THE PLAN
OF
REPENTANCE
GOD'S WAY TO
HEAVENBY
ERICH P. MCCANDLESS, MDIV
The Plan Of Repentance Rarely do we ever read any Christian material dealing
with the simple subject of REPENTANCE. In fact,
when is the last time you picked up a tract or pamphlet
that dealt specifically with repentance? If you're like
me, it's most likely been quite a while. This is hard to
understand, since Repentance is such a big issue with
God; in fact, it's the gateway to Heaven.- Luke 13:3,5 "I tell you, Nay: but, except ye
repent, ye shall all likewise perish."
- Mark 1:15 "repent ye, and believe the gospel."
- Matthew 9:13 "...for I am not come to call the
righteous, but sinners to repentance."
- Luke 5:32 "I came not to call the righteous, but
sinners to repentance."By means of introduction; let's look at the definition of
the word REPENTANCE as seen in the Holy Bible.
We see that there are three words in the [New Testament]'s natural
language that are translated as a form of the word
"repent" in the King James Bible.Two of them are the noun and verbal form of the same
meaning which shows the actual ACTION of repenting,
while the third is of the same root word, but shows
more of the emotional regret and shame that can LEAD
into the actual action of repentance.The first two words, meaning the actual action of
repenting, are found frequently throughout the Bible.
They mean to change one's mind; to feel sorry for
having done this or that; or of having offended
someone. Consciousness of one's sin, with manifest
tokens of sorrow, and intent on obtaining God's pardon.
It means to change one's mind for the better, heartily to
amend with abhorrence one's past sins; conduct worthy
of a changed heart and abhorring sin; to withdraw; to turn
one's soul from.As previously mentioned, there is a third word which is
found only [six] times in God's Word, the King James
Bible. This word is translated as various forms of the
word "repent," and it actually deals with sorrow, guilt,
remorse and regret ... but that is not all that is required
for repentance unto salvation. In other words, this is not
all there is to the full act of repentance. Though what
most of Christendom likes to hear is a plan that requires
ONLY that I feel sorry for what I've done in order to get
to Heaven. Never once does this plan require that I
CHANGE or turn from my sin. This is the type of
repentance which is so popular in today's Christendom,
because it require absolutely no self-sacrifice and
humbling or changing before the almighty God. It is an
easy way to get to Heaven. But the very meaning of the
word suggests, without denial, that it is only the
emotional side of repentance that leads one into or
towards the full act of saving repentance."[R]epentance" that is warned of in the Bible is a shame
or regret that is never followed by a changed life!
Though it is translated in our King James Bible as all the
same word, we are wise to realize that the best
commentary on the Bible is the Bible. If we do this, we
see that all throughout the Bible, when a soul got saved,
it was through a deep spiritual CHANGE known as
Repentance; and afterwards he FOLLOWED Christ, for
he was a CHANGED creature.What we need to realize, is that no matter what we've
been told, in order to get to Heaven we must repent!
Most of us have been lied to all of our life concerning
how to get to Heaven. But, there are some of us who are
around the right type of preaching and teaching, and still
will split Hell wide open, because of failing to repent.
For example, we all know that Judas (one of the 12
disciples of Christ) was never saved and therefore was
condemned to Hell for eternity.- John 17:12 "While I was with them in the world, I
kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have
kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of
perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled."
- John 6:70 "Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen
you twelve, and one of you is a devil?"Yes, Judas was a devil and was never saved, but the
Bible teaches that he "repented[.]" How could he have
"repented" and still be lost? Let's look at it:- Matthew 27:3 "Then Judas, which had betrayed
him, when he saw that he was condemned [got
caught], repented himself [remorse and guilt],
and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the
chief priests and elders,"
Here in Matthew 27:3, we see one of [6] times that the
third word was translated as a form of the word
"repent," but we know that it obviously deals with
something other than Saving Repentance! It deals with
a simple sorrow and guilt that Judas felt for getting
caught in sin. Now, if Judas would have allowed God to
use that Godly sorrow to work real, saving repentance,
Judas could have been saved like anybody else.Many have never experienced any repentance deeper
than that which Judas felt. Some need to double-check
and make sure that they have truly repented with a
saving repentance.True, Saving REPENTANCE is found 58 places in the
New Testament alone, and shows us an undeniably clear
picture of what true Bible Repentance is.The Plan of Repentance requires that one TURNS from
all other religions, beliefs, works, etc. and places their
full and complete belief or trust in God instead of
whatever else one has been trusting in.We see that throughout the Scripture, there are four
necessary steps in the Plan Of Repentance. Let's look
at them, allowing the KING JAMES BIBLE to be the
FINAL AUTHORITY on everything.I. THE SEED IS PLANTED
- Luke 8:11 "Now the parable is this: The seed is
the word of God."
- 1 Peter 1:23 "Being born again, not of
corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word
of God, which liveth and abideth for ever."
- Hebrews 4:12 "For the word of God is quick
[alive], and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged
sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and
spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner
of the thoughts and intents of the heart."The Word of God is the only thing powerful enough to
penetrate our sin-calloused hearts! We find that in
Matthew 13, Mark 4 and Luke 8 is the story of how the
seed is planted, and then how the crop is harvested.
From these and other Bible illustrations, we see several
things are required for proper crop growth including
things such as proper soil, proper moisture, proper
care, and proper sunlight. Obviously in each case, the
plant will not grow, no matter how well the grounds
are prepared and kept, unless the Seed Is Planted!
