How to become more Christian

God has put His seal upon the work of Christ, by raising Him from the dead, and now, through His Name, repentance and the remission of sins are preached to you, and these two things go together. Repentance must come first: there could be no remission apart from repentance. But what does repentance mean? Not fear of the consequences of sin, nor even sorrow for the sin itself, though that will surely go with it. Repentance is a complete turn. When God commands all men everywhere to repeat, it is as though He said, "Right about turn!" Unconverted sinner, you have turned your back upon God, and you must admit that that is a serious thing to do; it is, to say the least about it, a most discourteous thing to do. If you were admitted to the presence of His Majesty the King, you would not turn your back upon him, certainly not if he wished to speak to you. God is speaking to you, He is beseeching, entreating, commanding you, and you will not listen. You have turned your back upon Him. I call upon you at this time to "Right about turn," and hear what God is saying to you.

God has put His seal upon the work of Christ, by raising Him from the dead, and now, through His Name, repentance and the remission of sins are preached to you, and these two things go together. Repentance must come first: there could be no remission apart from repentance. But what does repentance mean? Not fear of the consequences of sin, nor even sorrow for the sin itself, though that will surely go with it. Repentance is a complete turn. When God commands all men everywhere to repeat, it is as though He said, “Right about turn!” Unconverted sinner, you have turned your back upon God, and you must admit that that is a serious thing to do; it is, to say the least about it, a most discourteous thing to do. If you were admitted to the presence of His Majesty the King, you would not turn your back upon him, certainly not if he wished to speak to you. God is speaking to you, He is beseeching, entreating, commanding you, and you will not listen. You have turned your back upon Him. I call upon you at this time to “Right about turn,” and hear what God is saying to you.

The gospel of God is a call to men to repent, which means turn and return; thus the prodigal repented when he arose to go to his father — God offers an eternal forgiveness to all men, it is this that is proclaimed in the gospel, but those only who repent receive this priceless boon. Repentance is a turning to God from the sinful way, because it is realised that it is the way of death, and that God is other than He is supposed to be, that He is not as men have imagined Him, a hard master, an almighty tyrant out of whose presence they had better keep as long as they may, but that He is full of tender pity, that He calls them to come to Him from their wanderings, and will welcome them when they come with the kiss of forgiveness. He gave His only begotten Son to judgment and death that He might do this righteously — that He might be a just God and a Saviour, and of such value are the souls of men in His sight, that He rejoices over every one that repents.

There will always be sorrow for sin in the heart of the one who repents, but repentance is more than sorrow for sin it is a complete change of mind, that turns the whole man as the helm turns the ship. The Thessalonians repented when they turned to God from idols. Saul of Tarsus repented when he cried out to Jesus, whom he had hated, "Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?" A young man whom I met repented when he said to me, "I've had a look into eternity and I want to be saved." Repentance comes when the light shines into a man's heart and he becomes honest to God and confesses the truth, and casts himself upon God's mercy. When the publican stood afar off and would not so much as lift up his eyes to heaven, but smote upon his breast saying, "God be merciful to me a sinner," he repented, and there was joy in heaven over him and he went down to his house justified. But repentance does not save the sinner, it is God that does that. "It is not thy tears of repentance or prayers, But the blood that atones for the soul."

Their true conversion is just what is described here in these verses. He declares, "They show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols, to serve the living and true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivered us from the wrath to come." What a summary you have of the work of God. How much is summed up in those few words for us. There is true repentance shown in turning to God. The order there, you have often noticed, is most suggestive, most powerful. You tell a sinner to give up his sins, to turn from this and that sin, and he hesitates, he has not the power to do it. You present to him God and the claims of His grace, and if the word takes hold on him and he turns to the living God, he will turn away from sin. There is just that difference; it is not turning from sin to God but to God from sin. There is power in that.

At this point of his discourse, Peter brings in the balm of grace as he says, "Brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers." On the cross Jesus had prayed, "Father, forgive them," and now Peter, following in his Master's steps, is led to proclaim forgiveness. Here is the way of escape he opens, "Repent ye therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out." Do you want your sins blotted out, my friend? Nothing but the blood of Jesus can blot them out. And how can you get this blessing? By repentance, and turning to God, having faith in the name of the Lord Jesus. What is repentance? Repentance is this: I judge myself. What is conversion? Conversion is this: I turn round to the Lord. This is all illustrated in the parable of the prodigal son. He was convicted when he said, "How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger." His conviction was of a double nature, there was goodness in his father's heart, while there was badness in his own. This conviction altered his whole course, and turned him round. "The goodness of God leads thee to repentance," we read (Rom. 2:4). It is His goodness that leads man to repentance, and not man's repentance that leads God to goodness. This conviction ends in his conversion. He was converted when he arose and came to his father. He was confessing his sins when he said, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee." He was repentant when he said, "I am no more worthy to be called thy son."

