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The Gift of Repentance

By in Theology

Introduction

This post is about the gift of repentance. What it involves and how it applies to people according to Scripture. From Apostle Paul, in his letter to Timothy his close companion, he writes about godly living and what that specifically looks like in practice. In context, Paul exhorts Timothy on conduct befitting him as the Lord’s servant. That by doing so, God may grant his adversaries or opponents repentance. This short post is a fresh look at John Piper’s lab about the topic and how repentance comes about in a person’s life.

And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will. – 2 Timothy 2:24–26

Section One

There is a war happening for your soul. On one side, Satan is scheming to enslave you to sin and blind you to the beauty of God. But God, by His power, is able to lead you to faith, repentance, and freedom. How is the war won? John Piper looks at several key verses in this lab.

Repentance as Transformation (01:29–04:54)

  1. Unrepentant people lack the knowledge of the truth, are captured by the devil, and have lost their senses.
  2. God alone grants repentance. When it comes, it comes from him.
  3. Repentance is a deep inner change in a person—change of mind, of heart, and of soul—that leads to a knowledge of the truth.
  4. Knowledge alone is not enough. Unbelieving and unrepentant people even demons—can know a lot of true things about God.
  5. True knowledge of God sees Jesus as beautiful, compelling, and infinitely valuable.
  6. The kind of knowledge that leads to freedom and a right, vibrant relationship with God is grounded in repentance.

Salvation as Sight (04:54–08:32)

  1. Coming to their senses (2 Timothy 2:26) corresponds with repentance (2 Timothy 2:25).
  2. Repentance is a change of heart, in which we reacquire our ability to think and feel rightly.
  3. Escaping from the snare of the devil (2 Timothy 2:26) corresponds with coming to a knowledge of the truth (2 Timothy 2:25).
  4. The devil does not snare us by binding our hands against our will. When we’re under his power, we hate the right and love the wrong. No, the devil ensnares us through deception. He holds us in captivity by blinding us.

The Gift of God (08:32–10:51)

  1. Our Condition: We were snared by Satan, and were blinded by him.
  2. Our Repentance: God gives repentance, and restores our senses.
  3. Our Knowledge: Repentance leads to knowledge that treasures Christ.
  4. Our Freedom: We are now free from the captivity to do the devil’s will, and free now to do the will of God.

Study Questions

  1. Based on 2 Timothy 2:25–26, how would you describe yourself before God granted you repentance? What language does Paul give to describe our condition?
  2. Is there true knowledge of God that does not spring from repentance? Can you think of examples in the Bible?
  3. How does the devil ensnare people? And how does God defeat their bondage to the devil?

Related Resources

• God Desires All to Be Saved, and Grants Repentance to Some (1976 article)
• Is Election Divine Favoritism? (interview)
• My Prayer to God Is That They Might Be Saved (sermon)

Piper, J. (2014–2015). Look at the Book Labs (2 Ti 2:24–26). Minneapolis, MN: Desiring God.

As referenced in Apostle Paul’s written letter to Timothy, we have what he specifically intended as to what repentance means and how his conduct is an agent toward the repentance of others.

And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will. – 2 Timothy 2:24–26

Section Two

God makes the objects of the miracle of repentance agents of the miracle of repentance. In this section, John Piper established that it is God who decisively brings repentance for any sinner. Now, he asks what role, if any, we have in bringing about that repentance for others.

Introduction, Prayer & Review (00:00–03:10)

  1. Only God gives repentance—a deep heart/mind/soul change.
  2. This repentance leads to a true knowledge of the truth, beyond the knowledge of Satan and of unbelievers.
  3. By this repentance (and the true knowledge it brings), we escape the snare of the devil, which is his deception.

Traits of the Agents of Repentance (03:10–07:50)

  1. When God grants repentance, it leads to a knowledge of the truth. But where did that truth come from? The Lord’s servant. Repentance is always a response to truth. Therefore, we must speak the truth.
  2. We must speak with clarity and competence.
  3. We must speak with love. The Lord’s servant is not quarrelsome—not easily angered. The Lord’s servant patiently expects and endures evil. The Lord’s servant is gentle, even when correcting someone.

