Repent, Believe, Follow
The Harmony of Instruction · His own commandments: the call · Christ, the apostles, the parables, Proverbs and the Psalms
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The first words of His preaching and the conditions of discipleship: to turn, to believe, to follow, and to keep what He commands.
Each section follows one order: the word of Christ; the apostles who hand it on; the parables; the wisdom of Proverbs; the Psalms; and the Law, the Prophets and the rest of Scripture. Verses of Proverbs and the Psalms are quoted in full from the Saints Translation; everything else is linked to the place where it is given in full. Psalms are numbered as in the Greek, with the Hebrew number in parentheses. The selection is an editor’s gathering: a doorway into the text, not an addition to it.
On this page: Repent and Believe · Follow Me · Hear and Keep
Repent and Believe
His first word is Repent, and it is the word of every prophet before Him: turn back and live. With it comes faith, new birth, the child’s lowliness, and the narrow gate, which Proverbs knows as the way that only seems upright and the way that shines.
The word of Christ
29. To repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near. Matthew 4:17
From then on Jesus began to proclaim, “Repent, for the kingdom of the heavens has drawn near.”
Matthew 4:17
30. To believe in the good news. Mark 1:15
31. This is the work of God: to believe in the One He sent. John 6:29
32. You must be born from above, of water and Spirit. John 3:5–7
33. To become like children, or you will not enter the kingdom of the heavens. Matthew 18:3–4
34. To enter through the narrow gate. Matthew 7:13–14
Enter through the narrow gate, because the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. Because the gate is narrow and the road constricted that leads to life, and few find it.
Matthew 7:13–14
The apostles hand it on
1. To repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:38–39
Peter said to them, “Repent, and let each one of you be baptized upon the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you, for your children, and for all who are far away—as many as the Lord our God calls to Himself.”
Acts 2:38–39
4. To believe in the Lord Jesus; to confess with the mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in the heart that God raised Him. Romans 10:9–10
5. To be born anew, not of perishable seed but through the living and abiding word of God. 1 Peter 1:23
12. This is His commandment: to believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ and to love one another, just as He commanded us. 1 John 3:23
69. Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness. Romans 4:1–5
71. The righteous one shall live by faith. Romans 1:16–17
In parable
The Lost Son. The father runs to the son who was dead and is alive again, and pleads with the elder brother.
The Lost Sheep. There is joy in heaven over one sinner who repents.
The Lost Coin. There is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.
The Two Sons. The one who said No but went did the father’s will: tax collectors and prostitutes go into the kingdom before you.
The Barren Fig Tree. Leave it this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure.
The wisdom of Proverbs
Trust God with your whole heart;
Proverbs 3:5–6
do not exalt yourself on the strength of your wisdom.
In all your ways acknowledge her, so that she may cut your ways straight, and your foot will certainly not stumble.
But the ways of the righteous shine like light;
Proverbs 4:18–19
they go forward and illuminate until the day comes right.
But the ways of the ungodly are dark;
they do not know how they stumble.
There is a way that seems upright to people,
Proverbs 14:12
but its final outcome comes to the bottom of Hades.
In the Psalms
Have mercy on me, God, according to Your great mercy,
Psalm 50 (51):3–5
and according to the abundance of Your compassion blot out my lawless deed.
Wash me more and more from my lawlessness,
and cleanse me from my sin.
For I know my lawlessness,
and my sin is continually before me.
Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven
Psalm 31 (32):1–2
and whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will certainly not reckon,
and in whose mouth there is no deceit.
I made my sin known,
Psalm 31 (32):5
and I did not cover my lawlessness.
I said, “I will confess my lawlessness against myself to the Lord,”
and You forgave the impiety of my sin. Diapsalma.
If I was not humble-minded,
Psalm 130 (131):2
but exalted my soul—
like the weaned child upon its mother,
like repayment upon my soul.
