III.
False Repentance
The pattern in Scripture is that Biblical repentance always results in
turning away from sin. Biblical
repentance is not merely a change of mind,
but also results in a change of
direction. If a person’s life has no
change of direction, repentance is
not genuine, and conversion has not taken place (Ephesians 2:10). Change as
a reality should continue after the event of salvation into a life of
sanctification, which is abiding in
Christ. Salvation is not the end of
Biblical repentance, but merely the beginning of something continual throughout the Christian’s lifetime. Without the continual attitude of repentance,
the saved sinner will not be engaged in the battle of the Spirit against the flesh (Galatians 5:17), and he will not abide in Christ (John 15:1-8). Therefore, he will fail the Great Commission in
that he will fail to bring forth fruit (John 15:4-5) because he fails to abide
in the Vine.
To understand the Bible’s teaching
on repentance, we must understand that there are portions of Scripture teaching
repentance UNTO salvation (an EVENT)
AND there are portions of Scripture teaching repentance AFTER salvation UNTO sanctification (a PROCESS). These two levels of repentance should never
be confused. Repentance is a change of
attitude that always results in a turning from the things of this world and
a turning to the things of the New
Genesis in Christ.
“11
For the grace of God that bringeth salvation {as an event} hath appeared to all men {in the Person of Jesus Christ; grace manifested in the flesh}, 12
Teaching us that {repentance now exemplified},
denying {disavow, reject, refuse} ungodliness
and worldly lusts, we should live
soberly {right-mindedly; self-controlled}
, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13 Looking for {in confident expectation} that blessed
hope {the believer’s glorification},
and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; 14
Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and
purify unto himself a peculiar {beyond the usual} people, zealous of
good works” (Titus 2:11-14).
CHANGE, as
an OUTCOME, is a key word to understanding genuine Biblical repentance.
Before salvation, repentance is a radical change of attitude about turning
from sin and “dead works.” After salvation, repentance is a
radical change of life in how we
think, feel, and act regarding sin, “dead works,” and the commandments of
God. After salvation, repentance is a radical change of life unto
sanctification. Repentance unto sanctification
is a change in attitudes that result in a complete, radical change in the direction
of the goals and pursuits of one’s life beginning with full surrender to the known
truths about God’s expectations. Spiritual
growth in sanctification is measured by growing through increased knowledge of
God’s expectations by studying the Word of God and fully yielding (the amen attitude)
to every truth learned. All of this is
what is involved in “perfecting the saints for the work of the ministry”
(Ephesians 4:12).
If repentance is merely a change of mind,
then repentance is merely intellectual.
However, repentance is better defined as a change of thinking,
attitudes, and emotions. This latter
definition is the way repentance is exemplified
throughout Scripture. I John 2:15-17
presents a juxtaposition between
loving God and loving “the world” and “the things that are in the world.” Juxtaposition is “the
act or an instance of placing two or more things side by side often to compare
or contrast.”[1]
Love is an emotion that moves a person to act in a sacrificial way towards the persons or things loved. This is exemplified in John 3:16; ‘for God so
loved . . . that He gave.” God’s love
for lost sinners moved Him to sacrifice His Son for the redemption and
justification of sinners. Love without sacrificial giving is like
repentance without change.
Therefore, I
John 2:15-17 defines repentance as a change of thinking, attitudes, and
emotions that stops a person sacrificing
for the things of this world and begins
to sacrifice for the evangelical and sanctificational purposes of God in the
unfolding New Genesis “in Christ.” If a person is “born again” into the New Creation, he will begin to stop sacrificing his life for the “things that are in the world”
(the cursed creation of which Satan
is the “prince and power of the air” and the “god of this world”). If a person is “born again” into the New
Creation, he will begin to start
sacrificing his life for the things of the New Creation. This juxtaposition
manifests genuine repentance that culminated in an event of salvation and having
been “born again” into “the regeneration.”
This is the juxtaposition presented
to believers in I John 2:15-17 as a manifestation of genuine repentance that
led to an event called salvation; being “born again” out from the cursed
creation into the New Creation (II Corinthians 5:17). When the heart is converted in Biblical repentance, that person’s emotions and
attitudes are radically changed to want what God’s heart wants.
“15 Love {agapáō} not the world, neither the things that are in
the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the
eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17
And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of
God abideth for ever” (I John 2:15-17).
