In the 1700’s there was a man named John Newton who was a captain of the ships “the Duke of argyle and the African”. This ship and captain were responsible for possibly the worst actions known to man. The enslavement of thousands of men. You may have recognized this name. He wrote, “Amazing Grace, How sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now am found T’was blind but now I see”. But what causes a man to change in such a way? What causes someone to completely change his way of life? It takes a deep regret of what you have done and a desire to change. In a word, it takes repentance.
A simple definition of repentance is “a change of mind that results in a change of behavior.” This is more then just asking someone to forgive you. I got into many fights with my siblings and I would eventually ask for forgiveness, but I never had a change of heart. Often times I would repeat the exact same offense. That is the difference, repentance is the change of heart not just asking for forgiveness. William Mounce Author of “Mounce’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old & New Testament Words” says “Repentance is, in its essence, a Spirit-generated change of mind.” We see a example of this in the story of John Newton. For years he enslaved people, but he got saved and repented of his actions. Then he left his ship and became a pastor. You see, repentance requires you to do something else instead of the sin. Just staying away from sin isn’t repentance it’s avoidance. My youth pastor explains it like this “ If you try to just STOP sinning it doesn’t help. Let’s say you want to stop thinking about pink elephants. You say to yourself ‘stop thinking about pink elephants, stop thinking about pink elephants, stop thinking about pink elephants’. What’s happened? Well, now all you can think about are pink elephants.”. To truly repent requires a complete change of attitude toward that sin. Ephesians 4:22-24 says to “put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.” Repentance is a take off-put on mindset. The reason this is the case, is because there is never a vacuum. When you turn away from one activity something will fill its place. Repentance in its simplest form is stopping sinful desires and activities and turning too righteous desires and activities.
This is where another problem becomes clear. How do you stop wanting something? I could just tell you to stop liking chocolate cake…but that wouldn’t help. You can’t change your desires in a instant. We can’t do this by ourselves, we need the power of the spirit to change us. The only way that happens is if we confess our sins. 1 John 1:9 says “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” If we confess our sins, this verse tells us that he is faithful to cleanse us of our unrighteousness. The key to this is not keeping the sin in the dark. Sin is like a mold that if kept in the dark only grows. We must confess our sins to began to turn away from them.
But why does repentance matter?
The reason this matters is the punishment of our sin. Romans 6:23: “For the wages :of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Thankfully, there is a solution. 1 John 2:1-2 says “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” This verse gives us hope. If we repent from our sins we have Jesus who will be our advocate to save us from our sins. Repentance is the solution. Luke 13:3 says “No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
Lastly, it maters because of the power of Repentance. Let’s look back at the story of John Newton. He started out his life as a horrible person. Enslaving people and shipping them across the ocean. But, when he was saved, he repented. That didn’t just change his actions, it made him go into a complete 180. He looked back at his life with great sorrow and this drove him to write possibly the most well known hymn of all time: Amazing Grace. This hymn has effected thousand, probably millions of peoples lives. Even today, you can hear people singing it at any funeral. Even Africans who John Newton enslaved can be heard singing this song with all their hearts. John Newton wasn’t the only person however, countless people have changed the world as a result of their Repentance, William Wilberforce ( the man who ended the slave trade) George White-field ( the man who was a behind the Great Awakening), John Calvin (a famous theologian), William Tyndall (the man who translated the Bible into English for the first time), and Paul (just to name a few) were all people who changed the world because of repentance. It effects more than just ourselves, it effects everyone around us too.
You see, repenting isn’t just a superficial activity. It is crucial to save us from the punishment that we deserve and brings us into a relationship with God. Not only that, but also God uses that to make huge impacts in the world.
Setting The Example 