Well, I'm glad you asked... Believe it or not, Gilbert does a great job describing faith and repentance in the opening pages of this chapter:
That command - repent and believe {referring to Jesus' command in Mark 1:15} - is what God requires of us in response to the good news of Jesus... In other words, a Christian is one who turns away from his sin and trusts in the Lord Jesus Christ - and nothing else - to save him from sin and the coming judgment. (p. 73)And he goes into more thorough detail later as well. He summarizes faith as "a rock-solid, truth-grounded, promise-founded trust in the risen Jesus to save you from sin." (p. 74) What a beautiful definition (of sorts). If you'll re-read it, you'll notice that faith in Jesus is not blind or unfounded. Listen to the apsotle Paul describe Abraham's faith:
In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, “So shall your offspring be.” He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. (Romans 4:18-21, NIV, emphasis mine)Can you also trust God to do what He promises? He has promised that if we have faith in Christ, we will be granted Christ's right standing with the Father as Jesus takes our sin on himself to pay the full penalty - death.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
Now, on to the other part of this all important topic - repentance. Here is Gilbert's synopsis of how faith and repentance are integrated:If faith is turning to Jesus and relying on him for salvation, repentance is the flip side of that coin. It is turning away from sin, hating it, and resolving by God's strength to forsake it, even as we turn to him in faith ... Repentance... is absolutely crucial to [the Christian life], marking out those who have been saved by God from those who have not. (p. 79)Now certainly, Gilbert is not calling for sinless perfectionism. No, true followers of Jesus will struggle with sin as long as we live in this fallen world, but what the Bible teaches is that we should fight hard against our sin. We are to be at war with our own sinful impulses and actions everyday. Hear how the apostle Paul explains this truth:
For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. (Romans 8:13)That's what true Christians do, they put to death the deeds of the body [sin] through the Holy Spirit. And again, of course this is not something that anyone can be perfect in minute by minute for days and weeks and years. But, I think that believers should see progress toward being sanctified into Christ-likeness more and more over time. I mean, if the Spirit of God dwells in a person, can sin comfortably remain? No! After God gives us a new heart, we are to bear fruit in keeping with our repentance (Acts. 26:20). Our affections are to change.
Here are some questions to ponder regarding this chapter:
- When you stand before the judgment seat of our holy and righteous Creator, how will you prove that you're worthy to enter His heavenly kingdom?
- If you would claim Jesus' righteousness in the first question {because you have repented and believed in Him}, how have you been changed as a result of your belief and repentance?
- Where do your affections now lie: with Christ and His glory or with your own sinful desires?
- And if you're reading the book with me, what did you think of Gilbert's jumping in the pool analogy regarding faith?
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