Repent and Believe

The gospel calls for repentance1 towards God and faith2 in our Lord Jesus Christ. Only this complete response to the good news of God’s redeeming grace and love in sending His only begotten Son to die for us will result in a changed heart and life, that the Bible calls the “new birth3”. Anything less, is to be short-changed, leaving us still as old creatures in the bondage of sin and its regular practice, from which Jesus came to free4 us.

If you have not exercised repentance towards God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, being baptised and a church member or even being a deacon or pastor does not mean anything. You still need to be converted, to have a changed heart and transformation, a release from sin into fullness of life5, and the filling and flowing with joy of the Holy Spirit, even as rivers of living waters from your innermost being6. This does not refer to a subsequent experience after salvation, but to salvation itself. Jesus made this clear in His sayings, “I tell you, Nay: but except ye repent, ye shall likewise perish” and “he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

Given their eternal importance, let us look at what these terms, “repentance towards God” and “faith in our Lord Jesus Christ” mean.