If confronting people with their sin and calling them to repent and be converted was what the New Testament church did, why doesn’t the majority of today’s church do that?
John the Baptist, Jesus, Peter and Paul confronted people with their sin and called them to repent and be converted, and then told them to believe on Jesus for the forgiveness of their sin. They witnessed great revival in those who responded positively to their message; they also suffered great persecution from those who responded negatively to their message.
John the Baptist was imprisoned and then had his head chopped off. The people tried to stone Jesus a few times, among other abuses, and then in the end crucified Him. Peter was beaten and imprisoned and eventually according to tradition crucified upside down. Paul was beaten numerous times, imprisoned often, run out of many towns, stoned once and eventually executed. So, it’s not hard to understand why Christians today would rather preach a message of God’s love and forgiveness, and believing on Jesus, than confronting people with their sin, and calling them to repent.
Many will respond to the message of believing in Jesus to be saved, but without conviction leading to repentance, you end up with unconverted believers who are unfit for the kingdom. You can build a big church with this type of believer, and you will suffer no or very little persecution, but you are not building God’s kingdom, only your own.
The leader of our fellowship used to say that our job as Christian witnesses is to; “Comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.” This means that those who have been afflicted, convicted of their sin, we need to comfort by leading them in a prayer of repentance and by sharing the good news of the forgiveness of their sins through believing on Jesus as their Savior. But those who are comfortable in their sin we need to afflict, allow the Spirit through us to convict and make them uncomfortable in their sin, with the intention of seeing them repent and be converted, and then believe on Christ as their Savior.
God’s Word is a two-edged sword, with one side it first cuts and then with the other side it heals. That is why we need to preach the full gospel message, which will first make people uncomfortable, convicted, in their sin before it comforts them with the message of God’s gift of repentance and forgiveness made available to us through Jesus Christ.The problem with most Christians today is, they are comforting those who are already comfortable in their sin and convicting/afflicting no one.
What does the word convict mean?
To convict, reprove, rebuke, expose, make manifest, correct, admonish, convince, accuse, refute, reprimand, bring to the light, find fault with, call to account, show someone his fault, prove by reasoning, convince of a crime, reprehend severely, chide, tell a fault, convince of error.
Here is Jesus’ teaching on why He was going to send the Holy Spirit.
John 16:7 “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.
8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:”
Who is Jesus talking to?
His disciples, His followers.
What did Jesus tell them He was going to do?
Go away, He was going to return to the Father, and then He was going to send the Helper, the Holy Spirit.
Where was He going to send the Holy Spirit?
“I will send Him to you.” The Holy Spirit was going to come and live inside of them.
What was the Holy Spirit coming to do?
“when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:”
How was the Holy Spirit going to convict/confront the world of sin, righteousness and judgment?
Through the ones He is living inside.
Here is Paul allowing the Holy Spirit to do through him exactly what He was sent into the world to do.
Acts 24:24 “And after some days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish, he sent for Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ.
25 Now as he reasoned about righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and answered, ‘Go away for now; when I have a convenient time I will call for you.’”
Did Paul confront Felix and Drusilla about sin, righteousness and judgment?
Yes.
Were they convicted by the Holy Spirit through what Paul said?
We know that Felix was because it says he was afraid. Unfortunately, Felix did not respond positively to the conviction of the Spirit and repent of his sin, but the Holy Spirit was able through Paul to do what He was sent to do.
Paul also exhorted other believers to do the same thing he did. He wrote this to the Ephesian church.
Ephesians 5:11 “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them.
12 For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret.
13 But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light.”
What does Paul tell these believers not to do?
Not to have fellowship with those practicing these unfruitful works of darkness/sin.
What does he tell them to do?
Expose them and their practices for what they are, sin.
Paul wrote this to Timothy.
2 Timothy 4:1 “I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom:
2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.”
What is Paul charging Timothy to do?
Preach the word!
What did preaching the Word include?
Convincing, confronting, convicting, people of their sin.
Let’s look at some of these Holy Spirit filled New Testament preachers in action and see how the Spirit was able through them to convict sinners of their sin and bring them to repentance and conversion, and then to faith in Jesus when they responded positively to their message. Or how these preachers experienced persecution at the hands of these sinners when they responded negatively to their message.
We’ll start with John the Baptist because he is the first Spirit filled preacher that we meet in the New Testament.
Luke 3:19 “But Herod the tetrarch, being rebuked by him concerning Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done,
20 also added this, above all, that he shut John up in prison.”
How did Herod respond to John confronting him with his sin?
Negatively, he did not repent but instead put John in prison.
John also confronted the multitudes about their sin and called them to repent.
