THE GIFT OF REPENTANCE

                                       THE GIFT OF REPENTANCE 

INDEX:
- WHAT IS REPENTANCE?
- REPENTANCE IN OUR ATTITUDES
- REPENTANCE IN OUR MOTIVES
- MOTIVE TESTS
- REPENTANCE IN OUR BEHAVIOUR
- THE EXTREME URGENCY OF REPENTANCE!
- THE CALL TO ALL
- CONCLUSION - 

“All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned everyone to his own way, and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:6

“I tell you, No, except you REPENT, you shall all likewise perish.” Luke 13:3

“Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteousness man his thoughts, and let return to the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.” Isaiah 55:7

 

“From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, ‘REPENT, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.’” Matthew 4:17

 

“…Jesus came into Galilee preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand, REPENT, and believe the Gospel.” MARK 1:14-15


 WHAT IS REPENTANCE?
To REPENT in the Biblical sense means to change directions, in our thinking, our motives, our way. Repentance is turning from our ways to God.

 

THE INITIAL CONTACT – GETTING RIGHT WITH GOD

  There is no compromise in this. We must get right with God. We are lost sinners outside of Christ and destined to destruction if we do not repent of our sins, our attitudes, our ways. There is no other way but faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. That means everything on the altar - our life and ways for His. We must turn to Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength when we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, or we will likely turn back from following when the way gets hard and the journey gets long.

REPENTANCE IS A GIFT FROM GOD

 PLEASE UNDERSTAND that the ability to get right with God comes from Him, and it is He that grants repentance unto life Acts 11:18.  We must see to it that we do not refuse Him Who speaks from Heaven Hebrews 12:25, lest we miss the grace being accorded to us due to our pride and arrogance. YOU CANNOT COME TO HIM ON YOUR TERMS! Refusal to respond can be extremely costly. The Bible lays out clearly His Laws, His Judgments, His Standards, and His terms. He calls us to repentance and faith, and leaves us with the choice. But HE NOWHERE STATES HOW MUCH TIME WE HAVE TO DECIDE, BUT WHEN WE RESPOND TO HIM ACCORDINGLY, IT IS MIRACULOUS!

REPENTANCE IN OUR ATTITUDE

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of God.” Matthew 5:3  “… for rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.” 1 Samuel 15:23  “…but the proud He knows afar off.” Psalm 138:6

  As long as we have to be right and no one can tell us what to do, thinking we do not need anyone’s help, not even God’s, we will never be able to fully reconcile with Him. It is His Kingdom, or ours. And if we refuse His Lordship, it will be our kingdom, and our fate will be as we deserve. This attitude can be in both the believer and the unconverted/unbeliever. “’Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Let him return unto the Lord and He will have mercy upon him, and to our God for He will abundantly pardon. For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,’ says the Lord. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.’” Isaiah 55:6-9 

  Regardless of our understanding, perspectives, or feelings, before God and outside of Christ, we are wrong. We are sinners that need to be saved. "Let God be true, and every man a liar...Romans 3:4 As long as we feel justified in ourselves and not in need of His grace and salvation, repentance will never happen.

REPENTANCE IN OUR MOTIVES –

 Because our hearts cannot be trusted.
 “He who trusts in his own heart is a fool…The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it.” Proverbs 28:6, Jeremiah 17:9.
  We must be continually wary of our current and long-term directions in life. “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thought, and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 139; 23-24. We may have started out with the right intentions, but something else may have crept in, greed, lust… Remember Balaam, the donkey, and what the angel said to him after almost killing Balaam, “…because your way is perverse before me.” Numbers 22:32

MOTIVE TESTS

- Here are some ways we can discern our motives: Proverbs 23:7 “As he thinks in his heart, so is he.” We need to regularly scrutinize our thoughts and desires and match them with the Word of God. What is it we are thinking about, and why do we think or want such things?
- Matthew 12:34  “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” Another indication of what our motives and interests are is by listening to what comes out of our mouths regularly, especially when we are most comfortable or feeling uninhibited. We can think we are earnestly desiring only what is right, and that our intentions are pure, but often our mouths will declare otherwise. We need to pay heed.