The Law, the Prophets and the rest of Scripture
In the commandments of the Law: 75. To confess the sin one has committed and turn from it
Abram believed God Genesis 15:6
Choose life Deuteronomy 30:19
Seek God and return Isaiah 55:6–7
Return, and I will heal Jeremiah 3:22
Turn back and live Ezekiel 18:30–32
I do not will the death of the impious Ezekiel 33:11
Tear your hearts, not your garments Joel 2:12–13
Nineveh turns Jonah 3:10
The righteous will live by faithfulness Habakkuk 2:4
Follow Me
Follow Me: the call that took Abram from his land and Elisha from the plow. It costs everything and it gives rest. Wisdom asks the same of her sons: give me your heart, and do not turn to the right or to the left.
The word of Christ
35. To come after Him. Matthew 4:19
36. To deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Him. Matthew 16:24–25
Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me will find it.
Matthew 16:24–25
37. To come to Him, take His yoke, and learn from Him. Matthew 11:28–30
Come to Me, all who toil and are burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, because I am meek and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is kind, and My burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28–30
38. To let the dead bury their own dead, and not to look back from the plow. Luke 9:60–62
39. To count the cost: whoever does not renounce all that he has cannot be His disciple. Luke 14:26–33
40. To seek first His kingdom and His righteousness. Matthew 6:33
The apostles hand it on
6. To be buried with Him through baptism into death, and to walk in newness of life. Romans 6:3–4
Or do you not know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the Father’s glory, so we also might walk in newness of life.
Romans 6:3–4
52. Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in His steps. 1 Peter 2:21–23
53. I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. Galatians 2:19–20
66. Not to love the world or the things in the world. 1 John 2:15–17
72. By faith Abel offered, Enoch was taken, and Noah built the ark. Hebrews 11:4–7
73. By faith Moses chose to be mistreated with the people of God rather than enjoy the passing pleasure of sin. Hebrews 11:24–27
In parable
The Tower Builder and the King Going to War. Whoever would be His disciple must first sit down and count the cost.
The Hidden Treasure. A man sells all that he has, for joy, to buy the field where the treasure lies.
The Pearl of Great Price. A merchant sells everything to buy one pearl of great value.
The Grain of Wheat. Unless it falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
The wisdom of Proverbs
Give me your heart, son,
Proverbs 23:26
and let your eyes keep my ways;
Let your eyes look straight, and let your eyelids incline toward righteous things.
Proverbs 4:25–27
Make straight tracks for your feet and direct your ways aright.
Do not turn to the right or the left;
turn your foot away from an evil way.
Blessed is the person who found wisdom, the mortal who saw good sense,
Proverbs 3:13–15
for trading in her is better than treasures of gold and silver.
She is more valuable than costly stones;
nothing evil will stand against her. She is readily known to all who approach her, and nothing precious is worthy of her.
In the Psalms
The Lord shepherds me, and nothing will fail me.
Psalm 22 (23):1–4
He made me dwell in a place of green growth;
He nourished me beside water of rest.
He turned my soul back;
He guided me upon paths of righteousness
for His name’s sake.
For even if I walk in the midst of death’s shadow,
I will fear no evils, for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff comforted me.
My soul clung behind You;
Psalm 62 (63):9
Your right hand supported me.
For what is there for me in heaven?
Psalm 72 (73):25–26
And what did I desire from You upon the earth?
My heart and my flesh failed;
the God of my heart and my portion is God forever.
I kept seeing the Lord before me continually,
Psalm 15 (16):8
because He is at my right hand, so that I may not be shaken.
The Law, the Prophets and the rest of Scripture
Abram goes out Genesis 12:1–4
I will give you rest Exodus 33:14
Caleb followed Me Numbers 14:24
Follow the Lord your God Deuteronomy 13:5
Wherever you go, I will go Ruth 1:16–17
Elisha leaves the plow 1 Kings 19:19–21
Ask for the good way and walk in it Jeremiah 6:16
A yoke in his youth Lamentations 3:27
Hear and Keep
To hear and not to do is to build on sand. Israel said at Sinai, We will do and obey; Ezekiel’s hearers listened as to a sweet song and did nothing. The one who keeps the word is the tree by the waters that gives its fruit in its season, the branch that remains in the vine.
