Search
Immediately after God’s calling, the Holy Spirit came to separate man, to sanctify man, so that man would repent and turn to God.
In this lesson, sanctification of the Spirit does not refer to the positional sanctification which comes through the redemption of Christ (Acts 26:18; Heb. 13:12), nor does it refer to the dispositional sanctification which comes after justification through the redemption of Christ (Rom. 6:19, 22). It refers to the sanctification which takes place before faith in Christ and before justification through Christ’s redemption (1 Pet. 1:2), in which the Spirit separates man from the world unto the obedience of faith in the redemption of Christ. This indicates that the believers’ obedience unto faith in Christ results from the Spirit’s sanctifying work.
The divine title “the Holy Spirit” indicates God reaching man to separate man unto Himself for His purpose and to make man holy as He is holy. It is by enlightening and seeking man that the Holy Spirit does His sanctifying work. In the second parable in Luke 15 the Lord Jesus speaks of a woman who lights the lamp, sweeps the house, and seeks carefully until she finds the lost coin. This signifies the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit uses the word of God (Psa. 119:130), which is the Bible, to enlighten and expose the sinner’s position and condition and also to cleanse and search carefully within him so that he may repent. Thus, the Holy Spirit brings the lost sinner, who is a treasure in the eyes of God, back to God.
Hebrews 6:4 and Acts 26:18 tell us that this enlightening of the Holy Spirit is also to open the eyes of sinners and to turn them from darkness to light, that they may see the divine, spiritual things; it is also to turn them from the authority of Satan to God. Therefore, the enlightening of the Holy Spirit results in the sinners’ repentance and turning to God. The awakening of the prodigal son in Luke 15 is due to the enlightening and searching of the fine woman. Our repentance is the result of the Holy Spirit’s enlightening, seeking, and sanctifying.
In John 16:8 the Lord said of the Spirit that “He will convict the world concerning sin, and concerning righteousness, and concerning judgment.” The Spirit convicts man, first, concerning sin; second, concerning righteousness; and third, concerning judgment. Each of these items is related to a person. Sin is related to Adam, for it was through Adam that sin entered the human race (Rom. 5:12). Righteousness is related to Christ because righteousness comes from Christ and even is the resurrected Christ Himself (John 16:10; 1 Cor. 1:30). Judgment is related to Satan because judgment is for Satan.
The Spirit convicts men concerning sin because they do not believe in the Lord Jesus (John 16:9). He enlightens men and reveals their sins, causing them to see that they are sinful, that they were born in sin, and that if they do not believe in the Lord Jesus they will die in their sins (John 8:24). He also causes men to see that in Adam they have been condemned already (John 3:18). If they do not believe in the Lord Jesus now, they can only wait for death under condemnation. Moreover, the Spirit causes men to see that today God wants men to believe in Jesus; this is not only God’s grace to sinners, but also God’s command to them. If a sinner does not believe in the Lord Jesus, he is not only rejecting God’s grace but also resisting His command. Therefore, unbelief is a sin, an exceedingly great sin, that is sufficient to cause a person to perish forever (Rev. 21:8). Since man is sinful and has been condemned already, all that God can ask man to do now is to believe in the Lord Jesus. To believe in the Lord Jesus is God’s unique command for sinners today. Therefore, if a man does not believe in the Lord Jesus today, he violates God’s unique command and commits the unique sin. The Spirit causes men to see this, thus convicting them.
The Spirit convicts men concerning righteousness because the Lord Jesus has resurrected and ascended to God (John 16:10). He also causes men to see that the Lord Jesus was made sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Cor. 5:21), He has borne our sins on the cross (1 Pet. 2:24), satisfying God’s righteous requirement. Hence, God raised Him from among the dead that we might be justified, and that He might be the proof of our justification (Rom. 4:25). Furthermore, He has ascended into heaven and is sitting at the right hand of God, proving that His death has solved our problem of sins once for all (Heb. 10:12), satisfying God’s righteous requirement. Now God can, and must, according to His righteousness, justify the ones who believe in Him. Hence, if men do not believe in the Lord Jesus, the Spirit will convict them concerning this.
The Spirit convicts men concerning judgment because the ruler of this world has been judged (John 16:11). He causes men to see that Satan, the ruler of the world, who opposes God and is at enmity with God, has been already judged on the cross of Christ. Any man who does not repent and believe into Christ will remain in sins to share with Satan the judgment that he will suffer for eternity. Therefore, men should repent, break away from Satan and the world that belongs to him, and turn to God. Since Satan has been judged on the cross of Christ, he no longer has dominion over those who believe in Christ. Thus, men can be delivered out of Satan’s rule through Christ and His cross. If anyone would still remain under Satan’s hand and be an enemy of God, he will share in God’s judgment upon Satan. The Spirit causes men to see this and convicts men concerning this.
