall into the trap of telling the person whether he or she is saved.

Even if the person directly asks you that question, suggest it be taken up directly with the Lord and say that this is a question everyone must answer for himself.

Also, after the person has died, be cautious about mentioning a deathbed conversion in a funeral message, especially if the person’s life was not a testimony of saving grace.

You can disagree with Dr. Beakey. You can disagree with me. My point is I cannot see in your heart. Only God can see in the heart.

I announce the need for repentance, but only God can see whether the person has repented or not. And without repentance, the question of whether they’ve truly surrendered to God is still to be asked.

Now we’ll come back if we get to it. I don’t know. Point number three, we’ll come back and I’ll try to clarify that a little more. Now, we must come back to this subject or come to this subject and note this about repentance. Repentance does not preclude the need.

Common grace does not preclude the need for repentance. Common grace does not preclude the need for repentance.

The first question, because this is not a Bible term, and a lot of people may never have heard of common grace. Common grace, according to Wayne Grudem’s definition, is the grace of God by which He gives people innumerable unmerited blessings that are not part of salvation.

Common grace is the view, and we’ll look at some Scriptures in a moment where we draw this. Common grace is the view that everybody in the world, every good thing that anybody anywhere has ultimately comes from God. Anything that anyone on the planet ultimately comes from God—that’s common grace.

But it is true that God is the ultimate source of all good in anyone’s life. It is not true that that general demonstration of this mercy justifies people in their sin. It is called common grace because it is common to everybody.

Everybody has access to this grace versus special grace, which is only extended to those who repent.

This is the concept of eternal grace.

By the way, a common grace. Now at this point I must tell you, common grace is a broad subject. I’m dealing with one aspect. Repentance.

Don’t go out of the church and say, Pastor, you didn’t speak of this, you didn’t mention that. I’m not trying to do that. I’m bringing out one point. Common grace as it relates to repentance.

Last week we discussed concepts of reward, and I contrasted the material possessions of the wicked. The wicked have as much as the righteous have, and more.

In the book of Psalms we read, “don’t fret yourself because of him who prospers in the way, the wicked man who prospered?”

We should know, we should know that in many parts of the world, it’s the Christians who are oppressed.

They’re not the ones on top. They’re the ones on the bottom.

And what was it, Darfur over in Africa where the Arabs were oppressing the Christians? The Christians didn’t have any of these material blessings.

And so it is important. The world does have, can have, unrepentant people have the same life experience I have. I go out here today and find all kinds of people who have it as good or better than me who are not living for Christ.

This is a challenge for us. We are not denying that sinners have these things. We’re asking whether we should view those things, even in our own lives, as blessings.

Now let me see if I can give you this. And my point is, I should not assume the presence of things in my life that the world has in abundance proves I’m all right with God.

I must look for another token.

We can see how this relates to repentance because I haven’t repented, but look at all the stuff I have. Is that really how we should measure our lives as Christians?

John Doe lives in a $500,000 home, has a three‑car garage, two or three pets, and is in good health. Jane Doe lives in a $500,000 home, has a three‑car garage, two or three pets, and is in good health.

The trick question: Are they blessed by God? Before you answer it, this is one of the things I want to remind you. In regard to common grace, yes, if they have it, it came from God; but not in regards to special grace because without repentance, and this is equally true for the Christian, but without repentance, they lose it all.

Listen to this passage from Jesus.

Luke 12:15. Jesus said to them, “Take care and be on your guard against all greed, for your life does not consist in the abundance of the things you possess.” Gosh.

How do we say we’re not greedy if we’re grasping for more and more and more?

Should we look at someone and say, “Oh boy, they’re so blessed by God?” Shouldn’t that give us a little pause?

Don’t we remember that in Revelation the churches that weren’t reprimanded were the poor churches.

We look at the churches today, Lisa and I and any of you have gone down south. You go down south and you go through a town Woodstock, and there’s this huge church and they’re everywhere.

Boy, that church is growing. Look at how big they are. But you don’t know what they’re teaching. You don’t know what they’re practicing inside.

Should we look at people’s exterior life and say they’re blessed by God when God Himself says those things do not constitute blessing because everybody has them? Paul warns us against the love of money.

The Old Testament warns us against trusting in uncertain riches because they’ll fly away. False prophets are characterized by their pursuit of wealth and yet almost every American Christian when they get more stuff says look how God has blessed them. Should that be our criteria?

Let me give you a second thought. If material abundance is a sign of God’s gracious blessing why is there such a disparity around the world both now and throughout time? Again, if we’re not careful we’re looking at things through the prism of America where we’re so prosperous and this is not a moral judgment against any of you.

