Whence Repentance?
As a boy of eight during the Second World War, I was affected by the evil that the Nazi’s inflicted on their enemies. Even to this day some eighty years later, truths are being revealed about that time. Alex Kershaw published a book entitled Avenue of Spies, August 4, 2015. It is about an American doctor and his heroic work in the French resistance movement. It is the stories of the mass killings of those suspected of resisting the Nazi’s, the torturing of others. The Nazi’s dealings with Dr. Kershaw, his wife and son make for thrilling reading. The tragedy is these things do happen all the time in the world in which we live.
I grew up in an atmosphere of the “good guys” and the “bad guys”, “cowboys and Indians.” Later in life I would become involved in the Inmed program Indians into Medicine, at the Medical School at the University of North Dakota.
At this late time in my life, I have become convinced that becoming involved in bridging of differences that exist in human relationships, whatever those differences are, can only be resolved through the power of the Holy Spirit. This is not a copout.
That power was made known to a few disciples in what is known as the Upper Room Conversation. It’s recorded in the Gospel of John. It is a promise Jesus made to them. The Holy Spirit [will be sent to them] who would guide them into all the truth. John 16:13 It was the work of the Holy Spirit that guided those first disciples into writing down what the Spirit led them to write. If we are going to be led by the Spirit of Truth, we should conscientiously study what the Word of God tells us because it was written by the Author of Truth for every tribe and nation.
If we are going to settle our differences all our sins must be laid at the altar of God’s truth as Francis Schaeffer writes in Death in the City. “We are living in a dying world without the Gospel.” And without the Gospel there is no power of truth that can release us from our sins. This has scared me. I decided I needed to go back and study Luther’s Small Catechism. I was especially interested in Luther’s explanation to what we confess in the Third Article of Faith concerning our sins. On page 206 the following question is asked. What did the Holy Spirit do when He brought me to faith?
The answer is this: By means of the Law of God, the Holy Spirit first convicts me of my sin and leads me to repentance, so that, working through the Gospel and the Sacraments (the Means of Grace), the Holy spirit brings me to faith in Christ and makes me a member of the church.
I have needed to repeat this to myself. “By the Law of God, the Spirit leads me to true repentance. It is by the Gospel that the Holy Spirit leads me to Christ. For without the Spirit, one resists the Gospel’s call.” I have often written about the importance of accepting Christ. The power to accept Him comes by way of the Holy Spirit calling us through the Gospel to accept Christ by faith. It is true that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him, but the Holy Spirit calls me through the Gospel.