Hence, the Spirit’s convicting man concerning sin, concerning righteousness, and concerning judgment is equivalent to His convicting man concerning the content of the entire gospel. The Spirit causes man to see that in Adam he is sinful and condemned; that in Christ he can be righteous and justified; and that if he remains in Adam he belongs to Satan and is judged. On the cross Christ solved man’s problem of sin, fulfilled God’s righteousness, and judged Satan. If a man believes in Christ, he will be delivered from his sin, obtain God’s righteousness, and be spared of the judgment that Satan will suffer. Otherwise, he will remain in his sins, and he will have no share in God’s righteousness. Eventually he will suffer the judgment of Satan and enter into the eternal fire prepared for Satan to be his companion in suffering the eternal punishment (Matt. 25:41). When a person has such a vision, spontaneously he will repent and turn to God.
Man’s repentance is the result of the Spirit’s sanctifying work. When the Spirit comes to enlighten man, seek man, and convict man concerning sin, concerning righteousness, and concerning judgment, He causes man to repent and turn to God.
The Greek word for repentance means to have a change of mind issuing in regret, to have a turn in purpose. Therefore, to repent, as taught in the Bible, is to have a change of mind. It is not to improve or reform oneself nor to forsake the evil and turn to the good, as people generally believe. Since the fall of man, man’s mind has been turned against God and directed toward many persons, things, and matters other than God. Furthermore, man is controlled by his mind, doing the desires of the thoughts (Eph. 2:3). The desires of man’s thoughts, whether they are good or bad, are always contrary to God and are directed toward persons, things, and matters other than God. Because of this, man also behaves himself in a way that is contrary to God and is thus directed toward persons, things, and matters other than God. Therefore, man should repent and have a change in his mind so that his conduct and behavior may also change accordingly.
Man’s repentance is also his turning from things other than God to the kingdom of God. Repentance in the preaching of John the Baptist, as the opening of God’s New Testament economy, was to have a change of mind and repent for the kingdom of God (Matt. 3:2). The Lord Jesus continued His forerunner’s preaching of the gospel of the kingdom of God (Matt. 4:17). This indicates that God’s New Testament economy is focused on His kingdom. For this we should repent, change our mind, have a turn in our pursuit and purpose of life, turning from persons, things, and matters other than God to the kingdom of God, that we may live under the ruling, the reigning, of God.
Man’s repentance is also his turning from all things to God Himself (Acts 26:20; 14:15b; 1 Thes. 1:9b). Originally man’s mind was toward all things outside of God; hence, under its direction, all of man’s behavior and actions were also against God. Under the control of his mind, fallen man is against God in all things. Just as man’s committing sins and doing evil are contrary to God, so also are his doing good and practicing justice. When man commits sin and does evil, he is turned toward evil and not toward God; in the same manner, when he does good and practices justice, he is turned toward goodness and justice and not toward God. When a man is stingy and loves money, he is turned toward money and not toward God; when he delights to do good and give to the needy, he is turned toward doing good and giving to the needy, not toward God. Man’s pursuit is toward many things and not in any way toward God. Every thought and every action of man has a goal, but none of these goals is God Himself. Man wants everything except God. Therefore, man needs to repent and turn to God. He must have a change in his mind; then his outward conduct and behavior will also be changed accordingly. Eventually, his life and his entire being will be turned toward God.
If a man’s repentance does not issue in his turning to God, it is a repentance that the world approves, but not the repentance that God desires. The repentance that God desires is that man would have a change of mind and turn toward God. Such a repentance is not only to correct man’s wrongdoings; it is even more to correct man’s condition of rejecting God and being turned away from God. It is not only to change evil into good; it is even more to turn the mind from things other than God to God. Therefore, even those who are considered to be right and good in the eyes of men also need to repent in this way. They need to have a change of mind, turning from the right and the good to God. A person’s repentance is nothing less than his change from rejecting God and being turned against God to desiring God and being turned toward God. Real repentance should be a repentance unto God (Acts 20:21), a turning in reality from all things to God.
The Lord’s gospel causes man to repent and to receive forgiveness of sins (Luke 24:47; 3:3; Acts 2:38). In order to give man the grace of forgiveness, God must first give him the heart of repentance (Acts 5:31). Unless a man repents of his sin of being against God and turns to God from within his heart, he will neither believe in the Lord Jesus nor be able to obtain God’s forgiving grace. If a man wants to be forgiven, he must repent. He must repent of his dead works (Heb. 6:1) and turn back to God.
