Repentance in Nineveh: Jonah 3:6-10

When we invite to put their faith in Christ, we normally ask them to ‘seal the deal’ with the Lord by saying the ‘sinners prayer’. This prayer asks them to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, ask the Lord to come into their hearts, confess their sins and accept God’s forgiveness. This guarantees that they are accepted in the household of faith and if they die, they will go to heaven. If they make a great emotional show while they are making that prayer, we interpret that to mean a deep level of remorse over their sin. We might also think that their tears mean a deep commitment.


I have nothing against the 'sinners’ prayer'. It is necessary to make that confession prayer. Even the tears are alright as people are ‘cut to the heart’ (Acts 2:37) at the realization of how badly they have offended God. The only problem in this day and age is that after making this prayer, most people just settle at that very low level of commitment to God. Today’s passage has a lot to teach about the level of expectation that God has on us when we ‘believe’ him.

Ninevites put on sackcloth—a sign of remorse and prayed for mercy. Remorse and saying the sinner’s prayer are an important step in crossing from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. But it is just the beginning of what the Lord has invited you into. Picture it like being invited into a great feast, getting inside the hall because you have the right card, but then you stay at the lobby sipping cocktails while the real feast is going inside the banquet hall.

The Ninevites gave up their evil ways. This is the hallmark of repentance. It is turning away from the wrong you have been doing and start doing right. John the Baptist warned the Pharisees and Sadducees who came to him to confess and be baptized "You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance! And do not say to yourselves, we are Abraham's children...every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down" (Luke 3: 7-9). In other words, don't imagine that confession and conversion guarantees a relationship with God. You need to change your ways. When the tax collectors and soldiers asked him what they should do, he explained "Do not collect any more than you are required to" and to the soldiers, "do not extort money and do not accuse people falsely..." In other words, stop the wrong you are doing, start doing right.

At the heart of repentance is giving up being in control of your life, of your choices, of your behavior. You submit to God and follow his will as spelled out in scripture. Your choices and behavior do not contradict his word. As such, repentance is a lifelong process as God continues to reveal areas of spiritual growth. As you submit to God, he changes your character to be more like Christ. Now, that process of being changed in your character to be more and more like Christ is the essence of 'spiritual formation'.

I'm emphasizing this issue in length because most Christian's today have settled at that level of conversion. This has produced a weak and powerless brand of Christianity that was not common in past eras of Christianity. The logical result is that we have become poor witnesses for Christ. Many non-believers do not see why they need to be converted; they can’t see the difference. Alternatively they convert to become the institutional Christians that we are and the cycle continues.


Dear friends, throughout this devotional, I have continually called us to seriously witness to those in our circles of influence, lead them to Christ or bring them to church. If we are to be effective in this challenge, our own lives need to produce fruit in keeping with repentance!