The more we reaffirm who we are in God,
the more our behavior will begin to reflect our
true identity.
But I have prayed for
thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy
brethren. Luke
22:32
No matter where we are in our
walk with God, repentance and forsaking is necessary every single time we step
out of line with God in our thoughts and actions. To Repent means to [regret], and Forsake means to
[abandon, quit, reject, ditch], When we
do these 2 things, we begin or continue to Convert which means to [change,
transform]
True repentance and everything
associated with it, involves two things:
√ “the
dying of the old man, and
√ the
making alive of the new.”
This process makes the conversion
or the change come to fruition. The “dying of the old
man” involves “heartfelt sorrow for sin, causing us to hate and turn from it
always and forever more. God designed
us to feel remorse over sin in order to produce repentance that leads to
victory. This leaves us with no regrets.
We know it as ‘godly sorrow which
Apostle Paul speaks of in 2 Corinthians 7:10.
“The “making alive of the new,”
on the other hand, is seen in “heartfelt joy in God through Christ, causing us
to take delight in living according to the will of God in all good works.”
We have to know
and believe that willful sin is NEVER, under any circumstance, acceptable to
God. Apostle Paul wanted his audience in Rome to understand this.
He starts by asking the question:
"Shall we continue in sin
that grace may abound?" He answered his own question with
"God forbid! " (Romans 6:1-2)
So, what do we
do? Keep on living in sin and iniquity
so God can keep on forgiving? I should hope not! That's putting God to an open shame. If we’ve left the place where
sin is sovereign, how can we still live in our old house there?
We start this process of transitioning from the old man to the new man with what happens at baptism. When we went under the
water, we left the old place of sin behind; when we came up out of the water,
we entered into the new place of grace—a new life in a new land! But when we're converted, we give up the deed!
That’s what baptism into the life of Jesus means. When we are lowered into the
water, it is like the burial of Jesus; when we are raised up out of the water,
it is like the resurrection of Jesus. Each of us is raised into a light-filled
world by our heavenly Father so that we can see where we’re going in our new
grace-sovereign country. The deed to our old habitat should have been
released as we were submerged and then re-emerged as a new creature.
Unfortunately, some hang onto the deed and go back to visit the old
place.
But, as we begin to understand true repentance, we realize that we cannot leave out forsaking and conversion. One of the clearest examples of true repentance in the Scripture is that of King David after his sins of adultery and murder. He writes about his godly sorrow in Psalm 51, asking God to wash away his sins. But he also anticipates God’s forgiveness, and as a result, he vows to declare God’s praises and teach sinners about God’s ways. This “dying” and “making alive” is true repentance which in turn results in conversion.
True repentance, then, is godly
sorrow for sin. Peter rebukes Simon the
sorcerer to repent of his wickedness and prays that “the intent of his heart
may be forgiven him.” This is repentance that causes the sinner to hate
sin and turn away from it. God wants us to
make a U-turn—to go in the opposite direction – to die to the old sinful self,
and to make alive the new self.
As believers in
God who have accepted Jesus into our life, when we sin, we must repent.
There are many examples in the bible of this. The believers in Corinth
had to repent:
Now I rejoice, not that ye were made
sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly
manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. (2
Corinthians 7:9)
What was it that the Corinthian Christians had to repent of? Take your
pick! It could have been any number of things, but no doubt it also included
this:
For I fear, lest, when I come, I
shall not find you such as I would, and that I shall be found unto you such as
ye would not: lest there be debates, envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings,
whisperings, swellings, tumults: And lest, when I come again, my God will humble
me among you, and that I shall bewail many which have sinned already, and have
not repented of the uncleanness and fornication and lasciviousness which they
have committed. (2
Corinthians 12:20-21)
And not just Apostle Paul, Jesus spoke to John and had him relay the admonishment to repent:
> The believers at Ephesus were told to repent:
Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen and repent and do the first works. (Revelation 2:5)
> Christians in Pergamos were told to
repent:
Repent; or else I will come unto
thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. (Revelation
2:16)
> The Christians in Sardis were
told:
Remember therefore how thou hast
received and heard, and hold fast, and repent.
(Revelation
3:3)
> This is what the Christians in
Laodicea were told:
As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten; Be zealous therefore, and repent (Revelation 3:19)
Is there
un-confessed sin or iniquity abounding in your life? If there is, just know
that
Wherever
there is sin, there must be repentance
When things are not going as they should in your life, check the sin, check the iniquity. We can't be so self-righteous that we believe that we are sinless 100% of the time. The bible states:
If we say that 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. (1 John 1:8-9)
But keep this in mind, there is no need to confess if true repentance (godly sorrow) is not present.
True repentance is not only the proper
response of turning away from sin, it also causes us to live according to God’s
will in doing good works. Apostle Paul celebrates the believer’s new,
transformed life of the Spirit because of Christ’s death on the cross. He tells
us that the repentant sinner’s life is transformed by the Spirit from dead
works to living works.
From Dead to Living Works
Apostle Paul contrasts the old
life in the “flesh” with the new life in the “Sprit.” He says that since we
have the indwelling Spirit, we are no longer “debtors” to our sinful nature. We can no longer be captive to sin or fall under the impulse of sin, because if
we do, we face eternal death. Therefore, we shouldn’t live according to our fleshly
passions and desires, but according to the Spirit. We are now under obligation
to live according to the Spirit, which means we must change, we must be
converted. He explained ways that we can do this such as transforming our mind, walking in the spirit.
Because of the indwelling of God’s
Holy Spirit in us, we are not under compulsion or duress to do good works, but we are truly
pleased to do them; our good works should be labors of love. Why? Because God
has guaranteed our progressive holiness, and in the end, our perfect
holiness. The Spirit of God enables us
through His power and strength to do good works. But the believer’s role is
that of an active, participant. We are
to put to death the deeds of the body.”
In order to do this, we have to
maintain a proper balance in our sanctification. On the one hand, we don’t put
to death our sinful passions and attain holiness in our lives mainly through
our own efforts—this leads to moralism, self-righteousness and legalism. Remember, we need the power of the Holy
Spirit working on the inside to get truly converted. On the other hand, we are
not to passively “surrender all” or “let go and let God,” as if God will do the
“dying to sin” for us, so that we don’t have to actively do anything to hate
sin and flee from it. God gave us free will. If you are a prisoner of God, it is by choice; God does not force us against our will.
Apostle Paul has a warning for
us, “if you live according to the flesh you’ll die.” [Romans 8:13]. There are those who are professing Christians
in the church who have not been converted, who are not spirit filled, and
thereby have no fruits of the Spirit. They do not have what it takes to do good
works; fruit producing works.
A person might have made
profession of faith during a service by walking down the aisle at the pastor’s
invitation and reciting the sinner’s prayer. He’s been told that now he is a
child of God. But everything was all outward and emotional if God did not give
him a new heart and put a new spirit within him. If they did nt yield their heart to God, He couldn't work n it. The bible tells us:
A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I
put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I
will give you an heart of flesh. (Ezekiel 36:26),
and he therefore was not truly
born again
Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot
enter into the kingdom of God. (John 3:5).
The effects of an emotional
experience may linger for a while, but an unrepentant sinful nature takes over the life again. Nothing has changed, except that he has a false assurance that
he is a ‘born again' Christian. And even when he knows that his spiritual life
has no progress, continuing to live according to his sinful nature, he is told
that he is a Christian, just a “carnal” Christian! There must be a conversion that takes place
in our live; we must be changed through the power of the Holy Spirit not the power of our emotions. This change begins on the inside; it has
nothing to do with changing our clothing attire – it’s what changes on the
inside that will automatically change the outside; change our attitude, change our outlook, make us love when we don’t feel it, make us forgive when we don’t want to, make us joyful when we want to be depressed, happy instead of
sad, at ease instead of angry, at peace instead of anxiety driven; that’s what the change on the inside will
do. The more we change on the inside
the move it is evidence on the outside; for some of us, yes, our apparel will
change, but our speech will also change, our topics of conversation changes, as
we become lively stones instead of the stumbling blocks we used to be. As the inner fruit is working on the inside,
it is evidenced by the outer fruit of our evangelism - verbally by what comes out of our mouth and in our lifestyle!
The one who has the Spirit and
the Word; the true believer, is the one who is earnestly, continuously striving
to attain godliness. We don’t depend on our
own strength to accomplish this; we should all have one compelling focus: that
is to forget all of our past ungodly words, deeds and thoughts and fasten our
heart to the future instead [Philippians 3:11-13]. The word of God admonishes
us to:
“Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual
immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry” (Colossians 3:5).
