Repentance, Confession and the Assurance of Salvation
My topic this morning is “what must I do to be saved? “ And … related to that … what must I do to stay saved?
First of all, a complete reading of Scripture makes it clear that a person is not saved by his or her repentance. We are saved only by what Jesus Christ did at the Cross, which we appropriate to ourselves through faith.
Repentance is a grossly misunderstood Bible word. The word repentance in Greek is μετάνοια (metanoia) from meta meaning "after" and noia a form of the verb noeo meaning "to perceive", itself coming from the noun nous meaning mind. Thus the word metanoia means to have a change of mind or “to have a change of perception after something." After what? In the context of God, that would be to have a change of perception and thinking after considering Him and His claims. After all, through the prophet Isaiah, God says to man, "Come let us reason together...." And that conversation itself is in the context of man coming to God for the forgiveness of sins; because that verse ends: "... though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." (Isaiah 1:18)
So repentance is not confessing your sins, though that may be part of the process of repentance. It is not even being sorry for your sins, though that is definitely part of the product of repentance. No, repentance is recognizing your state and God's claims and, consequently, making the conscious decision to change your thinking and accept God's Word and Way over your own. It is sometimes referred to by preachers as a "change of mind." And in fact that is what it is. Where before we did not truly accept God's existence (if at all), let alone His claims, we now turn to Him, acknowledging He is who He says He is and, thus, we accept His Word as truth. As a result, we see God as high and lifted up, holy and pure, and loving toward us—as demonstrated in Christ coming as a servant, to reveal the person of God to us; and as a sacrifice, to pay the price we could not pay and remove the veil through which we could not enter.
The second most misunderstood word in the Bible is "confess". We are told "to confess our sins," and "to confess Jesus." Many people believe this means "admit" something (usually bad), or "to declare" something (either good or bad). But the primary definition in most English dictionaries actually comes remarkably close to the meaning of the Greek. My 2,134 page American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language defines the verb "to confess" as "to acknowledge belief or faith in something" or "to profess something". And acknowledging the truth of something is indeed close to the meaning of the word Paul used. The Greek word is ὁμολογέω (homologeo), a compound of homo meaning “same" and lego meaning "to speak". Thus it means "to say the same thing", "to agree".
But, agree with whom? And about what?
The whom is actually the Whom— God. And with what are we agreeing? Simple. In the case of sin, we are agreeing with everything He says about it. In the case of Jesus, we are agreeing with everything He says about Him.
So, there you have repentance and confession. According to the Bible. But human words cannot fully capture the scope of either of those actions in a simple definition. True repentance manifests itself as a recognition that God is God; that we have been wrong; that He is holy and righteous and pure, and we are low and unrighteous and incurably filthy. That recognition brings us to a place of weeping. We look at ourselves as did David: "I am a worm." We understand Isaiah's lament: "Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts." So, like Job we cry "I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes." This is the first condition of a man or woman who is truly repentant as he is confronted for the very first time by the reality of God. This is where the tears and the godly sorrow come in. But it is sorrow that sooner or later becomes intermixed with joy: for as we recognize that we have no hope in ourselves or in anything we can think or say or do, God reveals to us the hope that He has given us through His Son, Jesus the Christ. John Newton had it right when he wrote:
For most of us acknowledged sinners, our first true meeting with God brings us into great fear: that is God's grace drawing us into His Presence and opening our blinded eyes to see Him. But that same grace then ministers His love, and mercy and grace to us. Hallelujah!
Now I used the term "acknowledged sinners" on purpose. There are some sinners who are sinners like all of us, born so by their inherited fallen nature, but unlike some of us who reveled in sin, they are naturally loving and gentle and kind. Some of them have been terribly hurt. They do not need to be told they are sinners; they need to be assured they are loved. Thus their first encounter with God is not in Him convicting them of their wickedness; it is in Him convincing them of His love. The rest will follow. You see, God deals with each individual at the point of their own very specific, individual need. The Holy Spirit ensured that Matthew would confirm the word spoken through Isaiah: "A smoking flax He will not extinguish; a broken reed He will not break." It is so important to understand that God is perfect in all His dealings, both with selfish users of others and with the unselfish ones who are used. This is the foundation of our trust in Him: the belief in His essential goodness. Once He has bound a person to Himself with the chains of love, God will then deal with the various aspects of their life that are displeasing to Him and need to be changed. But He does not set out to change the person's old nature. He sets out to produce in them an entirely new nature— the nature of Jesus Christ.
