Repentance for the Forgiveness of Sins: Not Penance but Christ

Repentance for the forgiveness of sins is the message Jesus gave His disciples after His resurrection. He did not tell them to preach: penance for the forgiveness of sins religious works for the forgiveness of sins or self-punishment for the forgiveness of sins He told them that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name. One of the most important questions anyone can ask is, “How can my sins be forgiven?” Every religion tries to answer that question, and fallen man naturally gravitates toward the same answer: “I must do something.” I must suffer enough. I must sacrifice enough. I must perform enough religious acts, prayers, rituals, or good works to make up for what I have done. Basically, we think: “I have done something wrong, so I must do something right to cancel it out. I have sinned badly, so I must suffer badly. I have offended God greatly, so I must offer something great to satisfy Him.” But Jesus gives us a very different answer. After He rose from the dead, He appeared to His disciples, showed them His hands and feet, invited them to touch Him, and even ate in front of them to prove He had truly risen bodily from the dead. Then He reminded them that everything written about Him in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms had to be fulfilled. The cross and resurrection were not accidents. They were not Plan B. They were the fulfillment of God’s Word. And once Jesus opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, He showed them that the message of the gospel is not penance, but repentance in His name. https://youtu.be/fnuLzd6ouEI Table of contentsJesus Opened Their Minds to Understand the ScripturesUnderstanding Scripture Should Make Us Humble and PrayerfulScripture Reveals That Christ Had to Suffer and RiseJesus Commanded Repentance for the Forgiveness of SinsPenance Is Not the Same as RepentanceFallen Man Wants to Earn ForgivenessThe Old Testament Also Rejects Man-Made Payment for SinGod Desires Repentant Hearts More Than Religious SacrificesThe Tax Collector Brought the Sacrifice God AcceptsForgiveness Is Found in Christ, Not in Making Up for SinRun to ChristConclusion Jesus Opened Their Minds to Understand the Scriptures Luke 24:45 says: “Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.” Notice the wording. Luke does not say, “They finally figured it out.” He does not say, “They were smart enough to put the pieces together.” He says Jesus opened their minds. This continues a pattern we see throughout Luke 24. Earlier, the disciples on the road to Emmaus were kept from recognizing Jesus. Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized Him. Spiritual understanding is not ultimately a human achievement. It is a divine gift. That does not mean study is useless. Paul told Timothy to do his best to rightly handle the word of truth. The Bereans were commended because they examined the Scriptures daily to see whether Paul’s teaching was true. Study matters. Effort matters. Sitting under faithful preaching matters. But in the end, God must still open the heart. These disciples were not unintelligent men. They had spent three years with Jesus. They heard Him teach in synagogues, in the Temple courts, by the lakeside, on the hillside, and in private. They knew the Old Testament. They were not spiritual novices. But they still did not understand until Jesus opened their minds. The same is true with us. A person can read Scripture and miss the meaning. A person can hear preaching and remain spiritually blind. A person can know facts about the Bible without seeing the glory of Christ in the Bible. Paul explains why in 1 Corinthians 2:14: “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him.” The difference is not ultimately intelligence, education, or effort. The difference is God opening the mind and enlightening the heart. Understanding Scripture Should Make Us Humble and Prayerful If understanding Scripture is a gift, then two applications follow. First, we should be humble. If we have come to understand any spiritual truth from Scripture, our response should be gratitude, not pride. We did not crack the code because we are smarter than others. God was gracious to us. Paul prayed in Ephesians 1:17–18 that God would give believers “the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him” and that the eyes of their hearts would be enlightened. That is what happened to the disciples in Luke 24. Jesus opened their minds. He enlightened their hearts. He gave them spiritual understanding. Second, we should be prayerful. If understanding Scripture is a gift Jesus gives, then we should approach the Bible with dependence. Before we come to the text as students, teachers, preachers, or scholars, we should come as beggars. Psalm 119:18 is a wonderful prayer to pray before reading Scripture: “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous