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My last Post
Posted : 20 Jun, 2010 05:03 AM
This is probably my last posting on this board because so many get all upset when something different is presented and immediantly go into a defensive mode,But this is only presented in Christian love.
Just what is TRUE repentance? Did you know that there is a FALSE, fraudulent repentance, which has deceived MILLIONS into accepting as a substitute for real, genuine repentance? Just what are people to repent of, anyway? What is �sin�? What is the truth about �human nature�? What is wrong with how humans look at things? How many Have EVER really repented of their sins before God? Or is it all a charade � a religious �game�of sorts � have they been �conned�? Here is a new look at true, godly,Biblical, genuine repentance before God!What is the Bible way -- the right way -- the only way of salvation On the day of Pentecost, in 30 A.D., shortly after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ to heaven, a large crowd heard the apostles preaching the gospel of Christ with power and conviction. As they heard the words of the gospel, they were smitten in their hearts. They knew then that they had been complicit in the murder and death of God�s anointed Messiah. We read in Acts: "Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, �Men and brethren, what shall we do?��
Here we have set forth the Biblical answer revealing the true way to salvation. �Then Peter said to them, Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit� (Acts 2:37-38).
The first thing to do, after you learn the truth, and hear the Word of God, and are convicted by it, is to REPENT of your sins, your previous life and all its mistakes and shortcomings, and to accept Christ as your Savior, and be baptized in His name. The act of baptism symbolizes your whole hearted repentance and turning away from sin, and rising up out of that watery grave a new creature, a new creation, a new person, in Christ!
But what about that little word, �repent�?
�Repent,� Peter said. But what is real, true, honest-to-God, genuine repentance?
The apostle Paul was a real Christian. He understood it was both a daily and a life-time commitment. He knew it was not merely a �decision� for Christ � that was merely the �beginning.� He knew it involves a full, whole-hearted, deep and sincere LIFETIME COMMITMENT TO OBEY CHRIST AND FOLLOW HIM! Such a decision should not be taken lightly, flippantly, or superficially. It literally involves one�s WHOLE LIFE! In the future, it could even lead to one�s imprisonment for Christ�s sake, persecution on a horrific scale, separation from family, friends, loved ones � even to MARTYRDOM!As so many down through the ages have been!
Paul explained to a court of law, before which he had been accused of being �a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes� (Acts 23:5), �But this I confess to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect, so I worship the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the Law and in the Prophets� (verse 14).
Becoming a true, genuine Christian changed Paul�s whole life � turned it around completely. He had been a persecutor of Christians; now he was one of their foremost staunch proponents and defenders! (Acts 9:1-22; 22:3-16).
Real repentance is far more than most people even begin to assume. It must involve one�s whole life and orientation. A complete change of habits and priorities. Otherwise, it means nothing � nothing at all!
Jesus Himself showed that being a true Christian is not merely accepting Christ, and saying you�ve �repented.� He explained, �Not everyone who says to me, �Lord, Lord� [ie. �professes� Christ] will enter the kingdom of heaven, but He who does the will of My Father in heaven� (Matt.7:21). He went on to explain that even ministers and pastors will be included in this category. He declared, �Many will say to Me in that day, �Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?� And then I will declare to them, �I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness� (verse 22-23).
Jesus went on to show what true repentance from sin involves. He asserted, �Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.
�But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not DO them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall� (verses 24-27).
True repentance involves not just professing Christ, but DOING WHAT HE TAUGHT �OBEDIENCE to His commandments and teachings!
�Follow Me�
to become a Christian means We must forsake their old �way of life,� and begin to live according to the teachings of the Messiah, and the whole Word of God. As He Himself put it, �Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God� (Matt.4:4). This concept is so important that it is repeated THREE TIMES in the Scriptures for triple emphasis (�three� in Scripture is the number of finality, decision). It is also found in Luke 4:4, and is actually a quotation from the Old Testament (Deut.8:3).
On that Pentecost in 30 A.D., Peter told the crowds that they needed to �repent� of their sins, accept Christ as the Messiah, the Son of God, and then to be baptized � and they would receive the gift of God�s Holy Spirit within them (Acts 2:38). In a second sermon, the next day, he told them, �Repent therefore and BE CONVERTED, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord� (Acts 3:19).
The word �repent� in Greek is metanoeo and means literally �to think differently, reconsider, (morally �feel compunction�). Thayer�s Greek Lexicon defines it more fully as, �to change one�s mind, i.e. to repent (to feel sorry that one has done this or that), of having offended someone (in this case, God Himself by one�s thoughts and lifestyle) . . . used especially of those who, conscious of their sins and with manifest tokens of sorrow, are intent on obtaining God�s pardon; to change one�s mind for the better, heartily to amend with abhorrence of one�s past sins . . . i.e. conduct worthy of a heart changed and abhorring sin.� This word therefore begins with a change of mind, which leads to a change in conduct. Says Thayers, �especially the change of mind of those who have begun to abhor their errors and misdeeds, and have determined to enter upon a better course of life, so that it embraces both a recognition of sin and sorrow for it and hearty amendment, the token and effects of which are GOOD DEEDS.�
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