Great Doctrines of Salvation, Introduction - Repentance

OK. Format wise, what what I like to do is I mentioned before, I'll repeat myself. I really like an interactive class. So I really want you to participate. And so instead of lecturing to you with overheads and that kind of thing, I would given you questions every week that you don't necessarily have to labor over. But the following week there will be the class will be based on these questions and they're designed to they're designed hopefully to stimulate discussion. And so I've been encouraged to put them up here so we can see them. So I guess I can do that.

So I want you to be interactive if I have a. theory that if I conduct one of these classes and I've done all the talking, nobody's learned anything. So you have to talk. And as I said before, just a warning that sometimes I'm going to ask you a question or make a statement that's purposely false just to see if you're awake. So be ready and challenge me. I want you to challenge me.

I want you to to be thinking, because I want it to be clear when we finish. Now, the second thing is the basic doctrines of salvation. I'm assuming that everybody in this room already is saved, right? If you're not, Romans class is down. No, never mind. And so the reason you came here was not to be saved, right? The reason you came here was what? Why did you come to this class? To learn. To learn what?

The book written by John Marchbanks, which is really what that notebook is, is very simple, it's very easy to read and understand, and it's a tool, I think, that any believer can use as they sit with either a non-believer or with a believer who doesn't understand all that went into his salvation or her salvation. This book is very simple and it explains pretty clearly, without a lot of technicality, exactly what the elements of salvation are. So it's designed more as a tool for you to use later on than it is for you to be saved.

I'm just curious, when was this written? 1970. Yeah. Believe it or not, I was going to bring it in, too. I was on that abebooks.com and I tried to buy enough of the used books because they're out of print. I only could find two or three. And one of them, you'll notice in the inside, there's a little testimonial, I think, here from, what's that guy's name? Maybe it's not in yours.

He dedicates the book to a guy named Schuller. So I get this copy of this book that says Schuller wrote him a little note signed Johnny. So I don't know if it's John Marchbanks writing a little note to Schuller and sending them the book. And I ended up with it somehow. But anyway, the story I have to tell about John Marchbanks is that when we first discovered this book, Vern had it and we tried to find copies of it. I got on the Web and tracked down this John Marchbanks and he lives in Greenville, South Carolina.

So I called him. And this woman answers the phone with a crackly voice. Hello? She said, is John Marchbanks there? She said, no, he went home to be with his Lord, just like he went down to 7-Eleven. And I ended up talking to her for about 10 minutes, and sure enough, it was the wife of John Marchbanks. And she referred me to her son-in-law, who supposedly had a bunch of books in the attic of his barn.

And I talked to him and he was going to send me some, but he never did. So, anyway. So, Vern had a copy. And he recommended it when he first came here. And the ladies Bible study in Parker, I taught it to those ladies. That was my first exposure to it. And I think Brian White has taught it here once.

So it's a great little book for foundation about salvation, so you can get clear about things. Most believers aren't real clear about all the elements that went into their salvation. So I thought what we'd do today, we're going to cover, that's another problem we have, We have 16 chapters to cover in 12 weeks, so I'm going to combine some as we go and put some together that sort of seem to fit together. And I probably would have combined the first two, except we would have never gotten through it today. The first chapter is repentance, which is just probably one of the most misunderstood words in Christianity, because repentance is one of those words, well, let me put it on you, what does repentance mean?

Change your mind. Just to have a change of mind. Now, is emotion involved with that? The Greek word is meta noheho. Meta means afterwards and noheho means to exercise your mind. It means to have another mind. or to think differently. Now, what part does emotion play in this? How many think there's got to be some emotion in there? How many think no emotion at all? No emotion at all. It just means to have a change of mind.

I remember the ladies in Parker, I said to them, If you really, really, really, really, really are sorry for your sins and you repent, does God really, really, really forgive you more than the one who doesn't repent? No. Repentance only means to have a change of mind. That's all it means. And as we'll look at some verses this morning, there are exhortations by people in the Word of God to repent. The problem we have is that we always associate sin with repentance. Not always true. Because you can have a change of mind about anything, right? Can't you?

