True or False Repentance.
1 Samuel 15:1 – 24 and Psalm 51
There has been a lot of news lately about false teachers repenting and admitting to teaching false doctrine or not preaching the full Gospel.
However, one has to ask if this is true repentance.
People like Benny Hinn, Costi Hinn, Doreen Virtue and Todd White etc.
This does not only apply to these false teachers but also to any individual who repents in light of the Gospel message.
Repentance: ( metanoia) (change in one's way of life resulting from penitence or spiritual conversion.) the action of repenting; the showing of sincere regret or remorse for past actions.
The doctrine of repentance as taught in the Bible is a call to persons to make a radical turn from one way of life to another. The repentance called for throughout the Bible is a summons to a personal, absolute and ultimate unconditional surrender to God as Sovereign.
What happens when one repents?
“Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance” (Matthew 3:8).
True repentance is necessary for salvation. Jesus said, “Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3). It is the “goodness of God” that “leadeth (us) to repentance” (Romans 2:4) from our “dead works” (Hebrews 6:1).
Conviction: To repent, one needs to be convicted of sin.
It is the Holy Spirit that convicts men of sin.
When He, (the Holy Spirit) comes, He will convict men of sin, of righteousness and judgement.
John 16:8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgement:
The Holy Spirit highlights the fact that we are sinners, separated from God and in need of a Saviour.
Contrition: To be contrite is the state of feeling sorry, remorseful and penitent.
If we are truly repentant, we will feel sorrow for what we are and what we have done.
Isaiah 66:2 All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the Lord. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.
Psalm 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
Confession: To agree with God concerning our sin. No buts, no excuses, just an acceptance that we are wrong and guilty before a Holy God.
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Public Confession: A public declaration of Jesus Christ before the world, of our new state. This is done by confessing before men our new way of life, both verbally and by the public water baptism as an outward sign of what God has done in our life.
Conversion: To be converted is to be put on the right path, to be changed in heart and mind.
This is not the work of our own hands, this is not something that we decide for ourselves. It is a work of the Holy Spirit in the work of regeneration, taking away a heart of stone and giving us a heart of flesh. A new heart, a new beginning, a new birth.
John 1:13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
Conversion is being transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light.
Taken off the wide road to destruction and put on the narrow road to salvation.
Acts 3:19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,
2Pe 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
To see the difference between true and false repentance, we can look to two men in scripture.
King Saul of Israel and King David of Israel.
In 1 Samuel we read of King Saul:
1 Samuel 15: 1 Samuel also said unto Saul, The Lord sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the Lord.
2. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt.
3.Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.
Saul was given a word from God to go and smite the Amalakites and to utterly destroy them.
However, Saul disobeyed the word of God.
9. But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but everything that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.
He took it upon himself to spare Agag and chose to keep the best of the animals.
13 And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the Lord: I have performed the commandment of the Lord.
Saul had either completely misunderstood the word of God or he was deliberately lying.
Samuel, then replied, well if you have been obedient to the word of God, what all the noise coming from the animals?
14 And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?
Notice what Saul says, very quick with his reply, Well! It wasn’t me, they have done it, the people are to blame.
Is this acceptance of blame or responsibility?
The immediate reaction, when confront with sin is to blame someone else. This is where the “but” comes in.
Well I did do it, but he made me do it, or they were to blame, they put me up to it.
Is this really repentance?
15 And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.
This is Saul, not recognising his sin, not accepting responsibility.
20 And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and have gone the way which the Lord sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.
Here, Saul trips himself up by owning up to being the one who brought Agag but continued to blame the people for the taking of the spoils.
21 But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in Gilgal.
Being exposed for his sin, even his final statement excused himself showed no repentance.
24 And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, ( Then comes his excuse) and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.
Saul excused his sin by blaming it on the fact that he feared the people.
For a king, it was a lame excuse.
On the contrary, look at King David’s reaction to his sin of taking Bathsheba the wife of Uriah and getting her pregnant and then going on to have Uriah murdered so that he could take his wife.
The account of how David fell from grace and dealt with his actions, can be read in Psalm 51.
This psalm provides us with an insight into David's spiritual recovery from a place of arrogance and callousness towards God's voice.
Psa 51:1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
1. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.
5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
9 Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.
10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
13 Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.
14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.
15 O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.
16 For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
18 Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then shalt thou be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.
David has quite clearly been convicted of his sins.
1. Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin." (Psalm 51:1-2)
David begins by calling out for mercy. Why? Because he recognises that God's revealed character is one of love and compassion. From the time of Moses, God has revealed himself as "the compassionate and gracious God," who forgives sin (Exodus 34:6). David calls upon the God based on his known merciful character.
"Have mercy" (ḥānan) means "be gracious, pity … a heartfelt response by someone who has something to give to one who has a need.
David recognises that only God can forgive his sins. He doesn’t make excuses but recognises his need for mercy.
He calls out to God, according to His "Unfailing love", "lovingkindness" (KJV), and "steadfast love" (NRSV) translate the common Hebrew noun ḥesed, which includes the ideas love, faithfulness, good-heartedness, kindness.
According to God’s "Compassion" (NIV), "tender mercies" (KJV), and "mercy" (NRSV) represent the Hebrew noun raḥămîm, "tender mercy, compassion, deep love."
David, unlike Saul recognises that mercy is not what he deserves, so he appeals to God’s nature. He asks for pardon, Blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity, cleanse me from my sin
Notice, there is no blame laid to anyone else, no excuses, David owns his own sins.
3 For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.
4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.
5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
Notice also that David recognises to whom he has sinned. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned.
This does not mean that David’s sin against Bathsheba and Uriah was not important but that his sin was against God and His law first.
This is true repentance, sorrow and remorse and the realisation that he did not deserve forgiveness but threw himself on the grace and mercy of God.
How can we recognise true repentance?
“Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance” (Matthew 3:8).
Only time will tell whether one has truly repented and turned to Christ. If they have there will be signs of true repentance.
Only time will tell whether these false teachers have truly repented, will we see the fruits of repentance.
E.G. Benny Hinn repented from the Prosperity Gospel in 2019.
However, in 2020 he returns to his old ways.
See video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luMUn0ET2I0
Todd White repents of his failure to preach the full Gospel 2020.
However, he has not repented of his New Apostolic Reformation beliefs. Nor has he repented of late, for his charlatan leg lengthening trick and his links to the Prosperity Gospel.
Costi Hinn, nephew of Benny Hinn, repented and rejected his involvement in his uncles ministry and I believe he has shown fruit of repentance.
Doreen Virtue repented of her involvement in New Age teaching and the Word of Faith movement. It appears that this was a true repentance.
Will it be a changed life, a full rejection of all the false doctrine and hypocrisy, or will the dog return to its own vomit, or the pig to the mire.
If there is no true repentance, there will be no forgiveness.