 - Proverbs 16:7 “When a man’s ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.”  If we find we are in constant conflict with people, especially with those with whom we should not be 

in conflict with, then we need to consider our ways and a repentance at some level is likely in order.
- Colossians 3:15"And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts..." The Peace of God is another treasure that He gives us through the work of the cross of Christ. This amazing peace also acts as an umpire in our hearts letting us know that something isn't right when we make a decision or plan and are not in agreement with His counsel. No matter how logical or right something might sound, if we do not feel that peace within our spirits, we know that something is wrong, and need to re-examine our motives and or direction. 
- Psalm 119:105 "Thy Word is a light unto my feet, and a lamp unto my path." The Bible God’s Word, especially under the unction of the Holy Spirit, is our ultimate guide to help us discern our ways and motives. When we watch what goes on in our thoughts(heart) Hebrews 4:12, what comes out of our mouth, if we do not see our attitude, speech, or behavior bearing the fruit of the Spirit Galatians 5:22-23 nor agree with the Bible, we can know quickly that we are out of line and need to 'REPENT' - get back on track with the Lord, His addenda, and live the life He has called you to.

REPENTANCE IN WHAT WE BELIEVE

 "Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, and saying, 'The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe the Gospel.'" Mark 1:14-15

 With regards to God and eternity, we cannot afford to be wrong in what we believe. If God has sent His Son to pay for our sins on a cross, and then raise Him from the dead, and we reject that, then we are condemned forever in our sins. This is no game, and there is no room for error.

 Sometimes what keeps us from getting saved are the things we believe to be true, like the religious traditions handed down from our parents and ancestors. This is not a putdown of the earnestness of anyone. But when the truth comes we must embrace it. The Jewish people struggled with this when Jesus came. They thought the Messiah would be much different. But now as the Bible says, "and in the times of this ignorance God winked at, but now commands all men everywhere to repent; because He has appointed a day in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that Man Whom He has ordained, whereof He has given assurance unto all men, in that has raised Him from the dead." Acts 17:30-31. Because our assumed self-identity and therefore our self-worth and pride are attached to this, it can be a huge obstacle for keeping us from embracing the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Like everything else, it has to be nailed to the cross of Christ through which we unconditionally surrender our life and embrace His.

REPENTANCE IN OUR BEHAVIOR

“Now the works of the flesh are manifested, which are these: adultery, fornication, uncleanness/impurity, lasciviousness/indecency, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance/strife, emulations/jealously, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, reveling/carousing, and such like, of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the Kingdom of God.” Galatians 5:19-21  

 Whatever God calls sin, as stated in the Bible, is what we need to repent of if we want to get right with Him. These are non-negotiable. They are evil, and always harmful to the victims as well as to the participants. They are demonically influenced, work corruption, and are diametrically opposed to the nature of Christ. In contrast He has called us to live by the fruit of the Holy Spirit that He gives to those who believe the Gospel of Jesus. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance; against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23

When we look at the contrast between our sinful works as opposed to His work of  godliness in our lives, there is no debate. His grievances are just, and His expectations are wholesome and healthy. Why would anyone not want to repent and turn to Him with all our hearts? Our ways lead to death, and His to life – life everlasting!" REMEMBER - IT IS NOT JUST TURNING FROM OUR SINS, BUT IT IS TURNING TO THE LORD JESUS CHRIST and putting our faith and confidence in Him lest we become self-righteous and incur the condemnation of the Pharisees.

 "Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others. "Two men went up to that temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, 'God, I thank You that I am not like other men - extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even this tax collector. I fast twice a week, I give tithes of all that I possess.'

 And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to Heaven, but beat his breast saying, 'God, be merciful to me a sinner!' 

