During Advent we hear the preaching of John the Baptist, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” In repentance, we prepare to meet our Savior — both to celebrate his birth and also on the Last Day. So what is repentance? Martin Luther writes this about repentance: "Beware of placing confidence in your contrition or of ascribing the forgiveness of sins to your own sorrow. For God does not favorably regard you because of contrition or sorrow, but because of faith with which you have believed his threats and promises and which worked sorrow in you. Therefore, we owe whatever good there may be in our penitence not to the conscientious enumeration of sins but to the truth of God and to our faith." (What Luther Says, p. 1213)
True repentance is more than just being sorry for sins. Even unbelievers are often sorry for what they have done. Believers add to their sorrow faith in Jesus as the one who takes away all sins.
John the Baptist tells us the action that will result in the lives of those who repent, “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.” Repentance is a change of heart as we believe in God and respond with a change of actions as a fruit of faith. Martin Luther writes this about the changed heart of the repentant: "To probe and ponder how bad you have been is not enough if you do not ponder and probe much more how good you desire to become." (What Luther Says, p. 1214)
Pastor Aufdemberge
Pastor Kneser
Pastor Wempner
Pastor Zarling
Keep Reading >>