I have started blogging through Jesus’ Demands as discussed in John Piper’s latest book What Jesus Demands from the World. On now to demands #2 & 3.
Demand #2 — Repent
From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matt. 4:17)
I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. (Luke 5:32)
The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel. (Mark 1:15)
Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. (Luke 13:3, 5)
Jesus called everyone to repent—it was his first public demand. Piper pointed out that “repentance is an internal change of mind and heart rather than mere sorrow for sin or mere improvement of behavior.” He points to the two halves of the Greek word for repentance (metanoeo) for support. Meta signifies change and noeo is the word for the mind (and “its thoughts and perceptions and dispositions and purposes”). Luke 3:8 is very instructive as to the nature of repentance as it calls us to “bear fruits in keeping with repentance”. Thus, repentance is a change of mind and heart that happens inside of us and inevitably leads to new behavior.
Jesus demands we experience this inward change of heart. He calls sinners to repent. Sin, Piper argues, is “an assault on God.” And thus we must turn away from this attitude of enmity with God and submit to His will. Piper sums up the ideas inherent in repentance with the following sentence.
Repenting means experiencing a change of mind so that we can see God as true and beautiful and worthy of all our praise and all our obedience.
And repentance is universally needed. It is not just the bad people who stand in need of repentance but we all do. And if we don’t repent, Jesus says we will “all likewise perish”! This is serious. But this command to repent is not separated from God’s gracious offer of forgiveness. We are to “repent and believe in the gospel”. And this command is to go to every tribe, tongue, and nation (Luke 24:46-47).
Repentance has recently been redefined by “Free Grace” advocates and others who oppose a so-called “Lordship Salvation”. I won’t get into that here, but will point you to this post for a series of articles which explain and defend the correct definition of repentance well.
But before moving on, I think it is appropriate to ponder the full weight of this command. We are called to experience an inward change of heart which results in our relinquishing sin and relishing in Jesus. Are you, am I currently savoring the Savior? Repentance is an initial requirement for salvation. But it is more than that. It bears lasting fruit and so our continual response to the sin we so often fall back to, should be one of repentance. And just as God must grant repentance to those enslaved by sin (2 Tim. 2:24-26), so God must help us to experience a genuine sorrow over and internal change in reference to our sin. May he truly give us repentance and enable us to live lives that are pleasing to Him.
Demand #3 — Come unto Me
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matt. 11:28)
Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.” (John 7:37)
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger. ” (John 6:35)
You refuse to come to me that you may have life. (John 5:40)
Repentance seems so negative. And it is true Jesus calls us to leave self-glorifying sin. But Christ dose not call us to a “monastic” life of continual bitterness of spirit. He does not call us to a life of hopeless attempts to please a stern and unbending Lord. No, he came to give us joy.
…when God gives the radical change of new birth and repentance, Jesus himself becomes our supreme treasure. “His yoke is easy, and his burden is light.” Therefore, his demand that we come to him is not burdensome. It means coming to the one who has become everything to us. [I changed the formatting somewhat here.]
Jesus offers us “rest”, “water”, and “bread”. This is relief, quenched thirst, and spiritual nourishment. There is a sense that coming to Jesus is not easy. It is a “burden”. But the difficulty lies in this fallen world and not in Jesus. He even promises to help bear that burden.
Jesus desires, yea demands us to come. But so many don’t. Why is this? In Matt. 23:37 Jesus weeps because those in Jerusalem “would not” come to him. And in Jn. 5:40 Jesus points out that many “refuse to come”. People “refuse to come” because they do not want to come. Some would call this a “choice of free will” but Piper stresses that “Jesus would probably say it is the choice of a will enslaved to sin” (see John 8:34). Since we are all enslaved to sin, how can any come? Piper answers,
…God, in his great mercy, overcomes our resistance and draws us: “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him” (John 6:44). “No one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father” (John 6:65). God grants the gift of new birth and repentance, which opens the eyes of the spiritually blind to the truth and beauty of Jesus. When this happens, all suicidal objections fall. We are finally free. And finally free from slavery, we come.
A few thoughts concerning this demand now come to mind. First, we should “never cease to praise and thank [God] for his sovereign grace” which draws us to Jesus. I know many who read this blog are yet to be convinced of Calvinism. I hope, however, that in reading this post you see that the Calvinist position on this point is cause for greater praise and wonder at the glory that God would choose us. It is not about being better than others, and it is not about belittling the need for evangelism. God regenerates us through the preached Gospel message, and Calvinists affirm that everyone who believes will truly be saved. But step back and see the wonder of God’s grace. After all, you could have been born as a Hindu in India, with little chance to be saved, or a Mayan Indian before Christ with almost no chance to be saved. Praise God for his undeserved goodness in drawing you to Himself.
Second, let us meditate on how good Jesus is. What a wonder that when he calls us to come, it is not like a frustrated Father calling us to face judgment, but rather that of a tender One who loves us and wants to meet our deepest needs! Jesus calls us to come and drink, eat, and find glorious rest and joy, even, in Him. And not for a little while but more and more for ever and ever! Praise Jesus for such wonderful news. Let us come, let us pray that God gives us more grace to come in an ever more true way. Let us pursue Jesus as our Supreme Treasure.
—See all posts on, the Demands of Jesus
∼striving for the unity of the faith for the glory of God∼ Eph. 4:3,13 “¢ Rom. 15:5-7
One of my recently coined personal mottoes regarding the Christian faith is that Christianity is not an either/or, but a both/and religion. I was reminded of this when I read your statement about how repentance seems such a negative thing. Certainly, it seems negative when it’s removed from that to which it is inseparably joined: faith! I’m not accusing you of having separated them, however. The fact that you’ve coupled Jesus’ demand to repent with Jesus’ demand to come to him is proof that you recognize the lack of dichotomy between the two. True conversion is comprised of repenting of sin, receiving Christ by faith. No simple, easily defined steps, “hereby I officially repent,” followed by “hereby I officially believe.” When we’re drawn by the Father, we do the one while doing the other. They’re two sides of the one coin of salvation. In this sense, perhaps faith would be “heads” and repentance “tails” and thus negative in comparison with faith, but what a wonderful and sobering thing it is to live a life of faith and repentance! May we continue examining ourselves as to the extent of fruit borne in keeping with repentance and love by which our faith works!
I’m always struck by the contrast between the shallow concern we have about the state of our repentance compared with the angonizing self-examination I read of going on in previous generations. The art and science of repentance and faith is truly a lost art by and large! Thank God for the recent revival of interest in the theology of the past which in so many ways corrects the errors evangelicals have been making for the past hundred years or so.
Repent is what we should all do if we want to be worthy of Our Lord Jesus Christ