Jesus was not just using a metaphorical expression when He told Nicodemus "You must be born again.” (John 3:7) He meant it. The term "born again" (Greek: γεννηθῆναι ἄνωθεν, gennethenai anothen) means literally “to be reborn.” And we must have that new birth or we are still lost in our sins. As surely as physical birth brings us into this physical world, spiritual birth brings us into the Kingdom of our God. When we are born again—exclusively through faith in Jesus Christ, Who He is and what He did at Calvary—we have literally died to our old life and are born into a new one, a spiritual one … one that is existentially different than our old life, but just as real. That is why Peter exclaims, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." (1 Peter 1:3) It is, as he says, "not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God." (1 Peter 1:23)
Now, if you have repented and confessed according to the meanings of those words as outlined above, you are born again. This is all in response to God's Work. He confronted you with Himself, He worked in you to bring you to that place, He gave you the heart that would respond to Him, and He suffered and died so that you might live. So what God has wrought, no man can take apart. You are saved. How do I know you are? Because God’s Word tells us that this is all that is necessary for salvation: faith in Christ.
The repentance and the confession are acts that are mysteriously both intertwined with and follow the moment when we come to faith in Christ. When that occurs, we find ourselves manifesting the greatest characteristic of a Christian: love ... love that even reaches out to enemies. But before it is love of man, it is foremost love of God— for we want to please Him and we hate ourselves when we disappoint Him. Thus our new hearts manifest our saving faith. And as long as our faith is in Jesus Christ and Him crucified—in other words, in our Savior being the God who loves us, and in the all-sufficiency of His sacrifice as well as the motive for that sacrifice being His love of us—then we are saved. No work is necessary on our part other than to agree with God ... which is the actual exercise of faith.
This is the complete process of salvation of an individual. Some churches insist on certain sacraments as necessary for salvation. But the Bible does not say that. In fact, it says if anybody comes to us with such a way of salvation we are to reject them (Galatians 1:6-9; 3:1-29). Baptism does not save. It is a figure, a symbolic expression of your death, burial and resurrection with and in Christ. Neither does the Lord's Supper play any part in your salvation. No church ordinance, sacrament, liturgy or religious ritual plays any part in saving you or keeping you saved. Only your faith in Jesus the Christ—what He fully accomplished for you at Calvary and what He is currently doing for you in Heaven.
However, let me add: baptism is a step of faith and a first step of obedience. The Bible tells us to repent and be baptized (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38). Every account of salvation in the Bible is followed by baptism of the new believer. If someone comes to Christ there should be no hesitancy in wanting to be baptized. Baptism as a child means nothing. It is a public confession of one’s faith. Nobody can make that confession on your behalf. Therefore as an adult, as soon as you are born again you should be baptized.
Now there are some who hold to the view that when you sin you lose your salvation and need to be re-saved and re-baptized. That is too long a subject to go into here; I have dealt with it before. But suffice to say that this belief is error. Thus there is no theological or soteriological reason for a backslidden Christian who comes back into fellowship to be re-baptized. It will not accomplish anything, either in securing their salvation or even simply manifesting their obedience to God. It is not a necessary act.
However, if—and I stress IF—someone was baptized upon a personal profession of faith at a younger age and, in view of their greater knowledge and commitment to Jesus Christ now that they are an adult, would like to make a fresh public profession of their faith in Him and thus express their desire to be clearly and publicly identified with Him, then I see no reasons why they should not go ahead and be re-baptized. Acts done exclusively for God out of a pure motive are never unrewarded by Him. But understand that you are already saved, you are already identified with Him through baptism, and if you ask for the act to be re-done, it will not improve one iota on what has already been done. (It may, however, I will admit, perhaps work some blessing in your heart to know that you have done this for Him.)
