Page 30 - TH200 Abundant Life A4 Final

Abundant Life in the Son: A Study of Salvation

Luke 13:28), but not in true repentance. One day they will cry for the
rocks and mountains to fall on them to hide them from God’s judgment
(Revelation 6:16–17) because they were unwilling to turn from sin.

Sorrow without a genuine change of mind and heart leads only to
despair. But true repentance, which is the godly sorrow that leads to
salvation (2 Corinthians 7:10), involves a change of mind and heart.
Sorrow over failures, shortcomings, and errors (without the change of
mind and heart), makes us place our attention on our own weakness
and sins. This kind of sorrow makes us hate ourselves—even though
we may love sinning. But repentance opens wide the door of God’s
mercy and pardon. True repentance helps us to see beyond our
unhappy, miserable condition to the cross of Christ, where there is
freedom, light, and life.

Read the following statements and note the one that best describes
the true meaning of repentance as it is presented in the Bible.

• A person finds himself overcome by weakness and failure. He is
guilty of either breaking the laws of God or of failing to observe
them. Finding himself miserable, guilty, filled with sorrow and
hating himself because of his weakness, he decides to work
harder to earn God’s favor to make up for his sinful habits.
• Another person recognizes that he is guilty of breaking God’s laws
or of not keeping them. He feels the awfulness of his sins and is
very sad. He confesses his sin and resolves to stop sinning.

In the first of the two preceding examples, we see a tendency that
has led some people to misunderstand the nature of repentance. This is
the idea that a person can win God’s favor by doing good works. When
repentance is united with faith in Christ, it produces conversion, while
doing good works is part of an unscriptural plan to gain merit before
God. There is nothing that can be added to Christ’s work of atonement.
Moreover, people might do good works without ever forsaking sin,
mistakenly believing that as long as they do good deeds, they can
continue in sin. But in repentance a sinner must acknowledge sins, turn
away from them, confess them to God, and forsake them completely.
It is only in this way that sins will be forgiven; only in this way will a
person enjoy the benefits of God’s great salvation.

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