The Unrepenting Repenter

Author: Jim Elliff
The believer in Christ is a lifelong repenter. He begins with repentance and continues in repentance. (Rom. 8:12-13) David sinned giant sins but fell without a stone at the mere finger of the prophet because he was a repenter at heart (2 Sam. 12:7-13). Peter denied Christ three times but suffered three times the remorse until he repented with bitter tears (Mt. 26:75). Every Christian is called a repenter, but he must be a repenting repenter. The Bible assumes the repentant nature of all true believers in its instruction on church discipline. A man unwilling to repent at the loving rebuke of the church can be considered nothing more than "a heathen and a tax collector." (Mt. 18:15-17) What is repentance? Repentance is a change of mind regarding sin and God, an inward turning from sin to God, which is known by its fruit—obedience. (Mt. 3:8; Acts 26:20; Lk. 13:5-9) It is hating what you once loved and loving what you once hated, exchanging irresistible sin for an irresistible Christ. The true repenter is cast on God. Faith is his only option. When he fully knows that sin utterly fails him, God takes him up. (Mt. 9:13b) He will have faith or he will have despair; conviction will either deliver him or devour him. The religious man often deceives himself in his repentance. The believer may sin the worst of sins, it is true; but to remain in the love of sin, or to be comfortable in the atmosphere of sin, is a deadly sign, for only repenters inhabit heaven. The deceived repenter would be a worse sinner if he could, but society holds him back. He can tolerate and even enjoy other worldly professing Christians and pastors well enough, but does not desire holy fellowship or the fervent warmth of holy worship. If he is intolerant of a worship service fifteen minutes "too long," how will he feel after fifteen million years into the eternal worship service of heaven? He aspires to a heaven of lighthearted ease and recreation—an extended vacation; but a heaven of holiness would be hell to such a man. Yet God is holy, and God is in heaven. He cannot be blamed for sending the unholy man to hell despite his most articulate profession (Heb. 12:14). What are the Substitutes for true Repentance? 1. You may reform in the actions without repenting in the heart. (Ps. 5 1: 16-17; Joel 2:13) This is a great deception, for the love of sin remains. (I Jn. 2:15-17; Acts 8:9-24) At this the Pharisees were experts. (Mk. 7:1-23) The heart of a man is his problem. A man may appear perfect in his actions but be damned for his heart. His actions are at best self-serving and hypocritical. What comes from a bad heart is never good. "Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter from the same opening? Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh." (Jas. 3:11-12) 2. You may experience the emotion of repentance without the effect of it. Here is a kind of amnesia. You see the awful specter of sin in the mirror and flinch out of horror yet immediately forget what kind of person you saw (Jas. 1:23-24). It is true, repentance includes sincere emotion, an affection for God and a disaffection for sin. Torrents of sorrow may flood the repenter's heart, and properly so (Jas. 4:8-10). But there is such a thing as a temporary emotion in the mere semblance of repentance; this emotion has very weak legs and cannot carry the behavior in the long walk of obedience. Your sorrow may even be prolonged. Yet if it does not arrive at repentance, it is of the world and is a living death—and maybe more (2 Cor. 7: 10). It is an old deceiver. Judas had such remorse but "went and hanged himself." (Mt. 27:3-5) 3. You may confess the words of a true repenter and never repent. (Mt. 21:28-32; 1 Jn. 2:4, 4:20) Confession by itself is not repentance. Confession moves the lips; repentance moves the heart. Naming an act as evil before God is not the same as leaving it. Though your confession may be honest and emotional, it is not enough unless it expresses a true change of heart. There are those who confess only for the show of it, whose so-called repentance may be theatrical but not actual. If you express repentance to appear successful, you will not be successful at repenting. You will speak humbly but sin arrogantly. Saul gave the model confession (I Sam. 15:24-26) and later went to hell. Repentance "from the teeth out" is no repentance. 