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| Ultimate goal of repentance is life Repent & Live |
So before i go to Jesus, lets look at John the Baptist. His message as shown in the book of Mathew was repentance as a way of preparing the way for the coming of The Lord Jesus Christ The Messiah. Mathew 3:1 In those days John the Baptist came
preaching in the Desert of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven
is near.”
This discovery that the message of John was of repentance shows the importance of repentance. Then looking at Jesus, Mathew shows us that from the time of Jesus' fast, he went preaching repentance.
Mathew 4:17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”
Wow
If both John and Jesus preached the same message of repentance then repentance must be a big deal!
There is also the scripture in Luke which shows that if we do not repent we perish!
Luke 13“Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered this fate? No, I tell you. But unless you repent, you too will all perish..."
This scripture seems to say we cannot think ourselves fortunate because we don't suffer for example from death from accident or deadly sickness because even if we are fortunate enough to escape some of the troubles life brings on others, if we do not repent it is just as if we were never fortunate for we will perish also- if we do not repent.
But what is repentance?
I'm still learning but from what i know so far repentance is simply turning away from a lifestyle of sin which makes repentance a spiritual exercise for every Christian because we all sin. The Bible says we are sinners.
1 John 1:8-9 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.…
Repentance therefore involves confession of sins, to the Lord who hears and forgives all sins and to one another for accountability and encouragement.
I would like to look at a passage from Acts which will help in understanding repentance. Acts 17:30-31 Although God overlooked the ignorance of earlier times, He now commands all men everywhere to repent. for He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed. he has given proof of this to all men by raising Him from the dead.
Reflection time- God commands all men everywhere to repent!!!
In the scripture we learn that repentance is about, 'not being ignorant.'
This means for me to repent i have to know what God expects from me and to do it. Serious repentance means reading of scripture to find out what is pleasing to God and to do it.
Ephesians 5:10 and find out what pleases the Lord...
No excuse will matter on Judgement day. Remember the parable of the talents. The other servant gave all sorts of excuses to justify hiding his talent. Even Adam and Eve had an excuse for eating the forbidden fruit but their excuses did not save them from judgement.
Likewise not knowing or knowing but choosing to ignore destroys life. God said, 'My people perish because of lack of knowledge.'
Know what! There is good news Repent and live!
Ezekiel 18:32 "Cast away from you all your transgressions which you have committed and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! For why will you die, O house of Israel? "For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies," declares the Lord GOD. "Therefore, repent and live."
It is my hope that this message will prompt me and you to examine ourselves, Do our actions please God? Are we making good or evil plans? In our anger are we not sinning? Are we not justifying sins and in essence compromising on Holiness?
We were all created in the likeness of God, this means that we know when we are doing good, we also know when we are doing bad.
May we take the character of God- goodness so that we are not overcome by evil but that we may overcome evil with good.
And if God in all His goodness and splendour repents- ought we not to repent even the more- every time we sin.
This is my closing remarks taken from 2 Corinthians 7:8-11 Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it—I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while— yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done. At every point you have proved yourselves to be innocent in this matter.
God Bless us and help us to repent as we prepare for the coming of our Lord, Jesus Christ!!!
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