As a young man, age 21, I was invited by my friend to visit his church. It was a charismatic brand of Christianity and not something I was familiar with. But I was caught up in the excitement of it all. It wasn’t long before I found myself taking that stroll down the aisle to make my profession of faith and, as my friend described it, to “give my heart to the Lord.” It was an exciting and emotional experience. After a few days had passed, my friend had stopped by to check up on me and see how things were going now that I had “given my heart to the Lord”. Things were going okay. But a question was puzzling me. I asked my friend, “what now?” He replied, “what do you mean, what now?” “I mean, I’ve given my heart to the Lord. What happens now? I don’t really feel any different.” He said, “well, you’re saved!” Okay, but I’m still not quite sure what that means. “Saved from what?” He replied, “well, you’re not going to go to hell when you die!” Okay, that’s certainly good news I suppose. But I was 21 years old. Most young fellows aren’t thinking about the Great Beyond in their early twenties. I wanted to know what happens now. What happens with the rest of my life while I’m here on this earth. He really didn’t have an answer for me. And I pondered that question for at least another year.

It was about a year later when I saw a religious broadcast on TV. The commentator asked a very direct question which caused my ears to twitch. “What makes you think you’re saved because you believe?” Certainly, I believed that I was saved. I was told by that charismatic preacher that received my confession of faith a year earlier that I was saved. Because of my belief! The TV preacher continued, slamming his fist on his desk, “the demons believe! And they are not saved!” (see James 2:19). He now had my undivided attention. He went on to demonstrate that to believe is merely the first step into a person changing the very conduct of their lives. The Apostle Peter called this repentance. Notice in Acts chapter 2, the people were gathered to hear Peter’s sermon (given on the annual holy day known as Pentecost). They were convicted of the reality of God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ. They, much like me the year previously, had one very important question on their minds:

“Now when they heard [this], they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, "Men [and] brethren, what shall we do?" Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:37-38)

We are now only a few weeks away from the annual holy day known as Pentecost (June 1^st, 2025). As we approach this momentous occasion, I thought it would be fitting to invite you to study this concept of repentance more deeply. It’s the first thing the Apostle Peter blurted out in response to their confession of faith. Repent! It’s worth learning what he meant by that. Take a moment to read this article located within one of our free study guides: “Repentance: A Profound Turnaround!” This and many other free study materials are available on the United Church of God website.