Therefore, it would be easy to surmise that the key
factor that leads a soul to REPENTANCE is the Seed
being Planted, and the seed being that of the Word Of
God! Without the Word of God, there can be no
Salvation!In order for a person to ever come to the knowledge of
obtaining eternal life, they must have the witness of
the Word of God in their life. In other words, our
opinion, mom's religion, popular opinion, etc, etc is
meaningless in dealing with how to get to Heaven.
We need to get a King James Bible and EARNESTLY
search the Scriptures, and God will reveal Himself to
us.II. THE SORROW IS POWERFUL
- 2 Corinthians 7:9 "Now I rejoice, not that ye
were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to
repentance: for ye were made sorry after a
godly manner, that ye might receive damage by
us in nothing."
- 2 Corinthians 7:10 "For godly sorrow
worketh repentance to salvation not to be
repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh
death."
- Matthew 11:21 "...they would have repented
long ago in sackcloth and ashes."Sorrow for one's sin is also called the CONVICTION
OF SIN. Without the Conviction of Sin, there can not
be true Bible REPENTANCE.Before we go too far, let's review in brief the
definition of saving REPENTANCE. To change one's
mind ... to feel sorry ... Consciousness of one's sin ...
change one's mind ... abhorrence of one's past sins ...
changed heart ... abhorring sin ... turn one's soul from,
etc.Repentance is proceeded by a true loathing or
HATING OF ONE'S OLD LIFE that was filled with
sin, whether "religious sin" or "worldly sin", (it's all
the same in God's sight.)
Please notice with me that the sorrow that brings
repentance is not so much the conviction of
CERTAIN sin(s), as it is the conviction of a life
which is and has been controlled and encompassed by
the fact that ONE IS A SINNER!If there is no conviction of sin, and one would feel
that his life is pretty much OK, then what would there
be to repent of? That's why we can boldly say that
true Bible Repentance must be proceeded by the
conviction of sin.FOR EXAMPLE: Two men are walking down the
street towards the town store. As they get closer, one
man says that the store is on the right-hand side of the
street. The other disagrees by saying that it's on the
left. When they get close enough to see the store,
they find it IS on the right-hand side. The second
man then can either agree with the first man, or
ignorantly disagree; BUT no matter whether or not he
agrees with the first man (the beginning part of
repentance), unless he CHANGES to the other side of
the street (the fulfilling of repentance), we can
honestly say that though he realized his error, he
never was very serious about humbly changing his
mind.The same is with Bible Repentance. One who is truly
sorrowful and convicted about the fact of them being
a sinner WILL DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. If
we've never felt sorrow strong enough to change our
course of action, we had better get serious about our
salvation.That's why in the New Testament, Paul could talk so
freely about being a new person, or having a changed
life. When one is truly Repentant, he will change
completely.III. THE SURRENDER IS PEACEFUL
- Acts 11:18 "When they heard these things, they
held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath
God also to the Gentiles granted repentance
unto life."
When we finally surrender to God, it is peaceful,
because by God's grace, we finally gave into the battle
and turned over our life to God. True surrender leads us
to eternal life. By surrendering to God, we are making
Him the Lord (owner) of our life. We are willing to
follow Him and live for Him. No more are we a slave to
our own sin(s), but we are now a free servant of the
almighty God.We may call ourself a "Christian", but unless we follow
Christ and our life is a living testimony of what Christ
can do for a person, we had better check up on our
salvation. Surrender is peaceful when we give in,
because we are acknowledging the truth. This is an act
of deep humility. Upon surrender to God, complete
subjection to Him is gladly given.- Luke 15:7 "I say unto you, that likewise joy shall
be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more
than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no
repentance."
- Luke 15:10 "Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in
the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that
repenteth."The act of repentance, or getting right with God
produces extreme JOY!! If our Christian life is not full
of Joy and Peace, it just shows that we aren't fully
surrendered.At the very instant of surrender, Peace is richly flowing,
because one's sins are fully forgiven! Right before the
surrender the Sorrow is Powerful. The sorrow
(conviction) is a time of wrestling with God. That's why
when true surrender is obtained, it is so peaceful. There
is always a peaceful calm immediately following the
storm.IV. THE SEIZURE IS PERMANENT
God comes into our heart and TAKES OVER. This act
of seizure is forever. When we surrender to God for
salvation, He then has the right to use us as He wishes,
for we are His servants! God seizes our life completely
and PERMANENTLY. This is why modern
Christendom hates the plan of repentance. It's HARD!
It's DEMANDING! It's PERMANENT! Most people
just want a god who will help them out when they get in
a bind. They want a god who lives in a genie bottle; they
rub the bottle and be nice to him so he'll grant their
wishes.However, the Plan of Repentance that the Bible teaches
allows God the sovereign right to be the Lord, owner,
boss, etc. of our life ... PERMANENTLY!- Acts 26:20 "...that they should repent and turn
to God, and do works meet for repentance."
- Luke 3:8 "Bring forth therefore fruits worthy
of repentance,"
- Matthew 3:8 "Bring forth therefore fruits meet
for repentance:"The word "meet" means suitable to prove. In other
words, 'do works that prove that we've repented.' The
seizure is permanent, so if we've truly repented, we'll still
be living it.Does your life show forth ANY works which any lost
person couldn't do? Does your life show works that
PROVE that you have truly REPENTED? Have you
ever Repented? I'm not asking whether or not you've
ever prayed a prayer, or been baptized, or joined a
church, or even if you believe in God. I'm asking you
whether or not you've ever REPENTED? If you're
wrestling with God right now, and you're convicted of
your sin, SURRENDER to God this moment, letting Him
have FULL control of your life forever. If you have any
questions, or want to let us know that you've just
surrendered to Christ in Repentance, write:Empire Baptist Publications
412 S. Hawthorne
Sioux Falls, SD 57104
605.339.2038
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