4. You may repent for the fear of reprisal alone and not for the hatred of sin. Any man will stop sinning when caught or relatively sure he will be, unless there is insufficient punishment or shame attached (I Tim. 1:8-11). When there are losses great enough to get his attention, he will reform. If this is the entire motive of his repentance, he has not repented at all. It is the work of law, but not grace. Men can be controlled by fear, but what is required is a change of heart. Achan admitted his sin after being caught but would not have otherwise. Find his bones in the valley of Achor; his soul, most likely, in hell. (Josh. 7:16-26) 5. You may talk against sin in public like a true repenter but never repent in private. (Mt. 23:1-3) The exercise of the mouth cannot change the heart. Your sin is like a prostitute. You are speaking against your lover in public but embracing her in the bedroom. She is not particular about being run down in public if she can have your full attention in private. "Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?" (Jas. 4:4) 6. You may repent primarily for temporal gains rather than the glory of God. There are gains for the repenter, but the final motivation for repenting cannot be selfish. Self is a dead, stinking carcass to be discarded. We are to repent because God is worthy and is our respected authority, even if we gain nothing. Indeed, our repenting may appear to lose us more than our sin had gained. (Mt. 16:24-26; Phil. 3:7-8) And this is a test of true repentance. 7. You may repent of lesser sins for the purpose of avoiding the greater sins. (Lk. 11:42) We try to salve our nagging conscience by some minor exercise of repentance, which is really no repentance at all. The whole heart is changed in the believer. The half repenter is a divided man: part against sin and part for it; part against Christ, part for Him. But one or the other must win out, for man cannot serve God and mammon (or any other idol); he must love the one and hate the other. (Mt. 6:24) 8. You may repent so generally that you never repent of any specific sin at all. The man who repents in too great a generality is likely covering his sins. (Prov. 28:13) If there are no particular changes, there is no repenting. Sin has many heads, like the mythological Hydra. It cannot be dealt with in general, but its heads must be cut off one by one. 9. You may repent for the love of friends and religious leaders and not repent for the love of God. (Isa. 1: 10-17) A man talked into repentance may reform for the love of friends or the respect of the spiritually minded, yet do nothing substantial. If a man turns from sin without turning to God, he will find his sin has only changed its name and is hidden behind his pride. Now it will be harder to rout for its subterfuge. You have loved others but not God. And you have loved yourself most of all. Lot's wife left the city of sin at the insistence of an angel and for the love of her family, but turned back. She had left her heart. "Remember Lot's wife." (Gen. 19:12-26; Lk. 17:32) 10. 'You may confess the finished action of sin and not repent from the continuing habit of sin. If a man is honest, he is a good man in human terms; but he is not a repenting man until the sin is stabbed to death. He must be a murderer if he would be God's: "For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live." (Rom. 8: 13) God knows what you have done; what He wants is obedience. (Lk. 6:46) 11. You may attempt repentance of your sin while consciously leaving open the door of its opportunity. A man who says " I repent" but will not leave the source or environment of that sin is suspect. Though some situations which invite temptation cannot be changed, most can. A man who will not flee the setting of his temptation when he is able still loves his sin. A mouse is foolish to build his nest under the cat's bed. "But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts." (Rom. 13:14) 12. You may make an effort to repent of some sins without repenting of all the sin you know. The businessman learns to show concern for the needs of his clients, yet he batters his wife through neglect. Another gives his money in the offering plate weekly but steals time from his employer daily. Every man boasts of some sins conquered, but true repentance is a repulsion of sin as a whole. The repenter hates all sin, though he fails more readily in some than in others. He may not know all his sins, but what he knows he spurns. Repentance is universal in the believer; the spirit is willing even when the flesh is weak (Mt. 26:41). Repentance and faith are bound together. A repenting man has no hope for obedience without faith in the source of all holiness, God Himself. In repenting of sins, he loses his self-sufficiency. God is his sanctifier. (Jude 24-25; 1 Thess. 5:23-24; 1 Pet. 1:5) Repentance is a gift of God (Acts 11:19; 2 Tim. 2:25) and a duty of man (Acts 17:30; Lk. 13:3). You will know if it has been granted by the exercise of it. (Phil. 2:12-13) Do not wait for it; run toward it. "Be zealous and repent." (Rev. 3:19) Pursue it and you will find it; forget it and perish. Copyright © 1994 Jim Elliff Christian Communicators Worldwide, Inc. Permission granted for not-for-sale reproduction in unedited form including author's name, title, complete content, copyright and weblink. Other uses require written permission. www.CCWtoday.org

