…the goodness of God leads you to repentance.
— Romans 2:4

Many believers understand repentance roughly like this: an unbeliever, a sinner, must admit that he is a sinner, repent of his sins, say the “prayer of repentance” and, of course, stop doing the ungodly things he used to do. And then there’s the pioneer’s motto: “he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin.” In fact there are different kinds of repentance, just as there are different baptisms. What do baptisms have to do with it? Just this: John’s baptism was called “a baptism of repentance” [Luk.3:3]. Repentance according to John was roughly this: “Repent and stop sinning, or else — the axe is already laid at the root.” [Luk.3:9-14] But didn’t Jesus say: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”? And Peter said: “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus.” [Act.2:38] A whole doctrinal pyramid has been built on this verse. It is very important to remember whom Jesus and Peter were telling to “repent”. Put simply: the gospel of grace was first preached by the apostle Paul, and he received this gospel not from the other apostles but through the revelation of Jesus Christ. [Gal.1:11-12] When Jesus walked the earth, and when Peter preached on the day of Pentecost, Paul was not yet a believer, and so the gospel of grace was not being preached, because Jesus and Peter were preaching to the lost sheep of Israel, the Jews.

Although Jesus did not preach the gospel of grace, in His earthly life we can see how He showed grace to sinners, and how a repentance happened that differs from John’s. One example is when Peter admitted that he was a sinner. [Luk.5:8] Interestingly, Jesus did not convict him of anything, but simply blessed him with a great catch of fish. Another telling case is Zacchaeus. He was the chief of tax collectors, or, as we’d say in Jewish terms, a “super-sinner”. Did Jesus say John’s words to him: “Collect no more than what is appointed for you“? Nothing of the kind. The only words spoken to Zacchaeus were: “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” [Luk.19:5] In fact Zacchaeus did not repent when Jesus came to his house, but when he heard from someone that Jesus sat at table with tax collectors. [Luk.5:29] It was this news that made Zacchaeus seek Jesus. What happened in Zacchaeus’ house was only the completion of that repentance, the “fruit of repentance”.

Very often Paul’s words in his epistles are taken as works we must perform. For example, Paul writes: “Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need.” [Eph.4:28] Shouldn’t we behave like that? The difference is that these works are the result of repentance, the fruit of repentance — not of repentance that comes from the law, but of repentance that comes from grace. Earlier, in Ephesians chapter 4, Paul writes: “and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.” [Eph.4:23-24] Repentance by grace happens automatically when a person experiences, like Peter, or hears about, like Zacchaeus, the goodness and kindness of God. And it is this kindness of God that leads a person to true repentance and gives it to him.