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Our First Step Toward God: Repentance from Don Tines on Vimeo.
Godliness Starts With Repentance
TEXT: 2 Corinthians 12:20-21
THESIS: The First Step Every Person Must Make Toward God Must Involve Repentance.
INTRODUCTION: The role of the pastor today is at a crossroads. As the church grows increasingly worldly, so also does the pastor’s job description. He is often viewed (either by himself or by his congregation) as a CEO, entertainer, fund-raiser, master of ceremonies, or psychologist. None of those perspectives are in harmony with the biblical model of spiritual leadership. The primary function of a pastor or elder according to Scripture can be summed up in one word: edification. A pastor’s main concern is the spiritual maturity of the believers under his care, as Paul made clear in Eph 4:11-13: “And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.”
In its broadest, most significant sense, the pastor’s role is to build the church by maturing the saints, helping them become more like Jesus Christ. The biblical emphasis on spiritual maturity contrasts sharply with that of many churches. The issues of life in this world—illness, economic problems, marital and family struggles, and political and social matters—are their main concern. But the church’s role is not to make its members more comfortable in a world in which they are “aliens and strangers” but to prepare them for their true home in heaven.
Like any true man of God, the apostle Paul’s passionate concern was the spiritual well being of believers. His hopes, fears, desires, and expectations focused on their sanctification. He expressed that concern in two terms that bracket this section of his epistle: “upbuilding” (2 Cor 12:19), and “building up” (13:10). In between, he described the process of sanctification. In verses 20 and 21, the apostle outlined the first step in accomplishing that objective: repentance.
SCRIPTURE READING: PRAYER:
I. Repentance is an essential element Salvation.
A. No one can come to God apart from the complete change of heart, mind, and will which constitutes repentance.
B. Repentance was at the heart of the gospel message proclaimed by John the Baptist, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Twelve, and the apostle Paul.
1. John’s message was “make straight the way of the Lord” “Repent and be baptized for the remission of your sins.”
2. Jesus tells Nick, Even though you’re a righteous man in the sight of the Law, “You must be born again!”
3. To the woman at the well Jesus brings up her life-style by asking her to go get her husband.
4. The central message of the Great Commission that Christ gave to the church was to go call people to repentance.
5. The Apostle Paul tells the church people of Rome that they must “confess with their mouths and believe in their hearts”
C. Despite its critical importance, however, repentance is a needlessly misunderstood and controversial topic in contemporary Christianity.
1. Some would strip repentance of any connection with sin, defining it as merely a change of mind about who Christ is.
a. They see it as merely a synonym for faith that does not involve turning from sin.
b. To them Repentance means to change one’s mind; it does not mean to change one’s life.
2. But Scripture knows nothing of a repentance that does not involve turning from sin.
a. In the Old Testament Isaiah cried out, “Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the Lord, and He will have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon” (Isa 55:7).
b. In Luke 5:32 the Lord also connected repentance and sin, declaring, “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.”
c. Jesus declared in Luke’s account of the Great Commission that “repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem”.
d. Paul told King Agrippa that the message he proclaimed was “that [people] should repent and turn to God, performing deeds appropriate to repentance”.
e. Scripture characterizes unbelievers as those who will “not repent of their deeds”.
D. Repentance is the first necessary first step in coming to God.
1. Sin inhibits spiritual growth; It keeps faith from becoming active in our lives; it keeps us from God.
2. Sin is anything that displeases God, and nothing that displeases Him can contribute to the process of becoming Godly.
3. Like faith, repentance is not a one-time act at conversion but is characteristic of living the Christian life.
a. You don’t have one drop of faith that gets you saved and nothing more.
b. Faith begins in us at Salvation as a Gift from God and continues growing in our lives until we stand before Him at the Judgment.
c. The same is true concerning repentance, we don’t call upon the Lord repenting of our sinful condition and then after than never repent again.
d. We are called to repentance and call others to repentance all the days of our lives. .
II. Paul reminds us of the results of an unrepentant Life Vs. 20-21b
20I fear that there may be quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder. 21b not repented of the impurity, sexual sin and debauchery in which they have indulged
A. The Unrepentant life results in “fear”
1. Paul says he has an intense, deep-seated anxiety, a misgiving, great concern or fear over their unrepentant heart.
2. Nothing is more painful for the faithful pastor than unrepentant sin among his flock.
3. Paul feared that he might find the Corinthians to be not what he would wish them to be.
a. His wish was for them to be growing in grace, becoming more like Jesus Christ, and repenting of their sin;
b. his fear was that their spiritual growth would be hindered by unrepentant sin.
4. Should that prove to be the case, the Corinthians would find Paul to be not what they would wish.
a. Instead of loving affirmation, he would bring stern discipline.
b. In 1 Cor. 4:21, he ask: “What do you desire? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love and a spirit of gentleness?”
c. The choice was theirs. If they repented of their sin, he would arrive in love and gentleness. If they did not, he would come with the rod of discipline.
