What Does Repentance Mean?
(Acts 2:38) 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. 39 For the promise is
to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord
our God will call." 40 And with many other words he testified and exhorted
them, saying, "Be saved from this perverse generation." 41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized;
and that day about three thousand souls were added to them.
Many churches today avoid the topic of repentance because
they don’t want to offend their tithers. Some also teach that repentance is
only necessary one time, when you ask the Lord into your heart. This greasy
grace message will give you a fatal heart attack if you accept it. The Lord has
spoken to me countless times that most churches are in a state of apostasy, and
they are responsible for shutting people out of the Kingdom of Heaven. The
apostle Peter exhorted people to be saved from this perverse generation (Acts
2:38-41). Peter told them to Repent, and be baptized in the name of Jesus
Christ for the remission of sins.
Saying a prayer, or water baptism alone, will not save your
soul. The sinner’s prayer is great if it is prayed with sincerity. You must
make Jesus Christ the Lord of every area of your life to be truly saved. This
means that you must be born again by turning from your sinful ways, and
becoming a new creation in Christ. The Lord showed me that a person should
repent of their sins on a daily basis. However, this does not mean that we may
willfully sin, then repent, and commit that sin again the next day. True
repentance of a sin, is to have heartfelt remorse for that sin, as well as to
stop committing the offense. If you are bound to substance abuse, you must stop
drinking, smoking, or using drugs, to be truly forgiven and set free. If you
are bound by pornography, lying, or stealing, you must stop the sin, and seek
the Lord with heartfelt repentance to be forgiven, and set free. Grace is not
automatic, grace follows repentance.
When a new believer comes to Christ, the Lord will give them
grace to grow in their new faith. A new believer will take baby steps at first,
and will only be able to handle milk. However, in time, God expects us to grow
in our faith, and to produce good fruit and works. We should all grow in Christ,
as well as consume the strong meat of God’s Word. Christ said, that any tree
that does not produce good fruit, will be cut down, and thrown into the fire.
Christ also said, that some will produce 30,60, and 100 fold fruit, but we must
produce good fruit to be saved.
The works of the flesh will send you to hell. (Gal 5:19-23)
lists the works of the flesh, as well as the good fruits of God’s Spirit which
will lead to eternal life. In (Gal 5:21) Paul states that those who commit
these sins will not inherit the kingdom of God. Christ died upon the cross to
provide atonement for sins committed in ignorance, as well as for sins that are
truly repented of.
No one is perfect,
but through the indwelling presence of God’s Holy Spirit, we have the power to
live an overcoming life. We must be sanctified (set apart and purified by God’s
Spirit) to be saved. If you willfully commit the same sins as the world, and
people cannot tell the difference between you and the unsaved, then you are not
truly born again. The word saint is translated set apart, or sanctified one.
Are you a saint, or is your lifestyle a compromise of the faith that you claim?
Galatians 5: 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident,
which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery,
hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions,
heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I
tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who
practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control.
Against such there is no law. 24 And those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with
its passions and desires. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
To the church at Ephesus Christ said, (Rev 2:4) Nevertheless
I have this against you, that you have left your first love. 5 Remember
therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I
will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place--unless you
repent.
Like many Christians today, the Ephesians were beginning to
compromise with the world and were considered unfaithful to Christ. Christ
said, that if you love him you will keep his commandments. When Christians take
on the attributes of the sinful culture, they are committing spiritual
adultery; unless they repent, they will be lost. Christ said that unless the
Ephesians repented, he would remove their lampstand from its place before the
throne of God. This passage alone makes it clear that Christians can fall from
grace, because of un-repented sinful compromise. That is why it is important
that we examine ourselves daily and repent of willful sins.
Christ told the
Ephesians, not only to repent, but also to do the first works. The first works
is a reference to being born again. When we first come to Christ, we die to our
old nature and become a new creation through heartfelt repentance. Unless a
believer has a transformed life, they are not truly born again. This passage
indicates that when we backslide, we are in need of another born again
experience. (Rev 2:7) Christ said, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the
Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the
tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God." This verse is
clear that the overcomers will inherit the Kingdom of God. An overcomer is one
who endures unto the end and crosses the finish line. You must keep the faith,
as well as live a sanctified life until the day you die, to enter God’s
paradise. Please also consider the verses listed below.
(Acts 3:19) 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,
(Rev 3:1) "And to the angel of the church in Sardis
write, 'These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven
stars: "I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but
you are dead. 2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are
ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God. 3 Remember
therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if
you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what
hour I will come upon you. 4 You have a few names even in Sardis who have not
defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are
worthy. 5 He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not
blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My
Father and before His angels. 6 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit
says to the churches." '
(Rev 2:4) Nevertheless I have this against you, that you
have left your first love.
5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and
do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your
lampstand from its place--unless you repent.
(Rev 3:14) "And to the angel of the church of the
Laodiceans write, 'These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness,
the Beginning of the creation of God: 15 I know your works, that you are
neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. 16 So then, because
you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.
17 Because you say, 'I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of
nothing'--and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and
naked-- 18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may
be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your
nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you
may see.
(Luke 13:1) There were present at that season some who told
Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
2 And Jesus answered and said to them, "Do you suppose
that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they
suffered such things?
3 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all
likewise perish.
4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and
killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who
dwelt in Jerusalem?
5 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all
likewise perish."
