Christ Our Righteousness
Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you” (Acts 3:19, 20).
“Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon” (Isaiah 55:7).
True repentance is the first step that each sincere soul should take as soon as he realizes his condition as a sinner. True repentance means sorrow and displeasure for sin. Paul the apostle, in chapter 7 of his epistle to the Romans, speaks about the two natures of man, the fleshly nature and the spiritual one in battle (Romans 7:15–24), and as a result of this battle one of the two will perish.
What does true repentance mean?
a. True repentance is the request of the conscience of a soul that, through the work of the Holy Spirit, feels sorrow for his past life of sin. Acts 2:37.
b. True repentance is the desire to make a U-turn in one’s life because one feels that his procedure has been wrong and he wants to change it. Psalm 32:5.
c. True repentance is the strong desire to stop, once and for all, a life of sin and wrongdoing, and change to a life of obedience and submission to the will of God. Psalm 51:2.
“It is the virtue that goes forth from Christ, that leads to genuine repentance. Peter made the matter clear in his statement to the Israelites when he said, ‘Him hath God exalted with His right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins’ (Acts 5:31). We can no more repent without the Spirit of Christ to awaken the conscience than we can be pardoned without Christ. Christ is the source of every right impulse. He is the only one that can implant in the heart enmity against sin.” 1
When man does not resist the work of the Holy Spirit in the heart, a complete change will come to pass in his life. The Spirit of God implants in the heart both aversion to sin and a desire for a pure life—honorable, and faultless. It is the power of the Holy Spirit that originates in man’s heart a strong desire for something that he does not possess. The world has no more attraction for him and cannot satisfy the anxiety of his soul. There is a thirst, a search for something that can be found only in Christ Jesus. To those souls the message is: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
The experience of David is a worthy example of true repentance. David’s prayer in the 32nd Psalm is an example of the way the sinner should proceed when his conscience is awakened by the Spirit of God. In his prayer David does not try to minimize or excuse his guilt. He recognizes his iniquity. He sees with sorrow his soul polluted by sin. He hates the sin he has committed, he seeks pardon from God, and appeals for a new and pure heart. He wants to be holy and to be in peace with his conscience and with God. His prayer is a true and sincere confession.
“Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest. . . . Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. . . . Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness” (Psalm 51:1–4, 9–11, 14).
“A repentance such as this, is beyond the reach of our own power to accomplish; it is obtained only from Christ, who ascended up on high and has given gifts unto men.” 2
True repentance makes the sinner conscious of his guilt. He admits his sin without trying to make excuses for it. He is like the poor publican who, “standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner” (Luke 18:13).
Jesus told Peter that he would deny Him, but Peter did not know himself. He was sure that he was ready even to die for Christ. But when his faith was tested he fell exactly on the point where he thought he was so strong.
“It was through self-sufficiency that Peter fell; and it was through repentance and humiliation that his feet were again established. In the record of his experience every repenting sinner may find encouragement. Though Peter had grievously sinned, he was not forsaken. The words of Christ were written upon his soul, ‘I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not.’ Luke 22:32. In his bitter agony of remorse, this prayer, and the memory of Christ’s look of love and pity, gave him hope. Christ after His resurrection remembered Peter, and gave the angel the message for the women, ‘Go your way, tell His disciples and Peter that He goeth before you into Galilee; there shall ye see Him.’ Mark 16:7. Peter’s repentance was accepted by the sin-pardoning Saviour.” 3
“The disciples were noted for the purity of their language, and Peter, to convince his accusers that he was not one of Christ’s disciples, denied the charge the third time with cursing and swearing. Jesus, who was at some distance from Peter, turned a sorrowful reproving gaze upon him. Then the disciple remembered the words which Jesus had spoken to him in the upper chamber, and also his own zealous assertion, ‘Though all men shall be offended because of Thee, yet will I never be offended.’ He had denied his Lord, even with cursing and swearing; but that look of Jesus’ melted Peter’s heart and saved him. He wept bitterly and repented of his great sin, and was converted, and then was prepared to strengthen his brethren.” 4
“Peter’s sorrow for his apostasy was sincere. He brought to God a broken and contrite heart; and this God has promised that He will not despise. His repentance was accepted of heaven, and Jesus intrusted to him not only the care of the sheep of his flock, but also of the tender lambs, the young converts to the faith.” 5
The examples in God’s Word of genuine repentance and humiliation reveal a spirit of confession in which there is no excuse made for sin, or attempt at self-justification. Paul did not seek to shield himself; he paints his sin in its darkest hue, not attempting to lessen his guilt. He says: “Many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they were put to death, I gave my voice against them. And I punished them oft in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities” (Acts 26:10, 11).
He does not hesitate to declare that “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief” (1 Timothy 1:15).
