Saturday, Feb 19
Believe and repent
Scripture: Leviticus 9-10, Acts 26
Acts 26:20 Instead, I preached to those in Damascus first, and to those in Jerusalem and in all the region of Judea, and to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works worthy of repentance.
Acts 26:27 “King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you believe.”
Observation
From Paul’s defense before King Agrippa:
Paul tells his story. After Paul met Jesus, he was “obedient to the heavenly vision” and preached everywhere that people “should repent and turn to God, and do works worthy of repentance.”
I wish the CSB used a different word than “preached.” In our culture, preaching is something done in church, a sermon, or a speech that is “preachy”—with negative connotations. The word simply means “to report, to tell, to announce, to proclaim.” Paul reported the Jesus story and then called people to repent (change your mind and behavior), turn to God and demonstrate the change in action. I’m struck by the centrality of repentance in Paul’s presentation. We call people to believe, but rarely to repent—we are called to both.
Near the end of his presentation to Agrippa, Paul makes a personal appeal. “King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets?” Do you believe? It’s a wonderful question to ask people. These two things—believe and repent—go together.
Application
Two things.
First, I want to ask people this simple question: do you believe? Do you believe the Jesus story? Do you believe in Him? It’s an excellent question to ask any time we have shared the good news.
When I was in Mongolia training pastors in 2000, we visited a home group. After the meeting, our host gave us a quick tour of their apartment. In their bedroom hung large framed photos of his mother and father. He said, “This is my mother; she believed. This is my father; he didn’t believe.” I was struck by the simplicity and clarity of his statement. You either believe, or you don’t.
Do you believe?
Second, we not only call people to believe, but as a result of that belief, to repent. Paul’s statement is an excellent description of repentance: a change of mind that results in turning to God and a corresponding change of behavior (do works worthy of repentance). We’re calling people to repent, to change—not on their own, but with God’s help. We turn to God in humble dependence and He helps us do His will.
Repentance is as much a part of our message as faith. Believe and repent.
Prayer: Lord, help me—help all of us who follow You—to believe and repent. And then to share the story of Jesus with a clear call to believe and repent.