Stupid things 'Christians' do
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Let's look at it through what scripture has to say about repentance concerning preaching the gospel. I know we have been taught differently through our religious upbringing and beliefs handed down to us. Let's let God's word speak life to us.
Peter preached the gospel of the grace of Christ. to Cornelius ..no repentence used
Acts 10:43-44 (NASB)
[SUP]43 [/SUP] "Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins."
[SUP]44 [/SUP] While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message.
They were not told to "repent" here. I love how the Holy Spirit "falls upon " them as soon s they hear about the forgiveness of sins proclaimed to them because of Christ! ( but the reality is...they did truly repent )
Peter got in trouble with the jewish Christians when he went back...he says in Acts 11:17,18
Acts 11:17-18 (NASB)
[SUP]17 [/SUP] "Therefore if God gave to them the same gift as He gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God's way?"
[SUP]18 [/SUP] When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, "Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life."
What was there repentance?...they changed their mind toward God and had faith in Jesus.
Notice that it was God that granted them repentance. New Covenant repentance is not something we conjure up on our own nor is it a work we produce.
2 Tim 2:24-25 says that God may grant them repentance so that they may know the truth. God grants the repentance..not a work we do on our own.
Paul preached the gospel of grace here in the only recorded time in scripture.
Acts 13:38-39 (NASB)
[SUP]38 [/SUP] "Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you,
[SUP]39 [/SUP] and through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses.
Again ..no telling them to "repent"...but Paul did tell them .." urged them to continue in the grace of God"
Both of the examples we have of New Covenant preaching about the gospel of grace had NO words of telling people to repent.
These clearly show that the word "repentance " was not told to them . However they did repent as they turned to God for salvation.
Their are "fruits" of repentance.
So, repentance does not mean "turn from sin '..it means change your mind and turn to God and believe in Jesus and hat He has done.
There is a change after we come to Christ and His life in us transforms us.
We do not say it's ok to sin...grace says the exact opposite...and maybe no matter how many times we say it..people will only "hear" what they want to believe.
We all need to repent every day as we hear the beauty of our Lord proclaimed!
Brethern ...I urge you to believe in the awesome greatness and splendor of our Lord's magnificent finished work on our behalf!
Peter preached the gospel of the grace of Christ. to Cornelius ..no repentence used
Acts 10:43-44 (NASB)
[SUP]43 [/SUP] "Of Him all the prophets bear witness that through His name everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins."
[SUP]44 [/SUP] While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who were listening to the message.
They were not told to "repent" here. I love how the Holy Spirit "falls upon " them as soon s they hear about the forgiveness of sins proclaimed to them because of Christ! ( but the reality is...they did truly repent )
Peter got in trouble with the jewish Christians when he went back...he says in Acts 11:17,18
Acts 11:17-18 (NASB)
[SUP]17 [/SUP] "Therefore if God gave to them the same gift as He gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God's way?"
[SUP]18 [/SUP] When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, "Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life."
What was there repentance?...they changed their mind toward God and had faith in Jesus.
Notice that it was God that granted them repentance. New Covenant repentance is not something we conjure up on our own nor is it a work we produce.
2 Tim 2:24-25 says that God may grant them repentance so that they may know the truth. God grants the repentance..not a work we do on our own.
Paul preached the gospel of grace here in the only recorded time in scripture.
Acts 13:38-39 (NASB)
[SUP]38 [/SUP] "Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through Him forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you,
[SUP]39 [/SUP] and through Him everyone who believes is freed from all things, from which you could not be freed through the Law of Moses.
Again ..no telling them to "repent"...but Paul did tell them .." urged them to continue in the grace of God"
Both of the examples we have of New Covenant preaching about the gospel of grace had NO words of telling people to repent.
These clearly show that the word "repentance " was not told to them . However they did repent as they turned to God for salvation.
Their are "fruits" of repentance.
So, repentance does not mean "turn from sin '..it means change your mind and turn to God and believe in Jesus and hat He has done.
There is a change after we come to Christ and His life in us transforms us.
We do not say it's ok to sin...grace says the exact opposite...and maybe no matter how many times we say it..people will only "hear" what they want to believe.