 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." Luke 18:9-14
 
THE EXTREME URGENCY OF REPENTANCE!-
Luke 3:7 Then he said to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, 'O generation of vipers, who has warned you to flee from the wrath to come?" The Lord warns us throughout the Bible of coming judgment and that we are to "...be zealous therefore, and repent." Revelation 3:19
 We very rarely realize the seriousness of our actions, ways, and behaviors, but we are quick to condemn others and recognize how evil they are. Or we pass the responsibility on to God and accuse Him of 'allowing' all the evil in the world. People continually ask why God allows so many evil things. It is not He that does them, but He will avenge the unrepentant guilty! He gives us all a space to REPENT Acts 2:21, Ezekiel 22:23-31, but the day will come when He will put an end to rebellion, disobedience, and wickedness if we REFUSE to Repent. Therefore, when we feel the conviction for our actions or hear the Word of God being preached, or read the Scriptures, and we realize that we are walking in sin before Him, it is up to us to humble ourselves and repent immediately for the saving of our soul! When we surrender to His will and call on the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved, HE will forgive us, cleanse us, and receive us to Himself. He is overwhelmingly merciful and He loves us so much!!!
THE CALL TO ALL
 God calls individuals, families, churches, and even nations to repentance. There is the unending call to all to Repent and Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, and there is also the call to repent of sins and behaviors in specific until He returns. The scope of our duty extends only as far as our God given responsibility, especially when expecting reform in others other than ourselves. Or duty is to walk in humility and love, and earnestly pray!

In Conclusion – Repentance is the way to life when we are outside of Christ Jesus, and the way of life in Christ Jesus. Daily we are bombarded with temptations and urges, and  we are constantly needing to adjust our thinking, motives, and our behavior, in compliance to His will, according to His Word, and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The reward is righteousness, peace, and joy, in the Holy Spirit, and the promise of Eternal Life! Repentance is an urgent, but fantastic expectation!

 FALSE REPENTANCE

  A false repentance is when we do the things that outwardly appear to be a show of faith in Christ, but inwardly there is no change. The heart is unconverted and the mind is still set on the world. We feigned faithfulness to God on Sundays, but live like the world during the week. Some people are deliberately deceitful, but there are those who are self-deceived having no real revelation of Christ, but are earnestly trying to follow the Lord. The truth of the Gospel and the cross of Christ is still hidden to them. They are in desperate need of prayer and exposure to the Word of God, the Gospel. A genuine faith and repentance will produce a genuine relationship with God (John 3:16)  "And because you are sons, God has sent for the the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, 'Abba, Father!" Galatians 4:6

THE CALL TO REPENTANCE AND FAITH

 By far, the most important step in life is to get right with God our Maker. We hopefully begin to realize that we are going the wrong way, whether intentionally, or unintentionally – “All we like sheep have gone astray, each has departed to his own way…” How can we know this? First of all, His Word (the Bible) tells us what He calls right and wrong, which is also declared through preachers and teachers of the Bible. Then we have a conscience that He put in us that convicts us of wrongdoing. Furthermore, as His Holy Spirit works in our life and draws and convicts us, we realize that God seems far away and hard to grasp. Then we come to the need for genuine faith and repentance.

 Our motives and intentions may be right, but we need to believe – “REPENT, and believe the Gospel.” Jesus said, “I AM THE WAY, AND THE TRUTH, AND THE LIFE, no man comes to the FATHER but by ME…For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is Eternal Life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” John 14:6, Romans 6:23 Religion is not what God needs or is looking for but a relationship through faith in the shed Blood of Christ Jesus His Son which washes away our sins. He then receives us as His sons and daughters, rebirthed by His Holy Spirit. “Unless a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.” John 3:3 When a person repents and believes the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, he becomes a new person within because “God sends the Spirit of His Son into our hearts whereby we cry, ‘ABBA! FATHER!’” Galatians 4:6 And behold, He is no longer far away!

May you find the Peace of a genuine faith in our Lord Jesus Christ!