top of page

Can Anyone See Your Repentance?

Writer's picture: RMBRMB

True preaching is unavoidably accompanied by urgent calls to repentance.


One of the New Testament words for “repentance” means literally “a change of mind.” But this change of mind isn’t merely intellectual, as if repentance is a matter of accessing the right information.


It is deeply personal, a matter of our heart and life.


Repentance means we change our minds about ourselves, because we see our helplessness and how much we need grace. At the same time, repentance is changing our mind about God and seeing him as our one and only refuge. We come to grasp that it’s only because of the Lord’s great mercies that we are not consumed.

By the grace of his Holy Spirit, these changes are the beginning of new life.

This was the point of John the Baptist’s question when he called his listeners to receive the baptism of repentance. His question was essentially this: What will they look like after they’d been baptized in the Jordan? They’d be dripping wet, of course. They might’ve gone on their way, smiling and relieved.


But if they have really believed in God and repented of sins, then their life will look different. It will be changed. Such was the force of John’s preaching in Luke 3:8,

Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance.

Repentance is no abstract activity, but something you can see. As we draw on the sweet waters of God’s grace, fruits on our branches will grow.


First, true repentance changes our relationship with God. If you know yourself to be a chronic idolater and rebel, but now forgiven and cleansed, you will begin to love God, thank and worship him. Now you want to spend time with the Lord. You want to listen to him. Now your greatest joy is knowing God and knowing him better.


Second, repentance shifts our relationship with other people. Turning away from our sin will shape how we treat our neighbours. We will treat them with grace and gentleness. The forgiven person becomes a forgiving person.


We hear this in John’s answers to the crowd. They ask, “What then shall we do?” (v. 10). They’ve caught his point about bearing fruits worthy of repentance. So they seek application: What should be the results of this change?


John replies, “He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise” (v. 11). The mark of true repentance is when it changes what you actually do, like sharing your goods with others and relieving their suffering.


This will mean different things for different people. There are two more examples in John’s message. Tax collectors ask what they should do, and he tells them to collect only what is required and to stop stealing. Soldiers ask what they should do, and John says they should no longer take advantage of powerless civilians. Concrete change.

All of us should ask the same question: “What then shall we do?” It’s asked by the repentant husband, and the repentant wife. It’s asked by the young person who wants to repent from his sin, and by the child, and by the older member: What will be the results of repentance in my life? How will I show my good response to the preaching of the gospel?


We shouldn’t be content with an answer that lacks specifics. Repentance is concrete. If there has been a sin, then we seek to change.

 

  • If I have been making an idol out of money, I stop, and begin to delight in the Lord alone.

 

  • If I have been putting impure things in front of my eyes, I stop, and pursue better things.

 

  • If I have been getting enraged with my family, repentance means I stop, and I seek God’s grace for self-control.

 

  • If I have been neglecting prayer, then I seek to begin again, and to create new habits.

 

The examples can be multiplied. The point is that repentance means change. What was I doing before I repented? What kind of life was I leading? And how will things be different now? How will I begin to put things right with God and my neighbour?


It is not a one-time question, but it’s asked again and again, day after day. What then shall we do? We will bear fruit, for the glory of the God who saved us.


So can anyone see your repentance today?

Comments


Sign up for updates

© 2025 by Reuben Bredenhof - www.reubenbredenhof.com

Thanks for joining my mailing list!

bottom of page