The Ohio Independent Baptist, April 1973

li • 'Vlll by William A.. Brock Sonic say. " l'astor. how does \. al vation occl1r?" It OCCltrs in<;tantanc ously. "Bel icvc on the I ord J csu ( 'hr1st and thou shalt be saved.'' How, ever. yol1 wrll find that preceding thi\ the Holy p,rit will cause you t realize your c;1nfulnec;c; and a sense of orrow for c;1n and alc;o a realiza– tion t}1at th1c; c;in ic; against God. Then He will cause a change in your mind and heart and you will joyfully and hy f aitl1 accept Salvation by grace and this wtll lead to a life of obedi– ence. Repentance precedes Salvation and leads to a changed life. "Behold old things pass away and behold all things become new..." Do you see the in1portance and the danger of just saying "On ly Believe"? ' ' JJ l1e11 lt ' ''-" J1ec1r,/ it li e ., t1it/1 11111<> 1/1e111. tl1 eJ 1 t/1at tire i, 1 /1, ,/e l1t1, ·e ,,,, tll'< d <JJ tl,e p/1v , 1c i,111. I 111 1/1< J' t l1t1t are si c A. I c t1111 e t1c,1 I<> c·c1/I tl,e ri {! !1te<Jtt.\, l11t si,111, rs I<> repe r1 tar1(·c." ta,/.. .. :/ 7 1 t1c a l10, c , ,cr,c 1" a 1...,0 found in l att hc\\ c.). 11 and in 1 uk.e 5 32. It I the ,, o rd ot Ct1ri t Hin1. elf earl} in H1 carthl )' n11n1. tr}'. It }OtJ look at it quickl y you will notice three \ ery obviou. fact . Fir, t, ' '( ...hr i. t can,e not to call righteous..." hr1. t i not concerned with whatever 1 defined a Hrighteou ... If there had been righteou people when He wa on earth they would not have needed Hi mini try. But of course, there \\,ere, are and never will be any righteou , o all need His calling. econd, the verse says, "He came to call inners." Third, He says what inner are to be ca]led to - please notice carefully. Christ did not call inners to the Go pel, nor to Salvation. He caJls sinners to REPENTANCE. As I read this a few months ago I began to examine present day think– ing and a great deal of preaching. Even though they sound Biblical and can be such, we continually encour– age people to come to Christ, to the Gospel, to eternal life, to Salvation. But the call of sinners is to "repen– tance.' Review some verses even though they will consume much of our space. Mark 1: 15. "Repent ye and believe the Gospel." Mark 6: 11 "And they went out and preached that men should repent." Luke 13: 3 and 5. " ... except ye repent ye shall all likewise perish." Acts 2:38 ' 'Repent and be baptized'' - Acts 3: 19 "Repent and be converted" - Acts 17: 30 "And the times of ignorance God winked at, but now commandeth all men every– where to repent ." Acts 20: 26 "Testi– fying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance towards God and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ. ,. Acts 26: 20. " . . . That they · should repent and turn to God, and do work meet for reoentance." A II Peter 3 : 19 "God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance." Whether you are familiar with the Bible or not you are already aware of this lesson, this emphasis. From the verses listed let me ask you the following questions: 4 APRIL, 1973 WHAT DID ( ' HRI T PR A H? WHAT DID TH j DISCl PL S PR ACH? WHAT D ID PETER PREACH? WHAT DlD PAUL PREACH? Now plea e do not think that I wish to criticize or question preach– ing. But mo t today, in preaching, encourage men and women to "Only believe' ' and everything will be all right. Jf the above verses have any meaning to them we are to be Jook– ing also at the subject and the work in our lives called "repentance." Repentance is not just being sorry for sin. Most sorrow for sin is due to being found out or caught. It is of the world and usually concerned only about consequences or reputa– tion. If you have a Bible, turn to II Corinthians chapter 7 and read verse l 0. "For Godly sorrow worketh re– pentance to Salvation . . .•, Godly sorrow is sorrow for sin. And Godly sorrow will lead to repentance. What is repentance? Let me en– deavor to put it simply. First repent– ance implies sorrow for past sin . Second, repentance is a deep sense of the evil of sin as committed against God. And all sin is sin against God. (Psalm 51:4) and then Third with sorrow and a deep sense of guilt you will be caused to turn from the wrong to lead a Jife based on Salvation. 111 this 7th chapter of II Cor. there is an excellent lesson on the result or the proof of repentance in your life. This is found in verse 11. The verse says that one who has truly repented and is truly saved will find that his life is changed to carefulness, a dread of sin, a concern about his character and his life, an indignation about sin in his life and in the lives of others. Has this been true of your life since coming to Chr ist for Salvation? Let's be sure we preach what Christ preached. Repentance precedes Salva– tion and must not be set aside in our preachi11g today for we must preach the whole counsel of God. Do vou remember the account of ., the prodigal son? Having decided to return to his father and beg to be– come a servant he decides that he would say, "Father I have sinned against heaven and against thee. . ." Preceding his restoration and change was repentance. Let's preach and practice 'the Bible. THE CLEVELAND HEBREW MISSION , . 0. lox 11056, Cleveland, Ohio 44111 Founded 1904 ' FUNDAMENTAL - BAPTISTIC - EVANGELISTIC Evangelizing the "kinsmen" of our Lord in Cleveland, Ohio Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil OFFICERS:- Mr. George B. Dunn, President Re v. Roy Clark. Vice President Rev. Gerald V. Srnel er, Superintendent Rev . A. Paul Tidball, Asst . Supt . Mr. Earl Helfrick , Sec'y. -Treas. REFERENCES :- Dr. John G. Balvo. Cleveland. Ohio Dr. Paul Van Gorder, A1lanta, Ga. Dr . Vaughn Sprunger, South Bend, Ind . Rev. Lloyd Morris, Flint, Mich . Dr. Robert Ketcham . Chicago. 111 . Dr. Ralph Stoll, Lancast~r, Pa. Dr. Melvin V. Efaw. Huntington, W. Va. Dr. Frank C. Torrey, Boca Raton. Fla. Dr. Ken neth Ma teller, Haddon Hts., N.J . Write fot your fl!E copy of "Th• Tru,,_,.t., fo, 1,,.. t" ovr qu1rterly ,ug11lne deYoted to the wo,k of Jewiah ~·~' '""- THE OHIO INDEPENDENT BAPTIST