I mean, Ben had a change of mind, decided to come back early. He repented. That's what he did. But we look at that word as though, oh gee, I was sinning and now I changed my mind about sinning and I'm not going to sin anymore. Well, normally that's what it means, but not always.

So, is repentance necessary for salvation? You got to do it? Okay, what's the gospel? What's the gospel? Jesus died on the cross for your sins, right? He was buried according to the scriptures and he rose again. You see the word repentance in there anywhere? What do you have to do about that gospel message in order to be saved?

Believe. Where's repentance? Where is it? If you didn't believe before, you'd have to have a change of mind to get there. Okay. It's included in there. But repentance is not a specific, you'll see lots of people say repent and do so and so. But it's not a separate act that is required for you to be saved. You understand that? Is that okay? The issue of salvation is faith. Okay? I think you'll find that it's not necessarily, not necessary, but it's included. The only thing necessary for salvation is what? On your part.

Faith. Belief. That's it. Now, you believe that Christ died for your sins, he was buried and resurrected, you have a change of mind about who he is and what he's done, but the issue is, do you believe? If you've got your Bibles, let's go to Acts 20, verse 21. Whoever gets there first can read it.

Repentance towards God. Now, when he says repentance towards God, what's the change of mind there? What would these Jews and Gentiles change their mind about God about? And who the Lord Jesus is, and that God has provided a permanent salvation. So it's not a change of mind about their sins, it's a change of mind about who God is.

Let's see if I've got this other one. Yeah, let's see. Go to Acts 2.38. Again, whoever gets there first can read it.

Peter said to them, Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This has to do with when Peter is doing his first evangelistic effort at Pentecost, right? And there's a loud noise and a wind, and all these people coming around to where the apostles are hanging out, and we don't have time to read the entire discourse. But what was the exhortation to repent about?

Was it about their sins? about a crucified Messiah, even more precise than that. Who did they think Jesus was? They thought he was a guy from Bethlehem, or Galilee, who was a pretty cool prophet guy that made a lot of issues, and they rounded him up and they crucified him. Who is Peter telling them he is? the Messiah of Israel, the Savior of the world and the Son of God. So what's he saying to them?

You need to change your mind about who this Jesus is. That's what the repentance is. That's what the change of mind is. It isn't about their sins. It's about who Jesus is. And so it fits with the gospel because the gospel has to do with Christ dying, being buried and resurrected. It isn't about your sins.

It's about Him. You see that? So when Peter says repent, he means you Jews need to change your mind about who you think this Jesus is. Because he isn't what you think he is. He's the son of God, and he died on the cross and paid the penalty for your sins. And if you believe in him and his work, God will save you. So you can see where the change of mind comes in.

You read that passage and you think when Peter's banging on the repentance drum, you're thinking of some televangelist who's making a big issue about you repenting about your sins. It's not what he's saying at all. He's saying, pay attention to who Jesus is. Because isn't Jesus the issue?

Now, Romans 2.4, you don't have to go there, I'll read it. or despises thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering, knowing that the goodness of God leads thee to repentance."

So the goodness of God leads a man to do what? Change his mind. About what? Change a man's mind about what? God's goodness, His forbearance, His long-suffering, and His goodness does what? It changes a man's mind about what? It isn't God's wrath, it's His goodness. It changes his mind about what? What would man change his mind about about God? That He's offered a salvation, that His goodness and His love has come towards you and offered you a salvation out of His grace and His goodness. That's what turns a man. It isn't this big stick. It's the goodness.

2 Peter 3.9, The Lord is not slack concerning His promises. Some count slackness. is long-suffering towards you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance, that every man should come to a change of mind." You see that? Change of mind about what? About who they are, and who God is, and what's been offered to them.

Now, you haven't read the chapter yet, but according to the author, What are four things that you don't find in and of themselves in repentance? Here's the four things he mentions. Sorrow is the first one. Sorrow doesn't have anything to do specifically or uniquely with repentance, although it could be part of it. Weeping or crying.

Making resolutions and penance. You know what penance is? I know you guys come from a Catholic background. You know what penance is? Penance. Making up for, you know, if you're a Catholic like I was, in the second, third grade, you know, they taught us to go to confession and then we got to go to communion, right?