The Sacrificing Husband

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Little Foxes

The Sins of Believers

By N. Nazarian

The children of God generally do not fall into great and well known sins, but there are sins that they commit often, according to the Word of God. These sins are like little foxes which spoil the vine (our lives) and we become fruitless. But what are these sins? Here are some of them.

1. To know to do good but not to do it (James 4:17). The Lord has commended us again and again that we should always do good to all, especially to the household of faith (Galatians 6:9, 10; Titus 2:14; Matthew 25:34, 35). The Lord Jesus was an example to us in this respect. We read in Acts 10:38 that "He went about doing good". How slow we are in obeying this command!

2. Not praying for others (prayerlessness). I Samuel 12:23. We often pray for ourselves, for members of our families, for our church, but we forget to pray for the Lord's servants, for missionaries, for the sick, for kings and for all that are in authority, and also for many others (Ephesians 6:17, 18; 1 Timothy 2:1, 2). This is one of the "little foxes". We must pray for all.

3. The sin of making decisions and taking steps without faith (Romans 14:23). Yes, anything that is not according to the Word of God is not of faith (Isaiah 8:20). Many Christians decide and do things without going to the Scriptures to know the mind of God. Others spoil their lives with unequal yokes or wrong companionship (2 Corinthians 6:14). What a pity!

4. The sin of respect of persons or pleasing man rather than God (James 2:1-9; Galatians 1:10). This sin is common in many churches. More work or positions are given to the rich or to the educated rather than to the spiritual persons who are not rich or educated. Let us beware of respect of persons.

5. The sin of not giving enough to God (Malachi 3:8, 10; Luke 6:38). This is a fact—that the Lord's people do not give enough to God. In Old Testament times the Israelites used to give tithes and also gifts to God. Now, we do not give half as much. Many rob God saying, "We are not under the Law." If Old Testament saints gave tithes and gifts to the Lord, can we give less? Read Genesis 14:20; 28:22; Matthew 23:23. Let us pray that the Lord will keep us from this sin and teach us to give as He commanded us to give (2 Corinthians 9:6).

6. Not seeking first the Kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33). We have time for our own personal needs. We work hard to make more money, even sometimes forsaking the meetings, but have not time to study the Word of God; for prayer; for visitation and taking the Gospel to the unsaved. This is another sin which has ruined many lives.

7. The sin of lying (Colossians 3:9). Many times we lie without realizing it. We sing with loud voices, "have Thine Own Way, Lord", but we haven't real consecration. We sing, "take my silver and my gold", but when the time comes to give, we give very little. We testify but we do not live accordingly. Brethren, let us be doers of the Word (James 1:22).

8. The sin of not loving the brethren as the Lord commanded us to love (John 15:12; James 2:8; 1 John 3:16, 18). The Lord said, "Love each other as I have loved you". Often we love by lips only but not by deeds. Some love only those who love them or are near to them but they have no love for those who differ from them. Let us learn to love our brethren as ourselves.

My dear brethren, kill these little foxes that you may not be fruitless. Let us pray that the Lord will save us from these sins so that we may live and glorify the Saviour Who loved us and gave Himself from us.

Glory to God for this challenging word to us! Let us be diligent to "lay aside the sin that does so easily beset us" (Hebrews 12:1-2). God will not let HIS true children live in habitual sin. (1 John 3:6) He will come to them and chasten them as a Father chastens his children (Hebrews 12:6-7). Praise God for HIS POWER to work in us according to HIS good pleasure (Philippians2:13)!

Bro. Pat

God’s Sovereignty and Man’s Responsibility

By A. W. Pink - October 1946

"And she said unto them, Get you to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you; and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers be returned: and afterward may ye go your way" (Jos 2:16). It is striking to behold the blending together of Divine power and human precaution all through this incident. The grand truth of Divine preservation is typically illustrated, yet that preservation was accomplished by the use of means at every point: Rahab's by obeying the orders she received, her house because of the cord in her window, and the spies by concealing themselves in the mountain. Let those who teach the "eternal security of the saints" see to it that they present it with the safeguards by which God has hedged it about. True, the accomplishment of His eternal purpose of grace is not left contingent upon the acts of the creature; nevertheless, He who has ordained the end has also appointed the means by which that end is reached. God has not promised to conduct any one to Heaven without the exercise of his faculties and the discharge of his responsibility. He deals with us throughout as moral agents, and requires us to heed His warnings and avoid that which would destroy us (1Co 9:27).

Committing my soul and its eternal interests into the hand of the Lord by no means releases me of obligation. "He who has fixed the limits of our life, has also entrusted us with the care of it; has furnished us with means and supports for its preservation, has also made us provident of dangers, and that they may not oppress us unawares has furnished us with cautions and remedies. Thus, it is evident what is our duty." That, my reader, is a quotation not from the Arminian John Wesley, but from the Reformer, John Calvin! ― Alas that so many who claim to be Calvinists lack his wisdom and balance of doctrine. The truth of Divine preservation is not designed as a shelter for either laziness or licentiousness. God's promises are made to those who honestly strive against sin and mourn when tripped up by it, and not to those who take their fill thereof and delight therein―for He undertakes to keep His saints in holiness and not in wickedness. If God has turned our feet into that way which leadeth unto life, we must continue therein. Otherwise, we shall never reach our desired destination. Only those who press forward to that which is before reach the goal (Phi 3:14).

