Luke 5:12-6:16

The Refusal of Jesus to

Save the Righteous
"Because the scribes were
confident in their own
righteousness they were
incapable of perceiving the
call to .
repentance,"
(Lane), and
the salvation
that came
with it.
"For not
knowing
about God's
righteousness,
and seeking
to establish
their own,
they did not
subject
themselves to the
righteousness of God. For
Christ is the end (goal) of
the law for righteousness to
everyone who believes,"
Romans 10:3-4. As long as
these scribes and Pharisees
believed in salvation by
human merit, human worth,
and human conformity to
Law, with a sense of
self-trust , self-confidence,
self-esteem, and
self-righteousness, they
would be hardened to any
call to repentance, and
therefore could not be
"healed" by this Physician.
"Jesus had not come to call
for the Kingdom of God men
like the scribes who
considered themselves to be
righteous, but outcasts who
knew they needed to be
made whole."- Lane
The Call of Jesus Christ to
Sinners to Repentance
The Point of Jesus'
Statement: "I have not
come to call righteous men,
but sinners to repentance"
Jesus specific call to
sinners to enter the life and
salvation of the Kingdom
through repentance informs
us that "the basis of
table-fellowship was
MESSIANIC FORGIVENESS,
and the meal itself was an
anticipation of the Messianic
Banquet.
1
When Jesus broke
bread with the outcasts ,
Messiah ate with them at His
table and extended to them
fellowship with God."- Lane.
In this story we see another
SOVEREIGN
DEMONSTRATION OF THE
.. THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon May, 1996
FORGIVENESS OF SINS.
"The meal was an extension
of the grace of God and an
anticipation of the
consummation when
Messiah will sit down with
sinners in the Kingdom of
God."- Lane
The Meatririgof
"I have.:.come"
With the Greek word for
"I have ... come," whkh
denotes the coming of] esus
as the Messiah, we are at the
very heart
of the
incarnation,
the
visitation of
the Lord to
earth in
'Jesus
Christ.
When Jesus
speaks like
this, it
" teaches us
that He is
fully
conscious
of who He is, the Messiah,
and of His messianic task.
He has come to earth to
proclaim the Kingdom, Mk.
1:38, to call sinners to
repentance, Lk. 5:3'2, to set
up a new order of life, Mat.
5: 17, to seek and to save the
lost, Lk. 19:10, to give His
life a ransom for many, Mk.
10:45, etc.
"He Who Comes" is a
Messianic and Divine title of
Jesus often used of Him in ;
the Bible, Lk. 7:19f; Mat.
11:3; Lk. 13:35; Mat. 23:39;
.,
'.
\
Psa. 118:26; Mk. 11:9; In.
1:15,27; 6:14; 11 :27; Act.
19:4; Heb. 10:37; Hab. 2:3.
John the Baptist spoke of
Jesus as "the Coming One,"
which in Greek emphasizes
that He is on the way, that
He is coming right now, that
His coming is upon us , Lk.
3:15-17.
invite "with the power of
grace which kindles faith
and attaches to Jesus."-
Lenski. It is a Divine call
that comes to the elect
sinner's heart with
omnipotence, making it
irresistible, invincible, and
effective. There is a "general
call" of the gospel, Mat.
20: 16, and a "speciid call" of
Christ, Mk. 1:20; 3:13; Jo.
6:44. The general call is
issued by the church to
His invitation to these
sinners complete in every
way and leaves nothing :
undone." - Lenski
The Meaning of "sinners"
,
. The Meaning of
"to repentance"
The Meaning of
Repentance
Repentance is METANOIA
in Greek, representing the
Hebrew word, SHUBH,
which refers to turning away
. from sin AND .
back to God
in faith and
This title of Jesus,
probably originating with
John the Baptist, Mk. 1: 7;
Lk. 3: 16, is a title of DEITY
according to
Revelation' 1 :4, 8;
through Hie; church. Thoe;e e;lnnere;
4:8. It is also
important to note
obedience. It
that in I.,.k. 3:16,.it is
in the present tense
denoting continuous
action. In Lk. 5:32,
can turn down thf3 call of the church
of Chrle;t, but thf3Y will not be able
to turn down the call of Chriet .
denotes an inner
change of heart and
mind which turns
it is in the Greek
through Hie; church. away from sin and
guilt to cleansing,
perfect tense
signifying that J estis, as the
Messiah, has come into
history and is present in
history. Christ is the
Coming One in that He
came to earth in the
incarnation, comes
throughout history by His
proVidence, His Word and
His Spirit to judge and to
save, and Hewil! come at
the end of History to finish
what He has begun. Hence,
the Bible ends with the
prayer, "Even so, keep on
coming, Lord ]esus!"- Rev.