So you go into confession and you tell the priest that you sinned. And at that point you're making them up because you don't know. And the priest says, OK, are you really sorry? You say, yeah, I am. And he gives you this thing called absolution, which is his supposed authority to forgive you your sins. And then you have to perform a little penance. You have to say a few prayers or something, I guess, to make up for the bad stuff that you've done. So a penance is really...

So, how many of us look at repentance as something that sorrow must be connected with? In other words, there really isn't repentance. Nope. How about crying? Big tears make a big difference, right? How about making resolutions? I'm guilty of that one. I promise I'm never going to do this again. I'm repentant. Or I'm going to do 45. I take it back, 50 spiritual push-ups.

Donna? What do you find when you react with John? That's how I decide if he was really sorry about what he did. Is it based on these things? God forbid John would come up to us and say, Mom, Dad, I've just changed my mind. That isn't enough. I've just repented. It's not enough. You've got to be sorry.

According to the author, and again, you haven't read the first chapter, so I recommend you read the first two chapters because there'll be some comparisons. The next chapter, by the way, is conversion, and we'll talk a little bit about the difference between repentance and conversion. that repentance went out to the Jews, the Gentiles, and the church.

Now go to Revelation 3.19 just so I can show you what I mean. Again, whoever has it can read it. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Be zealous, therefore, and repent. Who's he talking to? Revelation 3. Talking to the church. That the church needs to change their mind about things. So I think you'll find, when you see that word repent in your study, it's important, first of all, to know the context as to what the exhortation is.

What are you supposed to change your mind about? And who is it that's supposed to change his mind? You will see all kinds of Old Testament exhortations from God that the Jews needed to repent. They needed to change their mind. But you won't see a lot of it in the New Testament. You won't see that word used a lot by Paul. especially when he's teaching, because he knows it's new information, and they don't have to change their mind about anything, they're just now learning, where the Jews needed a total change of mind about everything, because God gave them this wonderful religion with all that went into it, and then, and here's the next question, does God ever repent?

He ever changes mind? I can show you verses that say he does. What do you think? You think that he started down the road one way and that somebody twisted his arm or begged him or whatever and he said, oh, okay, I repented and I won't go there? Does he? What do you think? In Numbers 23, 19, God is not a man that he should lie, neither the son of man that he should repent. Hath he said and will he not do it? Or has he spoken and will he not make it good?

But you can find in Exodus and other places where Moses convinced God not to wipe out Israel. Right? Didn't he? So did God repent it and said, well, okay, I won't do it. So did God ever change his mind? What do you think? No, he didn't. Do you think you can change his mind? You're hoping you can though, right?

So, repentance is a word that's used about a lot of different circumstances and situations that you'll see it in the Word of God and you'll think, oh gee, this doesn't mean what I think it means. Would God or Paul or any of God's writers say to those who know better that they should have a change of mind?

I think all the time. All the time. Now, who causes you to change your mind? How does he do it? Everybody agree with that? That you don't have a change of mind without the Spirit? What does he change your mind about? If you're a non-believer, put yourself in that position. And the spirit begins to work on you. What is he telling you? What is he convincing you of? That you're a sinner. That you're totally separated from God. That you're condemned because of that. And you have no hope. No hope.

So, if the spirit works like that, that's a change of mind, wouldn't you agree? my friend that lives across the street over here, the guy I'm picking on all the time, in order for him, the first step for him to be saved is he must understand that he's lost.

Right? And the Holy Spirit is the only one that can convince a person that he is lost. That's a change of mind. Because he changes his mind from being, I've done enough good things that God has to accept me, to, wow, I'm really lost. What's the next thing the Spirit does? He presents Christ as the person's Savior. And he presents this whole issue of, if you believe, I will save you. That's a huge change of mind.

Because nothing works like that, does it? In the world around you that you can just believe and things happen? Maybe in Disney World it does. We live in a world of performance. You have to do things. There's a cause and effect. If you don't go to work, you don't get paid. You don't sit at home on Monday and say, I'm going to have faith that the money shows up on Friday. Guess what? It isn't going to show. It's not going to be there.