The bottom line for those troubled as to whether they have done the right things to be truly saved is this: if you believe in Jesus Christ (who He is and what He has done), if you believe that you are a sinner deserving of eternal hell and have no means of saving yourself but believe that God has provided that way for you through Jesus, then you are born again. Old things have passed away; all things have become new (2 Corinthians 5:17). The Holy Spirit dwells in you (1 Corinthians 3:16). You are sealed until the moment of redemption in Heaven (Ephesians 4:30). And He who began this good work in you guarantees He will finish it in you (Philippians 1:6) and present you faultless and without stain, blemish or reproach before His throne (Colossians 1:22; Jude 1:24; Ephesians 5:27).
When Paul prayed for the saints at Ephesus—which prayer the Holy Spirit preserved in His Word for all saints throughout time, including us today—he prayed that we would come to know the full extent of God’s love for us (Ephesians 3:14-19). I pray the same thing. For once you understand that love, you will never again be shaken in your faith, regardless of the trials and tribulations that may come; Satan will never again get advantage over you; and you will begin to rest in God’s love rather than strive in His fear. And, best of all, you will find that His love for you spurs you to greater love for Him, manifested in greater faithfulness, a more consistently victorious life, and an unquenchable love for others— be they lovable or not. In other words, you will become more and more like Jesus … into whose image (Greek εἰκών – eikon – “an exact likeness”) the Holy Spirit desires to gradually change us so that we may be living examples of what Christ can do in a life. How else can we be “witnesses” to the truth of the gospel?
So, in closing this morning— there is no need for you to be continually thinking God is angry with you and ready to punish you or kick you out. That is not God as the New Testament reveals Him. Rather He is the One who loves you so much that He allowed nothing to prevent you from dwelling with Him in eternity. Walk in that confidence. Not because of who you are ... but because of who He is.
22 The crowd rose up together against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods. 23 When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely; 24 and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. 25 But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; 26 and suddenly there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison house were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were unfastened. 27 When the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!” 29 And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas, 30 and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved? 31 They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him together with all who were in his house. —Acts 16:22-32
My topic this morning is “what must I do to be saved? “ And … related to that … what must I do to stay saved?
First of all, a complete reading of Scripture makes it clear that a person is not saved by his or her repentance. We are saved only by what Jesus Christ did at the Cross, which we appropriate to ourselves through faith.
Repentance is a grossly misunderstood Bible word. The word repentance in Greek is μετάνοια (metanoia) from meta meaning "after" and noia a form of the verb noeo meaning "to perceive", itself coming from the noun nous meaning mind. Thus the word metanoia means to have a change of mind or “to have a change of perception after something." After what? In the context of God, that would be to have a change of perception and thinking after considering Him and His claims. After all, through the prophet Isaiah, God says to man, "Come let us reason together...." And that conversation itself is in the context of man coming to God for the forgiveness of sins; because that verse ends: "... though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." (Isaiah 1:18)
So repentance is not confessing your sins, though that may be part of the process of repentance. It is not even being sorry for your sins, though that is definitely part of the product of repentance. No, repentance is recognizing your state and God's claims and, consequently, making the conscious decision to change your thinking and accept God's Word and Way over your own. It is sometimes referred to by preachers as a "change of mind." And in fact that is what it is. Where before we did not truly accept God's existence (if at all), let alone His claims, we now turn to Him, acknowledging He is who He says He is and, thus, we accept His Word as truth. As a result, we see God as high and lifted up, holy and pure, and loving toward us—as demonstrated in Christ coming as a servant, to reveal the person of God to us; and as a sacrifice, to pay the price we could not pay and remove the veil through which we could not enter.
The second most misunderstood word in the Bible is "confess". We are told "to confess our sins," and "to confess Jesus." Many people believe this means "admit" something (usually bad), or "to declare" something (either good or bad). But the primary definition in most English dictionaries actually comes remarkably close to the meaning of the Greek. My 2,134 page American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language defines the verb "to confess" as "to acknowledge belief or faith in something" or "to profess something". And acknowledging the truth of something is indeed close to the meaning of the word Paul used. The Greek word is ὁμολογέω (homologeo), a compound of homo meaning “same" and lego meaning "to speak". Thus it means "to say the same thing", "to agree".