22:20.
The Meaning of "to call"
sinners indiscriminately,
which can be resisted by
sinners. The special call is
issued by God in Christ to
His elect sinners, and it
cannot be finally resisted by
sinners, ]0. 3:8. The special
call of Christ to His elect
comes in and through the
general call of the church to
all sinners---"And the Spirit
and the Bride say, 'Come.""-
Rev, 22:17. Jesus calls
sinners to Himself through
His church. Those sinners
can turn down the call of
the church of Christ, but
they will not be able to turn
down the call of Christ
forgiveness and
spiritual renewal by God's
grace, and which manifests
itself in a real change of life
and behavior, a constant
turning from disobedience
to obedience to God. "The
'change of mind'
(METANOIA) has refe'rence
both to past deeds and to
future purposes, and is the
result of a realization of
their true moral
significance." - Plumer
The Greek word for "call," through His church.
METANOIA (repentance,
conversion) in the O.T.
prophets involved "a new
relation to God that
embraces all spheres of life
and claims the will in a way
that no external rites can
replace."- THEOLOGICAL
DICTIONARY OF THE NEW
TESTAMENT. This turning
KALEIN, means "to invite
effectively so that acceptance
is included." It meanS to
Furthermore, "to call" is
in the Greek aorist tense
signifying that "] esus makes
May, 1996 t THE COUNSEL of CbaIcedon t .5
from sin and tUrnirig to God
with all one's being has
FOUR FACETS in the
Prophets: 0). "It means
obedience to the will of
God, i.e., unconditional
recognition of God in
conduct corresponding to
His will,"" THEOLOGICAL
WORDBOOK OF THE OLD
TESTAMENT, Hos. 6:1; Jer.
34: 15; (2). "It means trust in
God in rejection of all
human help and all false
gods," TWOT, Has. 14:4;
Jer. 3:22-23; (3). "It means
turning aside from
everything that is. ungodly, \'
TWOT,Jer. ' 26:3; Ezek.
18:26; and (4) . Repentance
includes believing that Jesus
is the Divine-human Savior,
the long-awaited Messiah,
and resting in Him alone for
salvation, Lk. 1:17, 76f; In.
1:18.
The WESTMINSTER
CONFESSION OF FAITH
defines repentance as
follows (in chapter XV): "I.
Repentance unto life is an
evangelical grace, (Zech.
12:10'; Acts 11:18), the
doctrine whereof is to be
preached by every minister
of the gospel, as well as that
of faith in Christ, (Lk. '
24:47;!'-1k.1:15: Act.
20:21).
"II. By it a sinner, out of
the sight and sense, not only
of the danger, but also of the
filthiness and odiousness of ,
his sins, as contrary to the,
holy nature and righteous
law of God, and the
apprehension of his mercy bound to make private
in Clirist to such as are confession of his sihs to
penitent, so grieves for and God, praying for the pardon
hates his sins, as to turn thereof, (Ps. 51:4,5, 7, 9,
from them all unto God, 14; Ps. 32:5, 6) ; upon
(Ezek. 18:30,31; 36:31; Isa. which, and the forsaking of
30:22; Ps. 51:4; Jer. them, he shall find merc'y,
31:18,19; Joel 2:12,13; (Prov. 28:13'; I Jo.' 1:9); so
Amos 5:15; Psa, 119:128; II he that scandalizes his
Cor. 7:11), purposing and brother, or the church of
endeavoring to walk with Christ, ought to be ;willing,
Him in all the ways of His , by a private and. public
commandments, (Ps. 119:6, ' confession and sorrow for
59, 106; Lk. 1':6;' II Kgs. , his sin, to declare his
23:25). , repentance to those ,that ,are
. "III. Although rep'entance . offended, QaI;Il. 5:16; Lk.
be not to be rested in, as any 17:3,4; Josh. 7:19) ; who are
, satisfaction for sin, or any thereupon to be reconciled
"'cause of the pardon thereof, to him, and ,in love to
(Ezek. 36:31, 32; Ezek. reCeive him, (II Cor. 2:8)'-
16:61,62,63), which is the The Significance of the
act of God's free grace in Prepositional Phrase:
Christ, (Has. 14:2, 4; Rom. "into repentance"
3:24; Eph. 1:7); yet is it of
such necessity to .all sinners,
that none may expect
' pardon without it, (Lk. 13:3,
;5; Acts 17:30, 31).
