We hear people say that repentance simply means to change your mind, and some are more shallow still: repentance is changing the mind about Christ and sin – a small matter. The Alpha Course is so light on this. When John the Baptist said this, he was talking about an entire turning around of viewpoint. It is a change which cannot be done without the feelings and the will being involved. In the Old Testament the Hebrew word repent implies pain. Has the New Testament got rid of this? No. ‘I see all my objectives were for me first: now I will be fully for Christ only. I turn from my past life. Lord, wash me, cleanse me.’ It is a complete change of mind and manner of life. Repentance has fruit which follows from it. If that fruit is not there, it is not real repentance. God changes me and causes me to want to live for him. Some are supposedly converted through a message which makes light of repentance. You do not see much change of life in these people: you see the same entertainments, the same possessions, and a mildly sanitised life, but that is all. They have just been weaned off the excesses that used to affect them, but no more. To accommodate these people the church must go over to pop music, and build bridges with the culture of the world.
Have you only accepted Christ, but not changed your whole life? Be very concerned about self-deception. Maybe you heard the message from someone you thought was a true preacher, but was he being true to the message of John the Baptist and of Christ? It is your soul that is at stake. If you respond to God in a half-hearted way, then at some point you will turn back to the world again. You need to count the cost; you need to search the Scripture; you need to die to sin. Pray to God to help you search your heart and see if you are sincere. If not, ask him to continue to work within you by his Spirit, until you are born again, and there are clear signs of repentance in you and of new life.