I’m just throwing out numbers here. In South Africa the average monthly income is $1,600 a month. We have people in most of our American churches making that much in a week. Some people make that much in a day. In Cambodia the average monthly income is $500 a month.

If God’s if these things are meant to be a sign of God’s blessing then why is it so sporadic and inconsistent? And it’s always been that way.

So we must agree because the Bible says God is the source of all these things but we should never fall into a trap of evaluating each other based upon the presence of those things in our lives.

And therefore I should not look at those things and say I don’t have to worry about striving for eternal fruit. Look at what I’ve already got here.

Paul another thing he Paul says and it your New Testament Paul says we brought nothing into the world and we’re not going to take anything out. All the toys go back in the box when we’re done.

So it is true that God is the ultimate source of all things but we must not misinterpret those things and by that fail to repent.

Now let me give you a third consideration from this passage of scripture regarding again I’m just dealing with right now the outward looking Proverbs 17:15. He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both alike an abomination to the Lord.

Now, go back to our question. Jane Doe and John Doe have the same circumstances as it pertains to their life, and ask the question: Are they blessed by God with common grace? Yes, He’s the source of all good in anyone’s life—special grace no because Jane is a witch; she’s an idolater, and when somebody says something about her blessings she doesn’t give credit to our Father, the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ. She gives it to the witch, to the goddess rather than to the earth—that’s the source of her blessing.

Should I look at a person like that and say they’re blessed by God without making the distinction between common grace and special grace? Because there is a distinction to be made. Should we use terminology?

Now, I know I’m swimming upstream on this, and I admit it. Blessing is an overused word because it implies merit. A lot of people, when they say they’re blessed, they mean “I worked hard to get what I’ve got.” God doesn’t factor in their lives; maybe we should say provision.

God has provided for all people, including all creatures. When you take the whole Bible, that’s common grace—but it can never be… I can never look at my life and say “Lord,” because I’m so blessed in life; I don’t have to worry about repentance.

Common grace is given to all, but redemptive grace is only given to the repentant.

Now, let me give you three verses that we draw common grace from, and I want you to see repentance in that as well. The first one—of course, very well known—is in one of my books downstairs about prosperity and beware of the wolves and the false transfer wealth transfer nonsense: Matthew 5:45: “Be sons of your father who is in heaven; he makes his son rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” I will call your attention to the fact that He doesn’t do away with the categories. It is true that He is the source of those things for the good and the evil, but He still calls them good and evil. The very presence of material things does not make me right with God.

And may I also point out to you that in that instance they’re intangibles that cannot be stored up. I know we’re trying to do that with solar power, and I know we can do it with reservoirs and those things. But in that culture you were dependent on the rain and the sun, and if it didn’t come, everybody died. They’re intangible; they cannot be stored or misused. Now then listen to two passages from the book of Acts, and my point again is not to try to answer every question on common grace—just to show common grace does not eliminate the need for repentance.

Acts 14:15–17. This is where Paul and Silas have come to Lystra; they healed a man, and everybody now thinks they’re gods. And Paul says, “Men, why are you doing this? We are men of like nature with you. We bring you good news that you should turn from these vain things—idols—from these idols to a living God.” Turn repentance—who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them—in past generations He allowed all the nations to walk in their own ways. Note that because we’re going to come back to that in a minute, yet He did not leave Himself without witness—for He did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness. He’s talking to idolaters; he says God has done this for you but what you should do in that recognition is repent of your sin.

Now, listen to Acts 17. Paul said, “Men of Athens, I perceive that you are very religious—for as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found an altar with this inscription to the unknown God—what you worship is unknown.” I proclaim to you the Lord, the God who made the world and everything in it; being Lord of heaven and earth does not live in temples made by man nor is He served by human hands as though He needed anything. Here’s the common grace part: for Him Himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything—It all comes from Him. Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man—the times of ignorance God overlooked—but now He commands all men everywhere to repent. He is applying for them; He is the source of what they have but He commands them to repent because common grace—God’s goodness to everyone in the world as an expression of His mercy—does not result in your salvation. You must be saved.

Now somebody is going to save. What about all the people that haven’t heard the gospel? That is a separate conversation. I can’t answer today. I can tell you there are a number of committed scholars who ask those questions and wrestle with it. We have to work with what we have, and what we have is repent or you will all likewise perish. So in summary, while it is true that all good things ultimately flow from God to all people, it is not true that all people have God’s approval. And I should not—if my material blessings are the same as the unbeliever—I should not assume that my behavior is okay in God’s sight because that’s not the source of their blessing; the source of their blessing is grace: this common grace. And I should not rest in those earthly goods, but I should be diligent in securing eternal riches and not just try to keep up with the Joneses.

