REPENTANCE.
“In the Bible, the word repent means “to change one’s mind.” The Bible also tells us that true repentance will result in a change of actions,“Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father. ‘ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. iEvery tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” And the crowds asked him, “What then shall we do?” And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.”-{Luke 3:8–14}; “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord ” – { Acts 3:19). In summarizing his ministry, Paul declares, “I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds” (Acts 26:20). The full biblical definition of repentance is a change of mind that results in a change of action.”
What, then, is the connection between repentance and salvation? The book of Acts especially focuses on repentance in regard to salvation (Acts 2:38; 3:19; 11:18; 17:30; 20:21; 26:20). To repent, in relation to salvation, is to change your mind regarding sin and Jesus Christ. In Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost (Acts chapter 2), he concludes with a call for the people to repent (Acts 2:38). Repent from what? Peter is calling the people who rejected Jesus (Acts 2:36) to change their minds about that sin and to change their minds about Christ Himself, recognizing that He is indeed “Lord and Christ” (Acts 2:36). Peter is calling the people to change their minds, to abhor their past rejection of Christ, and to embrace faith in Him as both Messiah and Savior.
Repentance involves recognizing that you have thought wrongly in the past and determining to think aright in the future. The repentant person has “second thoughts” about the mindset he formally embraced. There is a change of disposition and a new way of thinking about God, about sin, about holiness, and about doing God’s will. True repentance is prompted by “godly sorrow,” and it “leads to salvation” (2 Corinthians 7:10).
Repentance and faith can be understood as two sides of the same coin. It is impossible to place your faith in Jesus Christ as the Savior without first changing your mind about your sin and about who Jesus is and what He has done. Whether it is repentance from willful rejection or repentance from ignorance or disinterest, it is a change of mind. Biblical repentance, in relation to salvation, is changing your mind from rejection of Christ to faith in Christ.”– {gotquestions.org}
REPENTANCE PREACHED BY…
JOHN THE BAPTIST PREACHED REPENTANCE…;
“John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.”-{Luke 3:7-8}}. He wanted to know where is the evidence, that you have turned away from your sin To God
“Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?”
He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.”- The evidence of a changed life from one of extortion, accusing falsely to obtain for their covetous selves would be a life of being content, the word speaks of pleased, satisfied- with their wages! He tells them to give the evidence that they have repented, “the fruit of repentance,” as surely as an apple tree produces apples or an orange tree produces oranges, so the one who has repented produces fruit that is characteristic of repentance towards God. namely that they ahve turned away from that type of sinful heart attitude, actions, to a new lifestyle manifested in being “content with your wages.” The outward evidence of an internal reality of work of God, which Repentance is!
JESUS PREACHED REPENTANCE…;
“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; REPENT and BELIEVE IN THE GOSPEL.” – {Mark 1:14-15}
From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 4:17)
I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. (Luke 5:32)
The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. (Matthew 12:41)
Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. (Luke 13:3, 5)
When Jesus arose from the dead, He commissioned His disciples with His message,
“Then He {Jesus} opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.”-{Luke 24:45-47}
The first demand of Jesus’ public ministry was, “Repent.” when He arose from the dead His message to the disciples he was sending out into the world with his message was “Repentance for the forgiveness of sins.”
PETER PREACHED REPENTANCE…;
He was filled with the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost followed His instructions and preached, “And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.“-{Acts 2:38;}
PAUL PREACHED REPENTANCE…;
His message, “I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.”-{Acts 20:21}.
