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repent
Repentance by Joe La Bianca
We’ve been hearing false teaching about repentance for years. Now, so many are thinking that they must clean up their lives before Jesus will accept them. But tell me. How can someone clean up their life without the power of the Holy Spirit? Well, tell me! You cannot!! So why do people preach a legalistic form of repentance? Because to them, their performance is the thing that ingratiates them to God. WHAT HOGWASH!! WHAT A DENIAL OF THE WORK OF JESUS!!
If you could clean up your life before you come to God, then why would you need Jesus? And if you do not have the Holy Spirit before you are saved, how are you supposed to clean up your life before you come to Jesus? All someone needs to do to understand the true meaning of repentance is read the definition in a bible dictionary. Here is the definition of repentance : to be sorry, to rue, to return or turn back, to regret, to reconsider, ruefulness.
So we see that repentance means that someone is sorry for their sins. It doesn’t mean that someone removes their sins; that’s Jesus’ work. As a matter of fact, repentance realizes that we cannot help ourselves, but only Jesus can. Of course we must repent before we are saved, but only in the correct sense of the word. How could someone come to the Savior if they do not see their sins and feel sorry for them? They cannot!
How many people have been turned away from Jesus because a legalist preached to them. These seekers felt conviction for their sins, the truth that they cannot be righteous, and the fear of God’s judgment. The Holy Spirit made this person ready to trust in the Savior. And some religious zealot messed everything up with their ideas of how to get to God. The poor seeker hears from this person how he must forsake all his sins and obey Jesus to be a Christian. The poor seeker knows he can’t do it, so he leaves. He never heard the GOOD NEWS, only a self-righteous man’s views. And the saying is proven yet again, “ the blind will lead the blind and both fall in a ditch.”
Paul didn’t preach repentance as many understand it today. Paul said that all we must do to be saved is believe that Jesus died for our sins and rose again. Why listen to Paul? He is the one that Jesus chose to reveal the whole truth to us. See “The Claims of Paul” in the archives of my blogs at www.myspace.com/joelabianca.
Stop thinking of salvation in terms of performance. That is the mistake of every religion - from Judaism, to Eastern cults, right down to the legalistic church. No, our faith in Christ is greater than man’s puny attempt to change his life. Jesus is the only Savior. He is the One who earned Heaven. Our simple trust in His cross is what changes us. When we just believe, we are changed inside, with the perfection of God given goodness, and out, through the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome the world. All this is by grace, and is the gift of God. So stop thinking that you must save your soul before Jesus does. Repentance is only turning to the One who can save. Remember, Jesus cleans His fish after He catches them.
We’ve been hearing false teaching about repentance for years. Now, so many are thinking that they must clean up their lives before Jesus will accept them. But tell me. How can someone clean up their life without the power of the Holy Spirit? Well, tell me! You cannot!! So why do people preach a legalistic form of repentance? Because to them, their performance is the thing that ingratiates them to God. WHAT HOGWASH!! WHAT A DENIAL OF THE WORK OF JESUS!!
If you could clean up your life before you come to God, then why would you need Jesus? And if you do not have the Holy Spirit before you are saved, how are you supposed to clean up your life before you come to Jesus? All someone needs to do to understand the true meaning of repentance is read the definition in a bible dictionary. Here is the definition of repentance : to be sorry, to rue, to return or turn back, to regret, to reconsider, ruefulness.
So we see that repentance means that someone is sorry for their sins. It doesn’t mean that someone removes their sins; that’s Jesus’ work. As a matter of fact, repentance realizes that we cannot help ourselves, but only Jesus can. Of course we must repent before we are saved, but only in the correct sense of the word. How could someone come to the Savior if they do not see their sins and feel sorry for them? They cannot!
How many people have been turned away from Jesus because a legalist preached to them. These seekers felt conviction for their sins, the truth that they cannot be righteous, and the fear of God’s judgment. The Holy Spirit made this person ready to trust in the Savior. And some religious zealot messed everything up with their ideas of how to get to God. The poor seeker hears from this person how he must forsake all his sins and obey Jesus to be a Christian. The poor seeker knows he can’t do it, so he leaves. He never heard the GOOD NEWS, only a self-righteous man’s views. And the saying is proven yet again, “ the blind will lead the blind and both fall in a ditch.”
Paul didn’t preach repentance as many understand it today. Paul said that all we must do to be saved is believe that Jesus died for our sins and rose again. Why listen to Paul? He is the one that Jesus chose to reveal the whole truth to us. See “The Claims of Paul” in the archives of my blogs at www.myspace.com/joelabianca.
Stop thinking of salvation in terms of performance. That is the mistake of every religion - from Judaism, to Eastern cults, right down to the legalistic church. No, our faith in Christ is greater than man’s puny attempt to change his life. Jesus is the only Savior. He is the One who earned Heaven. Our simple trust in His cross is what changes us. When we just believe, we are changed inside, with the perfection of God given goodness, and out, through the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome the world. All this is by grace, and is the gift of God. So stop thinking that you must save your soul before Jesus does. Repentance is only turning to the One who can save. Remember, Jesus cleans His fish after He catches them.
You make a great point - God wants us to come to him, just as we are - "warts and all". If we wait until we "clean up our act", in order to feel "worthy enough" to approach God, we will never go to him. Christ died for sinners! We must turn to him, in all sin and shame, and he will heal us. Conviction (of our sinfulness), and a repentant heart, should always lead to Christ, not self effort. It's about relationship, that's how victory over sin take place - as he imparts his divine nature to us. Not just a legal substitution (of our sinful record for his perfect record), but also a living relationship, where we actually partake of his divine nature through his Spirit. John 15:5 I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing Notice in this parable, Jesus is the vine, and God the Father is the gardener - actively cutting and pruning - working on our behalf. Jesus states in verse 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. We are already considered clean in Christ, our task is to remain attached (in a relationship). When we do that, everything else will fall into place.
Right. I believe that we ramain in Him by faith. Then we will bear fruit. But sometimes people get into the trap of trying to bear fruit to remain. You see the difference? It makes all the difference in the world if we remain by faith or works. The first will produce fruit, the second is a sham. We are even moe fruitful because the Father prunes us. Love is the result of our trust in the cross. But I put the emphasis on faith because that's what we do. That's our part. Love, which is the same as good fruit, is ancillary, for it comes along with our faith.