I want to continue to briefly look at some of the aspects of man's need for salvation and God's solution in the person of His Son by discussing REPENTANCE and REGENERATION through FAITH.

Crucial to our initial salvation is our repentance of sin. But, it is also crucial to the life of a Christian, for when he falls and sins, he needs to make things right with God concerning that sin so he maintains fellowship with Him. Therefore, I want to deal with a few false ideas of what repentance is.

REPENTANCE IS NOT REMORSE ALONE

Being remorseful is being sorry when we sin, but there can be remorse without a desire to change what one does in the future concerning that particular sin. Remorse is often just feeling bad over what you did because you got caught doing it. If one is truly remorseful, he will want to change that particular action from that point on and not do that again.

REPENTANCE IS NOT PENITENCE

Being penitent means to be sorrowful for one's sins with a consciousness of one's guilt. Penitence can imply a sense of guilt and some desire to change for the better, but it isn't necessarily REPENTANCE. There is an element of penitence in REPENTANCE.

REPENTANCE IS NOT REFORMATION

One of the mistakes Christians make is trying to reform their lives apart from a true heart change towards God and His righteousness in Christ. Reformation is a change toward the better, but does not necessarily mean acknowledgment of sin and guilt. We cannot reform the old man. God says He has crucified our old man with Christ and that we became new creatures when the Holy Spirit entered us at the time of initial salvation.

PENANCE IS NOT REPENTANCE

Penance is trying to do something to make up for something done wrong. One who does penance certainly recognizes his guilt and his need for forgiveness. But we can do nothing towards God to atone for sin. Jesus atoned for the sins of all men on the cross. The Apostle Paul said,

Rom 7:18 "For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not."

Jesus took sin's penalty on Himself at Calvary, the just dying for the unjust. A person that is repentant will try to correct wrongs done to others and try to please God with this effort, but this is not full REPENTANCE.

TRUE REPENTANCE

True REPENTANCE is simply this: a change of mind concerning sins we commit because we realize we have sinned and that God has been offended because of how we treat the finished work of Christ. It is a turning back to Him and His righteous ways. Knowing Him also in His love, mercy and forgiveness as well as in His judgment is the catalyst for such a heart change. REPENTANCE is the one thing God is waiting for from all men and is extending His mercy by waiting before sending Jesus back. Peter said,

2 Pet 3:9 "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up."

What a contrast to the Christian, for Paul said,

2 Cor 4:16 "For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day."

REPENTANCE is a turning to God so that we can continue to live fully for Him and faith is the impetus for both of these. The Christian who watches his life and repents and changes his mind about sins he commits is renewed constantly day by day through REPENTANCE by the Holy Spirit.

The apostasy has done almost irreparable damage to the gospel by leaving behind the message of true REPENTANCE, yet Jesus died for that very message to go out to the ends of the earth:

Luke 24:46 "And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: 47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 And ye are witnesses of these things."

REGENERATION IS THE INITIAL FRUIT OF REPENTANCE AND FAITH

When man see he is a sinner who has sinned and that Jesus is the sin offering for his life of sin and his sins, he exercises his faith by repenting. The result of that is regeneration and restoration to fellowship with the Father. Regeneration is a brother to REPENTANCE. The two go hand in hand. And just as there are false ideas about what true REPENTANCE is, so it is with regeneration.

REGENERATION IS NOT JUST FOR SOME

All men need to repent, place their faith in God and be regenerated in spirit. Jesus said,

John 3:5 "Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. 8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit."

When a person repents because of his sin and believes in the gospel, he is regenerated in his spirit, and thus experiences salvation:

Titus 3:5 "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; 6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; 7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life."

REGENERATION IS NOT IMPROVEMENT THROUGH GOD'S WORKING

Regeneration is not God gradually improving the sinful nature we were born with. Regeneration is believing God's word about Christ and receiving the Holy Spirit.

REGENERATION IS NOT OUR REFORMING OURSELVES

What I said about God not working to improve our sinful nature is also true of any effort that we might take in that direction. As Paul said to the Ephesians,

Eph 2:8 "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.