As we saw on Sunday, John the Baptist preached a very short sermon: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” The natural way we respond to the coming of the King is to repent.
So what does it mean to repent? Thomas Watson was a Puritan scholar who wrote about repentance 350 years ago. He searched the Scriptures, and found six ingredients that make up genuine repentance:
- Sight of sin
In order to repent, we first need to see our specific sins and our overall sinfulness. The prodigal son in Luke 15 blew all his dad’s money on sex, drugs, and rock and roll, and when he was at the very bottom, he suddenly realized how sinful he was. He said, “I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. - Sorrow for sin
Repentance includes being sad about your sin. That’s not just sadness over the consequences of your sin. It’s not being sorry you got caught. In 2 Corinthians 7, Paul would classify that kind of sadness as worldly sorrow, and he says it leads to death. But, he says “godly sorrow produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret!” - Confession of sin
Our sin must be confessed to God. 1 John 1 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” But it also needs to go further. Sin loves to stay in the dark, so it must be confessed to other mature believers. James 5 says “Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.” - Shame for sin
Sin naturally and rightly makes us feel unworthy of God’s love. When Ezra the priest prayed for the people of Israel, he said, ““O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens.” When the prodigal son went to his dad, he said, “‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” - Hatred of sin
People who love God just naturally hate their sin! Proverbs 8 says, “The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.” Romans 9 says, “Hate what is evil; hold fast to what is good.” - Turning from sin and returning to God
That’s what repentance literally means: turning away from something. But it can’t just be avoiding sin. It has to be turning from sin and actively turning to God and his grace. Paul said in Romans 12 that it’s God’s kindness that leads us to repentance. And when he spoke to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20, he talked about “repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.” Repentance isn’t just denying sin. It’s desperately clinging to God and his kindness, forgiveness, and grace.