Shorter Catechism Qs. 85–87
Q.85. What doth God require of us, that we may escape his wrath and curse due to us for sin?
A. To escape the wrath and curse of God due to us for sin, God requireth of us faith in Jesus Christ, repentance unto life, with the diligent use of all the outward means whereby Christ communicateth to us the benefits of redemption.
Q. 86. What is faith in Jesus Christ?
A. Faith in Jesus Christ is a saving grace, whereby we receive and rest upon him alone for salvation, as he is offered to us in the gospel.
Q. 87. What is repentance unto life?
A. Repentance unto life is a saving grace, whereby a sinner, out of a true sense of his sin, and apprehension of the mercy of God in Christ, doth, with grief and hatred of his sin, turn from it unto God, with full purpose of, and endeavour after, new obedience.
+++
“When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”” (Acts 11:18 ESV)
“testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Acts 20:21 ESV)
“or by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
(Ephesians 2:8–9 ESV)
“and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—” (Philippians 3:9 ESV)
+++
We are never going to really understand the message of the Bible until we learn this vital point: What God requires, he provides! The Catechism questions ask what God requires from us that we “may escape his wrath and curse due to us for sin?” Indeed, a sinner is a debtor, and the debt must be paid in full before the relationship between the debtor and the Creditor can be repaired. The question, then, is what exactly God requires. The answer: faith and repentance.
Faith and repentance are distinguishable, but inseparable. They are distinguishable in that they relate to our souls differently. But they are inseparable because true, saving faith is the faith of a repentant person, and true, acceptable repentance is a believing repentance.
Perhaps we can understand the relationship between faith and repentance in this way. A good photograph works by keeping certain things in focus while keeping the focus off of background elements. Both what is in focus and not in focus are important elements of the picture, but the emphasis falls on the object in focus. If nothing in the photograph is in focus, well, that’s just pointless. But if everything is equally in focus, we might say, ironically, that it lacks focus!
Faith puts the focus on Christ while putting in the background our part of the story. Faith is thus looking to Jesus Christ, as he is proclaimed in the good news of his death and resurrection, and receiving him as our only Savior from God’s wrath. Jesus is the focus of faith.
Repentance puts the focus on us. The repenting believer recognizes his sins and becomes sick and tired of the sin that drove Jesus to his cross. The repenting believer revolts against sin with all his might, and with a whole-hearted desire seeks to please God. Change is the focus of repentance.
But even though faith and repentance can be distinguished, they are inseparable. True faith is repenting faith because resting in Christ means recognizing there is nothing good in us to set right our relationship with God. And true repentance is a believing repentance because even our repentance is imperfect, and we must rest in the glorious promise that God forgives and accepts even when our repentance is falling short of his glory. Indeed, we have not really repented until we end with our repentance with a joyful thanksgiving of forgiveness. We believe repentantly, and we repent believingly.
And now marvel at God’s kindness. He requires faith and repentance. But Eph 2:8 tells us faith is the gift that God gives freely! Acts 11:18 tells us God has granted repentance to the Gentiles just as he has to the Jews. This is where the good news of Jesus Christ is uniquely and utterly different from all the religions of the world. All religions of the world demand that worshippers come up with what their gods demand. But the good news of Jesus Christ is that God has provided what we owe him! In the shed blood of Jesus Christ and the empty tomb, there is fullness of grace for every sinner who turns to God. Praise the Lord!
In the next lesson we will begin to see how God both grants and grows faith and repentance in the believer.