The word of Christ
41. To hear His words and do them, like the man who built upon the rock. Matthew 7:24–27
Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and does them will be likened to a prudent man who built his house upon the rock. The rain came down, the rivers came, and the winds blew and fell upon that house, and it did not fall, for it had been founded upon the rock. And everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not do them will be likened to a foolish man who built his house upon the sand. The rain came down, the rivers came, and the winds blew and struck that house, and it fell; and its fall was great.”
Matthew 7:24–27
42. If you love Me, keep My commandments. John 14:15
“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
John 14:15
43. To remain in Him and in His love. John 15:4–5
44. To labor for the food that remains to eternal life. John 6:27
45. To let your light shine before people, so that they glorify your Father. Matthew 5:16
The apostles hand it on
13. By this we know that we have come to know Him: if we keep His commandments and walk as He walked. 1 John 2:3–6
And by this we know that we have come to know Him: if we keep His commandments. The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. But whoever keeps His word, in that person the love of God has truly been brought to completion. By this we know that we are in Him. The one who says that he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.
1 John 2:3–6
32. To be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. James 1:22–25
63. You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light. Ephesians 5:8–11
In parable
The Two Builders. Whoever hears His words and does them builds on rock; whoever hears and does not, on sand.
The Sower. The seed is the word; the four soils are four ways of hearing it. The Lord explains it Himself.
The True Vine. He is the true vine, His Father the vinegrower, the disciples the branches.
The Lamp on the Lampstand. A lamp is not lit to be hidden; nothing is hidden except to be revealed.
Isaiah: The Song of the Vineyard. The beloved did everything for his vineyard and it yielded thorns; the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel. The Lord’s parable of the tenants takes up this song.
The wisdom of Proverbs
When a storm passes by, the impious disappears,
Proverbs 10:25
but the righteous turns aside and is saved forever.
Son, guard my words,
Proverbs 7:1–3
and hide my commandments with yourself.
Son, honor the Lord and you will be strong;
apart from Him, fear no other.
Guard my commandments and you will live,
and my words like the pupils of eyes.
Put them around your fingers;
inscribe them on the broad surface of your heart.
One who keeps a command guards his own life,
Proverbs 19:16
but one who despises his own ways will perish.
But whoever listens to me will dwell in hope and rest fearlessly from every evil.
Proverbs 1:33
In the Psalms
In my heart I hid Your sayings,
Psalm 118 (119):11
so that I might not sin against You.
but his will is in the Lord’s law,
Psalm 1:2–3
and on His law he will meditate day and night.
He will be like the tree planted beside the outlets of waters,
which will give its fruit in its season,
and whose leaf will not fall off;
and everything he does will be prospered.
But the Lord’s mercy is from eternity to eternity toward those who fear Him,
Psalm 102 (103):17–18
and His righteousness toward children’s children,
to those who keep His covenant
and remember His commandments to do them.
I considered Your ways
Psalm 118 (119):59–60
and turned my feet toward Your testimonies.
I was prepared and was not troubled
to keep Your commandments.
The Law, the Prophets and the rest of Scripture
We will do and obey Exodus 24:7
These words in your heart Deuteronomy 6:6–9
The command is not far from you Deuteronomy 30:11–14
Meditate on it day and night Joshua 1:8
Your light has come Isaiah 60:1–3
A tree flourishing beside waters Jeremiah 17:7–8
They hear your words but will not do them Ezekiel 33:31–32
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Saints Translation · The Harmony of Instruction · an editor’s gathering; statements and summaries in our own words; passages quoted from the Saints Translation with His words in red · working draft awaiting specialist review.