Saving faith is far more than an isolated act. It is a spiritual principle which continues to operate in those to whom it is communicated. Divine preservation works through Christian perseverance, for grace is given us not to render our efforts needless, but to make them effectual. God does not carry His children to glory in a state of passivity, but works in them both to will and to do of His good pleasure (Phi 2:13)―to hate and fear sin, to desire and strive after holiness, to heed His warnings, to shun the things which would destroy, to keep His commandments. The Christian must continue as he began, for Christian perseverance is the maintaining of godly affections and practices. We are indeed "kept by the power of God," yet "through faith" (1Pe 1:5); and therefore, so long as the flesh is left in us, and we in the world, we are required to attend unto that exhortation, "Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God" (Heb 3:12) ―for the verses which follow solemnly remind us that many of those who came out of Egypt never entered Canaan! "They could not enter in because of unbelief" (Heb 3:19).

Your Duty to Obey Part 1

The Scriptures and Obedience by A. W. Pink

All professing Christians are agreed, in theory at least, that it is the bounden duty of those who bear His name to honour and glorify Christ in this world. But as to how this is to be done, as to what He requires from us to this end, there is wide difference of opinion. Many suppose that honoring Christ simply means to join some ‘church,’ take part in and support its various activities. Others think that honoring Christ means to speak of Him to others and be diligently engaged in ‘personal work.’ Others seem to imagine that honoring Christ signifies little more than making liberal financial contributions to His cause. Few indeed realize that Christ is honored only as we live holily unto Him, and that, by walking in subjection to His revealed will. Few indeed really believe that word, ‘Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams’. (#1Sa 15:22)

We are not Christians at all unless we have fully surrendered to and ‘received Christ Jesus the Lord’. (#Col 2:6) We would plead with you to ponder that statement diligently. Satan is deceiving many today by leading them to suppose that they are savingly trusting in ‘the finished work’ of Christ while their hearts remain unchanged and self still rules their lives. Listen to God’s Word: ‘Salvation is far from the wicked; for they seek not thy statutes’. (#Ps 119:155) Do you really seek His statutes’? Do you diligently search His Word to discover what He has commanded? ‘He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him’. (#1Jo 2:4) What could be plainer than that?

‘And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?’. (#Lu 6:46) Obedience to the Lord in life, not merely glowing words from the lips, is what Christ requires. What a searching and solemn word is that in #Jas 1:22: ‘Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves’! There are many ‘hearers’ of the Word, regular hearers, reverent hearers, interested hearers; but alas, what they hear is not incorporated into the life: it does not regulate their way. And God says that they who are not doers of the Word are deceiving their own selves!

Alas, how many such there are in Christendom today! They are not downright hypocrites, but deluded. They suppose that because they are so clear upon salvation by grace alone they are saved. They suppose that because they sit under the ministry of a man who has ‘made the Bible a new book’ to them they have grown in grace. They suppose that because their store of biblical knowledge has increased they are more spiritual. They suppose that the mere listening to a servant of God or reading his writings is feeding on the Word. Not so! We ‘feed’ on the Word only when we personally appropriate, masticate and assimilate into our lives what we hear or read. Where there is not an increasing conformity of heart and life to God’s Word, then increased knowledge will only bring increased condemnation. ‘And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes’. (#Lu 12:47)

‘Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth’. (#2Ti 3:7) This is one of the prominent characteristics of the ‘perilous times’ in which we are now living. People hear one preacher after another, attend this conference and that conference, read book after book on biblical subjects, and yet never attain unto a vital and practical acquaintance with the truth, so as to have an impression of its power and efficacy on the soul. There is such a thing as spiritual dropsy, and multitudes are suffering from it. The more they hear, the more they want to hear: they drink in sermons and addresses with avidity, but their lives are unchanged. They are puffed up with their knowledge, not humbled into the dust before God. The faith of God’s elect is ‘the acknowledging [in the life] of the truth which is after godliness’, (#Tit 1:1) but to this the vast majority are total strangers.

God has given us His Word not only with the design of instructing us, but for the purpose of directing us: to make known what He requires us to do. The first thing we need is a clear and distinct knowledge of our duty; and the first thing God demands of us is a conscientious practice of it, corresponding to our knowledge. ‘What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?’. (#Mic 6:8) ‘Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. (#Ec 12:13) The Lord Jesus affirmed the same thing when He said, ‘Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you’. (#Joh 15:14)

May we take earnest heed to the teaching presented here by A. W. Pink. We live in a day when many say they "love God" but in works they deny him. May we ever strive to "bring forth works meet for repentance". As Peter has challenged, "Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: - 2 Pet. 1:10".

And as Paul has declared, "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? 2 Cor. 13:5. "

Bro. Pat