Worldliness is an emotional and sensual preoccupation
with the things of the cursed creation.
Worldliness is being defined subjectively and narrowly within
Evangelicalism and Fundamentalism in present day Christianity. When John says, “Love not the world, neither
the things that are in the world,” what exactly does he mean? It is an important question to answer because
to “love the world” reveals that God’s love “is not in” that person. There is godly
love and worldly love. Worldly love is any emotion or
motivation that is fed by the corruption of the “the lust of the flesh, and the
lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” (I John 2:16).
“The world,” that we are
commanded not to love, is a very broad and encompassing term. The word “world” is translated from the Greek
word kosmos (kos’-mos).
The context defines “the world” as all the satanic influences within the
corruptions of religion, politics, and economics. These influences have varied through the
millennia while maintaining certain consistencies within the variations. Religions have evolved and thousands of false
religions have developed over the millennia.
Within all these false religions, there is a commonality varying by degrees
in paganism, syncretism, and idolatry. A
repentant person, who loves “not the world, neither the things that
are in the world,” will not
allow his soul and mind to be fed by any of these corruptions of “the world.”
1. Paganism is the corruption of human sexuality in numerous ways and in varying
degrees. Modern day paganism has
corrupted human sexuality in degrees equal to the worst that has ever been
known in the world through the corruption of our children and the inculcation
of a culture that is practically given over to the pornographic. Inculcation is the constant barrage and
instruction that corrupts children regarding human sexuality at the earliest
ages possible. Neopaganism through
public education is corrupting godly human sexuality at a level not seen in the
world since God judged the world with the Great Flood.
2. Syncretism is the merging, blending, and integrating of false beliefs about God
into religious practices. Syncretism is
the corruption of Bible doctrine by degree through integrating false notions
about God and what is acceptable and unacceptable to Him. Syncretism begins with the corruption of the
Gospel and what defines a Biblical faith response to the Gospel to be
saved. The span of this corruption has
extended to new degrees one would have thought impossible. Yet, the span of corruption continues to
expand daily. Syncretism results in
Ecumenicism and Pluralism. Toleration is
the banner under which Syncretism thrives and grows like a field of weeds
strangling truth with its very contact.
3. Idolatry is exalting anything above the one true God in worship or in
worship practices. Idolatry does not
need the presence of a stone, wood, or metal god to exist in the hearts of
humans. Idolatry is any form of
corruption of the sanctity of worship.
Idolatry steals worship from God to put it upon man or something men
want. Idolatry puts other things than
God at the focus of ministry. Idolatry
accepts any form of worship and thereby extricates God from worship because
God’s presence is always separate from worldliness in holiness. This world and all that is in it is corrupted
by sin and cursed of God. Therefore, God
accepts only that which is purified of worldliness to be used in worshiping
Him. A perfect example of this is how
quickly Christian icons become idols; i.e., bowing before a cross hung in a
church building to pray.
What are some of the “things” (I John 2:15) that the world offers that
promise us fulfillment in our lives? How many have spent years chasing after
something they thought would fulfill their lives to ultimate discover it to be nothing
more than a handful of sand. Those
wasted years can never be regained. These
“things” that we waste years pursuing are diverse and all encompassing. Parents spend years pleading with children
and grandchildren not to waste their lives chasing the same winds the parents
chased. We certainly find three main
categories of “things” that the world offers to entice our pursuits in the account
of the temptation of our Lord Jesus.
“1 Then was Jesus led
up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. 2
And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred {the
fleshly necessities of life}. 3 And when the tempter came to
him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made
bread. 4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word
that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. 5 Then the devil taketh him
up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, 6
And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down {testing
God to prove Him rather than just living by faith}: for it is written {the devil quotes Scripture to Jesus}, He shall give his angels
charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest
at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 7 Jesus said unto
him, It is written again, Thou shalt
not tempt the Lord thy God. 8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an
exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the
glory of them; 9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship
me {the pride of life in wanting/worshiping
self- exaltation and power}. 10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get
thee hence, Satan: for it is written,
Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 11
Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him” (Matthew
4:1-11).
Satan is but one being. He is neither omnipresent nor omniscient. Although he is a much more powerful being than
are human beings, he comes nowhere near to the power of God. Satan
rules and influences through millions of minions. These minions are deceived people promoted to
positions of power and influence in world politics, world religions, and world
economics. They are at every level of
cultures and societies all over the world.