But, agree with whom? And about what?
The whom is actually the Whom— God. And with what are we agreeing? Simple. In the case of sin, we are agreeing with everything He says about it. In the case of Jesus, we are agreeing with everything He says about Him.
So, there you have repentance and confession. According to the Bible. But human words cannot fully capture the scope of either of those actions in a simple definition. True repentance manifests itself as a recognition that God is God; that we have been wrong; that He is holy and righteous and pure, and we are low and unrighteous and incurably filthy. That recognition brings us to a place of weeping. We look at ourselves as did David: "I am a worm." We understand Isaiah's lament: "Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts." So, like Job we cry "I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes." This is the first condition of a man or woman who is truly repentant as he is confronted for the very first time by the reality of God. This is where the tears and the godly sorrow come in. But it is sorrow that sooner or later becomes intermixed with joy: for as we recognize that we have no hope in ourselves or in anything we can think or say or do, God reveals to us the hope that He has given us through His Son, Jesus the Christ. John Newton had it right when he wrote:
'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear;
And grace my fears relieved.
For most of us acknowledged sinners, our first true meeting with God brings us into great fear: that is God's grace drawing us into His Presence and opening our blinded eyes to see Him. But that same grace then ministers His love, and mercy and grace to us. Hallelujah!
Now I used the term "acknowledged sinners" on purpose. There are some sinners who are sinners like all of us, born so by their inherited fallen nature, but unlike some of us who reveled in sin, they are naturally loving and gentle and kind. Some of them have been terribly hurt. They do not need to be told they are sinners; they need to be assured they are loved. Thus their first encounter with God is not in Him convicting them of their wickedness; it is in Him convincing them of His love. The rest will follow. You see, God deals with each individual at the point of their own very specific, individual need. The Holy Spirit ensured that Matthew would confirm the word spoken through Isaiah: "A smoking flax He will not extinguish; a broken reed He will not break." It is so important to understand that God is perfect in all His dealings, both with selfish users of others and with the unselfish ones who are used. This is the foundation of our trust in Him: the belief in His essential goodness. Once He has bound a person to Himself with the chains of love, God will then deal with the various aspects of their life that are displeasing to Him and need to be changed. But He does not set out to change the person's old nature. He sets out to produce in them an entirely new nature— the nature of Jesus Christ.
Jesus was not just using a metaphorical expression when He told Nicodemus "You must be born again.” (John 3:7) He meant it. The term "born again" (Greek: γεννηθῆναι ἄνωθεν, gennethenai anothen) means literally “to be reborn.” And we must have that new birth or we are still lost in our sins. As surely as physical birth brings us into this physical world, spiritual birth brings us into the Kingdom of our God. When we are born again—exclusively through faith in Jesus Christ, Who He is and what He did at Calvary—we have literally died to our old life and are born into a new one, a spiritual one … one that is existentially different than our old life, but just as real. That is why Peter exclaims, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." (1 Peter 1:3) It is, as he says, "not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God." (1 Peter 1:23)
Now, if you have repented and confessed according to the meanings of those words as outlined above, you are born again. This is all in response to God's Work. He confronted you with Himself, He worked in you to bring you to that place, He gave you the heart that would respond to Him, and He suffered and died so that you might live. So what God has wrought, no man can take apart. You are saved. How do I know you are? Because God’s Word tells us that this is all that is necessary for salvation: faith in Christ.
"God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them." (Ephesians 2:4-10)
The repentance and the confession are acts that are mysteriously both intertwined with and follow the moment when we come to faith in Christ. When that occurs, we find ourselves manifesting the greatest characteristic of a Christian: love ... love that even reaches out to enemies. But before it is love of man, it is foremost love of God— for we want to please Him and we hate ourselves when we disappoint Him. Thus our new hearts manifest our saving faith. And as long as our faith is in Jesus Christ and Him crucified—in other words, in our Savior being the God who loves us, and in the all-sufficiency of His sacrifice as well as the motive for that sacrifice being His love of us—then we are saved. No work is necessary on our part other than to agree with God ... which is the actual exercise of faith.
