the Third Week after Easter
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Daily Devotionals
Grace for Today
Acts 11:18
‘Repentance unto life’
Read 1 Thessalonians 4:4-10
There is a repentance which is no sign or evidence of spiritual life at all. It is not a repentance produced in the heart by the Holy Spirit, but a repentance produced only in the emotions by human power. Legal fear, moral reformation, remorse for sin, a desire for heaven and a mere confession of sin are things often substituted for repentance. You may possess all these things and yet not have repentance unto life. These forms of repentance were found in Cain, Esau, Saul, Ahab, Judas, Simon Magus and Felix, but they all perished under the wrath of God. All temporary repentance is false repentance.
‘Repentance unto life’ is a gift of God’s grace. It is produced in the heart by the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, through the revelation of Christ in the gospel (Zechariah 12:10). This ‘repentance unto life’ basically involves four essential elements.
Repentance comes by the conviction of the Holy Spirit (John 16:8-14). The Holy Spirit convinces men of sin, their evil, vile, corrupt nature, causing the sinner to abhor not only his deeds, but himself as well. He convinces men of righteousness, showing sinners that they have no righteousness and that all righteousness is in Christ. And he convinces men of judgment, revealing God’s judgment of sin in Christ, the sinner’s Substitute, the accomplishment of redemption through his blood and that all unbeliever: must be judged for sin and condemned, even as the prince of this world has been judged. There must also be a conversion of the heart to God. The heart is repentant only when it is reconciled to God in his true character (1 Thessalonians 1:9; 2 Corinthians 5:20). When the sinner bows to Christ’s sovereign throne in loving adoration and devotion, he has ‘repentance unto life’. True repentance is the commitment of the heart to Christ (Luke 14:25-33). True conviction always converts and true conversion always produces commitment. The truly repentant heart is committed to the will, the gospel, the church and the glory of Christ. And repentance involves continuation (Matthew 10:22; Luke 9:62). God’s people do persevere in the faith. They continue in the truth. They go on to the end of their journey following Christ, seeking Christ and trusting Christ.
