Acts 2:38

“When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”Acts 2:37-38

“Brothers, what shall we do?” 1. “Repent “Brothers, what shall we do?” 1. “Repent

Requirements of Repentance From John the Baptist in Matthew 3:2 to Jesus in Matthew 4:17 to Peter in Acts 2:38 to Paul in Acts 26:20, the necessity of repentance was passionately preached. Why was repentance preached as being so vitally necessary for mankind’s salvation? Because...

Makes Repentance Necessary. But Why? Because… S I N

THE CREATED SINS AGAINST THE CREATOR: “Against You … have I sinned” (Psalm 51:4a). Therefore…

Sin is rebellion against God. Why? Because… 1. God’s law is righteous. “All Your commandments are righteous” (Psalm 119:172). So… To obey the law of God is to do what’s right.

Sin is rebellion against God. Why? Because… 1. God’s law is righteous. 2. Sin is transgression of God’s law: “Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness” (1 John 3:4). So…

Sin is rebellion against God. Why? Because… 1. God’s law is righteous. 2. Sin is transgression of God’s law. 3. Sin creates enemies of God: He who sins is of the devil [adversary, enemy]” (1 John 3:8).

Sin is an igniter of God’s indignation. Why? Because… 1. Sin disgusts God: “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I … wish you were cold or hot. So … because you are lukewarm … I will spew you out of My mouth” (Revelation. 3:15-16). So…

Sin is an igniter of God’s indignation. Why? Because… 1. Sin disgusts God. 2. Sin isolates from God: “Your iniquities have separated you from God; and your sins have hidden His face from you so that He will not hear you” (Isaiah 59:2).

Sin is an igniter of God’s indignation. Why? Because… 1. Sin disgusts God. 2. Sin isolates from God: David wrote, “The face of the Lord is against those who do evil” (Psalm 34:16). So…

THE CREATED’S (OUR) ONLY OPTION IS … REPENTANCE: “Unless you repent, you will … perish” (Luke 13:3). So it’s important to note that…

1. Forgiveness requires repentance: “If a brother sins against you [as we do against God], rebuke him [as God does us], and if he repents, forgive him [as God does us]” (Luke 17:3). To put #1 another way…

1. Forgiveness requires repentance. 2. Repentance precedes forgiveness: “ Repent … for the remission [forgiveness] of sins” (Acts 2:38). But perhaps most importantly…

1. Forgiveness requires repentance. 2. Repentance precedes forgiveness. 3. No one is exempt from repentance: “God now commands all men everywhere to repent” (Acts 17:30). Now…

Since repentance means to have a change of mind, and since the mind includes intellect, emotion, and will, we need to talk about repentance in relation to these three factors. So… REPENTANCE REQUIRES…

A Change of Intellect CHANGE CONCERNING SIN’S EXISTENCE IN OUR LIVES. IN FACT, JUST…

1. Don’t deny sin’s existence period: “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light, and who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter” (Isaiah 5:20).

1. Don’t deny sin’s existence period. 2. Don’t lay responsibility for sin on others: “The woman You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree and I ate” (Genesis 3:12).

1. Don’t deny sin’s existence period. 2. Don’t lay responsibility for sin on others. 3. Don’t compare ourselves with others: “God, I thank you that I am not like other men” (Luke 18:11), and Jesus indicated that this man did NOT go home justified.

1. Don’t deny sin’s existence period. 2. Don’t lay responsibility for sin on others. 3. Don’t compare ourselves with others. 4. Don’t ignore sin, because such hardens the heart: “Exhort one another daily … lest … you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin” (Hebrews 3:13).

A Change of Intellect CHANGE BY HAVING A CONVIC-TION OF PERSONAL SIN.

1. Admit our guilt: “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves” (1 John 1:8); or “If we say that we have not sinned, we make God a liar” (1 John 1:10). Rather… “If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

1. Admit our guilt: Similar to Isaiah (6:5), we, like Peter, must fall down before Jesus and confess in shame, “I am a sinful man” (Luke 5:8).

1. Admit our guilt. 2. Admit that sin is against God: Like David, the prodigal son confessed that he had “sinned against Heaven” (Luke 15:21). Moving on…   

A Change of Emotions CHANGE CONCERNING THE WAY WE FEEL ABOUT SIN: CHANGE FROM REJOICING IN IT TO MOURNING OVER IT.

1. Some boast in sin: “There is sexual immorality among you—a man has his father’s wife! And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned” (1 Corinthians 5:1-2). In Romans 1:32 Paul spoke against those who may not commit certain sins, but who approve of those who do commit them.

1. Some boast in sin. 2. We just can’t draw close to God and enjoy sin: “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double- minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom” (James 4:8-10).

1. Some boast in sin. 2. We just can’t draw close to God and enjoy sin: Jesus began His Sermon on the Mount by saying, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” (Matthew 5:4).

A Change of Emotions CHANGE FROM WORLDLY SOR-ROW TO GODLY SORROW (2 Corinthians 7:8-11). And lastly…

A Change of Will DETERMINE TO ACT CONTRARY TO SIN. The will is the power of control the mind has over its own expressions in behavior.

A Change of Will DETERMINE TO ACT CONTRARY TO SIN. The result of will-changing is bearing of fruits worthy of repentance; both John the Baptist and Paul spoke of “works befitting repentance” (Luke 3:8 & Acts 26:19-20).

A Change of Will DETERMINE TO ACT CONTRARY TO SIN. There’s a good example of “works befitting repentance” in Acts 19:19 where numerous sorcerers burned all their books which, I’m told, were worth about £37,000 in our modern currency.

A Change of Will DETERMINE TO FORSAKE SIN AND PURSUE RIGHTEOUSNESS. How? Well…

1. Determine to obey God: “If a wicked man turns from all his sins … and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live” (Ezekiel 18:21). Paul exemplified this sort of determination when he said, “I will not be brought under the power of any[thing]” (1 Corinthians 6:12).

1. Determine to obey God. 2. Determine to do good to others, instead of taking advantage of them: “Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil. Learn to do well. Seek justice, rebuke the oppressor; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow” (Isaiah 1:16-17).

1. Determine to obey God. 2. Determine to do good to others, in- stead of taking advantage of them. 3. Determine to seek spiritual things, not the things of Earth: “Seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things of the earth” (Colossians 3:1-2).

So true repentance affects the intellect, the emotions, and the will, changing the way we think, resulting in a change in the way we feel, and what we do. In Conclusion…

Repentance leads us to seek forgiveness, but it isn’t forgiveness itself, for that’s something which takes place in the mind of God. Repentance leads the unsaved to seek forgiveness through the blood of Christ. (Acts 2:38).