“God . . . commandeth all men everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:3030And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: (Acts 17:30)). When God commands all men to do something, it is important for all men to understand and obey. In this issue we focus on what it means to repent, what leads to repentance, and what the results are for one who, in faith, obeys the command.
In order not to offend people, it is easy to try and present the gospel message, avoiding the matter of repentance. May the Lord help us to understand that no matter how carefully we lead up to the point, we still must present to them the need to repent. Their consciences must be reached with the sense of their guilt and need before God. They must know that, while God loves them, they have come short and do not measure up to God’s holy requirements.
While much of the issue concerns the “repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ” that takes place in the salvation of the soul, it is important to see the need of it in the life of the believer. Job was a believer when God wrought the repentance recorded in his book. Peter was a believer when he denied the Lord and needed to repent and be restored. But whether we need to repent as a sinner or a saint, when we obey, the result is always for our blessing. God, in the greatness of His love, works to bring us to repentance so that He may bless us.