The Purpose of Repentance

When David was about 9 years old, he was playing ball in the front yard with friends. With one good crack of the bat, he sent the ball flying through the front window of the house. Immediately, he ran inside and apologized profusely for breaking the window. His dad said, “It’s easy to say you are sorry with words, but you need to say it with your actions as well.” It is a wise father who knows he must teach his children to bear fruit in keeping with repentance (Matt. 3:8). “Sorry” wasn’t going to keep the rain and bugs out of the house. That day, David learned to replace a window pane. But more than that, David learned that true repentance involves restoration.
Ever since man’s fall, God has been active in the ministry of restoration. A key element in that restoration is repentance. In fact, the purpose of repentance is restoration. If you ask most people what the word repent means, you are likely to get an answer such as, “Stop doing bad and start doing good;” or “Do a 180 degree turn. Go the opposite direction you were going;” or even “Be sorry for what you did.” However, as I studied the word “repent,” I found that the original Hebrew word was “shoov” which means to go back to the original condition or way.
When John preached, “Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand,” he was speaking to Jews who had strayed from God’s commandments. His message was simply, “Turn back to God. Turn back to the ways of the One who created you.” In Psalm 51, David repents for his sin with Bathsheba, and as part of that repentance he cries out, “Restore to me the joy of your Salvation and renew a right spirit within me.” Sin breaks fellowship with God; repentance restores fellowship with God.
Which brings us to another interesting point. Until I did this study, I did not realize that throughout the Scriptures, Jews are told to repent, but Gentiles are told to believe. Later, as Gentiles become a part of the fellowship of believers, Paul tells them to repent when they stray from God’s standards and teachings. But originally, Jews were to repent; Gentiles were to believe. Why? Because when a Jew repented, he turned back to God’s ways, the ways he had been taught since infancy, and was restored to fellowship. What was a Gentile going to turn back to? He first had to believe and establish a relationship with God…until then, he had no relationship to restore.
On the day of Pentecost when Peter told the people to repent and be baptized, he was speaking to Jews. He was telling them to turn back to God; and the baptism was a baptism of repentance…restoration to God.
So what does this mean for us? Well, for starters, you can’t tell an unbeliever to repent. Instead, we must teach him to believe. Jesus said, “Go into all the world and make disciples…teaching them to obey everything I have commanded.” It is absolutely vital to teach a new believer God’s commands so that when he sins, he can repent (turn back to what he knows) and be restored to fellowship with God. A person who does not know God’s teachings cannot truly repent. You cannot go back to what you do not even know. And, according to Galatians 6:1, our ministry to other believers should be to restore them gently when they sin. How do we do that? We remind them of God’s commands. We turn them back to God’s teachings. “Remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins,” James 5:20.
What a blessing it is to work with God in His ministry of restoration turning ourselves and others back to the ways of the One who created us. May you always bear fruit in keeping with repentance.