K005. Jesus told us to repent now

He did not tell us to wait and repent later, or repent only after we have really received His goodness. But, today many still argue, "No, Peter DID NOT REPENT FIRST ! Jesus did not ask Peter to repent first and then gave him the net-breaking fishes later (in Luk 5:8); neither did Jesus say to the woman, Woman you must repent first (sin no more) before you are forgiven (Joh 8:11). No, Jesus showed His goodness to both of them first, and then they repented. So, today we don't have to preach repentance. We should just preach the goodness of God to the sinners, and the goodness of God will lead them to repentance .."

I will ask them, If you are the preachers, are you going to wait for Jesus to show the goodness of God first before you can ask the people to repent? Or if you are the sinners, will you repent only if you can see the goodness of God first? No, Jesus has already come and He has already shown the goodness of God by dying on the cross for all men. If this goodness will still not be sufficient to lead men to repentance, nothing will.

Peter's first repentance
Let us look at Peter's first repentance in Luk 5:8. Yes, it was the first time Peter repented when he first met the Lord. He saw how the net was breaking, his boat was sinking, and he was a sinful man. Yes, Peter repented after the Lord showed His greatness (or His goodness) to him. In this case, it may not be really goodness because his net broke and his boat started to sink.

Peter's second repentance
But, after he denied the Lord three times, he repented with weeping and went back to fish in John 21:11. This time (after his repentance) his net did not break when he met the Lord; instead he and the Lord had good breakfast. This was real goodness because he would not need to spend any time or money to mend the net. And his boat did not sink (or leak). Hence, if we are really concerned only about the goodness or the sequence of what to preach first, I would still say, Preach true repentance first, and then the  real goodness of God will follow. However, I will never need to expound this to the sinners and dictate whether they should repent first or see the goodness first. I will highlight this only to the preachers who think that they can preach the goodness of God better than others and start to accuse others who preach repentance for not preaching like them.

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