Apostle Paul calls
these “the deeds of the body,” referring to our sinful physical
cravings.
If we don’t struggle, strive and
toil to put sin to death in our life, sin will put us to death. But if we’re striving to put to death the sin
and iniquity in our life, this is the evidence that we are converting and will have
eternal life. It takes the power of the
Holy Spirit working within that strengthens and gives us the wherewithal to
bring us from dead to living works.
We repent (that
inner change of heart born of godly sorrow for our misdeeds), we forsake (abandon
the misdeed) and we convert [change from our former dead in sin self; to our
new alive in Christ self]. This process
is mandatory. Conversion must accompany
repentance. We must turn from the wrong to the right because. . .
¨ It’s
Necessary To Enter The Kingdom Of God:
Verily I say unto you, except ye be
converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the Kingdom
of Heaven. (Matthew 18:3)
¨ It
Saves Us from Spiritual Death:
He which converteth the sinner from
the error of his way shall save a soul from death and shall hide a multitude of
sins. (James 5:20)
¨ It’s
Necessary For The Blotting Out Of Sin:
Our sin is
written in the record of God until you repent and are converted, then our sins
are blotted out:
Repent ye therefore, and be
converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing
shall come from the presence of the Lord. (Acts 3:19)
It is the inner
fruit of the spirit that changes us on the inside. The spirit filled fruit working on the inside
to produces:
A divine love
in all its varied expressions joy
that overflows,
peace that
subdues, patience
that endures,
kindness in
action, goodness;
a life full of virtue,
faith that
prevails, meekness
of character, and
temperance of
spirit.
This is the fruit of the spirit!
The bible tells us that we should be full of this fruit [Galatians 5:22-23]. It’s this spiritual fruit; the inner fruit, that changes us within and produces a change outside; the outer fruit. We need the change; we need to be converted. Jesus prayed for Peter that when he was converted; when he was transformed from the dead creature to the alive in Christ creature, he would help others to be strengthened in Christ.
But I have prayed for thee, that thy
faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. Luke 22:32
Repentance and
conversion are best illustrated by a parable Jesus told of the prodigal
son. (Luke 15:11-24):
This young man
left his father and his home, went to a distant land, and through his fleshly
passions, wasted all he owned. Eventually this young man came to grips with his
condition. He was hungry, lonely, in rags, and tending pigs for a job. It was then
he made an important decision. He said, "I will arise and go to my
father." This inward decision resulted in a change in his outward actions.
He went home to his father to seek forgiveness.
Repentance...starts with the
change of mind:
And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired
servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with
hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father,
I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be
called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. (Luke 15:17-19)
The young man realized his sinful condition. He made a decision to go to his
father and repent of his sin. This is an example of repentance, an
inward decision which results in outward action. He was repenting to be restored to his former state; he said 'just make me a servant . . .'
Conversion...acting
on the decision:
And he arose,
and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw
him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. (Luke 15:20)
This scripture records how the young man arose and left the old life and
went to his father to start a new life. This is an example of
conversion.
Man is like the prodigal son. In His sinful condition he turned his back to God
his Father and Heaven his home. Each step he took was a step away from God
and one step nearer to the spiritual death of eternal separation from God. There
his spiritual condition. He had to make a decision which would result in a change
of spiritual direction. We must do the same thing:
- We must recognize when we are in a sinful iniquitous state,
- have a sincere or godly sorrow for the ungodliness,
- correct our path by making a conscious decision toward God, and
- forsake the ungodliness.
When we repent from sin and iniquity and make the decision to turn from our sinful ways this establishes a right relationship with God. This right relationship or right standing before God is called "justification [the action of declaring or making righteous in the sight of God.]":
Know
ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are
to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto
righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin but
ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered
you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of
righteousness. (Romans
6:16-18)
When we’re
justified by repentance and conversion, we’re "saved" from a life of
sin as well as from the penalties of sin. This is what it means to be
"saved" and what the Bible is speaking of when the term
"salvation" is used. So,
remember, where ever you are in your walk with God, rather you’ve given your
life to God or not, as long as you have breath in your body, it is not too late
to repent, not out of fear of judgment, but true sorrow for the ungodliness,
it’s not to late to start the conversion process. Start by giving your life to God according to
scripture.
Bible Study
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