But the gospel message comes to you and says, if you believe what somebody else already did for you, God will save you for all eternity. That's a huge change of mind. Especially if you come out of some sort of religious environment. You see that? With most Christian churches, it's salvation by grace and get busy with works. One of the biggest repentant issues you have around here is to persuade people that you began in grace and faith and you're to walk in grace and faith. That the whole Christian life is based on grace and faith and not your works. And your faith isn't a contributing work.

We mouth those words, but it's very tough to have a change of mind about that. Don't you agree? Grace is a tough thing to get your arms around, I think. It's really tough, because God does everything, my job is to receive. I don't contribute anything, I just receive. And I function based on faith alone. Nah, can't be true. I'll say it's true, but boy, secretly in my mind I'm going to be doing whatever God wants me to do. What does He want you to do? Believe Him. That's it. See?

Is that a change of mind? I think it's a huge change of mind. Huge change of mind. Because we're all conditioned by most of the religions we came out of, or the denominations we came out of, that there's some sort of either spelled out or written code.

I'll give you an example. I didn't read this whole book, but you gave me this, right? This is very interesting. Arthur Pink, one of your truly great covenant boys. In the summary of this book called Repentance, What Sayeth the Scriptures? Here's what he says. A summary of what has been before us may be helpful. Repentance is an evangelical duty. and no preacher is entitled to be regarded as a servant of Christ if he is silent thereunto." Okay? Sounds like grace to me. Repentance is required by God in this dispensation as in all preceding ones.

Is that true? Is it true? Not required. Do you agree with that or not? Is repentance required with regard to belief in the work of his son, yes. Why? Because first you didn't believe, and then you did believe, and so in that sense you repented, and that's necessary. In that sense, yeah. But it isn't necessary that... how do I say this? It's not a separate act. It's not a separate act. I agree with that. Okay. He's making it a separate act. You see that?

3. Repentance is in no wise meritorious, yet within it the gospel cannot be savingly believed.

We'd probably agree with that. Repentance is a spirit-given realization of the exceeding sinfulness of sin and a taking sides with God against myself. Repentance presupposes a hard approval of God's law and a full consent to its righteous requirements. Repentance presupposes a heart approval of God's law and a full consent to its righteous requirements which are all summed up and now shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, etc. You think that's part of it?

It can't be. He just added to the gospel. Repentance is evidence by a forsaking of sin. Repentance is known by its permanency. There must be a continual turning away from sin and grieving over such fall thereunto. How many laws did he just lay on us? Several. Anybody who's been associated with any sort of covenant theology, that's what you've learned. Sounds good.

But then when you get under the realm of grace, there's a change of mind about what grace is and how it functions and how it operates. Does grace require you to do anything in order to receive it? Yeah, if it was grace, there's nothing for you to do in order to have it come towards you, right? It's totally, absolutely unmeritorious. And it's boundless. And as Chester Macaulay said, it's the most motivating factor in the universe, grace is. Do you agree with the following statement?

Repentance is mostly an exhortation to someone who is positionally separated but not living that way. For those of you who haven't been in my class before, who does not understand the difference between position and condition? And don't be shy. It's okay if you don't understand your position. Ben doesn't understand it. Anybody else? What's your position?

From a biblical standpoint, what does position mean? All that's true of Christ and my being in Him is true of me. Can it ever be changed? Your position in Christ is sealed forever and can never be changed. But your condition is what? From day to day and it fluctuates. Now can your condition somehow influence what your position is? Never. So, statement.

Repentance is mostly an exhortation to someone who is positionally separated but not living that way. What do you think? Repentance is mostly an exhortation to someone who is positionally separated Repentance isn't an exhortation. Repentance is an act. It's an exhortation to you. People exhort me to repent, but repentance is not an exhortation.

But you're not living that way. So let's say, you know, you understand, I've been crucified, buried, resurrected, I'm ascended and seated, I'm now in Christ and there's no condemnation because I'm in Christ Jesus. But then I'm convicted of my sinfulness. Am I to repent about that? Do you understand what Marla's saying? Okay. You're positioned in Christ, you're a believer, and you're sinning.

