Jim Carrey Channels Charlton Heston

Sometimes the shortest lines are the most memorable!

"Repent…and thou shalt be SAVED!” Such a funny line in Ace Ventura Two. Jim Carrey channeled his inner Charlton Heston from the 1956 film “The Ten Commandments.”

While that line still makes me giggle, it’s actually a very important concept that doesn’t get enough time in the pulpits of many churches in the Western Hemisphere.

Let’s talk about one of the most basic tenets of faith. “Repent, and thou shalt be saved.” Clearly, the idea of repenting is important because we cannot be saved without it. But what does “repent” really mean?

Well, if you want to have a relationship with God and be in Heaven after death (and not hell), what does the Bible say you need to do?

1.       You must repent from sin. (Luke 13:1-5) Eerdman’s Bible Dictionary includes this definition of repentance: “In its fullest sense, it’s a term for a complete change of orientation involving a judgment on past action and a deliberate redirection for the future.” In other words, it’s making an inner choice to turn from sinful behavior, turning toward God, and honoring and obeying Him with your life.

2. You also need to believe in and have faith in Christ. (John 3:36) “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life, and He who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on Him.”

The moral of the story is you need both repentance and faith. We talk a lot these days about faith, but do we truly understand repentance?

What IS repentance?

As I mentioned a moment ago, the meaning of the word “repent” is to think differently or reverse a decision. The primary Hebrew word in the original Old Testament manuscript for repent is “Shub,” meaning “to turn back” or “return.” In the New Testament, the Greek word is Metaneo, which means to “change one’s mind.”

So, the meaning of the word repent is “to think differently or reverse the course of your life’s actions.”

It begins with an inward decision, thinking differently about sin, so that you reverse your decision about living a sinful life and choose to honor God with your life. As such, repentance begins down deep inside you, which is what the Bible calls the “heart.”

Repentance begins with sorrow over your sin. If the sorrow and disappointment you feel over actions you aren’t proud of, and you know hurt God (and the people around you), is real, it will bear fruit in an outward change of actions. The fruit of true repentance is a changed life.

It's so very hard for us prideful humans to admit our sins. I know. God sees them anyway, so let it out and find forgiveness!

Psalm 51:4 says, “Against you, and you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge.”

Luke 5:32 says, “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”

The Gospel Coalition points out that “only when we realize that we have offended a Holy and Righteous God and that our sins are piled as high as the sky, can we truly come to God in faith.”

Therefore, in total, repentance is a change of heart that’s proven by a change in one’s actions.

In summary, here are the four steps to full repentance:

1.       Acknowledge that you’ve sinned against God. Remember, we all have. (1 John 1:8-9) “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Remember, God already sees our secret sins.

2.       Be sorry that you’ve sinned. Sin hurts God even more than it hurts the people around you. Trust me, I know. (2 Corinthians 7:10) “For Godly sorrow produces repentance that leads to salvation, not to be regretted. However, the sorrow of the world leads to death.” It looks like we can’t legitimately repent and turn to Jesus without feeling heartfelt sorrow over our sins.

3.       Decide to stop sinning and to obey God instead. (Acts 26:20) Paul is speaking to King Agrippa and discussing his ministry, saying, “But I declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting of repentance.”  Did you notice a pattern here that the inward decision of repentance from sin and turning to God leads to Godly works or a lifestyle change?

4.       Continue in these things always – for your whole life. We humans, have a bent toward sin. It’s in our nature, and that sinful nature has imprinted some terrible habits that will take a lifetime of walking with the Lord to overcome. Trust me, I know.

In summary, you can’t have real faith in Christ without turning from your sin. It takes that inner realization that we aren’t perfect and incapable of living what the Bible calls a Godly life (Perfection). But the Good News says we don’t have to strive for perfection.

It’s available as a gift, thanks to the sacrifice of the Son of God. Don’t take my word for it. Look into it yourselves. Most people don’t. Be different, stand out from the crowd, and don’t let someone else tell you what to think. It’s your choice alone as to where you spend the next life. Those others trying to tell you what to think have absolutely no say in where you wind up.

The Gospel Coalition says He's waiting for you to turn to Him, but won’t wait forever. “The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but it patient towards you, not wishing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)

We are all going to die someday. Where do you want to end up?