224 Practical repentance then is the estimate a man forms of sin, of his own ways as a sinner, on reflection, through the light of God penetrating into his soul, with some sense of goodness in Him, and setting up withal divine authority there. This may be through divine warnings as in the case of Jonah, or the lamenting of a John Baptist announcing that the axe is laid to the root of the trees. It is always mercy. He gives repentance to Israel, grants repentance unto life: His goodness leads us to it. That is, instead of visiting sins according to man's desert, He opens the door to return to light and grace through grace. Hence, when grace is fully announced, when the truth is there, repentance is on the footing of God's perfect revelation of Himself in grace, in Christ. I Repentance was to be preached in His name, and remission of sins. In coming to God it is always the first effect in the soul when it is real, and the turning of the will to God, and faith in the redemption and forgiveness the gospel announces comes after. Hence it is said, "Repent and be converted," "Repent and believe the gospel." But this just shews us how faith is the only and necessary source of repentance. It is by the testimony of the word it is wrought. Be it prophets, or Jonas, or John, or the Lord Himself, or the apostles, who taught that men should repent and turn to God, it was wrought by a testimony of God, and a testimony believed. Now, this testimony is the testimony to Christ Himself. Repentance, as well as remission of sins, was to be preached in His name. It is by the revelation of God, whether in judgment or in grace, grace in any case working in the heart, that repentance is wrought. When the prodigal came to himself he repented; he is converted when he said, "I will arise and go to my Father;" the gospel is realized when he meets his Father and gets the best robe. But he that comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him; and there is always in true repentance some sense of goodness. "How many servants of my Father's have bread enough and to spare." There would be no returning if there was not hope, it may be very vague, but still a hope of being received, and goodness trusted to. Even the Ninevites say, "who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?" In the gospel the full grace of God is made the very ground of a call to repentance, still in view of judgment. "Now he calls all men everywhere to repent, seeing he hath appointed a day wherein he will judge the world in righteousness, by that man whom he hath ordained." Goodness leads to it, the door to flee is open, but to flee from the wrath to come, to flee to God, who assures of forgiveness in coming through the perfect work of Christ.

As regards turning and repentance we have some other passages which throw additional light on it. Thus in Acts 3, we have "Repent and be converted," and in Acts 26, "That they should repent and turn to God." Here I apprehend that "turn" is not simply a change of will, but as in the last case "turning to God." When God turns, He acts on us and turns our will round. This leads us to repentance and judgment of our ways according to God; then there is remission. Here the working of God is not entered on, as it is an address to conscience, and they are called to judge their ways and turn to God. It is the side of the truth addressed to men's consciences.

But it may be profitable to speak briefly of "repentance"; for it goes far more deeply than many think. It is rather a moral question than a mental one, though no doubt there is a change of mind of the utmost gravity. But in repentance the soul is subject to God. His word judges, instead of being judged. There is therefore a moral revolution in the heart which takes God's side against itself, and condemns not only the acts of evil which rise before the conscience, but the entire ground and state of being which gave rise to them. Repentance, therefore, is as distinctly towards God, as faith is towards our Lord Jesus Christ, Who is in fact exalted by God's right hand to give repentance as well as remission of sins (Acts 5:31; Acts 20:21). Acknowledgment of truth follows as the fruit of repentance, without which neither truth is divinely received, nor has its acknowledgment any value in God's sight. Life, eternal life, is from God, and in His Son.

Paul sums up his gospel by saying he preached "Repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts 20:21). Repentance is the confession toward God of our lost and ruined condition. Faith is the acceptance of the good news concerning Christ. One has said, "Repentance and faith are inseparable where there is reality; … as there is no genuine repentance without faith, so there is no faith of God's elect without repentance". Repentance is more than sorrow for having done wrong, or the shame that mere natural conscience may feel. Repentance is the change of mind in regard to self, produced by the knowledge of the grace of God. It is the consciousness and confession of my true condition before God. Repentance toward God is the acceptance of what God says about myself. Faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ is the acceptance of what God says about Christ. Peter repented when he said, in the presence of the Lord, "I am a sinful man". The publican repented when he said, "God be merciful to me the sinner": the prodigal repented when he said in the presence of the father, "I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight": the thief repented when he said, "We receive the due reward of our deeds". There may be different measures of repentance, even as there are different measures of faith. With some repentance may be deeper, and faith more distinct and simple than in others; but, wherever there is a work of God in the soul, there these two things will be found.