We all need to repent every day as we hear the beauty of our Lord proclaimed!
Brethern ...I urge you to believe in the awesome greatness and splendor of our Lord's magnificent finished work on our behalf!
btw, Mary worship entered the church in force through the 'former' gnostic Augustine's theology. He ardently defended the perpetually-virgin Virgin Mary as the mother of God, who, because of her virginity, is full of grace.
"If I enter the church of the Augustines, I see there an image of the Virgin Mary as large as life. Some are decking her with jewels as votive offerings; some are suspending pictures around as memorials of thankfulness; some are placing money in a box at her feet; some are devoutly kissing her feet and touching them with their foreheads; some are prostrate in profound devotion before her; some are repeating the rosary before her; all are turning their backs upon the consecrated host; upon that which the priest is elevating upon the high altar, and which he and they devoutly believe to be Jesus Christ Himself bodily and visibly among them; turning their backs upon Christ and their faces upon Mary, practically forsaking Christ for Mary, with a prostration the most profound before her image—a prostration that was never surpassed in the days of heathen Rome, and can never be justified in Christian Rome." "Mornings among the Jesuits," p. 107.
Some of my thoughts on "repentance".
The word "repentance" - metanoia as been shown by others simply in the original greek means " to change the mind ". In Jesus and Paul's day the word would be used in a sentence like this. " I was going to the synagogue but I metanoia (changed my mind ) and went to the market.
There are "fruits" of repentance ( changing the mind ) as in the case above...the person "went to the market". ( every fiber of my being wants to say..."and this little piggy stayed home".....but I will refrain )
To us it means to change our mind to stop relying on ourselves and our thinking and turn to God. Stop living our own life with our own thinking and come to Christ and let His life live through and in you. Receive all that Jesus did for us in His finished work.
We should be repenting ( changing how we think towards something ) constantly as we see the Lord's true nature, love and grace revealed to and in us.
There will always be "fruits" of having a changed mind ( having repented ) to God but the "fruit" is not the repentance within itself. True repentance is the "root" before the "fruit" comes.
The fruit will manifest itself in the form of having a changed heart because we are a new creation in Christ. This will also show in behavior as the life of Christ transforms our outward life to reflect what has already happened in our inner man - that new creation in Christ.
SIn and mindsets not in union with the truth of the Kingdom of God come in line and drop off of our lives as we grow in grace and knowledge of Christ and Him being in us.
Sometimes our religious traditions can "hi-jack" the meanings of words and can present false assumptions.
The word "repentance" - metanoia as been shown by others simply in the original greek means " to change the mind ". In Jesus and Paul's day the word would be used in a sentence like this. " I was going to the synagogue but I metanoia (changed my mind ) and went to the market.
There are "fruits" of repentance ( changing the mind ) as in the case above...the person "went to the market". ( every fiber of my being wants to say..."and this little piggy stayed home".....but I will refrain )
To us it means to change our mind to stop relying on ourselves and our thinking and turn to God. Stop living our own life with our own thinking and come to Christ and let His life live through and in you. Receive all that Jesus did for us in His finished work.
We should be repenting ( changing how we think towards something ) constantly as we see the Lord's true nature, love and grace revealed to and in us.
There will always be "fruits" of having a changed mind ( having repented ) to God but the "fruit" is not the repentance within itself. True repentance is the "root" before the "fruit" comes.
The fruit will manifest itself in the form of having a changed heart because we are a new creation in Christ. This will also show in behavior as the life of Christ transforms our outward life to reflect what has already happened in our inner man - that new creation in Christ.
SIn and mindsets not in union with the truth of the Kingdom of God come in line and drop off of our lives as we grow in grace and knowledge of Christ and Him being in us.
Sometimes our religious traditions can "hi-jack" the meanings of words and can present false assumptions.
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Repentance is not just changing your mind.
I can change my mind about which route I go to church, or doing the shopping this morning or on the way home from work.
