Repentance for the Forgiveness of Sins: Not Penance but Christ

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Follow the podcast: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Amazon Music | RSS

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.

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 things out of your law.”

The Lord opened the disciples’ minds, and He can open ours.

Scripture Reveals That Christ Had to Suffer and Rise

Luke 24:46 says:

“Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead.”

When Jesus opened their minds, the first truth He showed them was that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. This is the heart of the gospel.

Paul said something similar in 1 Corinthians 15:3–4:

“I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.”

If you have ever wondered what is of first importance, it is this: Christ died for our sins and was raised again.

Notice that Jesus said, “Thus it is written.” He pointed them back to the Old Testament. If we were describing something dramatic that happened to us, we might say, “Let me tell you what happened to me.” But Jesus did not begin that way. He explained His suffering, death, and resurrection through the lens of Scripture.

He did the same thing with the disciples on the road to Emmaus. Luke 24:27 says that beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.

Jesus was not the victim of circumstances. He was fulfilling Scripture written centuries in advance. His suffering was not accidental. His rejection was not a detour. His death was not an interruption in God’s plan. The cross was the plan. The resurrection was the plan. Everything happened just as God had revealed beforehand in His Word.

Jesus Commanded Repentance for the Forgiveness of Sins

Luke 24:47 says:

“And that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.”

Jesus opened their minds to understand two great truths.

1. First, Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead.
2. Second, forgiveness comes through repentance in His name.

This is the heart of the gospel: forgiveness comes through repentance, not penance. That distinction matters because fallen man naturally wants to make up for sin. We assume that if we have done something bad, we must do something good, painful, religious, or sacrificial to balance it out:

• But the gospel does not say, “Confess your sins and then do enough religious work to help pay them off.”
• The gospel says, “Repent and believe in Christ, because He has already taken the punishment for sin.”

Penance Is Not the Same as Repentance

To understand why this matters, we need to distinguish repentance from penance. In Roman Catholic confession, a person confesses sins to a priest. The priest assigns penance, such as praying certain prayers, reading a passage of Scripture, or performing some action. Then the priest pronounces absolution.

The idea of penance is connected to repairing damage or making satisfaction for what has been done wrong. This fits the way fallen people naturally think: “I sinned, so now I must do something to make up for it.” But this is not the gospel.

• Penance is the sinner trying to make up for sin.
• Repentance is the sinner turning from sin to Christ.
• Penance looks inward to what I can do, suffer, pray, or perform.
• Repentance looks away from self to Christ, who suffered in the sinner’s place.

This is why the distinction is so important. If sinners could pay for sin through penance, sacrifice, self-punishment, religious works, or suffering, then Christ’s death would not be necessary.

But we cannot suffer enough to be forgiven. We cannot serve enough to be forgiven. We cannot sacrifice enough to be forgiven. We cannot do enough religious works to remove even one sin before a holy God.

Forgiveness is not found in our ability to make up for sin. Forgiveness is found in Christ.

Fallen Man Wants to Earn Forgiveness

This desire to earn forgiveness is not unique to Roman Catholicism. It is ingrained in fallen human nature.

People instinctively think, “I need to make up for what I have done.” That thinking appears in many religious systems, but it also appears in secular life. People try to punish themselves, prove themselves, redeem themselves, or do enough good to outweigh the bad. But if forgiveness could be earned that way, who would receive the glory? The sinner would. The person could say, “I suffered enough. I sacrificed enough. I made up for what I did. I redeemed myself.” But the gospel gives all the glory to Christ.

• He suffered enough.
• He sacrificed enough.
• He satisfied God’s justice.
• He paid for sin.

That is why the message is not, “Do penance for the forgiveness of sins.” The message is, “Repent for the forgiveness of sins in Christ’s name.”

The Old Testament Also Rejects Man-Made Payment for Sin

This is not a new idea. The prophet Micah addressed the same instinct in Micah 6:6–7:

“With what shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?”

Micah asks whether God would be pleased with thousands of rams or ten thousand rivers of oil. Then he goes to the most extreme example:

“Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”

Micah is not saying that child sacrifice would please God. He is showing how far fallen man will go when he thinks forgiveness must be purchased through sacrifice. Even the most extreme sacrifice could not purchase forgiveness.

The same theme appears in Psalm 51. After David committed adultery with Bathsheba and murdered Uriah, he wrote one of the Bible’s great psalms of repentance. In Psalm 51:16, David says:

“For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.”