"IV. As there is no sin so
small but it deserves
damnation, (Rom. 6:23;
Rom. 5: 12; Mat. 12:36); so
there is no sin s,o great, that
it can bring damnation upon
those who truly repent, (lsa.
55:7; Rom. 8:1; isa. 1:16,
18).
"V" Men ought not to
contentthemselves.with a
general repentance, but it is
every man's duty to
endeavor to ,repent of his
particular sins particularly,
(Ps. 19:13; Lk. 19;8; I Tim.
1:13, 15).
"VI. As every man .is
The Significance of
"Into repentance"
Jesus c,ame to call sinners
"to which'is the
English translati'on of th!! " ,
Greek prepositional phrase
i "EIS (into) rwentance." The
preposition, EIS, translated
into, toward., to, denotes
movement o'r direction
: toward something.' The
. point ihen would be that
'Jesus calls sinners into a life
. of repentance, a dimensio'n
of existence characterized by
turning away from'sin and"
turning toward God. To be
called by Christ into a life 0'
repentance is to be called
into the life of joy and
forgiveness found in the
Kingdom of God. "This is
why thl:; nO,tioll of
6 f THE couNSEL of Chalcedon f May; 1996
'conversion' is a
TOTALITARIAN concept.. ..
It does not denote an
incidental act of penitence
but an all-embracing
attitude of life. "- Ridderbos,
THE COMING OF THE
KINGDOM, pg. Z19.
The Future Orientation of
a Life of Repentance
"Ungodly repentance
looks backward; it is sorry
for its sins because it regrets
the consequences.
AND GODLY RULE, pg.
312. Repentance can be
defined as "a return to right
understanding." - Lactantius.
"Of the converted and
repentant man, Lactantius
said, 'he returns to a right
understanding, and recovers
his mind as it were from
madness.' (Lactantius). This
idea is in mind in the
parable of the Prodigal Son;
we are told that 'he came to
himself,' Lk. 15: 17; 'he saw
"Thus, while in the
background of all
repentance by man there is a
'godly sorrow' over sin, 11
Cor. 7:10, and there can be
no true repentance by man
without first of all a godly
sorrow for sin, repentance
itself is the turning from sin
to God with a new
obedience. St. Paul said to
the believers, 'Being then
made free from sin, ye
became the servants of
Such repentance is
marked by self-torture
and misery and a
pre-occupation with
the past. All too
often, when we
demand that someone
repent, we have this
kind of repentance in
"To be called by Christ into
a life of repentance is to be
called into the life of joy
and forgiveness found in
the Kingdom of God,"
righteousness,' Rom.
6:18. This is the
emphasis: to serve
righteousness, to
become dedicated,
working members of
God's kingdom. By
means of repentance,
we participate in the
work of the
mind. We wantc them to see
the consequences of their
acts and to suffer for them.
We tend to rate true
repentance with deep misery
and a past-oriented
suffering. There is such a
thing as godly sorrow for
sin, for, while 'Godly sorrow
may leadto repentance,
(it) .. .is in no sense identical
with it.' (Map.tley)"-
Rushdoony, SALVATION
AND GODLY RULE, pg.
311.
"The true meaning of the
Greek word, (METANOIA) is ,
'a complete change of mental
outlook and' of life design,'
(Mantley). It is reformation,
a change which is durable
and consequences. "-
Rushdoony, SALVATION
himself and God in a new
light. This is repentance.'
(Lactantius). Clearly, what
we all too often require of
people is remorse, not
reformation. In so doing,
we chain the church and its
work to the past instead of
looking to the future, and
we see more virtue in the
miseries of hell than in the
grace of God."- Rushdoony,
pg.312.
"In men, repentance is ' a
for the future,
rather than a mourning over
the past.' (Mantley) This is
why repentance is so closely
linked with the Kingdom of
God: 'it prepares men to
participate in it .'
(Mantley)."- Rushdoony, pg.
312.
Kingdom."- Rushdoony, pg.
313.
