What Is True Repentance Acts 2:38?
True Repentance Is to Give Up Our Own Thoughts and Return to God
Acts 2:38 says,
“Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
The apostle Peter explains that receiving the Holy Spirit is a result of being forgiven for our sins through faith and genuine repentance. The forgiveness of sins and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit are closely connected.
The Bible passage Acts 2:38–39 says, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.”
Understanding the Meaning of Repentance
What is Repenting?
Repentance means turning away from. When someone who has drifted away from God realizes their sins, acknowledges Jesus as their Savior, and returns to God, this is true repentance. All of us are burdened by sin.
True repentance involves recognizing that we are sinners before God and acknowledging that we are incapable of living a sinless life. It means accepting Jesus as our Savior, believing that He came to save sinners like us, and that through His baptism, He took away all our sins.
True repentance requires giving up our own thoughts and surrendering ourselves to God (Acts 2:38). It entails admitting our sins and turning to the Word of God, wholeheartedly accepting the salvation offered through the water and the blood (1 John 5:6).
In true repentance, we acknowledge our complete sinfulness and put our faith in Jesus, the Son of God, as the Savior who saved us from all our sins. To be saved and cleansed of our sins, we must cease striving to become righteous through our own efforts and acknowledge that we are entirely sinful before God and His laws.
We then embrace the truth of His salvation, the gospel of the water and the Spirit, which Jesus provided through His baptism and sacrificial death. As sinners, we must relinquish our own thoughts and will and completely turn to Jesus.
We are saved when we come to believe that Jesus’ baptism was a means to bear all our sins upon Himself (Mathew 3:15, John 1:29).
In essence, Jesus’ baptism, crucifixion, and resurrection fulfill God’s righteousness and His plan to save all sinners. Jesus came in human form, was baptized, and crucified to wash away our sins.
Having unwavering faith in these events and believing that Jesus was resurrected to become the Savior of all who trust in Him constitutes true repentance and genuine faith.
Insincere Repentance Is Very Flawed
When God said, “Who will go for Us?” the Prophet Isaiah said, “Here am I! Send me” (Isaiah 6:8). God then said:
“Make the heart of this people dull,
And their ears heavy,
And shut their eyes;
Lest they see with their eyes,
And hear with their ears,
And understand with their heart,
And return and be healed” (Isaiah 6:10).
When God observed the fallen state of the Israelites, He was concerned that they might turn back to Him and find healing. This indicates that it was impossible for the people of Israel to reverse their opposition to God and return to Him without genuine, sincere repentance.
God was emphasizing that the people of Israel needed to have a change of heart and genuinely return to Him. Merely asking God for forgiveness without wholeheartedly repenting from their sinful ways and seeking relief from their suffering would only offend Him. Insincere repentance is deeply flawed.
Similarly, when we were born into this world, we inherited Adam’s rebellious heart when he sinned. We must realize that due to our inherent nature to disobey and stand against God, we can receive His blessings only by admitting our sinful state to Him.
Even those of us living in the present age must fully acknowledge the sins we have committed by opposing God. We must confess to God that from the moment we were born, our hearts were inclined to rebel against Him, and we lived with that inclination.
Therefore, all human beings must return to Jesus Christ, the Savior of humanity, and accept “the gospel of the water and the Spirit” that He has graciously provided for our salvation. We must admit that we have inherited Adam’s sin and lived as adversaries of God until now. In humility, we must ask God for His mercy.
Human Beings Must Return to God and Repent
For true healing from the fundamental sins committed by standing against God, all human beings must genuinely return to God. They must also recognize that without confessing their inherent opposition to God, it is impossible to return to Him.
In order for us to truly repent before God and be saved from our sins, we must first acknowledge God’s authority, holiness, and honor. We must admit that our hearts have desired to stand against God.
Therefore, we must surrender ourselves to God’s holiness and believe in and praise His merciful blessings, compassionate grace, and righteous salvation.
To return to such a majestic and merciful God, we must recognize that it is impossible without the guidance of God’s Word and the assistance of the Holy Spirit. We can obtain this help by putting our faith in the work of Jesus Christ.
In the New Testament era, we must realize that true salvation is unattainable without the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit, the precious gift given to us by our Lord. This fact should never be forgotten.
Our hearts are inherently sinful, desiring to stand against God and His Word. As we have lived as enemies of God in this state, our only hope for deliverance from all our sins in this world lies in Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
Jesus sought us out with the gospel Word of the water and the Spirit. It is by believing in Jesus Christ and His righteous work of salvation that we can obtain true deliverance, all thanks to the Lord.
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