Matthew 3:1 “In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea,
2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”
5 Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him
6 and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins.
How did these respond to John’s preaching?
Positively, they confessed their sins, repented, and were baptized by John in the Jordan.
Here is Jesus, the greatest Holy Spirit filled preacher of all time, confronting some religious people with their sin.
John 8:7 “So when they continued asking Him, He raised Himself up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.”
8 And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.
9 Then those who heard it, being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest even to the last…”
How did these respond to Jesus confronting them with their sin?
Positively in the sense that they were convicted of their sin, but negatively in the sense that they did not repent and turn from their sin.
Next, we’ll look at the Apostles Peter and John in action.
Acts 3:13 “The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go.
14 But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you,
15 and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses.
19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,”
Does Peter, by the Holy Spirit confront these with their sin?
Yes, in great detail.
What does he tell them that they need to do?
Repent and be converted.
How do the people respond?
The following verses tell us.
Acts 4:1 “Now as they spoke to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them,
2 being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.
3 And they laid hands on them, and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening.
4 However, many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.”
What were the people’s responses to Peter’s message?
The priests, the captain of the guard, and the Sadducees responded negatively, were greatly disturbed, laid hands on them, and put them in custody. But many of those who heard their message responded positively and believed the word that Peter preached, repented, and joined the disciples; and the number of men came to be about 5000!
Here is another example of Peter and John preaching the gospel.
Acts 5:30 “The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree.
31 Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.
32 And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.
33 When they heard this, they were furious and plotted to kill them.”
Did Peter confront these people with their sin?
Yes, he said they murdered Jesus by hanging Him on a tree.
Did he tell them who Jesus was?
Yes, their Prince and Savior.
What did he tell them that Jesus was going to do?
Give them repentance and forgiveness of sins. (Note the order.)
What was their response?
“They were furious and plotted to kill them.”
Why do you think it is that no one is ever furious and wants to kill us after we share the gospel with them?
It’s probably because we are not allowing the Holy Spirit to convict them of sin, righteousness and judgment through our words like those in the New Testament did.
Speaking of Christians allowing the Holy Spirit to speak to people about their sin through them and people wanting to kill the person for it; let’s look at Stephen as he ministers to the Jewish leaders.
Acts 7:51 “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you.
52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers,
53 who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.
54 When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth.
57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord;
58 and they cast him out of the city and stoned him…”
Do we see the same pattern here that we saw above?
Yes. Stephen preached in the power of the Holy Spirit and confronted these people with their sin. They were cut to the heart, convicted, afflicted, but instead of repenting they responded negatively and killed the messenger.
As we know from history all of the apostles except one were killed for their gospel witness to sinners. Multitudes of other Christians through the ages have also been persecuted and killed for their witness for Christ and that continues on still today in many parts of the world. We do not have to worry about that happening to us though if we allow those who are comfortable in their sin to remain that way. But if we begin, by the anointing of the Holy Spirit, to afflict, convict, those living in sin, we may suffer some persecution, but we will also see people genuinely repent and be converted to Christ.
More Conviction and Repentance
It is not only unbelievers who need to be confronted about their sin and brought to repentance, the same is true for those of us who believe. You see, salvation begins with repentance but those of us who are saved know that that is not the last time God by His Spirit and through His saints will convict us of sin and call us to repent. If we are going to become all that Jesus redeemed us to be we will repent many times in this life. The following are some biblical teachings on this subject.
This is Paul giving instruction to Timothy.
1 Timothy 5:19 “Do not receive an accusation against an elder except from two or three witnesses.
20 Those who are sinning rebuke in the presence of all, that the rest also may fear.
21 I charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels that you observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing with partiality.”
What does Paul tell Timothy to do if two or three witnesses come to him with an accusation against an elder?
If the accusations are true, he is to rebuke, confront, expose the person in the presence of all.
Why in the presence of all?
First, because the person is a leader in the church, and second so that the people will fear. So the people will see how seriously God takes sin in His church, His people, and either not commit sin or repent of the sin they are committing and turn from doing it.
Here is Jesus’ instruction to the church.
Luke 17:3 “Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.”
What does Jesus say we need to do if a brother sins against us?
Rebuke him, confront him with what he did.
And if he repents, what are we to do?
Forgive him!
Paul gives these instructions to Titus.
Titus 1:12 “One of them, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”
13 This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith,”
What does Paul say is true of the Cretan believers?
They “are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”
What does Paul tell Titus to do to the Cretan believers?
Paul told Titus to rebuke, confront, convict, these Christians sharply.
Paul practiced what he told Titus to do when he sharply confronted the Corinthian church with their sin in his first letter to them.