And in 1 John 1.9 it says that if you confess your sins, God is faithful and just to forgive you your sins. So what's confession mean? Does it mean to repent? No, it means to agree with God. About what? That you're a dirty dog sinner? What's that? Even more than that. What's that? Who does God say you are? Who does He say you are? You're in Christ, right? You're resurrected, you're seated in my Son.

So, what are you going to agree with me about? That's what I'm agreeing with God about, that I am who you say I am. I also agree with you that I've been functioning as though I wasn't who you say I am. Is that repentance? No, I think that's agreement. I don't think you repent. Because your confessing your sins really is, is that, Father, I am who you say I am. I agree with you. I do agree that I have been living as though I wasn't one of your sons. And I've been doing this sinning thing, but this isn't who you say I am. I am who you say I am. And I confess to you that you're right and I'm wrong.

Does God care then if you make a whole long list of your sins and you don't get restored until you get them all on the board? No. Because He's more interested in you as the person and who you're functioning out of, or who's functioning through you, than he is about all the bad things. And why wouldn't he be all concerned about all the bad things? All the sins? Because he took care of them already.

Do you see that? He took care of your sins, including the one you're going to commit this afternoon. He's already paid for that, and in his mind, it's a done deal. So what do you get when you confess? You get restored to fellowship. you get restored to the condition that lines up with your position. That's not a change of mind, I don't think. Because you've already repented, you've already had a change of mind.

Repentance has to do with belief or non-belief. What do you think about that? Is it just that issue? and decide what's real or not real. Let's say I didn't believe in identification truth and somebody came along and persuaded me that they were true of me. I think that would be repentance. I would have a change of mind about that. Now, let's say that I never knew them and I went to a class or I read a book that explained them to me.

I don't think that necessarily would be repentance, although it would change the way I think But it would be new to me. So agreeing with God, I don't think is repentance. I think in the terms of confession. But repentance, what do you think? Is it repentance that's acknowledging that you're changing your mind from who you are and adding to being Christ? Yeah, I would say so. That would be a change of mind. But people may not know that there exists those two things to begin with. That's a great point.

Do you understand what Marla was saying? If you've never been exposed to the identification truths, never, And someone, or again a book, begins to explain them to you and show you in the Word of God that in essence what God did was He unidentified you with Adam through you being included and identified with Christ in His crucifixion. You were baptized into His death. you were buried, you were resurrected, and you are ascended and now seated and you have a position in Christ and now your whole identity, your future and your history is Christ himself. You are no longer attached to, have anything to do with or are identified with Adam.

That would take repentance, I think. That's a change of mind, a huge change of mind. What do you think? Do you agree with that? Repentance only has to do with changing your mind about whatever. If you don't know identification, then your mindset is, I am who I am, I came from Adam, Christ died for my sins, I'm a forgiven sinner. How many of you think you're a forgiven sinner? How many think that you're not a sinner anymore, positionally? A forgiven sinner is an oxymoron.

You can't be both. You see that? Because you can't be a sinner and be in Christ. I refer you to 1 John. You didn't study in 1 John. Didn't it say in chapter 2 that if a man in Christ or has the seed of Christ can't sin, cannot sin, right? Didn't 1 John 2 say that? 1 John 3 and 9? I don't think it is. If you're positioned in Christ, if you're positioned in Christ, can you sin? I'll give you another example.

Galatians 5, 19, 16. If you walk in the Spirit, you cannot fulfill the lust of the flesh. It's impossible to do, if you're walking in the Spirit. You can't fulfill the lust of the flesh and walk in the Spirit at the same time. Why? Because walking in the Spirit means you're abiding in Christ. You can't sin from there, because you're not a sinner there, positionally.

Do you see that? So, how do you know that? How do you know that information? You have to go back to the identification truths. You have to find out what happened to you. Not what God did for you, but what happened to you, who in Adam, you were a sinner. And as a saved person, you view yourself as being a saved sinner. But then you come along, and someone explains identification to you, and now you're over here in Christ, and you begin to realize, wait a minute, in Christ, my position, I'm not a sinner. I'm not a saved sinner. Because I don't exist in Adam anymore, from God's perspective.