THOSE WHO REJECT GOD, REFUSE TO REPENT…;
Are those who refuse to repent so as to Glorify God, “Men were scorched with fierce heat; and they blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues, and they did not repent so as to give Him glory.“-{Revelation 16:9}
CHANGING LIVES EVIDENCED BY… “THE FRUIT OF REPENTANCE” TO OTHERS…;
“And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia.The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia—your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.”-{1 Thess 1:7-10}
READ and NOTE in the chapter their ‘fruit of repentance!’ “…your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ...our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.”-{1 Thess 1:3,5-6}
- Without repentance there is NO forgiveness, No Gift of the Holy Spirit to empower you and seal you as belonging to God,”In Him,you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,”-{Eph 1:13} Sealing spoke of authority, ownership and security!”… But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him [and is not a child of God]” – {Rom 8:9 Amplified Bible}
- And the reason they refuse to repent! They do not want God to have Glory! – “Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue;for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.”-{John 12:42-43ESV}
- Today we tend to hear messages that do not speak of SIN and call people with the same message John the Baptist, Jesus, Peter, Paul, Disciples and the MESSAGE from HELL call people to… REPENTANCE towards God…and so we have people who falsely believe they are right with God who are still going their own way, living their life on their terms for their sake, seeking to build their Own Kingdom rather than seeking first the Kingdom of God -{Read MATT 6:9, 33}. They are still dead in their sin and the worst thing is that they die in their sin! A Faulty message leads to a faulty view of God and a false salvation based on a lie! Where there is No true repentance there is no grounds to believe you are forgiven are sealed and empowered by the Holy Spirit and without the Holy Spirit you are not a child of God and you do not seek His glory but seek and love. the glory, approval others can give you!|You are in it for yourself!
THE MESSAGE FROM HELL…;
“In Hades he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and *saw Abraham far away and Lazarus in his bosom.And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus so that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue, for I am in agony in this flame.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your life you received your good things, and likewise Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony.And besides all this, between us and you there is a great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.’And he said, ‘Then I beg you, father, that you send him to my father’s house—for I have five brothers—in order that he may warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’But Abraham *said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’But he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’But he said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’”-{Luke 16:23-31}.
Hell has Got Better theology than many a pulpit! Where we offer people forgiveness without repentance from sin and self! To allow them to continue on living their lives for self and assure them they are fine. it is a damnable message!
Conviction of sin, by the Holy Spirit, shows each of us we are wrong in God’s sight at the very core of our being we are SINNERS. We have offended God and live in a state of rebellion against Him, His Word, and Repentance is the command to turn away from sin and self as master TO God and submission to God and faith, total reliance in the Person of the Lord Jesus, His Work alone as our salvation!
The Message In the place of torment that came forth was, he did not want his five brothers to come there and he knew the message they we must hear was to REPENT… and wanted someone to arise from the dead, but that would not be sufficient he was told but what they did have was Moses and the prophets,..they had the WORD OF GOD… if they would “HEAR.” We have the WORD of God and we have the messages from John the baptist, Jesus, disciples, Paul, Peter, Heaven and Hell…”REPENT”… it is the missing message today in many a message !
HAVE YOU REPENTED…?
Turned from self as king, and sin as master to God turning from sin and self to submit to Him for mercy and to abandon yourself totally on the LORD Jesus Christ as Savior to rescue you from the penalty of sin, the power of sin and as LORD to submit to and serve and receive from Him forgiveness, complete and total! When you give Him your life and sin, he gives you His right standing with God. he as your ‘Substitute” on the cross took God’s punishment that you deserved and His been raised form the dead showed His sinless sacrifice was accepted that you need not be separated from god but forgiven accepted, forgiven and gifted with the Holy Spirit to live a new life in dependence upon Him and friendship with Him, as one of His children!
U- TURN,
Imagine driving down the road and you realize you are going the wrong direction. What are you going to do to go the right direction? You can know you are going the wrong direction, that won’t get you there. You can acknowledge to others that you are going the wrong direction that won’t get you there. Upon realizing you are gong the wrong direction you must ACT upon the information and TURN around in order to head the right way. You do a U-TURN . This is repentance like the prodical son who came to his senses, realized he has sinned, got up and returned to his father. So on realizing you have lived a self centered life, depending upon your own”good” works to outweigh your bad ones and hope that will get you into heaven. God’s standard is perfection and we all fall short. the Cross of Christ is as it were the bridge t o get us from WHO we are s, sinners to God. We turn from self as king to submit to Christ as King, trusting him alone to save us and keep us and change us… and the evidence will not be perfection but going a new direction because you want to as He more and more with his love satisfies your heart!
THE ONLY ACCEPTABLE RESPONSE TO “THE GOSPEL Of GOD!”
“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; REPENT and BELIEVE IN THE GOSPEL.” “- {Mark 1:14-15}
A- T- T;
A -Acknowledge your sin
T– Turn to God
T– Trust Jesus Christ to save, rescue , deliver you from sin and give forgiveness and a new spiritual heart that loves HIM SUPREMELY!