This is the complete process of salvation of an individual. Some churches insist on certain sacraments as necessary for salvation. But the Bible does not say that. In fact, it says if anybody comes to us with such a way of salvation we are to reject them (Galatians 1:6-9; 3:1-29). Baptism does not save. It is a figure, a symbolic expression of your death, burial and resurrection with and in Christ. Neither does the Lord's Supper play any part in your salvation. No church ordinance, sacrament, liturgy or religious ritual plays any part in saving you or keeping you saved. Only your faith in Jesus the Christ—what He fully accomplished for you at Calvary and what He is currently doing for you in Heaven.
However, let me add: baptism is a step of faith and a first step of obedience. The Bible tells us to repent and be baptized (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38). Every account of salvation in the Bible is followed by baptism of the new believer. If someone comes to Christ there should be no hesitancy in wanting to be baptized. Baptism as a child means nothing. It is a public confession of one’s faith. Nobody can make that confession on your behalf. Therefore as an adult, as soon as you are born again you should be baptized.
Now there are some who hold to the view that when you sin you lose your salvation and need to be re-saved and re-baptized. That is too long a subject to go into here; I have dealt with it before. But suffice to say that this belief is error. Thus there is no theological or soteriological reason for a backslidden Christian who comes back into fellowship to be re-baptized. It will not accomplish anything, either in securing their salvation or even simply manifesting their obedience to God. It is not a necessary act.
However, if—and I stress IF—someone was baptized upon a personal profession of faith at a younger age and, in view of their greater knowledge and commitment to Jesus Christ now that they are an adult, would like to make a fresh public profession of their faith in Him and thus express their desire to be clearly and publicly identified with Him, then I see no reasons why they should not go ahead and be re-baptized. Acts done exclusively for God out of a pure motive are never unrewarded by Him. But understand that you are already saved, you are already identified with Him through baptism, and if you ask for the act to be re-done, it will not improve one iota on what has already been done. (It may, however, I will admit, perhaps work some blessing in your heart to know that you have done this for Him.)
The bottom line for those troubled as to whether they have done the right things to be truly saved is this: if you believe in Jesus Christ (who He is and what He has done), if you believe that you are a sinner deserving of eternal hell and have no means of saving yourself but believe that God has provided that way for you through Jesus, then you are born again. Old things have passed away; all things have become new (2 Corinthians 5:17). The Holy Spirit dwells in you (1 Corinthians 3:16). You are sealed until the moment of redemption in Heaven (Ephesians 4:30). And He who began this good work in you guarantees He will finish it in you (Philippians 1:6) and present you faultless and without stain, blemish or reproach before His throne (Colossians 1:22; Jude 1:24; Ephesians 5:27).
When Paul prayed for the saints at Ephesus—which prayer the Holy Spirit preserved in His Word for all saints throughout time, including us today—he prayed that we would come to know the full extent of God’s love for us (Ephesians 3:14-19). I pray the same thing. For once you understand that love, you will never again be shaken in your faith, regardless of the trials and tribulations that may come; Satan will never again get advantage over you; and you will begin to rest in God’s love rather than strive in His fear. And, best of all, you will find that His love for you spurs you to greater love for Him, manifested in greater faithfulness, a more consistently victorious life, and an unquenchable love for others— be they lovable or not. In other words, you will become more and more like Jesus … into whose image (Greek εἰκών – eikon – “an exact likeness”) the Holy Spirit desires to gradually change us so that we may be living examples of what Christ can do in a life. How else can we be “witnesses” to the truth of the gospel?
So, in closing this morning— there is no need for you to be continually thinking God is angry with you and ready to punish you or kick you out. That is not God as the New Testament reveals Him. Rather He is the One who loves you so much that He allowed nothing to prevent you from dwelling with Him in eternity. Walk in that confidence. Not because of who you are ... but because of who He is.