These minions are antichrist
in all their objectives while promoting their ideas and philosophies as the
solutions to all the world’s problems.
However, Satan himself came to meet with Jesus to tempt Him.
“The lust of the flesh, and
the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” (I John 2:16) are the three
central avenues through which we allow worldliness to enter our lives. These three avenues must be carefully and
meticulously guarded. Certainly, when a believer
fails in guarding any one of these avenues of sin into his life, repentance and
confession are necessary to restore him to power and “fellowship” with God (I
John 1:9).
In the tempting of Jesus, the
world “tempted” in Matthew 4:1 is from the Greek word peirazo (pi-rad’-zo). The word means to
test, try, or prove through enticements.
Although Jesus is impeccable, He was tested and proven
sinless in three main arenas of life.
Sinners are susceptible to Paganism in the form of Hedonism. Paganism and Hedonism tempt us
through the “lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes.” Secondly, all people want to be lord of their
own lives in varying degrees. This
temptation comes to us in the form of the “pride of life.” This happens when we rebel against God’s
divinely appointed chain-of-command (Ephesians 5:21-6:9). Every person struggles with the “pride of
life.” We all want to be looked-up to. We all want to be the go-to person in power
or authority.
The three areas of the temptation of Jesus are
common to all of us. Every believer
should be aware of these three avenues of temptation to sin in our lives. Repentance begins by understanding these
three avenues of temptation to sin and becomes aware before the fact. In other words, we KNOW that we will be
tempted with these three avenues of sin into our lives throughout every moment
of the day in varying degrees.
Repentance as a change of mind, attitude, and emotions then is also a guarding
of the heart regarding these avenues of temptation.
The point of temptation is that sin will
constantly confront you. Repentance
understands that when sin confronts the sinner’s heart with temptation, that temptation
must be confronted with a heart surrendered to will of God (“it is written,”
Matthew 4:4, 6, and 10).
1. Satan tempts regarding what sustains us (Matthew 4:3-4). The objective of the testing is to discover
to where we first turn regarding the material needs of life. The failure is being preoccupied with what
sustains us rather than with Who sustains us. At the point of starvation, Jesus turns the
sinner’s attention to the Word of God and the God of the Word for his
sustenance. When we become preoccupied
with what sustains us, this is “the lust of the flesh” (I John
2:15).
2. Satan tempts regarding the contradiction of faith in testing or
proving God (Matthew 5:5-6). Faith
does not seek to prove God’s faithfulness.
Faith trusts in and rests in God’s faithfulness. Although God does on occasion tell the
disobedient to prove Him (Malachi 3:10), and God tolerated Gideon’s putting out
the fleece (Judges 6:37), true faith should not need to test God. Testing God certainly should not be needed
once God has proven Himself over many occasions. We have many such occasions revealed through
the Scripture. To reject those proofs
and ask for your own experiential proofs is in fact unbelief. This is an act of the “lust of the eyes” for
it walks by sight, not by faith.
3. Satan tempts regarding what fulfills us (Matthew 5:7-10). There is within every human being an innate
desire to be both loved and appreciated.
These things fulfill us as human beings.
We can live through all types of difficulties if we understand we have a
God Who loves us and appreciates our willingness to endure life as we serve
Him. A very large part of life is the
curse and living our lives through the difficulties of the curse. Sickness and death ought to be expected
aspects of our lives. It helps us endure
life’s trials and difficulties when we know we have others willing to encourage
us and walk with us through the fires.
However, there is also a temptation to seek our own gratification
through wrong motivations.
To want do well
solely to gain the praise of others is to steal the glory that belongs only to
God. Dr. Harold B. Sightler once
said, “Many a man has not given in to the lust of the flesh, and has passed up
the lust of the eye with flying colors; only to give in to the pride of
life.” “The pride of life” is the
worship of one’s self for the purpose of one’s own successes and exaltation in
the eyes and hearts of others. Every sinner is susceptible to this
temptation! Self-righteousness is a
major manifestation of “the pride of life.”
A sinner cannot even imagine
the many facets of worldliness. Most godly
people can recognize worldliness as easily as one might see a person with a painted
red face in a crowd. Worldliness is
apparent in one’s mannerisms.
