The Truth about Repentance (Acts 3:19)
When Mom was a very small child, my Papaw came home drunk one night. The next morning, Nannie marched into their bedroom, pulled the covers back, woke Papaw up, and said, “It’s me and the kids or the bottle. Make up your mind.” Papaw never touched alcohol again. In fact, I didn’t know Papaw had ever tasted alcohol until I learned that story as a teenager.
Have you ever needed to make a major change in your life? How many of you have given up drunkenness? Did any of you need to stop lying? Or what about anger—did you need to learn how to control your temper? How many of you have had to learn how to overcome your greed?
The Jewish nation needed to change. Peter said to a large crowd, “Repent, therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out” (Acts 3:19). What does it really mean to repent? Acts 3:19 answers that question.
The English Standard Version translated Peter’s two imperatives as “repent” and “turn back.” But, both words could be translated as “repent.” The first word—“repent”—literally means to think after; someone is changing his thinking or his purpose. The second word—“turn back”—literally means to turn around. Those two words encapsulate true repentance—a change in thinking which results in a change of life.
Learn: “Repentance means change.” This morning, we’ll think about changing one’s thinking; next week, we’ll think about changing one’s actions.
Body
Because repentance means change, a sinner must change his thinking.
“Godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death” (2 Cor 7:10). Godly grief involves knowing that one has sinned against God and that his thinking must change. When Nathan confronted David about Uriah, the king said, “I have sinned against the LORD” (2 Sam 12:13). After Peter had denied the Lord, “he broke down and wept” (Mk 14:72). After Esau sold his birthright, “he desired to inherit the blessing, [but] he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears” (Heb 12:17); Esau had grief, but it was too late to change his actions.
How can someone admit to sin like David? How can someone break down and weep like Peter? How can someone seek repentance with tears? How can someone change his thinking about sin?
One: Understand God’s grief over sin.
Before the Deluge, God saw man’s wickedness, and “the LORD regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart” (Gen 6:6). Think about that for a moment! Because of man’s sinfulness, the Creator regretted making man, and sin broke God’s heart.
When you sin, you break Almighty God’s heart. Do you really want to shred God’s heart into a million little pieces? If not, change your thinking about sin.
Two: Understand sin’s enormous cost.
Sin’s enormous cost resulted in the death of the very Son of God. “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8). “In [Christ] we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace” (Eph 1:7). Jesus “is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 Jn 2:2).
Because of your sins, Jesus left heaven’s glory for a world of sorrow, sickness, and death. Because of your sins, Jesus was mercilessly tempted by the devil. Because of your sins, Jesus prayed with the utmost agony in the garden. Because of your sins, Judas kissed Jesus to deliver him to the guards. Because of your sins, Jesus stood alone in Pilate’s hall. Because of your sins, Jesus was flogged with whips. Because of your sins, Jesus was hoisted up on that old, rugged cross. Because of your sins, Jesus suffered alone while the Father turned his face away. Because of your sins, Jesus bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
Can you look at Jesus’s torture and not change your thinking about sin?
Three: Understand sin’s punishment.
God punishes sin. “The wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men” (Rom 1:18). God cast Adam and Eve from Paradise for their sin. God caused the Israelites to wander for forty years for their lack of faith. God wouldn’t let Moses set a foot in the Promised Land for failing to honor him when getting water from a rock. God sent the Israelites into captivity for their idolatry. God dropped Ananias and Sapphira dead for their lie.
God will punish sin in hell. Hell is an unpleasant place: “In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt 25:30). Hell is an eternal place: The unrighteous “will go away into eternal punishment” (Matt 25:46). Hell is a place of fire: In hell, “their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched” (Mk 9:48). Hell is a place of torture: “The smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night” (Rev 14:11).
Do you wish to go to hell? If not, change the way you think about sin.
Four: Understand sin hurts others.
Some folks think their sin hurts no one; that’s simply not true. Abram lied about Sarai, and Pharaoh took her into his house; therefore, “the LORD afflicted Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife” (Gen 12:17). Achan took spoil from Jericho; when the Israelites sent about 3,000 men against Ai, the Israelites “fled before the men of Ai, and the men of Ai killed about thirty-six of their men and chased them before the gate as far as Shebarim and struck them at the descent. And the hearts of the people melted and became as water” (Josh 7:4-5). Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, constructed two golden calves; “this thing became a sin, for the people went as far as Dan to be before one” (1 Ki 12:30). When Peter and the Jews acted hypocritically, “even Barnabas was led astray” (Gal 2:13).
Whom have you hurt with sin? Whom did you hurt with your lies? Whom did you hurt when you lost your temper? Whom did you hurt with your boasting? Whom did you hurt with your jealousy? Whom did you hurt with your greed? Whom did you hurt in your cowardice? Whom did you drive from the Lord in your arrogance?
Since sin affects those you love, how can you remain in sin?
What consequences do you face for your sin? What heartache do you bear because of your sin? What fear do you harbor because of your sin? How have you hurt yourself because of your sin? How have you hurt your relationship with God because of your sin? Do you need to come and reclaim that relationship right now as we stand and sing?
This sermon was originally preached by Dr. Justin Imel, Sr., at Church of Christ Deer Park in Deer Park, Texas.