In the Lord’s gospel the purpose for man to be forgiven of his sins is that man may receive His life (Col. 2:13). Therefore, if a man desires to receive the Lord’s life, he must repent (Acts 11:18). Man must see that his life is corrupt and that his living, which is outside of God, is evil. Seeing this, he is convicted and he loathes himself. As he repents and turns toward God, he is forgiven of his sins and thus obtains the life of God.
In the Lord’s gospel the purpose for men to receive forgiveness of sins is also that they may receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38) and the divine inheritance (Acts 26:18). When men repent and turn toward God so that their sins are forgiven, they receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and the divine inheritance. The Holy Spirit, who is the processed Triune God becoming the all-inclusive Spirit, is given to men at the time of their repentance to be the all-inclusive blessing of God’s full gospel (Gal. 3:14) that they may enjoy all the riches of the Triune God. The divine inheritance is the Triune God Himself with all that He has, all that He has done, and all that He will do for His redeemed people. This Triune God is embodied in the all-inclusive Christ (Col. 2:9) to be the portion of the saints (Col. 1:12). The Holy Spirit, who has been given to the saints, is the foretaste, the pledge, and the guarantee of this divine inheritance (Eph. 1:14), which we are sharing and enjoying today as a foretaste in God’s New Testament economy, and will share and enjoy to the uttermost in the coming age and in eternity (1 Pet. 1:4).
Genuine repentance is a gift given to man after Christ was exalted to the right hand of God. After Christ passed through death and resurrection, He was exalted by God to His right hand to be the ruling Leader and Savior, to give repentance and forgiveness of sins to man (Acts 5:31). He rules sovereignly, arranging all of man’s environment and the condition of his heart, to lead man to repent and turn to God. Based on His redemption, He gives the grace of forgiveness of sins to the repenting ones that they may obtain salvation.
In God’s New Testament economy, God charges all men everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30). God overlooked the times of men’s ignorance, but now in the New Testament age He charges all men everywhere to repent and turn to Him. For this, God purposely sent John the Baptist to preach repentance (Matt. 3:2), calling people to repent and turn to Him, thus preparing men’s hearts to receive His salvation (Luke 1:77). The Lord Jesus, continuing His forerunner’s teaching, also preached repentance (Matt. 4:17) and brought salvation to the repenting ones (Luke 19:9). On the day of Pentecost, when Peter and the eleven disciples stood up, they also taught and exhorted people to repent and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38). When Paul saw the vision of God’s New Testament economy, he also exhorted those in Damascus, Jerusalem, and all the country of Judea, and the Gentiles, to repent and turn to God (Acts 26:20). This indicates that in God’s New Testament economy, we must repent to God and turn to Him that we may believe in the gospel (Mark 1:15), believe in the Lord Jesus, receive Him as our Savior (Acts 20:21), enjoy God’s salvation, and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, repentance is a divine requirement of God’s New Testament economy.
Since repentance is a divine requirement of God’s New Testament economy, it is a main item which we must proclaim concerning God’s New Testament economy. After His resurrection from the dead, the Lord Jesus charged His disciples to proclaim the gospel of repentance for the forgiveness of sins in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem (Luke 24:47). Therefore, when we preach the gospel, we should stress this item, telling people to repent that their sins may be forgiven, that they may obtain the eternal life, and that they may receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and the divine inheritance. This is a main item that we should proclaim concerning God’s New Testament economy.
In the initial stage of God’s full salvation, immediately after we have been called by God, the Holy Spirit comes to separate us, to sanctify us, that we may repent and turn to God. This sanctification, which takes place before our faith in Christ and before our justification through Christ’s redemption, separates us from the world unto the obedience of faith in Christ’s redemption. The Holy Spirit does His sanctifying work by enlightening and seeking us, convicting us concerning sin, concerning righteousness, and concerning judgment, thus causing us to repent and turn to God. Our repentance, which is a result of the sanctifying work of the Spirit, causes us to have a change of mind, to turn from things other than God to the kingdom of God and to God Himself. We need to have a turn in our mind, and then our outward conduct and behavior will also change accordingly. Eventually our entire being will be turned toward God. The result of our repentance is that we receive forgiveness of sins, the life of God, and the gift of the Holy Spirit and the divine inheritance. This repentance is a gift given by the exalted Christ, for it is He who gives us the heart of repentance. Repentance is also a divine requirement of God’s New Testament economy, for He has charged all man everywhere to repent unto Him. Therefore, repentance must be a main item of the believers’ proclamation of God’s New Testament economy.
