Salvation and Genuine Repentance

By Charles Wagner

I recently listened to a discussion several men were having about life after death. One of the men, whom I will call John Doe, made this statement:

"Jesus has covered everybody's sin. I'm all set. I've got nothing to worry about."

On the surface, this could sound to some that this is the statement of a believer in Jesus Christ. After all, he is implying that there is forgiveness of sins through Christ. True! However, his statement is a reflection of really bad doctrine.

The core sin of every human being is that we want to be the sole authority of our lives. The instinct of our human nature is to say:

"I don't need God. I am the only god I need. I provide for myself. I protect myself. I guide myself with my own insights. I do as I please and say what I want. I make my own plans and set my own goals. I define good and evil for myself. I even define truth for myself. I can be whomever I want to be and live whatever lifestyle I want to live. I am the sovereign of my life and no one, not even the true living God, can tell me what to do."

There are many, deceived by our godless culture and evil false teachers, who would read the above and say:

"So...of course that is true for everyone. God just wants us to be happy being the little gods that we fancy ourselves to be. He celebrates our autonomy, self-actualization, and independence from Him."

The Word of God describes this as pride of heart. It is arrogance and God absolutely hates it because this is how He expects us to think:

"I need God. He is the only god I need. He provides for me. He protects me. He guides me by His own wisdom. I do as He pleases and say what He wants. I make my plans and goals based on what He wants and expects of me. He defines good and evil. He defines truth. I am to be whom He wants me to be. I have to live as He wants me to. He is the sovereign God of my life and I will live to honor and please Him."

We are to be humble before Him and, if we do not humble ourselves, He will humble us throughout eternity after He casts us into hell for such haughtiness.

Yet, God loves us so much that He punished His beloved Son, Jesus Christ, making Him suffer an excruciating death on the cross, for our pride and arrogance. Jesus humbled Himself to the Father's will to punish Him on our behalf. The Father, who is pleased by Jesus' humility and servant's heart, has made Him to be King of kings and Lord of lords. The wrath of God meant for our pride and arrogance was poured out onto Jesus on our behalf.

How do we receive salvation? We must humble ourselves and confess our arrogant rebellion to God. We must humbly admit that there is nothing we can do to earn salvation. We can't do good works and we can't be religious. We cannot expect that what we do will earn our salvation because such an attitude is proud and arrogant. We must seek mercy from God, through His Son, Jesus Christ, and believe that Jesus paid the penalty for our sin for us.

In short, there is not one proud or arrogant person in heaven and there never will be. The eternal residents of heaven have all humbled themselves before God by trusting in Christ alone for their salvation.

Let's imagine a husband cheats on his wife. He comes to her with great sorrow and remorse, saying "I will never do this again!" Yet, he does it again and again. His wife is justified to doubt the sincerity of her husband's confession. If her husband had been truly sorry, he would not have cheated on her again.

Similarly, a man says that he has placed his faith in Jesus Christ for salvation. However, he continues to lead a rebellious and sinful life and he does so with intentionality and pleasure. There are no signs of the transforming work of Jesus Christ. His pride runs wild and unchecked. He remains arrogant before the Lord. We have every reason to doubt the sincerity of his alleged moment of decision for Christ. We have every reason to believe that he did not humble himself before the Lord.

Repentance is essentially the radical transformation of our hearts and minds. We used to believe that our lives were ours to do with as we please. Now we believe that our lives are about doing what He wants us to do. Before we did whatever we felt like doing. Now we control our actions and do whatever the Holy Spirit tells us to do.

Let's revisit John Doe's statement:

"Jesus has covered everybody's sin. I'm all set. I've got nothing to worry about."

The word "everybody's" suggests an impersonal relationship with Christ. John Doe is included in a blanket pardon for everyone in the world. He doesn't need to confess his sin or surrender his life to Christ. John can remain proud and arrogant. He essentially believes:

"I don't have to humble myself before God. I can live a rebellious, proud, and arrogant life doing as I please. When I die, Jesus will welcome me into heaven because He died on the cross for my sins. I don't have to confess anything. I don't have to change my ways. I now have a ticket to live whatever decadent life I want to live. I have a 'Get Out of Jail Free' card."

Let's change His statement to reflect genuine salvation:

"Jesus has covered MY sin. I now want to humbly serve Him and do as He pleases. I've got nothing to worry about when I die."

Is there pride or arrogance before God in your heart? Humility will become not only your best friend but also the hero that rescues you from the burning building.