My Dear Friend,

If asked, "What was the first word of the true, original gospel?" most Christians would respond: "believe," "confess," "be saved," "commit," or "be born again." But, surprisingly, none of these answers is correct!

The first word of the gospel spoken by the first evangelists in the first century to the first listeners was "repent!" The synoptic Gospels confirm this.

They reveal John the Baptist and Jesus, respectively, as the first two messengers of the gospel. Matthew declares John's message was "Repent," after which John added, "for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 3:2). He then wrote when "Jesus began to preach," His first words were identical: "Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matthew 4:17). Mark doesn't give us the first statements of the Baptist's gospel, but recalls Jesus' message beginning, "Repent," after which He added, "and believe the gospel" (Mark 1:15). After careful research, Luke wrote that, when John emerged from the wilderness, he called for a "baptism of repentance" and "fruits worthy of repentance," or deeds proving the sincerity of the people's repentance, to "prepare the way" for them to receive the Savior (Luke 3:3-6, 8). Why make this point?

For nearly twenty centuries, the church's gospel began with a call for people to repent of their sins. To "repent" is to change one's thinking so strongly one's living is changed. However, in the last half-century, the American church has altered its message to begin with another word, "believe!" And in this one, seemingly innocent change, we created a hybrid, false, un-Christlike gospel that neither John nor Jesus would have embraced.

We can't "just believe" - adding faith in Jesus to our unchanged, worldly, sinful lifestyle - and be true, New Testament Christians. True Christians accept the necessity to first abandon their sins so they may receive the Savior and begin conforming to His will as revealed in the Bible. And that's not all.

Even after we become established, born-again believers, the Holy Spirit shows us further sins we never recognized: our wrong attitudes, motives, values, desires, and lifestyle. Why? So we may grow and mature spiritually and become fully transformed into Christ's character image. What are these other areas of repentance?

• We must repent of pride, and begin learning and living humility. We must repent of unforgiveness, and begin quickly and fully forgiving every offender every offense, however cruel or petty. We must repent of loving this satanically ordered world with all its worthless, temporal, material values, and begin loving the priceless, spiritual things of God and His new world that will endure forever.

• We must repent of prejudice, and begin evaluating situations involving all people of all kinds in all places fairly and even-handedly, as our Lord did and taught (John 7:24). We must repent of loving and trusting in money, and begin loving God and trusting His unfailing faithfulness and inexhaustible provisions. We must repent of all infidelity, and begin being faithful and loyal in every duty, relationship, and vow.

• We must repent of laziness, and begin being diligent and hardworking, doing whatever we do "heartily [lit. "with your soul"; wholeheartedly, energetically], as to the Lord" every day (Colossians 3:23). We must repent of being content to not know God's nature and ways, and begin studying them in God's Word from Genesis to Revelation.

• We must repent of being overly serious about everything but God, and begin being overly serious about nothing but God. We must repent of seeking perfect bliss in human relationships, and begin seeking it only in our personal fellowship with Jesus (Psalm 16:5, 8, 11). We must repent of considering our praise and worship sessions religious entertainment, and begin realizing they are chances to minister to Jesus with songs and exclamations offered with the deepest awe (Acts 13:1-2).

• We must repent of living only to pursue our chosen professions, and begin living to fulfill Christ's kingdom calling on our life. We must repent of trusting human wisdom, ours or others', and begin trusting only the divine wisdom of the Spirit, who always leads us perfectly. We must repent of seeking spiritual gifts, ministries, and offices to show off, and begin seeking them only to show Jesus we love Him by helping and nurturing His sheep (John 21:15-17).

• We must repent of not controlling our tongues, and begin letting the Holy Spirit control what, when, how, and to whom we speak. We must repent of dreading and evading our crosses of rejection for Christ's sake, and begin embracing and carrying them as badges of honor. We must repent of loving only those who love us, and begin loving also those who loathe us, when we can, in any way we can, as far as we can.

• We must repent of envy, and begin appreciating others' gifts as much as ours and rejoicing when God blesses, honors, or uses them in the very ways we ourselves desire. We must repent of small-minded, sectarian thinking, and begin fellowshiping and ministering with believers from all genuinely Christian flocks. We must repent of resenting or resisting God-ordained authorities in our lives, and begin appreciating and cooperating with them - because He has ordained them (Romans 13:1-7).

• We must repent of loving and hoping in our nation excessively, and begin focusing our adoration and hope on Christ's coming kingdom, which alone is ideal and just. We must repent of letting anxieties burden and control us, and learn to immediately cast them on Christ through prayer . . . and rest, completely relieved of our burdens, in "God's peace, which is so great we cannot understand it" (Philippians 4:7, NCV).

• We must repent of not examining ourselves, and begin confessing every sin to God quickly and fully, without blaming others or excusing ourselves (1 John 1:9). We must repent of not apologizing when we offend others, and begin asking forgiveness and, when necessary, making restitution (Matthew 5:23).

• We must repent of condemning and rejecting fellow Christians who sin or fail, and begin restoring them in a "spirit of meekness" (Galatians 6:1-3). We must repent of ambitiously seeking higher offices, and begin being joyfully content in the "lowest" places God puts us in . . . to humble and prepare us for high office (Luke 14:10-11; 1 Peter 5:6)!

• We must repent of letting anger control us, and begin controlling anger by "fret[ing] not" when evildoers do evil . . . because we trust God to judge every situation fairly in His time and His way (Psalm 37:1-8). We must repent of fighting in human ways, and learn to fight spiritually by faith-filled prayer and overcoming "evil with good" (Romans 12:17-21; Ephesians 6:10-18).

• We must repent of living selfishly for our own desires, and begin seeking God's kingdom will and others' pressing needs "first" (Matthew 6:33; Philippians 2:3-4). We must repent of planning without praying, and begin praying for God to reveal His planning. We must repent of admiringly imitating successful unbelievers, and begin respectfully walking in the biblical ways and wisdom of overcoming believers.

• We must repent of despising trying circumstances, and begin embracing our tests as opportunities to prove our faithfulness, grow stronger in grace, become more like Christ, and win God's approval for ministry. We must repent of living to accumulate earthly wealth, and begin seeking heavenly wealth: proven faith and personal knowledge of God. We must repent of chasing fleshly pleasures, and begin craving ultimate pleasure: God's presence! "In thy presence is fullness of joy" (Psalm 16:11).

Understandably, you may ask, "Will this deeper repentance ever end?" Yes. When the Holy Spirit sees we are spiritually mature - consistently spiritual in our thinking and living. All our old un-Christlike ways are replaced by Christ's ways of thinking, living, worshiping, and working. That is the end or goal of our personal Christianity, the last work the Spirit hopes to accomplish in each of us in this life.

Until that moment, whenever the Spirit convicts or corrects you, repent . . . so the gospel's first word will also be its last word in your life.

For repentance,

Dr. Greg Hinnant

GREG HINNANT MINISTRIES