Repentance: God's Command
Many people do not understand that God commands us to repent and turn from all our rebellious acts. (Ezekiel 18:30) Others do not really understand what it means to repent. Either way, if we do not repent of our sins, God can't forgive us. That makes repentance very important, doesn't it? Let's make sure we understand what it is and that we obey God's command to repent. Then, let's help others see this vital truth, even though it may not be popular today in our culture.
God sees our hearts, and He sees everything we do. Since He knows our motives, He can tell when we are doing things our own way and being rebellious toward Him. This is what we call sin. When God shows us our sin, we have to realize that we have gone the wrong way and change the direction of our life. We have to turn from our way and decide to do what God says we should do. When we change our mind and our actions, we have obeyed God's command to repent. Then, God will forgive us, if we humbly ask for Jesus to be the Lord and Savior of our life. If we are already a believer, when we repent, we can confess our sin, and the Lord is faithful to cleanse us. (I John 1:9) Either way, God requires repentance to receive forgiveness. Therefore, repentance must be a continual practice for believers. It is not that we lose our salvation when we sin after we trust Christ, but our sinful rebellion harms our relationship with the Lord, so we must repent and confess that sin to have God remove it and restore our close relationship with Him. When we practice repentance, we grow in the Lord to become more and more like Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit. That is God's design for every person, to know Jesus and to be like Jesus.
#NHBaptistdotorg
Tomorrow, I intend to read Ezekiel 20-22.
God sees our hearts, and He sees everything we do. Since He knows our motives, He can tell when we are doing things our own way and being rebellious toward Him. This is what we call sin. When God shows us our sin, we have to realize that we have gone the wrong way and change the direction of our life. We have to turn from our way and decide to do what God says we should do. When we change our mind and our actions, we have obeyed God's command to repent. Then, God will forgive us, if we humbly ask for Jesus to be the Lord and Savior of our life. If we are already a believer, when we repent, we can confess our sin, and the Lord is faithful to cleanse us. (I John 1:9) Either way, God requires repentance to receive forgiveness. Therefore, repentance must be a continual practice for believers. It is not that we lose our salvation when we sin after we trust Christ, but our sinful rebellion harms our relationship with the Lord, so we must repent and confess that sin to have God remove it and restore our close relationship with Him. When we practice repentance, we grow in the Lord to become more and more like Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit. That is God's design for every person, to know Jesus and to be like Jesus.
#NHBaptistdotorg
Tomorrow, I intend to read Ezekiel 20-22.