act 17v30 Commandeth All Men Everywhere To Repent

"COMMANDETH ALL MEN EVERYWHERE TO REPENT"

Acts 17:30

For four thousand years the nations of the world were engulfed in the ignorance and darkness of religious superstition and idolatry. Satan deceived the Gentile world. They had no light, but the light of creation and the light of their depraved consciences. Great darkness covered the earth. God gave the light of Divine revelation to the nation of Israel alone. The rest of the world was blind. God passed them by. God ignored them. God left them in darkness. This is what Paul means when he says, "The times of this ignorance God winked at." He does not mean that God approved of or excused their ignorance. He means God ignored and passed by the nations of the world. He left them alone.

Then Christ came. The Sun of Righteousness arose in the earth with healing in his wings. By virtue of his death as the sinner's Substitute, Satan's usurped dominion over the nations of the world was broken, the types and shadows of the law were fulfilled, and the kingdom of God was enlarged beyond the borders of Jerusalem and extended to the uttermost part of the earth. Our Lord said, "I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me," both Jew and Gentile. And now, in this gospel day, "God commandeth all men everywhere," not just the Jews, "But now God commandeth all men everywhere to repent."

Without repentance there is no salvation. Our Lord tells us plainly, "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." Wherever Christ, the Prince of Heaven and the Savior of men grants faith and the forgiveness of sins through his blood, he also gives repentance. Repentance and faith are twin graces. They always go together. Where there is no faith there is no repentance; and where there is no repentance there is no faith. Someone once said, "There is no going to the fair haven of glory without sailing through the narrow strait of repentance." He was right. "Repent ye therefore, and be converted that your sins may be blotted out."