How Repentance Works

"One Year Bible" New Testament Passage
Romans 2:1-24

Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance? Romans 2:4 (NKJV)

We are so prone toward SELF-JUSTIFICATION. We are trained from the earliest days in PERFORMANCE BASED ACCEPTANCE. This is the way the world works. If you do good, you are rewarded. If you do bad, you are punished. There is a great deal of wisdom in this from a worldly, practical viewpoint.

But there is a further step in this system that is deadly. It is he belief that everything is EARNED. And if it is earned, then the only one to be thanked is YOURSELF.

The Gospel operates completely different from this worldly wisdom. SALVATION IS OF THE LORD! It is not earned. It is a gift. Paul shines interesting light on this truth. He states that even REPENTANCE is a gift from God. It is not a fearful fleeing from a terrifying God. It is not a work of man to prove he is truly sorry for his sins. It is not the preliminary work required before God can do His work.

Repentance is the response of a heart flooded by the goodness of God. Even this initial step is powered by grace. We have two ways to see our relationship with God. We can take the God-centered view or the man-centered view. Romans is clear. We come to God and we grow in God because HE IS WORKING, not because we are worthy.