He told me how all the sins of his life had come before him while he was on the floor, and he cried out asking God’s forgiveness for each one. He had been an alcoholic, who used to drink himself to sleep at night. When he got up from the floor, he was a changed person. He was born again and had a wonderful relationship with Jesus. The bondage of the alcohol addiction had been completely broken.
Now I realize that not everyone has the same type of dramatic deliverance after their salvation experience. For some, it takes some time for them to find a place of total deliverance; but I believe that Holy Spirit conviction, leading to repentance and faith in Jesus is the most powerful doorway to freedom for any person in bondage to sin and addiction!
As we have continued to labor, promoting the life changing message of the Gospel, many times we have looked on in awe as the power of the Holy Spirit has powerfully impacted peoples lives. Just the other day, I met up with a young man who shared how he had been in one of our meetings, and after going home, God began to convict him of the lifestyle he had been living.
This young man, had walked away from God and had been living a life of sin. He was unable to sleep until he had made his peace with God. He spent hours asking for forgiveness for the the things the Spirit of God was convicting him of, and finally prayed a prayer to rededicate his heart and life to Jesus. A mighty work of the Spirit of God; a wonderful thing.
Repentance arising from the convicting work of the Holy Spirit precedes the operation of grace through faith for salvation. To repent (Greek: μετανοέω / metanoeó) means ‘a change of mind.’ Now this is not simply changing one’s mind, for example, to change from thinking negatively to more positively about life.
The meaning of any word in translation, from one language to another, must always be interpreted in light of its context. In Scripture, the word ’metanoeó’ is used in its context; to refer to a change of mind about sin; to turn from sin, return to God and make amends with God.
In my humble opinion, we don’t necessarily have to beat people over the head, regarding their sin, to help bring them to repentance. The Word of God is clear, we are to make people aware that it is their sin that separates them from relationship with God, but the Bible also says the goodness of God is intended to lead us to repentance. (Romans 2:4) Many times it is a revelation of God’s goodness, His mercy, His loving kindness, His miracle working power, or the beauty of His holiness that brings one to a place of conviction and repentance.
Each situation, of course, needs to be addressed with sensitivity to the Holy Spirit. I remember one time I felt the need to share with a young man about the reality of hell. The whole thought of it shook him up so much that he wanted to pray and receive Jesus right there and then. His youth Pastor came up to me afterwards and thanked me; he told me how he had been trying for months to lead this young man to Jesus.
Then there are those who feel that they are good people and God will let them into heaven, because they are good. One has to wonder what Jesus died for; they seem to feel they don’t need his help! What we offer people when we present the Gospel is a priceless treasure; a gift of infinite worth; a miracle without an equal; an act of God’s mercy that is too great for words.
Many, who think they have no need for the Gospel, actually need an encounter with the beauty, splendor and majesty of God. They need to experience His manifest presence. It’s when you begin to experience such things that you begin to realize that being good isn’t enough to get you into heaven. Only faith in Jesus and his finished work will get you there.
When Jesus first called Peter to be a disciple, the bible tells us:
“When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!”and follow him, he said to the disciples When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” (Luke 5:4-8)
After this miracle of God’s goodness and supernatural provision, the conviction of the Holy Spirit fell on Peter. He then recognized his true state before God. An encounter with the goodness of Jesus has the ability to convict and soften the hardest heart. Many times God will show us His goodness to bring us to repentance.
When Peter preached under the anointing and leading of the Holy Spirit to the multitudes gathered on the day of Pentecost, he was very direct. He outlined the miracles of Jesus, the fact that Jesus was the promised Messiah, the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, and even pointed out that it was they, the Jews, who had crucified him. Acts 2:37-38 tells us “When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the other apostles “What shall we do?” Peter said “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.”
Peter knew that these were people who needed to know in no uncertain terms what it was that they had done wrong. There are times that this is the right approach! It certainly worked in this situation, because when they heard it they were cut to the heart. The conviction of the Holy Spirit broke into their lives and they were ready for change, they were ready to do whatever was needed to remedy the situation!
The Holy Spirit works in different ways to bring people to repentance. In my own life, I was very successful and saw no need of God. My encounter with God showed me that He was real and far more beautiful than I could have possibly imagined. It was at this point that I began to understand and see the depths of my sin, sense the conviction of the Holy Spirit and it brought me to a place of repentance.
It can be tempting, when it comes to Evangelism, to work a formula; and sometimes that is a good place to start. What I have always found most effective is when we work with the leading of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit has the key to unlock human hearts and ultimately, only He can bring change and transformation to the human life.
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