Worldliness is apparent in conversations, occupations, and even one’s
recreation. Worldliness is apparent in
the way we dress and even in our countenance.
Worldliness is apparent by what we love and what we do not love. Worldliness is apparent by what we do and
what we do not do. In most cases, there
is very little difference between professing Christians and the lost in these
things. A Christian cannot love the
world and love God at the same time. Yet many worldly Christians have deceived
themselves about their worldliness and about their love of God.
Repentance, as a change of mind, attitudes, and
emotions, UNDERSTANDS that the “born again” sinner enters into spiritual
warfare with his own “flesh” (sin nature). The sinner’s “old man” is still
part of the cursed creation and continues to be enticed to by the “things” of
that cursed creation. The repentant “born
again” believer also understands he has a New Nature in the Person of the
indwelling/enabling Holy Spirit that is a part of the New Creation.
God added the Mosaic Covenant (the
Law) to the Abrahamic Covenant as an external
control mechanism to restrain sin in the lives of believing Jews. The Mosaic Covenant was sanctificational in
scope and purpose; never salvational. The
corrupt priesthood of Israel had made keeping the Mosaic Covenant necessary to
keeping one’s salvation. Therefore,
justification became a process that included sanctification, rather than an
event with sanctification as an outcome of surrender. The Judaizers brought this corruption into
Christianity and it has continued throughout the history of the Church in
Catholicism and almost all Reformed churches in innumerable variations – salvation by grace plus works.
“1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty
wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of
bondage. 2 Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised,
Christ shall profit you nothing. 3 For I testify again to every man
that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole law. 4 Christ
is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye
are fallen from grace. . . 13 For, brethren, ye have been called
unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by
love serve one another. 14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word,
even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 15 But
if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of
another. 16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall
not fulfil the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh:
and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things
that ye would. 18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under
the law” (Galatians 5:1-4 and 13-18).
Galatians chapter five is certainly dealing with
repentance unto sanctification as an outcome of genuine salvation. The context is
establishing that sanctification cannot be had by trying to obey the moral Laws
of the Mosaic Covenant by the willpower of the “flesh.” The word “liberty” is translated from the
Greek word eleuthería (el-yoo-ther-ee’-ah),
which means to be freed from slavery.
“The Law” (Mosaic Covenant) simply
restrained the believing sinner without
empowering the sinner to obey. In
Galatians chapter five, the Apostle Paul addresses the issue of the Law as a “yoke
of bondage” (Galatians 5:1), even for believers within the cursed
creation. Paul then introduces “liberty”
from that “yoke of bondage” through God’s enabling “grace” through the
indwelling Holy Spirit of God that accompanies salvation under the New Covenant
“in Christ.”
Therefore, genuine repentance is an understanding that
the “flesh” is powerless to win the battle of temptation to sin. Repentance is a change of mind and heart
regarding from and unto. Since a sinner’s “flesh” is
powerless over temptation, a main emphasis of repentance in that repentance-understanding
is turning away from trying to obey the Law in the power of the “flesh,” i.e.
WILLPOWER SANCTIFICATION.
“1 O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched
you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath
been evidently set forth, crucified among you? 2 This only would I
learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing
of faith? 3 Are ye so
foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh”
(Galatians 3:1-3)?
Salvation cannot be acquired or kept by keeping the
Mosaic Covenant (Galatians chapters one and two). Neither can sanctification be acquired or
kept by keeping the Mosaic Covenant (Galatians chapters three through six). Genuine
repentance then is understanding the word “liberty” to mean yielding to the
empowering of the indwelling Spirit of God as the only way any sinner can deal
with the lusts and desires of the heart in temptation. This repentance transition of yielding the
will to the Holy Spirit results in the inward transformational change of heart and mind as a manifestation of
genuine repentance. THE WANT TO IS CHANGED!
Without this transition of the
will to the Holy Spirit, by yielding to the empowering of the indwelling Spirit
of God, repentance is false repentance resulting in mere reformational and external change that is without the empowering
of God. This is willpower sanctification is sanctificational externalism and
spiritual legalism.
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Numerous studies and series are available free of charge for local churches at: http://www.disciplemakerministries.org/
Dr. Lance Ketchum serves the Lord as a Church Planter, Evangelist/Revivalist.
He has served the Lord for over 40 years.
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