“The humble and broken heart, subdued by genuine repentance, will appreciate something of the love of God and the cost of Calvary; and as a son confesses to a loving father, so will the truly penitent bring all his sins before God. And it is written, ‘If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.’” 6
There are many who manifest sorrow for their sins and may give up some of their wrong habits out of fear that their sins may bring them serious consequences, but this is not the repentance that the Bible teaches.
In cases of false repentance, the sinner feels sorrow, not for his own sins, but for the consequences which have resulted from it. Let us consider some examples of false repentance in the Bible:
Esau, after he sold his birthright, cried with bitterness, because he would miss out on some important privileges that were the prerogative of the firstborn.
When Balaam saw the angel of God with the gleaming sword in his hand, he feared for his life and “repented” because he could have been killed by the angel. “And the angel of the Lord said unto him, Wherefore hast thou smitten thine ass these three times? behold, I went out to withstand thee, because thy way is perverse before me: and the ass saw me, and turned from me these three times: unless she had turned from me, surely now also I had slain thee, and saved her live. And Balaam said unto the angel of the Lord, I have sinned; for I knew not that thou stoodest in the way against me” (Numbers 22:32–34).
When Achan’s guilt was pointed out, he admitted and confessed his sin, but only because he saw the weight of the consequences. “And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the Lord God of Israel, and make confession unto him; and tell me now what thou hast done; hide it not from me. And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done” (Joshua 7:19, 20).
Judas also recognized his sin: “I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood.” “When he saw that [Christ] was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and elders” (Matthew 27:3).
“The confession was forced from his guilty soul by an awful sense of condemnation and a fearful looking for of judgment. The consequences that were to result to him filled him with terror, but there was no deep, heartbreaking grief in his soul, that he had betrayed the spotless Son of God and denied the Holy One of Israel.” 7
“That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and that ye be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness” (Ephesians 4:22–24).
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
We may not be able to establish the place, the day or the hour of our conversion, or specify the process and sequence of the circumstances under which it occurred, but this does not mean that we are not converted. The process of conversion is like the wind. “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit” (John 3:8).
“Conversion is a work that most do not appreciate. It is not a small matter to transform an earthly, sin-loving mind and bring it to understand the unspeakable love of Christ, the charms of His grace, and the excellency of God, so that the soul shall be imbued with divine love and captivated with the heavenly mysteries. When he understands these things, his former life appears disgusting and hateful. He hates sin, and, breaking his heart before God, he embraces Christ as the life and joy of the soul. He renounces his former pleasures. He has a new mind, new affections, new interest, new will; his sorrows, and desires, and love are all new. . . . Heaven, which once possessed no charms, is now viewed in its riches and glory; and he contemplates it as his future home, where he shall see, love, and praise the One who hath redeemed him by His precious blood.
“The works of holiness, which appeared wearisome, are now his delight. The word of God, which was dull and uninteresting, is now chosen as his study, the man of his counsel. It is a letter written to him from God, bearing the inscription of the Eternal. His thoughts, his words, and his deeds are brought to this rule and tested. He trembles at the commands and threatenings which it contains, while he firmly grasps its promises and strengthens his soul by appropriating them to himself.” 8
“When the transforming grace of Christ is upon the heart, a righteous indignation will take possession of the soul because the sinner has so long neglected the great salvation that God has provided for him. He will then surrender himself, body, soul and spirit, to God and will withdraw from companionship with Satan, through the grace given him of God.” 9
“All need to understand the process of conversion. The fruit is seen in the changed life.” 10
“Put on therefore as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering” (Colossians 3:12).
“Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. . . . Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry. . . . Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds” (Colossians 3:2, 3, 5, 9).
No conversion is genuine that does not produce a reformation, or a complete change in the life of a person that is made known in habits and practices. The truly converted person will give up whatever would draw away the heart from God.
“The Lord Jesus is making experiments on human hearts through the exhibition of His mercy and abundant grace. He is effecting transformations so amazing that Satan, with all his triumphant boasting, with all his confederacy of evil united against God and the laws of His government, stands viewing them as a fortress impregnable to his sophistries and delusions. They are to him an incomprehensible mystery. The angels of God, seraphim and cherubim, the powers commissioned to cooperate with human agencies, look on with astonishment and joy, that fallen men, once children of wrath, are through the training of Christ developing characters after the divine similitude, to be sons and daughters of God, to act an important part in the occupations and pleasures of heaven.” 11
May the Lord help each one of us, that we may have a true repentance and conversion in our Christian experience. The Lord Jesus understands our struggles and temptations. He is ready to accept our repentance, and he asks us to make peace with Him.
It is my wish that you and I, fellow reader of this 1999 week of prayer readings, may renew our promise of loyalty and faithfulness. Let us be reconverted to the Lord. Amen.