Sent to Open the Eyes of the Blind (07:50–10:49)

  1. Yes, God is sovereign in the granting of repentance.
  2. But, we should never conclude that we do not have to do anything to bring others to faith and repentance. The Bible clearly says that the Lord’s servant—you and me—are essential for God’s saving work.
  3. God makes the objects of the miracle of repentance agents of the miracle of repentance. (Acts 26:18)

Study Questions

  1. Who is “the Lord’s servant” in 2 Timothy 2:24? List all the qualities Paul gives for the Lord’s servant in that verse.
  2. If the repentance that God brings leads to a knowledge of the truth, what is that truth, and where does it come from?
  3. Look again at 2 Timothy 2:24–26. If God sovereignly, decisively grants repentance, why do we have to do anything?

Related Resources

• Give the Blessing of Rebuke (article)
• Robust Theology Fuels Ambitious Evangelism (interview)
• How Shall People Be Saved? Part 1 and Part 2 (sermons)

Piper, J. (2014–2015). Look at the Book Labs (2 Ti 2:24–26). Minneapolis, MN: Desiring God.

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Lose It All

By in Theology

Harsh, it seems. However, the warning is an act of enormous mercy during this time of grace.  It is what we are called to do, both for believers and unbelievers alike. If we do not, the soul will not survive. The unrepentant will be given over to oblivion. 

Given over to eternal separation and lasting suffering. So there is an urgency to this demand from Jesus because our time is short. By the certain and clear words of Jesus, those who do not repent will perish in God’s judgment. 

So today, I spent time in Luke 16. This is where we are reminded of the rich man’s situation—having been in abundance and no felt need upon God. He neglected his standing before the Lord and those among him.

“There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s side.

The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you, a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.’

And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house— for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’ ”

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Lk 16:19–31). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

The evidence of repentance in a person’s life is what by the Spirit is doing within. If there is authentic repentance, that person is bearing fruit. It is the fruit of the Spirit that confirms a person’s standing. Through the word, ask for the faith that produces repentance for your enduring sanctification. Repent and put your faith in Christ so that you shall be saved.

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The Winnowing Fork

By in Theology

The winnowing fork in Matt 3:11-12 refers to the separation of both the repentant and the unrepentant. In my study today, it occurred to me that the chaff thrown into the unquenchable fire is the unrepentant. The unquenchable fire is not temporary as by baptism, but a “fire” everlasting.

Those who repent and trust in him will receive the blessing of the Holy Spirit (Joel 2:28-29, Acts 2:16-21), while the unrepentant will receive the judgment of eternal fire, and even the repentant may undergo purifying fire. 

“I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He (Jesus) will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” -Mt 3:11-12

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Ita Quod Per Ignem

By in Theology

The late repentants were those who narrowly escaped the torment of hell. While of some speculation, the poem reads as a vivid contrast between different providence levels through saving faith and life lived out by grace—this artistically expressed through Dante’s purgatory. Yet as a comparison, it is written, escaped so as by fire (Ita Quod Per Ignem). “If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.” (1 Cor 3:15). Is it possible to obtain the gift of repentance without first obtaining faith through grace?

The Late Repentants – Divine Comedy Purgatory IV 103-105

“Thither we drew; and there were persons there / Who in the shadow stood behind the rock, As one through
indolence is wont to stand.”

Godly Sorrow Produces Repentance Leading to Salvation

– 2 Corinthians 7:10

“The entrance into the kingdom of God is through the sharp, sudden pains of repentance colliding with man’s respectable “goodness.” Then the Holy Spirit, who produces these struggles, begins the formation of the Son of God in the person’s life (Galatians 4:19). This new life will reveal itself in conscious repentance followed by unconscious holiness, never the other way around. The foundation of Christianity is repentance. Strictly speaking, a person cannot repent when he chooses— repentance is a gift of God.”  Oswald Chambers

“And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.” – 2 Timothy 2:24–26 (NKJV)

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