B. Unrepentant sin always involves personal conflicts that destroy unity.
1. The typical actions of divisiveness and selfishness, always follows unrepentant sin.
2. “Strife” describes the contention, conflict, and quarrels that result from unresolved sin.
3. Dissension within the family is a sign of unresolved sin.
4. Jealousy, the grasping, protective, self-centeredness that causes people to be suspicious of others as potential rivals is a result of the unrepentant.
5. Angry tempers, “rage” or “violent anger,” the kind of anger that flares up in an instant is a result of unresolved sin.
6. “Disputes” or “fractions” describe ambitious rivalries, factious attitudes, divisiveness, are the result of the unrepentant.
7. “Slanders,” “insults,” “evil reports” all are signs of those who have sinned and not come to repentance.
8. Gossip, talking behind-the-back of someone about something that is negative is a sign of someone who has sinned and not come to repentance.
C. Paul named three sins that destroy our purity before God and men.
1. Impurity is frequently associated in the New Testament with sexual sin.
a. In Rom 1:24, “God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them.”
b. Gal 5:19 lists impurity as one of the deeds of the flesh,
c. Eph 4:19 impurity characterizes the unregenerate who “having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity.”
d. “Impurity must not even be named among believers” according to Eph. 5:3.
e. Col. 3:5 says “God has not called us for the purpose of impurity, but in sanctification”.
2. Immorality has to do with anything that is considered pornography, or has to do with “fornication,” or any sexual act outside of marriage.
a. 1 Thess. 4:3, “For this is the will of God, your sanctification; that is, that you abstain from sexual immorality”.
b. 1 Cor. 6:13 says we are to “Flee immorality.” And 1 Cor. 6:18 says: “Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body”
3. Sensuality describes public, unrestrained, flagrant, sexual sin.
a. The King James Version translates it, “lasciviousness,” or “wantonness”;
b. In Rom 13:13 Paul associated it with such public sins as “carousing,” “drunkenness,” and “sexual promiscuity”;
c. Peter linked it to “lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties and abominable idolatries” (1 Peter 4:3).
d. Sensuality is also one of the deeds of the flesh (Gal 5:19), and characterizes the behavior of the unregenerate (Eph 4:19), particularly false teachers (2 Peter 2:2,18; Jude 4).
e. Peter also used it to describe the unspeakably evil homosexual vice of the men of Sodom, who tried to rape angels (2 Peter 2:7).
D. Paul’s great fear for the Corinthians was that, influenced by the false teachers, they would fall back into the sins which they had previously practiced. Like any pastor worthy of the title, Paul’s passionate concern for his people was that they lead holy lives. That painful concern for their sanctification prompted him to call for their repentance.
III. Unrepentant Sin Causes Pain. Vs. 21a
21 I am afraid that when I come again my God will humble me before you, and I will be grieved over many who have sinned earlier and have not repented
A. No pastor expects people to be sinless. Yet when they do sin, his heart yearns for them to repent. To that end, he prays for them, exhorts them, and calls them to repentance.
1. Paul wasn’t expecting people to be sinless but rather he was fearful that he would find those who sinned and continued in their sin and refused to repent.
2. Should Paul find that in the Corinthian assembly, it would affect him.
a. First, it would deeply humiliate him. He had pastored there for nearly two years and it would be marked by unrepentant sin would cause him shame.
b. It would also give ammunition to those critics who attacked his authenticity. If he were as he said he was an apostle then those who followed him would be farther along in their walk with the Lord.
c. This unrepentant sin would cause him great sorrow, lamenting, grief and heartache.
B. Unrepentant sin in the church is heartbreaking, distressing, and discouraging.
1. It crushes leadership, saps the strength out of ministry, hinders the Holy Spirit Work, and causes premature death.
2. Paul was anxious about what he would find when he arrived in Corinth.
3. The concern for the repentance mirrors that of the Lord.
a. In the letters to the seven churches (Rev 2; 3), the Lord Jesus Christ repeatedly called for repentance and warned of the consequences of failing to repent.
b. His message to the church at Ephesus was, “Therefore remember from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent” (Rev 2:5).
c. “Therefore repent;” He warned the church at Pergamum, “or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth” (Rev 2:16).
d. He declared of the false prophetess Jezebel in the church at Thyatira, “I gave her time to repent, and she does not want to repent of her immorality. Behold, I will throw her on a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her deeds” (Rev 2:21-22).
e. He exhorted the church at Sardis, “Remember what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent. Therefore if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you” (Rev 3:3).
f. The Lord reminded the Laodicean church, “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent” (Rev 3:19).
g. Jesus had to rebuke five of the seven churches for harboring unrepentant sin. Only the faithful churches in Smyrna and Philadelphia escaped His call to repentance—not because their members were not sinning, but because they were repenting.
Conclusion: The call for repentance not only echoed that of the Lord Jesus Christ, but also of God the Father, to whom David confessed, “A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise. The promise to those who do repent is God’s gracious and complete forgiveness (1 John 1:9). Those who fail to repent face discipline.
