Romans 2:5: But according to your hardness and unrepentant heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;
The Holy Spirit through Paul condemns an “unrepentant” (or “impenitent”) heart. To be right with God, we must have a repentant heart.
The need for a repentant heart is rooted in the necessity and nature of repentance. In Acts 2:37, guilt-filled Jews asked the apostles what they needed to do to be right with God. In verse 38, the Holy Spirit through Peter commanded them, “Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
Scriptural baptism is necessary for one outside the body of Christ to have his or her sins forgiven. Notice also, though, that repentance is necessary for one to have his or her sins forgiven.
Though many deny what God teaches about baptism, when one chooses to accept the truth, obeying this command is fairly simple. Repentance, on the other hand, can be much more difficult.
For one who is in an adulterous marriage, repentance involves leaving that relationship (cf. Matt. 19:9). For one who has spent his entire adult life owning and operating a liquor store, repentance involves choosing a new career. These examples illustrate the depth of the commitment that’s involved in the word, “repent.” One will not be in obedience to this command without a repentant heart.
While Acts 2:38 contains commands for those outside the body of Christ, the Holy Spirit also taught that repentance is necessary for the erring Christian to receive forgiveness of sin.
In Acts 8:13, a man named Simon was baptized into Christ. At that point, his past sins were forgiven. He sinned, though, after becoming a Christian (verses 18-21), and was commanded in verse 22, “Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray the Lord, if perhaps the thought of thy heart shall be forgiven thee.”
Notice that the erring Christian is given two commands in this verse. If an erring Christian prays but is not repentant, he or she is not promised forgiveness.
Likewise, if an erring Christian is sorry to have sinned but is not repentant, he or she is not promised forgiveness. Notice 2 Corinthians 7:10: For godly sorrow produces repentance to salvation, which brings no regret. But the sorrow of the world produces death.
Godly sorrow is that sorrow which leads to godly correction. It leads to a change of will, as one zealously turns in the opposite direction of sin and endeavors to do the best he or she can to not commit that sin again. This is what repentance is all about.
Knowing this helps us understand the nature of a repentant heart.
A repentant heart is one that recognizes the seriousness of sin.
A repentant heart is humble enough to make correction, instead of being too proud to admit guilt. When one with a repentant heart has sin in his or her life, he or she will be thankful to find out so correction can be made.
One with a repentant heart denies his or her desires as needed to submit to the will of God. He or she does not look for excuses to defend disobedience. A repentant heart does not use circumstances or the actions of others to justify failure to please God.
The attitude of the repentant heart is “God said it. That settles it.” One with such a heart values pleasing God above all and thus feels a great need to make any change he or she finds is in accordance with God’s revealed will.
May each of us develop such a heart that is always ready to make any corrections God requires of us.
– Michael Hickox