Repent
Main Passage
In those days iJohn the Baptist came preaching in jthe wilderness of Judea, 2 k“Repent, for lthe kingdom of heaven is at hand.”1 3 For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said,
m“The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
n‘Prepare21 the way of the Lord;
make his paths straight.’ ”
4 Now John wore oa garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist, and his food was plocusts and qwild honey. 5 Then Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region about the Jordan were going out to him, 6 and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, rconfessing their sins.
7 But when he saw many of sthe Pharisees and tSadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, u“You brood of vvipers! Who warned you to flee from wthe wrath to come? 8 Bear fruit xin keeping with repentance. 9 And do not presume to say to yourselves, y‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from zthese stones to raise up children for Abraham. 10 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. aEvery tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
11 b“I baptize you with water cfor repentance, but dhe who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you ewith the Holy Spirit and ffire. 12 His gwinnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and hgather his wheat into the barn, ibut the chaff he will burn with junquenchable fire.”
What is Repentance?
We Are All in Need of Repentance
In the beginning God made it all and, “saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good” (Gen 1:31). Note that God said it was very good and not perfect. The Hebrew word used here is tob which means pleasant, joyful, or agreeable. The New Bible Dictionary explains that this word signifies, “primarily that which gratifies the senses and derivatively that which gives aesthetic or moral satisfaction.”41 Again, God didn’t make the world and call it perfect, but rather implied that it was good in design and (as the double entendre implies) morally good.
And since we're good and not perfect, we often come flawed not just morally, but in ability too. As the brilliant biblical scholar, Michael S. Heiser points out,
humans have widely differing abilities. Some never see birth due to natural death or abortion. Others manifest in their bodies the effects of a world that isn’t Eden. Some human beings have severe mental and physical defects that impede or prevent representing God according to the original vision. And even if we’re blessed with what we consider normal health, we’re all subject to disease, injury, aging, and the weakness of a world subject to corruption.42
This is why I view Lady Gaga’s, "I was born this way” theology, as a false and worldly theology. We were made good, not perfect. And we are even more so imperfect now, because of the knowledge of good and evil we attained through Adam and Eve. Just because you are born a certain way does not necessarily imply divine intention—and it certainly doesn't imply perfection. That's pride at its finest. But that's the American mentality today: “I am who I am and who I am is perfect. I should never try to be anything different.”
It often feels like everyone is buying into this idea. In fact, a Barna OmniPoll found that 91% of US adults believe, "the best way to find yourself is by looking within yourself." This fact is hardly different for Christians, given that 76% of us agree as well!43 We're looking inward for answers instead of Godward!
Evolution and genetics are incredibly complex. I don’t think God's point was that every last scientific detail was perfect, but rather that life existed—that we existed. And seeing as how we do in fact exist and are made in God’s image and are to be morally good creatures, that right there is what we should be focused on. That is what we as Christians need to amplify in our lives.
The Bible tells us that we are to shed our flesh and put on the Spirit (Ro 8:1-11) and to grow fruit that is juxtaposed to the things our physical bodies actually desire (Gal 5:19-24). We are to become a new creation (2 Cor 5:17) and be imagers of God (Ge 1:26), which is Jesus, himself (Jn 1:1-18).
Matthew Nelson Hill calls this pursuit of holiness, “the fine tuning of human evolution.”44 If we can recognize that we’re not perfect and that, scientifically-speaking, we’re a little off and probably even more so spiritually and morally, then we can pursue holiness together rather than what we feel on the inside. Sure, there is goodness in us, but God wants to take that goodness and increase it so that we can be all we were ever intended to be, filled with the fruit of the Spirit—fruit that far surpasses the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Ge 2:9).
What is Repentance?
Jesus Had the Same Message as John
Repentance Covers a Multitude of Sins
20 zThen he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. 21 a“Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in bTyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 cBut I tell you, it will be more bearable on dthe day of judgment for bTyre and Sidon than for you. 23 And you, eCapernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to fHades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. 24 cBut I tell you that git will be more tolerable on dthe day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.”
41 bThe men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and ccondemn it, for dthey repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, esomething greater than Jonah is here. 42 fThe queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, esomething greater than Solomon is here.
Repentance is for Christians
Then I saw another angel kflying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to lthose who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people. 7 And he said with a loud voice, m“Fear God and ngive him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and oworship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the psprings of water.”
The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, tdid not repent of uthe works of their hands nor give up worshiping vdemons wand idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, 21 nor did they repent of their murders or their xsorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.
Repentance is for Christians
2 g“ ‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but hhave tested those iwho call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false. 3 I know you are enduring patiently and bearing up jfor my name’s sake, and you khave not grown weary. 4 But I have this against you, that you have abandoned lthe love you had at first. 5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do mthe works you did at first. If not, nI will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. 6 Yet this you have: you hate the works of othe Nicolaitans, which I also hate.