The Ultimate Source of Repentance

If repentance leads to forgiveness, eternal life, salvation and the knowledge of the truth, as we saw last week, and if all these results are in fact gifts of God’s grace, we must conclude that repentance itself is God’s work in us and His gift to us.

Today we consider this question: Who is the ultimate source of repentance, God or man? Our study will bear out that though we are the ones turning from sin, it is ultimately a gift to us from God that brings this about.

Acts 10 and 11 tell the story of the gospel coming to Gentiles through the Apostle Peter. The climax of the narrative is when he enters the home of Cornelius and preaches Christ to a sizable gathering of his friends and family.

Word gets back to Jerusalem and the other apostles of this unusual and unprecedented action of Peter. They take issue with him for eating with Gentiles. Peter, himself quite shocked by it all, explains his vision and tells the story to defend his actions.

Once they all see that it was God-sanctioned and God-blessed, the Jewish group arrives at this theologically astute conclusion – “Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life” (Acts 11:18). Well then, I conclude that repentance is not self-generated, mere human regret or remorse, natural fear of death, nor a temporary flash of emotion worked up by a preacher. These emotions may be involved in true repentance, but of themselves, they do not constitute true repentance.

Repentance from sin is an instant, supernatural, sovereign, deep, heart change that only comes from God. It is a “mercy of God in giving repentance or leading men to it” (Vines); it is a “grace of God’s Spirit” (Thomas Watson).

But we must recognize that in giving repentance, God clearly uses means. The first is the Word of God or biblical, gospel preaching. In Acts 2, Peter preaches the Word, and the listeners are pierced to the heart and ask what they must do in response. He commands them to repent and they did. It all started with hearing the truth!

In Acts 10 and 11, Peter preaches the Word and they respond in repentance.

The Word is the hammer that breaks the hard heart, the fire that melts the cold stone heart. The Bible teaches that the sinner’s mind and will are tough and calloused, some more so than others, and that only the scalpel of God’s truth can cut it. Wherever you find true repentance happening, it will be preceded by the proclamation of God’s truth from the Scriptures, the “sword of the Spirit.”

The second and simultaneous means is the Holy Spirit. He is mentioned in Acts 10:44, 45, 47 and 11:15, 16, 17 of our previous example. The mysterious, invisible, silent Holy Spirit moves upon some while hearing the Word and grants some, but not all, repentance. Both a biblical theology and practical experience bear this out.

Thomas Watson wrote, “Ministers are but pipes and organs. It is the Holy Spirit breathing in them that makes their words effectual.” So we conclude that in repentance, God is the Source and He grants it through the means of the Word and the Spirit.

The other key text on the ultimate source of our repenting is 2 Tim. 2:23-26. Here Paul instructs Timothy on how to properly deal with unbelievers, even those who wrong him in opposition to the gospel. And what is the only hope Paul holds out for such people? “ … if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth” (v.25). Now here we aren’t talking about God granting repentance to the general group of non-Jews, but rather to specific individuals.

Note again, God will engage in the use of means to grant this repentance: truth being taught in boldness and truth being delivered in a loving, patient, God-like approach. He tells Timothy to not quarrel or argue, but to be courteous and respectful, taking abuse and not giving up. He tells Timothy to be gentle, not harsh, overbearing or domineering.

I say God-like because of Romans 2:4 and Paul’s bold, yet kind question to unrepentant readers: “Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?” Rom. 2:4

If it’s good enough for God, then it’s good enough for Timothy.

Repentance comes from God as a gift, through His Spirit, through the announcing and explaining of the gospel by kind, patient and gentle messengers who model God’s own kindness and patience with sinners. Acts 3:19, 26 and 5:31 provide further evidence it is granted by God.

The Lord is very hands-on, working repentance into the human heart by His Spirit, causing the sinner to come under conviction and sorrow. He creates the desire in us to depart from our sin.

We can produce “sorrow unto death”. We can experience a shallow grief over getting caught or embarrassed by our sin on our own. Man often goes through a temporary fear of judgment and hell when faced with death. But renouncing and forsaking sin and surrendering to the person and will of Christ is so profound, it must be granted to us and worked in us if it is to ever take place. To God alone be the glory!