1 Corinthians 5:1 “It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles—that a man has his father’s wife!
2 And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken away from among you.”
What is their sin that Paul is confronting?
A man in the church had married and/or is sleeping with his father’s wife, and those in the church have not dealt with the man. In fact, they are proud of how loving and tolerant they are to this man.
Their response to his rebuke is worth looking at as it is recorded in Paul’s second letter to this church.
2 Corinthians 7:8 “For even if I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it; though I did regret it. For I perceive that the same epistle made you sorry, though only for a while.
9 Now I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in nothing.
10 For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.
11 For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter.
How did Paul’s rebuke first impact the Corinthians?
They were made sorry, which is often what happens when people are confronted with their sin.
Why does Paul say that he rejoiced in their sorrow?
Because their sorrow led them to repent, have a change of mind about this sin, and to deal with the perpetrator.
What does Paul say that this godly sorrow and repentance produced in the Corinthian church?
“What diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter.”
Even though Paul exhorted Titus to rebuke the Cretans sharply and Paul rebuked the Corinthians rather sharply, that doesn’t mean all confrontation of Christian people’s sin needs to be done in that way. In fact, I think that may be the exception and not the rule as we’ll see in these following Scriptures, some of which were spoken by Paul himself.
2 Timothy 2:24 “And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient,
25 in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth,
26 and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.”
How does Paul say that a servant of the Lord should correct those who are in opposition?
Gently, patiently and in humility.
Next, we’ll look at Jesus rebuking and calling the Laodicean church to repentance.
Revelation 3:17 “Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked—
18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.
19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent.”
What can we learn from Jesus’ example here?
Confronting, convicting, rebuking unbelievers or believers about their sin must always be done out of a love for the person. Redemptively, with the intention of seeing them come to repentance and to turn from their sin so that they can be restored to right relationship with God. It is not for the purpose of condemning people, that’s what the devil does, not Jesus’ servants.
Here is what James the Lord’s brother has to say about this subject.
James 5:19 “Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back,
20 let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.”
What does James say that Christians should do if a brother or sister wanders from the truth?
Turn/convert them back, turn/convert them from the error of their way.
Why?
Because if someone continues in their sin it will lead to eternal death, but if we confront them, and they repent and turn from their sin, they will be saved.
Here is one more admonition by Paul concerning this subject.
Galatians 6:1 “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.”
What does Paul give here as the one qualification for the person who God would use to restore a brother or sister overtaken in any trespass/sin?
“you who are spiritual restore such a one”
What does it mean for a person to be “spiritual”?
Someone who is born again of the Spirit, being led by the Spirit, filled with the Spirit, walking in the Spirit, anointed with the Spirit, and submitted to the Spirit of God.
Why is it necessary for the person God would use to confront people with their sin to be led by and submitted to the Holy Spirit?
First, if they are walking in the Spirit and not in the flesh they will not be tempted themselves. Also, the love and gentleness required in dealing with people is fruit produced in us by the Spirit. The Spirit will also guide the person in how exactly to deal with each individual. And the Spirit moving through the Spirit filled person is the One who will convict/convince the person of their need to change the way they are thinking about their sin and turn them from it.
The New Testament begins with Jesus confronting sinners and calling them to repent.
Matthew 4:17 “From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’”
Shortly after that He tells people what will happen if they don’t repent.
Luke 13:5 “I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”
And the New Testament ends with Jesus confronting His followers in the churches and calling them to repent.
Revelation 3:3 “Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you.
4 You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy.
5 He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.”
What is Jesus message to those in the church in Sardis?
He tells those living in sin to repent and those living righteously to hold fast and not go back into sin. He says that those who do that, repent and/or hold fast, will overcome and “shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.” And it is inferred that those who do not repent and/or hold fast the opposite will be true which is in line with what He said earlier “unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”
What is the conclusion then of what we have studied in this segment?
Repentance is one of Jesus’ main commandments that He preached in the New Testament, and He preached it from the beginning to end of the book. He intended for His church to continue to preach this message and for that purpose He sent the Holy Spirit into the world to convince/convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgment.
He puts His Spirit in those who choose to receive Him, the Spirit, and uses them to confront both unbelievers and believers with their sin and to call them to repent, have a change of mind about sin and God, and convert, turn, from serving sin to serve the living and true God.
People’s response can be positive or negative depending on the condition of their heart. Some will be saved, and some may persecute us. We are not to be concerned about how they respond, but we are to preach repentance and faith in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins as He commanded us to preach.
Luke 24:46 “Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day,
47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
If we will do this we will see sinners converted and the kingdom of God advanced in the Earth. By the power of the Holy Spirit in us we can do that in love and humility with patience and grace; to Him be the glory.
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