Our Doctrine of Repentance = »tmsenae ‘There is alot of misunderstanding {in the evangelical church today about the purpose and nature of repentance. ‘Thankfully, in the Bible Fellowship ‘Church we have a clear and succinct statement on repentance in our Articles of Faith. Let's take afew ‘minutes and remind ourselves what wwe say about the doctrine of repen- tance in Article 13 of the BFC Articles of Faith First, the article begins by identifying that the issue at hand is "repentance unto life” This is the repentance that takes places when ‘a person is being drawn by God and ‘coming to saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ [is repentance that leads to eternal life—the kind of repentance that Peter called people to when they first heard the gospel (Acts 219) Second, following the Bible, we balance the work of God with the response of man. We state that repentance is “a gift of God anda voluntary act of man accomplished by the convicting power of the Holy Spirit” God isthe one who grants repentance (Acts 11:19; 2 Tim. 2:25). ‘A person does not repent without God changing their heart and draw- ing them to salvation. Yet God does not repent for me. This would be non- sensical. When through the convicting power ofthe Holy Spirit my heart finally sees what God has done, 1am the one who exercises the appropriate response. Repentance isa gift that is inwrought in me—meaning God 8 eFC-Onebie Summer 2015 in His sovereign drawing grace brings me the abilities and desires. Based ‘upon what He has sovereignly done, then I freely and willingly respond, ‘This is important for how we think about the preaching of the gospel. In the preaching ofthe gospel, we are to be calling people to believe in Jesus and to repent of their sins. People will not be saved if they do not hear the Word of God (Rom. 10:14). The Holy Spirit always uses the preaching ‘or sharing of God's Word to bring about repentance unto life. This also ‘means that when I am preaching the Word of God or sharing the faith with others, we have the authority to bring the challenge right to them: have you repented? We can also bring ‘the outward call by saying "repent and you will be saved". We appeal and plead for man to act, knowing that they can and will if God in His good pleas- ure brings the convicting power ofthe Holy Spirit through the inward cal But what will this repentance look ike when we see i? Here our article helpfully states, “Repentance consists in a knowledge of sin, a sense of guilt and corruption that results in the confession and forsaking of sin and. ‘turning to God...” The person who is turning to God in repentance has now seen their sin, They have heard God's law and realize they have bro- ken it. Like the Apostle Paul, scales fall oftheir eyes. They know they are sinners which means God has brought to their attention specifics of some kind where they can identify "yes, I did this and that was sin” This does not necessarily mean every sin ‘ever committed is instantly revealed to them, that lst would overwhelm even the best of us. But “knowledge of sin’ entails personally understand- inghow you have offended a holy God who created you in His image and whom you have rebelled against. ‘There will be a sense of specific sins not justa generic condition. ‘Understanding my rebellion brings equally a sense of guilt and corruption. ‘The person being broken and brought to eternal lfe through saving faith and repentance wil feel some level ‘of personal guilt before God eich brings sorrow. The knowiedae of sin is not a cold, callous, academic knowledge. Paul describes this in 2 Corinthians 7:10, For godly grief pro- duces repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death, The sense of guii-is not just being sorry we got caught, but sense of corruption Before God In repentance, the person confesses their sin. They acknowledge Before God that they have broken His lw. They acknowiedge the perfection of God and the justice of His judgment. We agree with the verdict of God. Repentance, ina sense, is throwing ‘ourselves on the mercy ofthe court acknowledging our guilt. We express the deep sorrow we feel, not to try to win God's favor but Because we are finally through the Holy Spirit seeing ourselves for who we realy are in our sin and corruption. The new heart sranted by God expresses. displeasure With our position of sin and corrup- tion and so we confess ‘When we repent, we forsake sin. ‘This does not mean that we instantly become perfect nor does it mean thatwe are now able to exhaustively list every sin as we turn. Tt does mean that we acknowl ledge the wrongness of sin and ‘want to leave it behind, When the Thessalonians came to saving faith they ured to God from idols to serve te living and ‘rue God (1 Thess. 1:9). Godly grief leads to an carne Cor. 7:10) where now wants to fellow God and walle in His ways. Bven if we do not wale in perfect obedience, the heart has been given new desires that begin to manifest themselves Finally true repentance results in loving and obedient vice. Repentance ig mait®%® UNG init fits, What woult'vea POS you say if someone apolieetn of ri for doing wrong again? yout 21s© @ wise Now therel and then went right backrwet BE jnstructed, ye jug the same horrid behavior. 47°. against you? You would, POS 2th question ther sincerity thie repentance wil manifest tslé —a good tree bears good fri (Matt. 716-20) Ifa person, says such a person is alia (1 John 1:6). OF course, we (1 John 1:8), but observable patterns of behavior will mani- fost themeelves in keeping with true Biblical repentance Itis always important that as a united church body we lovingly take a stand on the Bible and the doctrines loctrinal us do this By reminding us “this is what the (continued on page)Article 13: Our Doctrine of Repentance (onimesfionraae® Bible says". When necessary, it draws alinein the sand “the Bible does not say this” The language of our Article ‘of Faith is both clear and defined, We lay out what repentance is and this distinguishes us and protects us from errors that have arisen in the broader American church well after Article 13 was written. One such errors a teaching called “Pree Grace”. While this teaching has ‘nice name—who among us does not believe in the power and the freedom of God's grace to save?—it contains a very dangerous teaching about the nature of repentance. Let ‘me highlight three things its propo- nents maintain: (1) repentance at salvation is only a change of one's rind about Jesus not sorrow for sin ‘This hymn is to honor Elisabeth Elliot who recently went to be with the Lord. ‘The title of her first book, “Through Gates of Splendor,” came from the last stanza of this hymn. 22.8F Onevce Simmer 2015, (Charles Ryrie So Great Salvation, 94,96; Zane Hodges, Absolutely Free, 146); 2) repentance that includes sorrow for sins is not a necessary condition for receiving eternal life ane Hodges, Absolutely Free, 160; Charles Ryrie So Great Salvation, 94,99); (8) when one changes their ‘mind about Jesus (their errant definition of repentance) it does not necessarily nor does it need to subsequently manifest itself with the results of loving obedient service (Charles Ryrie, So Great Salvation, 113; Zane Hodges, Absolutely Free, 167). One writer goes so far as to say that in James 2 the ‘ead faith’ described is genuine saving faith (Zane Hodges, Absolutely Free, 167; ‘A Free Grace Primer, 173-76). While the above is just meant to highlight a few salient points, tis easy to see how such theories of the ‘ature and evidence of repentance are already completely at odds with Article 13, Even more, this concept of “Free Grace" contradicts the Bible and its teaching on repentance. As the Bible Fellowship Church, we always seek to follow Scripture and put Scripture firsts the sole authority on matters of faith and doctrine. The Bible teaches that repentance unto life isan act of ‘man, accomplished by the power of the Holy Spirit. The Bible clearly defines repentance not just as a “change of mind” lke checking of a box ['m a sinner, Jesus is Savior] on a list, but that repentance consists of a knowledge of sin along with a sense of guilt and corruption. We turn to God and He has made us a new man in Christ. This means forsaking sin because the old self is crucified in Christ. Finally, true repentance results in loving obedient service We rest on Thee, and in Thy Name we go. We rest on Thee, our Shield and our Defender: ‘Thine is the battle, Thine shall be the praise When passing through the gates of pearly splendor; Victors, we rest with Thee, through endless days. faith G. Cherry, ¢.1895