Repentance works in us in such a profound way that God gives us the forgiveness of sins, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and the divine inheritance. Acts 2:38 says, “Repent and be baptized, each one of you, upon the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Forgiveness of sins is based on the redemption of Christ accomplished through His death (Acts 10:43; Eph. 1:7; 1 Cor. 15:3). It is the initial and basic blessing of God’s full salvation. Based upon it, the blessing of God’s full salvation goes forth and consummates in the receiving of the gift of the Holy Spirit.
The gift of the Holy Spirit is not any gift distributed by the Spirit, as mentioned in Romans 12:6, 1 Corinthians 12:4, and 1 Peter 4:10; rather, it is the gift which is the Holy Spirit Himself, given by God to the believers in Christ as the unique gift that produces all the gifts mentioned in Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, and 1 Peter 4. The Holy Spirit in Acts 2:38 is the all-inclusive Spirit of the processed Triune God in His New Testament economy, both essential for life and economical for power, given to the believers at the time of their repentance and believing in Christ (Eph. 1:13; Gal. 3:2) as the all-inclusive blessing of God’s full gospel (Gal. 3:14), so that they may enjoy all the riches of the Triune God (2 Cor. 13:14).
Acts 26:18 speaks of having our eyes opened and of being turned from darkness to light and from the authority of Satan to God that we “may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith” in Christ. Here we see that the genuine forgiveness of sins comes through the opening of the eyes and the transfer from Satan to God. Therefore, we needed to have our eyes opened and to have a transfer from the authority of Satan to God in order to receive the complete and perfect forgiveness of sins.
As the result of having our eyes opened and of being transferred from the authority of Satan to God, we not only have the forgiveness of sins on the negative side, but we also receive an inheritance on the positive side. This divine inheritance is the Triune God Himself with all that He has, all He has done, and all He will do for His redeemed people. This Triune God is embodied in the all-inclusive Christ (Col. 2:9), who is the portion allotted to the saints as their inheritance (Col. 1:12). The Holy Spirit, who has been given to the saints, is the foretaste, the seal, the pledge, and the guarantee of this divine inheritance (Rom. 8:23; Eph. 1:13-14), which we are sharing and enjoying today as a foretaste and will share and enjoy in full in the coming age and for eternity (1 Pet. 1:4).
The believers’ repentance is according to the divine requirement for God’s New Testament economy. Acts 26:20 indicates that everyone should repent and turn to God. In Acts 17:30b Paul says, “God now charges all men everywhere to repent.” In His New Testament economy God requires us to repent. Although He has “overlooked the times of ignorance” (Acts 17:30a), He now charges all people to repent. Repentance, therefore, is a crucial item in God’s New Testament economy.
Repentance is a gift given by the exalted Christ as a Leader and Savior. “This One God has exalted to His right hand as a Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins” (Acts 5:31). This clearly reveals that repentance is a gift given to us by the exalted Christ. To give repentance and forgiveness of sins to God’s chosen people required Christ to be exalted as a ruling Leader and Savior. His sovereign ruling causes and leads God’s chosen people to repent, and His salvation based upon His redemption affords them forgiveness of sins. Repentance is for forgiveness of sins (Mark 1:4). On God’s side, forgiveness of sins is based upon His redemption (Eph. 1:7). On man’s side, forgiveness of sins is through repentance.
Repentance and forgiveness of sins are major gifts, and only the Lord Jesus as the Leader and the Savior is qualified to give them. No one else is qualified to give repentance and forgiveness of sins to others.
Finally, repentance is a crucial item of the proclamation of God’s New Testament economy. In Luke 24 the resurrected Christ commissioned His disciples to preach repentance for the forgiveness of sins. After pointing out to them that it was written that Christ should suffer and rise up from the dead on the third day, He told them that “repentance for forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things” (vv. 47-48). Now that Christ’s vicarious death for the sinners’ sins has been accomplished and has been verified by His resurrection (Rom. 4:25), repentance for forgiveness of sins needs to be proclaimed. Hence, in our preaching we must emphasize repentance, proclaiming repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
Concerning the believers’ present, we have seen God’s calling, the Spirit’s separation, and our repentance. Following God’s calling, the Holy Spirit came to separate us, enlightening us and convicting us concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment. Enlightening and convicting are the work of the Holy Spirit to separate us unto God in the initial stage of our salvation. As the result of the Spirit’s work, we repented, and God gave us the forgiveness of sins, His Holy Spirit, and even Himself as our divine inheritance.