Now quickly, this one is even more heavy if you can imagine that. So first, what is repentance? Repentance is turning from sin to God; is forgiveness possible without repentance? Not according to the scriptures we examine, and those are the scriptures we have to deal with now. The third question is repentance: humanly possible? Can you and I repent of our sins?

Now the typical traditional answer is well, of course God wouldn’t command us to do something we can’t do that would be unfair and unjust. Well, I want to give you some food for thought. This is an involved subject, and we can’t get it all today. So first, at least three passages of scripture describe repentance as something God gives or grants—not something that He merely expects you to produce—but that He gives you this thing Himself: Acts 5:31—God granted Jesus and God exalted Jesus at His right hand as leader and savior—to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.

Acts 11:18. When the apostles heard these things, this is when Cornelius and his band came to Christ. When the apostles heard these things, they fell silent, and they glorified God, saying: “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”

Then again, 2 Timothy 2:25. Paul says, “Correcting His opponents with gentleness; God may perhaps grant them repentance. He does not just demand repentance; He grants the repentance He demands.”

Now this is not a new thought nor is it unique to me—Martin Luther (I think it was) or Augustine said: “Command what you will but give what you command; give me the desire to obey you.” This comes to a second thought, and this is the way we get into our personal experience. We have the ability to act. I can look at this book and it says do not steal, and I can say that’s right—it’s a good rule—I shouldn’t do that. But the problem is that we are prone to keep committing the same sins if repentance is something you have the power to do. Why do you keep falling back into this? Why do we keep repeating the same sin again and again and again—whether it be anger, gossip, greed, sexual lust? Why do people keep falling back into it because there’s a deep problem that we have now. Remember Paul in Romans 7: He says, “The things I don’t want to do, I do; and the things I want to do, I don’t.” What does that suggest? That we need more than our own willpower—just try harder, try a little harder, no, let’s cry harder upon God for the power to turn from us. Listen to this passage from the Old Testament: we have the power to act, but we need; we have the will, the desire to act, but we need the power and the power is only something only God can supply. Listen to Jeremiah 1323 in the New Living Translation, and it says the same in the King James or whatever else. Can an Ethiopian change his skin? Can a leopard take away its spots? Neither can you start doing good—who are accustomed to doing evil. This is where the transformation—the change—comes in.

God must give us repentance, and in that giving we cry out to Him; He gives us through the power of the Holy Spirit the ability to truly repent. But it’s not in our power—it’s in His presence. Have you ever wondered why God gives the Holy Spirit to His people? Because He brings a power You and I do not have on our own, and this is why we need it. And then thirdly, and we’re done. I made it all the way through the squeaks: It is not unfair or unjust for God to command repentance if we cannot repent; if the purpose of the command is to show us we do not have that power within us, and therefore we are driven to a dependence on God. When you go back through the law, God gives all these rules—all these laws—you should do this, do this, do this; don’t do that. All of them good, all of them valid. But you come down to the end of this: God gives them the law. Go to the end of the book of Deuteronomy and God says, “I’m going to teach you a song,” and this song will be a testimony between you and me when you disobey me. Boy, that’s an odd thing to say; isn’t it? Here’s a passage that’s posted on people’s walls all over the Christian world.

As for me and my house we will serve the Lord, drawn from the book of Joshua. As you know where Joshua stands up and says, “Choose this day whom you will serve.” But for me and my house we will serve the Lord, and they all say we will serve the Lord. If I can find the right passage now, therefore serve the Lord, fear the Lord, and serve Him. As for me in my house, and they all say, therefore we also will serve the Lord; He is our God. But Joshua said to the people, “You are not able to serve the Lord, for He is a holy God, a jealous God; He will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.” And then he goes on to talk about them: “For sin…” Why say something like that if the point is to give you the pep rally? Go out and serve the Lord. That’s not the message. The message is in our sinfulness; we can’t do it on our own. We must turn to Him for it all, for grace, for faith, for repentance. And then it is truly an act of grace, not merely something we’ve worked our way into what is repentance—turning from sin. Must I do it to go to heaven according to Scripture? Can I do it in my own strength? No, I cannot. I must call upon Him to grant me repentance; He must change so that sin is no longer beautiful, no longer desirous. The tree, the apple doesn’t look delightful anymore; but it looks heartbroken, it looks sad, it looks bondage carrying, and in that new insight He imparts the power to repent and He gives us what He commands. Father, thank you.