The third action that must be taken by one who wants to become a Christian is to repent of his or her sins.  This is extremely important.  All the faith in the world will not help a person who refuses to repent.  Jesus Himself spoke of the importance of this.

Luke 13:3–5 (ESV)

³ No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.  ⁴ Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem?  ⁵ No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

Peter, a disciple of Christ and inspired by the Holy Spirit, instructed people to repent in his first and second gospel sermons.

Acts 2:37–38 (ESV)

³⁷ Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” ³⁸ And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 3:19–20 (ESV)

¹⁹ Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, ²⁰ that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus,

God has always demanded repentance for sin.  What is repentance?  To repent is “to think differently or to reconsider” (Strong). The Complete Word Study Dictionary has this on repentance: “Theologically, it involves regret or sorrow, accompanied by a true change of heart toward God.”   So, to become a child of God, a person must not only hear and believe but also determine in his mind to stop sinning and start serving God.

While repentance and the fruit of repentance (Matthew 3:8) are two different things, they are almost inseparable.  True repentance is always followed by a change of action.  This is why Paul said that if a person is truly united with Christ when he is baptized, he will also be united with Him in a resurrection like His and walk in the newness of life (Romans 6:3-7).  The newness of life comes because in baptism our sins are washed away by the blood of Christ.  This is why Paul said, figuratively speaking, that we are baptized into the death of Christ.  This washing away of sins, however, is only activated if the person being baptized has repented.  What is the proof of repentance?  It is how the person walks after he or she comes out of the waters of baptism.

I should point out that repentance is not the determination to just slow down the sin that we are committing in life, it is the resolve to stop it altogether.  This is not to say that we will never sin again after we are baptized.  We know that we will.   John, writing to those who had been baptized, said, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8).  Still, our determination, if we have truly repented, is to stop sinning altogether.

This third step in God’s plan of salvation must be strongly emphasized when we are teaching others the gospel in the hope that they obey and are saved.  People need to understand that just being baptized, while they continue to live the same old life, will not save them.  As we sometimes say, a person who is baptized without repentance goes into the water a dry sinner and comes out a wet sinner.  Why?  Because they have not fulfilled God’s plan of salvation.  Repentance is not a step that can be overlooked or ignored if salvation is to be realized.

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.