Good old repentance

Matthew 4:17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”

The very first words of Jesus when he began his ministry was that the people repent. No blame shifting, no excuses, no blaming your genetics. It was simple, repent. Period.

Jesus came for sinners alright. He didn’t have to come for the righteous. The righteous were always taken care of by God. He came to help sinners out of their sinful ways. For sin kills, sometimes physically but always spiritually. A person may never get caught for stealing but will suffer eternal damnation in hell for that.

Acts 3:18-19 But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Christ would suffer.  Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord

Turning away from sin is a big relief. Staying in sin is unbelief. You can’t can call yourself a true believer if you can’t turn away from sin. For that is the first command of Jesus when he began his ministry.

Romans 2:5 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.

Many people are now very stubborn. They think that they can commit all the adultery and thievery they want in secret, then go to church, feed the poor and all will be well. I have words for them; repent and do not delay. For when the time of judgement comes, it will be anything but well for them.

We all need this repentance which is good old repentance. Not some cheesy repentance. No blaming your past for your sinful present. Just leave your sinful ways and ask God for pardon.

There might be some sins that you know you won’t be doing it. That’s not the point. You need to confess your sin to God. No hiding it from HIM. He knows it but expects humility from you.

Hebrews 3: 7-19

So, as the Holy Spirit says:  “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts  as you did in the rebellion,  during the time of testing in the wilderness,  where your ancestors tested and tried me,  though for forty years they saw what I did.  That is why I was angry with that generation;  I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray,  and they have not known my ways.’ So I declared on oath in my anger,  ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ” See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end. As has just been said:  “Today, if you hear his voice,  do not harden your hearts  as you did in the rebellion.” Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness? And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.

Unbelief is firstly a heart and mind issue. Actions only follow later. You know that God wanted to convict his people of their lack of faith after coming out from Egypt across the Red Sea. For he know that if they harbor unbelief it would eventually lead to sin which when coupled with non repentance proves to be a very bad combination for the human soul, always!

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