Key Life Network

Guest (Male): Believe it or not, repentance is a gift. Let's talk about it on Key Life.

Guest (Male): If you're sick of guilt and manipulation and if you're looking for an honest and thoughtful presentation of biblical truth, you've come to the right place. This is Key Life, with the founder of Key Life Network, Steve Brown. Keep listening for teaching that will make you free.

Steve Brown: We've been talking this week about repentance and what it really is. There're so many lies surrounding this particular subject. They're turn or burn lies. They're things that saying, "Repentance is changing." Repentance is not changing.

Repentance is how God changes you if he wants to do that. So how does repentance work and why is it important? Well, the first thing you should know is that repentance is a gift.

You can't hustle it up. You can't force it. You can't make it happen. God not only reveals truth, but he also grants the attitude toward truth necessary to give truth legs.

When the apostles appeared before a religious court and explained what God had done, they said that God had exalted Christ and this is a quote, "to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins." That's Acts 5:31.

In Peter's report to the church about God's movement among Gentiles, Luke, the writer of Acts, said that they glorified, here it comes, "then to the Gentiles also, God has granted repentance that leads to life." That's Acts 11:18.

In Paul's admonishment to Timothy, he said that leaders should be gentle and kind to everyone. And this is a quote in 2 Timothy 2:25. "Gentle and kind to everyone, God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of truth."

When Peter and the apostles stood before a religious court, they said about Jesus that, and this is a quote in Acts 5:31, "God exalted him at his right hand as leader and savior," here it comes, "to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins."

And it goes on and on. Repentance isn't something you work up or something that's negative and horrible and difficult. Repentance is a gift that God gives to his people because he likes them.

I'm not the most gifted home repair person, you know. When something goes wrong at our house, my wife doesn't tell me for fear that I'll try to fix it, and then we'll go bankrupt in the process.

One time when I was using a hacksaw that just wouldn't cut the wood, my friend tried not to laugh, noticed and said the hacksaw would work better if I used the cutting side of the blade instead of the smooth side. His admonishment of me was a gift, as was my repentance. The only thing I knew was that the hacksaw wasn't working.

That's that's not dissimilar to what happens when we repent. We know that things in our lives aren't working, so we try harder by doing more of what wasn't working in the first place. When the light comes on, it's a gift, and it's a gift from God.

Jesus said in John 16:8 that the work of the Holy Spirit is to convict the world of sin. That's not just for those who aren't Christians. It's for everybody. In Romans 14:4, Paul talking about judging others, said, "Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of somebody else? It is before his own master that he stands or falls, and he will be upheld for the Lord is able to make him stand."

Paul in talking about the work of the Holy Spirit, said that. And when we become a believer, we are given a precious gift, the mind of Christ. In 1 Corinthians 2:11-12, Paul says that Christians have an internal monitor, the Holy Spirit, who reveals truth to believers and in the case of repentance, reveals truth about the places where we are at odds with God's will and way for us.

When that happens, the proper response of repentance: agreeing with God about what he has revealed.

Later on, we're going to talk about how dangerous it is for other Christians to assume the Holy Spirit's rule in our lives. But for now, recognize that no one can know what God has revealed to someone else. Repentance is a gift, but it is also a highly personal gift designed for each individual in the body of Christ. There are areas in my life that others find offensive, but which God has not revealed to me for repentance.

That's true of you too. God lets his people know where he's working and that is a gift. Not an effort, not a curse, a gift. Hey, you think about that. Amen.

Guest (Male): Thanks, Steve. We are at full speed now examining the biblical truth that informs Steve's latest book called God's Not Mad at You. That book is out on September 14th. And all this week, more specifically, we're taking a clear-eyed look at repentance. What it is and especially what it is not. More tomorrow, hope you will join us for that.

Guest (Male): Well, recently on Steve Brown, et cetera, we chatted with best-selling author Pat Morley. His latest book is unlike anything he has written before. It's an apologetics book called, "What if Christianity Is True?" Take a listen to part of that conversation, then I'll be back to tell you about a special free offer.

Pat Morley: Most secular people are really wonderful human beings, and you know, when you get to know them. I mean, we're all sinners, right? And so we have that part of us. But most secular people, from a purely secular belief system, they're they're trying to raise families, do good work, be good citizens, pay their taxes on time, things like that.

And so we're not throwing any any of these people under the bus. What we're saying is that there's a developmental process in belief systems. And so there is a graduation. At some point, people do come to this point where they they say, you know, this isn't enough. It happened for me when I was actually in the army, and I was doing the things young soldiers shouldn't do. And woke up in a ditch one morning and it just it was an inflection point. I said, "You know, I I need to do something here." You're just a nobody, had nowhere, it was really true.

And so I enrolled at NC State University night school. They had a campus on Fort Bragg where I was stationed, and I was reading for an English literature test one night, Shakespeare Hamlet, to be specific. And I read this verse, "This above all, to thine own self be true. And it must follow as the night the day. Thou canst not then be false to any man."

And I remember thinking, "That is the most noble thought that I've ever heard uttered." And so that day, I made a decision to become a moralist, to move from secular to moral, that I was going to try to do the right thing by every person I met every day. And that's how I would find the secrets of meaning and purpose in life.

And you know, anytime you join a new group, you begin to meet the other members, whether it's the NRB for you, or Chamber of Commerce, or the Rotary Club for some of our listeners or whatever it is. You begin to meet the other new members, and so once I became a moralist, I began to meet the other members of the moralist club. And I quickly realized all of them basically have one thing in common.

None of them have any money. And so that's what I decided to also become a materialist. So I was a moral materialist, or maybe a material moralist, I'm not sure. And I thought I really arrived in with this moral system. And so trying to do the right thing by every person I met, you know, do good, right?

But there was this ache in in my soul, and I I know I'm speaking for thousands of people who are hearing this broadcast. You you know what I'm talking about. For me it happened. I was I was in I was laying on a blanket. I was in college, laying on a blanket.

Staring up into the sky, I I don't say this in the book, but there was a pretty girl next to me laying on the blanket, you know, we were out, you know, it was a beautiful night. And all of a sudden, and I I was feasting on the dazzling beauty of the nighttime sky, right? And it just hit me.

Boom. The the idea that for this to exist, there is necessarily a an intelligence behind this. And for for me, because I grew up in a Protestant tradition, the exact thought was, for this to exist, for this to exist, there must be a God. And I know it it sounds, you know, for me, if I heard you saying it, I'd say, "Yeah, okay, well, so what?" But you you if you've been through that yourself, you know the emotional gravitas of that moment.

And so that was that was the moment that I moved from secular to moral and then to religious, a religious belief system where I began to blend together the idea of trying to do the right thing by other people with the idea of doing them to please God.

Guest (Male): Pat Morley is such a fascinating guy. We put that entire conversation on a CD. And with your thumbs up, we'll drop it in the mail to you today for free. Just call us right now at 1-800-Key-Life. That's 1-800-539-5433. You can also email Steve at keylife.org to order that CD, or go to keylife.org/contact to find our mailing addresses for the US and Canada. Again, just ask for the free CD featuring Pat Morley.

Guest (Male): Hey, and before you go, would you give generously today to help continue the ministry of Key Life? Giving is easy, just charge a gift on your credit card or include a gift in your envelope, or you can simply text Key Life to 28950. Again, that's Key Life. One word or two, it doesn't matter. Just text that to 28950, then follow the instructions. Key Life is a member of ECFA in the States and for C in Canada, and Key Life is a listener-supported production of Key Life Network.