Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
Jesus announced that His mission was to "call … sinners to repentance" (Matt. 9:13). Such an experience is a personal change of mind, a turning around to go in the opposite direction. It includes deep heart sorrow for sin, a sense of shame and self-abhorrence for a life of rebellion against one's Creator and Redeemer. As such, it can be a cataclysmic upheaval of soul.
The way repentance works is clearly taught in the Bible. Jesus' call to repent is to all, for "all have sinned" (Rom. 3:23). "The knowledge of sin" comes through "the law" (3:20). Thanks to the beneficent work of the Holy Spirit, this wholesome "knowledge" is imparted to "every man" as a "Light" that passes no one by (John 1:9).
This knowledge is imparted by a conviction that there is a standard of perfect righteousness in Christ. The sinner may as yet have never heard the name of Christ, but he knows deep in his heart that he has "sinned and fall[en] short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23). The awareness of a perfect standard embodied in the law and in Christ may be ever so dim to consciousness, but Christ assured His disciples that as the result of His going to His Father and "you see Me no more," the Holy Spirit would bring to people's hearts a conviction of sin, and of righteousness" (John 16:8-10).
This potential for the conviction of sin is as universal as is the capacity for pain built into every human body. It is a signal that something is wrong. Thus the Lord Himself who "so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son" has prepared the way for the preaching of His gospel, which is complementary to this conviction of sin communicated by the Holy Spirit to "every man." When Jesus went forth after His baptism "preaching the gospel of the kingdom," His message was, "Repent, and believe in the gospel" (Mark 1:14, 15).
Teaching legalism or an adulterated "gospel" short-circuits this work of the Holy Spirit in human hearts, and millions as a consequence are never able to receive the gift of repentance, which alone can heal the "hurt" they feel.
But Scripture foretells a time when the gospel will be restored and presented in its pristine purity and the earth will be "lightened" with its glory (Rev. 18:1-4). In millions of human lives it will be like restoring a broken electronic connection. The circuit will be complete--the Holy Spirit's conviction of sin will be complemented by the pure gospel, and the current of heaven's forgiveness will flow through the soul, working miracles of grace.
--Robert J. Wieland
From: Bible Repentance: Path to Love.
Copyright © 2017 by "Dial Daily Bread."
