NSBT 49: The Feasts of Repentance

In gospel proclamation today, the critical New Testament element of repentance
can be far too often ignored, minimalised or dismissed. Yet John the Baptist,
Jesus himself, and those he commissioned to spread his gospel all spoke of the
urgent need to repent.
Michael Ovey was convinced that a gospel without repentance quickly distorts
our view of God, ourselves and one another by undermining grace and ultimately
leading to idolatry. Only when we grasp the need for true repentance as
consisting of a real change -- a transforming work of the Spirit of God -- can
we fully understand the gospel Jesus preached.
With care and clarity, Ovey focuses first on the relevant biblical material in
Luke-Acts, examining who repents and who does not, and the characteristics of
both groups. He surveys the 'feasts of repentance' of Jesus with Levi, the
Pharisees, and Zaccheus, and in the parable of the Lost Son. He then moves to
more systematic-theological aspects of repentance, in relation to idolatry and
to salvation; and finally to pastoral theology in the corporate life of the
people of God today, with regard to self-righteousness, hypocrisy, humility,
forgiveness and justice.