This is striking because David lived under the Old Covenant, when God commanded animal sacrifices. Yet David understood that sacrifices themselves could not cleanse his heart or pay for his sin.

Then he says in Psalm 51:17:

“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”

That is what God desired from David: not an attempt to buy forgiveness, but a broken and contrite heart.

God Desires Repentant Hearts More Than Religious Sacrifices

Throughout the Old Testament, God repeatedly made clear that He desired repentant hearts more than outward sacrifices.

• Psalm 40:6 says God did not delight in sacrifice and offering.
• Jeremiah 6:20 says the people’s burnt offerings were not acceptable to God.
• Malachi 1:10 says God would not accept an offering from their hands.

Why would God reject sacrifices after commanding them?

First, because obedience is better than sacrifice. When Saul disobeyed God and then tried to justify himself by saying the animals were spared for sacrifice, Samuel responded in 1 Samuel 15:22:

“To obey is better than sacrifice.”

Second, outward religious activity can be performed without the right heart. A person can offer sacrifices, say prayers, attend worship, take communion, give money, serve publicly, and still have an unchanged heart.

Third, animal sacrifices could never take away sin. Hebrews 10:4 says:

“It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”

The sacrifices pointed forward to Christ. They could not accomplish what only Christ could accomplish. So what does God desire? Psalm 51:17 gives the answer:

“A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”

This is a beautiful description of repentance.

The Tax Collector Brought the Sacrifice God Accepts

Jesus gave us a powerful picture of repentance in Luke 18. The Pharisee stood confidently before God, trusting in his religious works. He thanked God that he was not like other men. He fasted. He tithed. He looked impressive. But the tax collector stood far off. He would not even lift his eyes to heaven. He beat his breast and said:

“God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”

Jesus said the tax collector went down to his house justified. Why? Because he brought the sacrifice God does not despise: a broken and contrite heart. He did not come boasting in penance, works, sacrifice, or religious achievement. He came as a sinner needing mercy. That is repentance.

Forgiveness Is Found in Christ, Not in Making Up for Sin

God does not forgive us because we have suffered enough, sacrificed enough, prayed enough, served enough, or performed enough religious works to make up for our sins. He forgives the sinner who comes broken, contrite, and repentant, looking away from sin and self to Christ.

So the question is not, “Have I done enough to pay for my sin?” You have not. You cannot. None of us has or can.

No amount of penance, self-punishment, religious activity, giving, fasting, serving, or sacrifice can pay for one sin before a holy God. The question is, “Have I repented with a broken heart and looked to Christ?” This is the message Jesus sent His disciples into the world with: repentance for the forgiveness of sins in His name.

• Not penance for the forgiveness of sins.
• Not religious works for the forgiveness of sins.
• Not self-punishment for the forgiveness of sins.

Repentance for the forgiveness of sins in Christ’s name.

Run to Christ

If you are burdened by your sin, do not run to penance. Run to Christ. If you are tempted to make up for your sin, confess that you cannot. Ask God to give you a broken heart instead. If you have been going through religious motions with an unchanged heart, come to God with the sacrifice He will not despise: a broken and contrite heart.

• Christ has already suffered.
• Christ has already sacrificed Himself.
• Christ has already paid for sin.

The sinner’s hope is not in doing enough for God to forgive him. The sinner’s hope is in the crucified and risen Christ.

Conclusion

In Luke 24:45–47, Jesus opened His disciples’ minds to understand the Scriptures. He showed them that the Old Testament revealed His suffering, death, and resurrection. Then He gave them the message they were to proclaim to the nations: repentance for the forgiveness of sins in His name.

This message is desperately needed because fallen man naturally wants to earn forgiveness. We want to make up for what we have done. We want to suffer, sacrifice, work, pray, or perform enough to feel that the debt has been paid. But that is not the gospel. The gospel is not penance. The gospel is Christ.

• Forgiveness does not come because we pay for sin. Forgiveness comes because Christ paid for sin.
• Forgiveness does not come because we suffer enough. Forgiveness comes because Christ suffered in the sinner’s place.

Forgiveness does not come because we offer God something great enough. Forgiveness comes because Christ offered Himself. So bring God the sacrifice He will not despise: a broken and contrite heart. Turn from sin. Turn to Christ. Believe the gospel. And rejoice that repentance for the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed in His name.