Repentance

Repentance is God’s first Aid to redeem our Soul. Repentance is a U-turn which mean you turn away from your sins. The Bible tells us that Jesus did not come for the righteous but for sinners to repentance. Whitman’s ABC of becoming a Christian reveals what the path for true repentance.  

The ABC of becoming a Christian (From Whitman).

• A – Admit to God that you are a sinner and repent and turn away from your sins (Read- Romans 3:23, 6:23 and Acts 3:19).
• B – Believe that Jesus is God’s Son and accepts God’s gift for forgiveness from sin (Read – John 3:16, 14:6, Acts 4:12, Romans 5:8, Ephesians 2:8-9 and John 1:11-13).
• C – Confess your faith in Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord (Read – 1 John 1:9 and Romans 10:9-10,13).

Foundation – “…He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love: Having predestined us unto the adoption of His children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the beloved. In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace (Ephesians 1:4-7).

The Role of Repentance – Paul commands Believers to “work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure” (Phil 2:12-13). God is the one who does the work of making us more like Jesus, and we participate in that work by a life of continually turning away from sin and demonstrating our faith in Jesus by obeying God’s commands. The Holy Spirit plays a key role in this process: as we walk in the power of the Spirit we “will not gratify the desires of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16). The Cross is the Path – Jesus did not die so we could freely sin; He died to give us freedom from sin. 

The Goal of Repentance – The motives for repentance or Rather the goals are chiefly found in the goodness of God, in His divine love, in His love and pleading desire to have sinners saved.  In the New Testament, the key term for repentance is  a “change of mind” and “regret/remorse.” In both books of Mark and Matthew Jesus began His public proclamation with the call “Repent.” In addition, Paul is said to have preached to both Jews and Gentiles/Greeks to “turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.”

True repentance accepts godly counsel and accountability; false repentance avoids accountability. 

True repentance often takes the initiative in bringing sin into the light (through confession) since it hates the sin itself, not just its consequences. Jesus said, “For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God” (John 3:20-21).  True repentance leads a person to say, “I have sinned” and prove it with a complete lifestyle change of their direction. Repentance requires true brokenness. True repentance is NOT asking the Lord for forgiveness with the intent to sin again. True repentance is an honest, regretful acknowledgement of sin with commitment to change. True repentance leads us to cultivate godliness while eradicating habits that lead into sin. (Psalm 51:1-17). In the book of Corinthians,’ the “eagerness to clear themselves” resulted in honesty and accountability, such that the apostle Paul was able to write to them about the situation in question. The repentant person recognizes they aren’t beyond falling and that they need to be vigilant so as not to give in to sinful temptations. (1 Corinthians 10:12).

False repentance is often characterized by a resentment for authority and a confidence in one’s own abilities to live a holy life. Sadly, this is often self-deception, and the real reason that the falsely repentant rejects accountability is because they don’t yet want to abandon their sinful habit. False repentance is scary because it can trick us into thinking we’ve truly repented when, in reality, we’ve only found more crafty ways to hold on to our sin. Do you constantly long for your sin? Do you love your sin more than Jesus and find yourself only hating its consequences? Do you avoid brothers and sisters who will be honest with you about your sin because you don’t want to be held accountable? Remember “God loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son (John 3:16). He Himself is the propitiation…for those of the whole world (1 John 2:2). Who gave Himself as a ransom for all (1 Tim. 2:6). The Savior of all men (1 Tim. 4:10). After reading these verses, we can see that the redemption that Jesus did is for the whole world. Hence, it is possible for everyone in the world to be saved, that is if they believe in the redeeming love of God and the sacrifice of Jesus. “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippian 2:5-9). 

“No tree can grow except on the root from which it sprang. Through all its existence it can only live with the life that was in the seed that gave it being. The full apprehension of this truth in its application to the first and the Second Adam cannot but help us greatly to understand both the need and the nature of the redemption there is in Jesus.. . . The forgiveness of our trespasses can come to us only through the redeeming blood. . . God will give you perfect and full pardon now if you will trust Him, if you will take it of His grace, if instead of attempting to win it, if instead of attempting to merit it you will just come as a poor, guilty, ruined soul–for such you are–and, kneeling at the foot of the Cross, will take God’s pardon through Jesus Christ, that is all” (The Westminster Pulpit, Vol. VI, pp. 61).There is still hope for you; just surrender truly all to Jesus our redeemer today. 

Paths to Repentance 

Saved: What does it means to be saved. our sins had separated us from God. Jesus died to save us. You respond and admit to God that you are a sinner. who repents, now receives forgiveness have believe and have fully turn away from self and sin to Jesus. Jesus alone saves you through what He already done on the cross for everyone  who believes  (Romans 3:23 and Acts 3:19). We now trust what Jesus as done for us and in us.