30th Mar 26 | 12:49
Daily Study
Repentance
Acts 15 – Series 1/Episode 67 – Sun, 29th Mar 2026 – *Repentance* - _Acts 15:01-21_ – THE JERUSALEM COUNCIL – _II Peter 03:09_
Acts 15:19-21 Therefore I judge that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to God, (20) but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from things strangled, and from blood. (21) For Moses has had throughout many generations those who preach him in every city, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath.\\\\\\\"
Gentiles who are turning to God
Repentance and turning to God are two vital steps for a person to attain salvation. This was the experience of the Gentiles. They were repenting and turning to God. Acts 26:20 but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance.
Let us examine these two steps: repentance and turning to God.
Repentance (Greek: metanoia) is a change of mind and direction away from sin, and turning to God. This is the positive movement toward God in faith, obedience, and surrender. The early Gentile believers experienced both, and *Scripture consistently presents these two movements together*.
What is man’s primary problem? Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. We are like sheep that go astray. I Peter 2:25 For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
It is from this condition that we repent when we come to God. Joel 2:12-13 \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Now, therefore,\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" says the LORD, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Turn to Me with all your heart, With fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" (13) So rend your heart, and not your garments; Return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm.
This is why Jesus came. He came to call us to repent and turn to Him. Luke 5:32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"
Unless a person recognises that he has gone astray from God, he would be unwilling to repent and return to God. Luke 5:30-31 And their scribes and the Pharisees complained against His disciples, saying, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" (31) Jesus answered and said to them, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.
Those who consider themselves righteous before God will not seek repentance. There is hope for a person who repents. Luke 18:9-14 Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: (10) \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. (11) The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'God, I thank You that I am not like other men—extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. (12) I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\' (13) And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, *\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'God, be merciful to me a sinner!\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\' (14) I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other*; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"
Peter presented to the Jews their condition before God. This brought conviction, and they repented. Acts 2:36-38 \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" (37) Now when they heard this, *they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Men and brethren, what shall we do?*\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\" (38) Then Peter said to them, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This is where people need to come, to receive salvation._
“Going our own way” is the root of idolatry. Abandoning God is idolatry. We replace God with ourselves. When we reject God, then we replace God with idols. Galatians 4:8 But then, indeed, when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods.
The Apostles spoke to the Gentiles and showed them how they must turn from worshipping idols and worship the living God. Acts 14:15 and saying, \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\"Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men with the same nature as you, and *preach to you that you should turn from these useless things to the living God*, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are in them, / Acts 17:29-30 Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s devising. (30) Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent,
The Gentiles were repenting and turning to worship God. God was opening their eyes to the truth. I Thessalonians 1:9 For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you, and *how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God*,
We can see how repentance applied for both the Jews and the Gentiles.