The Total Contradiction of
Jewish Legalism
Jesus' preaching on the
universality of the sin and
the absolute necessity of
repentance for the
forgiveness of sins was a
break with the entire Jewish
theology of salvation. For
apostate Judaism the Torah,
(the Law of God), was given
to the Jews as a gift by God, '
"but the purpose orihi!> gift .
is for Israel to earn a
REWARD from God by
fulfilling this' Torah. That is
why it was assumed that in
himself man has the moral
strength to fulfill the Torah.
--- The important thing in
May, 1996 mE COUNSEL of Chalcedon 7
the fulfillment of the law is
that the NUMBER of
infringements of the law
should be inferior to the
NUtviBER of the fulfillments
of the law. In other words,
the credit side of man' s
account with God must be
. greater than its debit side.
--- The Jewish soteriology,
therefore, had a legalistic
and quantitative meaning.
It was a religion of
self-redemption starting
from.a shallow' view of the
nature of sin and a
perfectionist conception of
man."- Ridderbos, pg. 218,
Against this theology,
Jesus came bringing a gospel
of salvation by grace alone
through faith alone in His
meritorious life and atoning
death. The standard for
righteous life in the
Kingdom of Christ is Biblical
Law. The standard by which
Christ blesses righteous life
in His Kingdom is the riches
of His grace. And the way
by which the life in the
Kingdom is entered is
through penitent faith in
Jesus and in His worth and
merits in the .place of our
own ,lemerits. In the
religiori of J esu.s and the
Bible, there is no room for
human me,it. It is
antithetical to ,apostate
Judaism. See John 3:16 and
Galatians 2:16.
Conclusion
1. "The grace of Christ is
of no advantage to us, unless
when, conscious of our sins,
and groaning under 'their
load, we approach Him with
humility - Calvin
2. "We have no reason to
feat tha t Christ will rej ect
sinners; to call those for'
whom He descended from
His heavenly glory." - CalVin
3. "We must also attend
to the expression, ' to
repentance,' which is
intended to inform us that
pardon is granted to us, not
to cherish our sins, but to
recall us to the earnestness
of a devout and holy life.
He reconciles us to the
Father on (his condition,
that, being redeemed by His
blood, ,we may present
ourselves true sacrifices .... "
CalVin. "For the grace of
God has appeared, bringing ,
salvation to all men,
instructing us to deny
ungodliness and worldly
desires and to live sensibly,
righteously and godly in tht
pnisent age ... ," Titus '
2:11-12.
4. Although Jesus used
the scribal distinction
between the "righteous"
Pharisees , who were zealous
for their laws, and the
"sinners," who were not', He
did 'not recognize the
righteousness of the
Pharisees as sufficient ,
(Mat. 5:20), "but judged it
to be a strange kind of
righteousness based on
self-deceit and therefore
'hypOCritical,' (Mat. 5:20f;
6:lf, 23; Lk. 18:14). He
rejects such righteousness as
a dangerous delusion, Lk,
14:8f."- Ridderbos, pg. 221'.
8 '" THE COUNSEL of Ch.lcedon '" May, 1996
As Jesus sits at the table in
Levi's home, He "in reality
warns the guests not to be
mistaken about the banquet
in God's kingdom with
respect to God's judgment of
their excellence."-
Ridderbos, pg. 221. Jesus
ci\me, as the Great
Physician, to bring God's
remedy to sinful people:
God's, guilt-remitting grace!
However, and this point
must be made crystal clear,
salvation is, only extended to
those' who are made to
realize that they are in need
of it. "Taken in this sense
this pronouncement, (Luke
5:32; ' Mark 2:17), indirectly
imp lied a call to those who
pretended to righteousness
to search their own hearts
and to ascertain whether
they had reliable reasons for
thinking that this kind of
righteousness was
sufficient."- Ridderbos, pg.
221.
5. "Salvation is an utter
impossibility so long as man
is obliged to obtain or merit
it for himself on his own;
with God,however, there
are unlimited possibilities,
so also with regards to man's
salvation."- Ridderbos, pg.
223. men this is '
impossible; but with God all
are pOSSible." Q
lJesus often describes "the
relationsh.ip which exists between
Himself and the Messianic
community in the terms of meal
(ellowship: Rev. 3:20; 19:69; Mat.
8:1011. This concept-of the
'messianic banquet' was also known
to the scribeS." Lane in MARK,
NICNT.