Repentance and the Kingdom of God

Having recently returned from speaking at a Teen Camp for a week, it made me consider again the key components of the Gospel.  Paul summed them up well the implications of the Gospel in his address before Festus, King Agrippa, and Bernice in Acts 26:20 when he said Jew and Gentile "...should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance."  Though Paul does not speak of the salvation we have by only grace through faith in Jesus, this emphasis on repentance should be no surprise to the converted.  It is interesting to me how Paul did not emphasise common themes camped on today like God's love, forgiveness, or grace.

Perhaps repentance is not a major theme in too many presentations of the Gospel today because it is confronting for both the speaker and the audience, yet without it none shall be saved.  When John the Baptist came to prepare the way for Jesus, Matthew 3:1-2 describes repentance as the primary thrust of his discourses:  "In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, ² and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!"  Once the kingdom of God was manifested among them with the coming of the KING OF KINGS Jesus, the message did not change.  After John was thrown in prison Matthew 4:17 says, "From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."  Jesus was crucified and rose from the grave and guess what?  The message to be preached in the name of Jesus was not to change.  Our risen LORD said to His disciples in Luke 24:46-47, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, ⁴⁷ and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem."

Repentance involves changing our minds and making future choices which align with God's righteousness.  We must turn from sin, then we must turn to God and do the things which please Him.  This is not a call to return to Law but to walk in obedience to God according to His Word.  Jesus said during the Sermon on the Mount, "It has been written...but I say unto you...".  Jesus fulfilled the Law, and those who repent and trust in Him are filled with the Holy Spirit who guides us into all truth.  He conveys to us all Jesus says, and this Spirit-filled life transcends that of ordinances and traditions of men.  Jesus calls us to live on a plane higher than that of Law, and repentance and remission of sins is to mark our practices and preaching as we go on with God.  If we desire to enter God's kingdom, we must do so God's Way.