You see that? That make sense? You still think you do, don't you? You still think you do? Mike, don't you think it's very tricky? It's difficult for us to focus on the fact that we have this new idea, when this old guy is still hanging around. Because all our experience is in the old guy. That's right. And so whenever you waver, you're leaning on the old guy. So that's what you're... when you confess a sin, You're thinking about the old guy. That's right. Doing the sinning. That's right. And you think the old guy gets restored to fellowship with Christ. No, you don't. We spent how many months in Identification Truths?

One of the cool things, I think, that began to come out of that class was the fact that at least for some of the time, some of the people began to see themselves in Christ only. I'm not in Adam anymore. I'm in Christ. That's who my life is. and I'm not from Adam. And so Peter can say, well, you're a sojourner and a visitor on the planet. Why would he call us sojourners and pilgrims? Sojourners and pilgrims are people who aren't from around here.

You're not from around here. You're not from Adam. Where'd you come from? And where's he? and the heavenlies. That's where you came from. You didn't come from sin. You came from life. But no question, Ben's right. You've got old Adam. You still have both those natures. And the thing about that nature is to persuade you, you still are part of him.

Repentance comes when you realize you're not and you change your mind about that. I'm no longer in Adam. I am in Christ only. That's what repentance is. I've changed my mind. And I ask you again, who can convince you of that? Only the Spirit of God. So, in a sense, repentance can come as you learn different truths about the Word. Yes. And so, repentance does play a part in some of these new truths that the Holy Spirit reveals as we grow in Him. I think so. I think it does. Because you have to have your mind changed. Because your mindset really from Adam is religion, isn't it?

And that I'm saved, my sins are paid for, I'm clean, my fire insurance is okay, I'm going to go to heaven when I die. Well, the problem is that all of Paul's epistles talk to you from being over here in Christ. And so all the commands come to you from... Think about the commands. since you be risen with Christ. Fact. What are you supposed to do? Repent of your sins?

No. You're supposed to seek those things which are above, where Christ sits at the right hand of God. That would never be exhorted of Adam over here, would it? No, because Adam's issue is always sin. Set your mind, your affection, your heart, everything on things above and not on things of the earth.

And here's the reason why. The reason why is because you died. and your life is hid with Christ and God. If your life is hid with Christ and God, how much sinning goes on in there? Zero! So if you read James 1, and you read about the exhortation to sin, what's the exhortation? It's designed to woo you, in your mind, out of Christ, into your flesh, and once you're there, what happens? Do you have to commit specific acts in order to be sinning? No, no. The minute you're in the flesh, you're sinning.

Paul says, whatever is not of faith is sin. That sort of covers them all. You don't have to go hold up a bank. You don't have to do any of that. Once you cease to fellowship with Christ or walk in the Spirit, what are you doing? You're not sinning every other minute, every five minutes.

You're sinning continually. Why? Because Adam continually falls short of the mark. Always does. So sinning is not an individual act. Those are violations of laws. Sinning is not reaching the mark. When you're abiding in Christ, what has happened? You're in the mark. It can't be sin.

See that? you've arrived, so to speak. Does that make sense? And does that take a change of mind to see it from that viewpoint? Absolutely it does. Because you don't see yourself any other way than being a sinner, saved by grace, and doing the best you can, and I'm studying really hard, I'm praying really hard, I'm writing bigger checks, and so I must be spiritual. No. No. Spirituality is walking in the Spirit as Christ is your object, no matter how long you've been a believer.

I never hear the bells. Did any of the bells go off? Both of them? Okay. I'd be happy to. Let's see. So I think we've concluded that repentance and faith are not two separate acts required of salvation. That salvation is by faith alone in which repentance is part of it. You have to have gone through a change of mind in order just to believe the gospel, right? But it isn't a separate act. One last question. Is conviction the same thing as repentance? In other words, is it possible for one to be convicted of sin even to the point of trembling without repentance? Absolutely. So conviction is not.

Okay, so next week you must be a lot more sorry for your sins than you were this week, otherwise you can't come back to class. Let's close. Dear Father, how we thank you for your word and how we thank you for your grace that is always moving towards us and that we would, as we move in this class and as we spend time with you this week, learn that all that we are in your Son, and that our mind would be and our hearts would be at rest about who you say we are. We thank you, Father, and we pray in your Son's name. Amen.