REPENT and Believe

Preach the REAL Gospel

"Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel." Mark 1:14-15

What is the Gospel message?  Ask that question and you are bound to get a variety of answers.  However, Jesus - and His disciples - all seemed pretty sure what the Gospel is and how it should be preached.

"From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Matthew 4:17

"And they went out, and preached that men should repent." Mark 6:12

"Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." Luke 24:45-47

"Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." Acts 2:38

"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." Acts 3:19

"Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." Acts 20:21

With the number of false gospel messages being preached these days, it is no wonder that much of the churchworld is in such a miserable state.  Yet, God says what He means and means what He says.  Further - and this may be a shocker for some - we cannot improve upon what God has done.

It is Not "God Loves You, Now Believe"

The first message of the Gospel is not to convince sinners that God "loves" them. Yet, many in the church have made this their primary mission.  They replace the preaching of repentance with the preaching of God's "love".  The problem - the say - is that the lost does not know how much God "loves" them.  Therefore, before we can even think to win them to the faith, we must show them "love" and tell them of God's "love" so as not to push them away.  Only when they are convinced of, and won over by, this "love" will they then desire to come to know the Lord.

It should be noted however that not one time did Jesus or His disciples use the preaching of God's "love" as the impetus to getting others to believe.  Does that mean that God does not love mankind?  Of course not!  But it does mean that such preaching is not the means of leading people to the faith.

Is man less sinful now than 2000 years ago?   Did God make a mistake and send us the wrong Gospel message at the beginning of the church?  When did God realize that a call to repentance was too callous, too unloving, or too demanding? 

According to the Scriptures, we show the love of God to others by walking in what He has commanded (I John 5:2). We are transformed into vessels of His love by being obedient to Him and speaking/living His truths in our lives.  What type of "love" is it which would call for us to disregard God's Gospel in favor of our own?  Any "love" that changes His truths into a lie is a soulish perception of love that is anything but true.

The great divide between God and man is not an absence of God's love; the problem is not on God's side at all.  The one thing that prevents reconciliation between God and man is sin.  As long as we try to pretend that sin is not the issue, then we will never be able to show the way of salvation to others.

It is Not "Believe and then Repent"

Notice as well that we are not called to "Believe and then repent".  Rather, repentance comes first.  Before one can even have a hope of believing, one's heart must have Godly sorrow about sin, turning from it and adopting an attitude towards sin that mirrors God's: despising it (Romans 8:6-8).

We can spend many minutes, hours, days trying to get people to believe in Christ; engaging in endless & senseless strivings about religion, doctrine, and the purpose of life.  Much of this would be curtailed if we but understood that belief must be preceded by repentance.

When man repents, God gives him ears to hear and eyes to see the truth so that he can come to it by the drawing of the Holy Spirit (Zechariah 7:11-12; Acts 3:19; Matthew 13:9-15; II Timothy 2:24-26).  Conversely, we must know that people's response to the Gospel does not invalidate the truths of the Gospel. 

Why don't people believe the Gospel? 

It is not because it is too hard for them to understand (II Corinthians 11:3).

Nor is it because they need more proof that God exists (Romans 1:20).

Neither is it that they do not "feel" loved by God (Psalm 145:8-9; Matthew 5:45; John 3:16; Romans 1:19).

It is no great mystery and entails no psychological review.  There is only one reason why people do not come to faith in Jesus Christ and that is because they are not yet through with sin (John 3:19; 15:22-25).  In other words, they are not ready to repent.

If we truly desire to minister to the lost - to be used by God as His witnesses about His great love - then we must be sure to preach the real Gospel.  We must not be ashamed of this message, but should preach it with clarity so that the Spirit can draw men unto Jesus Christ.  It is He alone who saves, not ourselves, and only He knows what men need to hear for their hearts to be pricked (Acts 2:37-38).

Pray for a spirit of boldness, pray for God to open a door of utterance, so that captives may be set free via your unwavering witness for Christ.

"The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." II Peter 3:9

"And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent." Acts 17:30