(15) Of Repentance unto Life

At the start of his ministry the Lord Jesus used just two verbs to summarize his gospel of the kingdom: "Repent and believe in the gospel" (Mark 1:15). Paul, likewise, condensed his ministry in a similar way: I testified "both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts 10:21). Only by this kind of preaching was Paul "innocent of the blood of all" (26). He had delivered the essential message that had been committed to him.

Repentance, along with faith, belongs to the "elementary doctrine of Christ"—it is foundational for the Christian (Heb. 6:1). By faith we accept, receive, and rest upon Christ alone for salvation. By repentance we turn from sin to God with a commitment to new obedience.

We must repent. So we need to know how to do it. But lest we try to do something we don't understand we need to first know what repentance is.