WHY GOD MUST DEMAND REPENTANCE (Part One)

By Steve Tidwell

any think of repentance as a turning away from sin. And that's a good starting point. When we read of repentance in the New Testament, as it deals with mortal man, it means a change of mind, or to have another mind. It is a determination to turn from that which is wrong [sin] and turn to God. It may be to change and start living right [for the alien sinner], or it may be to change and go back to doing right [for the sinning child of God]. It is a turning from sin and turning unto God. We believe in God; we do well. We must now show Him that we do. If we believe in God we believe in the richness of His mercy. We understand how much He loves us and what He gave in allowing His Son to die in our stead. And it should shame us that Christ had to die for our iniquities. This involves Godly sorrow (2 Cor. 7:10). Consider the following passage.

“Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire” (Matthew 3:5-11).

We can certainly see the significance that John placed on repentance. These Jews evidently felt like Abraham's race would be saved simply because they were the descendants of Abraham. John told them they would have to prove by their works that they truly had repented. Overt, religious acts mean nothing without a change of heart and a resulting change of life. They constitute nothing more than apparent obedience.

Therefore, a change always follows repentance. But it is important to consider who is doing the repenting in a particular passage, if we are to truly understand what it means. We need to realize the Bible speaks of the Lord as repenting.

“And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them” (Genesis 6:6-7).

Obviously, God cannot repent of sin, because He has not sinned. Indeed, He cannot sin. When man repents he changes his will. But when God repents, He wills a change. In this case he is going to remove man from the earth. The sin and evil that He saw would be done away with, at least for a while. God repented that He had made Saul king and we know that He took the kingdom away from him.

“And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice. Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the Lord. And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord hath rejected thee from being king over Israel.... And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul: and the Lord repented that he had made Saul king over Israel” (1 Samuel 15:24-26, 35). &

[To be continued]

Why I Became an “Anti” (Part One)

By Hubert C. Wilson [Deceased]

 use the term "Anti" because that is what the "Liberal" churches of Christ call us. All of my life, up until a few months ago, I had been so prejudiced against "Antis" (mostly by what I had always heard) that I had never taken the time or trouble to find out the truth on the issues which cause us to be labeled "Anti."

I have always been "Anti" sin and this has caused me to encounter a lot of problems over the past 30 years. A few examples of these problems arc: putting men in as elders who do not meet the qualifications; using unfaithful members in any public part of the worship [class teaching, leading singing, leading prayers, waiting on the table etc.]; worldliness running rampant in the church: failure to exercise discipline in the church. I have not changed on these things. They are sin and I still oppose sin in every form.

There are some things on which I have changed. Since the term "Anti" simply means against, I am now "Anti" a number of things I once believed and supported. Example: Church supported human institutions; the sponsoring church concept of cooperation; "watered down" preaching which embraces, wholly, the Social Gospel Concept; a lack of respect for complete Bible authority on everything. This is all a "package deal" which summarizes liberalism. This liberalism is a movement which parallels the movement shortly before the turn of the [20^th] century that produced the Christian Church. There are many symptoms of the one disease which is a lack of respect for Bible authority.

It is never easy to change one’s convictions, and yet I had no choice...when, after several weeks of concentrated study on these issues, I came to a full knowledge of the truth. I had really never given this matter serious study but had always gone along with these issues because many of the "well known" preachers in the church had supported them and said it was right. One of these issues is a very emotional one, "The Children's Homes." I know because I used to be Executive Vice President of one and quit because I could not sanction so many practices of deception on gullible church members. As I stated earlier in this article, I was prejudiced against the "Antis" because of what I had heard, for in almost every case when the "Anti" brethren are mentioned, the first thing you hear is "They don't believe in taking care of orphans." This one statement is so geared to prejudice brethren's minds that an honest hearing will not be given on this or any other issue. This is why "Liberalism" has mushroomed in our day. Many practices of the “Liberal" churches have gotten a stronghold as a result of prejudice against the “Antis" on this one issue.

The more I preached and worshipped with "Liberal” churches, the more I realized they would not endure plain preaching or in Bible language, "Sound Doctrine." As a result, I quit preaching 3 times because I could not preach on unqualified elders, worldliness, dancing, immodest apparel, unfaithful members, forsaking the assembly, social drinking and many other things without hurting people’s feelings and being accused of "preaching too hard." I had always gone back to preaching again because I still believed that people needed God's Word regardless of the fact that they did not want all of it. (I hope and pray once again to enter full-time preaching now that I have left the Liberal Church). It was becoming so increasingly limited as to what one could preach (or even teach as a non-preaching member) that I was searching the Word of God to see if maybe I was wrong. This caused me to be in the frame of mind to be receptive to someone else and at least to study with them. I knew that something was wrong but still had not associated the "Liberal" movement with the "softness" I was fighting. &

[To be continued]