A change of mind has no moral aspect to it. Repentance has always been admiting an action was wrong, evil, something that should not have been done, admitting that this is the reality and a commitment to put things right, pay restitution and not behave like this in the future. So embedded in the law is this idea, if you steal something you have to pay back what you stole and more. Restitution is not a religious act of piety, it is recognising a debt which is owed.
Now for mortal sin, killing of someone, you had to pay with your life. The restitution was loosing your life.
Now to have sins forgiven the sacrifice was another life of an animal, which finally was Jesus on the cross.
To soft soap repentance is heresy and blasphemy against the Word of God. It is just insane to treat sin so lightly as if it does not matter. That is why I cannot call those who preach like this brothers, because it cuts at the heart of what purity, righteousness actually is, and the real harm sin does. Sin leads to death, the destruction of all that we are. It is to be fled, hated, dealt with as a deadly desease, something that rots your very being.
I can change my mind about which route I go to church, or doing the shopping this morning or on the way home from work.
A change of mind has no moral aspect to it. Repentance has always been admiting an action was wrong, evil, something that should not have been done, admitting that this is the reality and a commitment to put things right, pay restitution and not behave like this in the future. So embedded in the law is this idea, if you steal something you have to pay back what you stole and more. Restitution is not a religious act of piety, it is recognising a debt which is owed.
Now for mortal sin, killing of someone, you had to pay with your life. The restitution was loosing your life.
Now to have sins forgiven the sacrifice was another life of an animal, which finally was Jesus on the cross.
To soft soap repentance is heresy and blasphemy against the Word of God. It is just insane to treat sin so lightly as if it does not matter. That is why I cannot call those who preach like this brothers, because it cuts at the heart of what purity, righteousness actually is, and the real harm sin does. Sin leads to death, the destruction of all that we are. It is to be fled, hated, dealt with as a deadly desease, something that rots your very being.
Even the prayer you quoted (and quite correctly, I might add) states in the first and second sentences, that we are forgiven of our sins by Christ's sacrifice. Don't let yourself get so hung up on searching for specific singular words and exact phraseology, that you miss what is actually being said. That's what the sad little witch-hunters have locked themselves into doing.
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Oh yes... the infamous 'grace' teacher lie about 1 John 1:9.
'Grace' teachers teach the lie that John wrote what he wrote in 1 John 1:9 to unbelieving gnostics rather than to his children in the faith. I know; it's ridiculous. They have absolutely no evidence to backup this claim, but they need this lie to undergird their lie that it is not necessary for believers to acknowledge sin for forgiveness. Some go so far as to say that doing so is unbelief. I read somewhere that Joseph Prince realized 1 John 1:9 contradicted his teachings, so he changed its interpretation to suit his agenda$. Now all of the new.modern.grace copycats regurgitate it without shame or good sense. As far as I know, this interpretation was non-existent until Prince.
It's obvious that 'we' in 1 John refers to the apostles who actually heard, saw and touched Jesus.
Those addressed as 'you' were other believers who were not personal witnesses of Christ. They would have been like those mentioned in the book of Hebrews.
This is verified by John's expression of the hope that the apostles' joy may be full, not the joy of the believers to whom he wrote.
This undoubtedly refers to the apostles' joy of seeing their spiritual children, those whom they had begotten in the faith, grow into maturity, because it mirrors a similar statement made by Paul that expresses a similar hope of joy.
John then tells his spiritual children who didn't know Christ personally spiritual principles and truths that the apostles learned firsthand from Christ.
Then John makes clear who is addressed as 'you' in his letter by calling then his spiritual children in the faith.
'Grace' teachers teach the lie that John wrote what he wrote in 1 John 1:9 to unbelieving gnostics rather than to his children in the faith. I know; it's ridiculous. They have absolutely no evidence to backup this claim, but they need this lie to undergird their lie that it is not necessary for believers to acknowledge sin for forgiveness. Some go so far as to say that doing so is unbelief. I read somewhere that Joseph Prince realized 1 John 1:9 contradicted his teachings, so he changed its interpretation to suit his agenda$. Now all of the new.modern.grace copycats regurgitate it without shame or good sense. As far as I know, this interpretation was non-existent until Prince.
It's obvious that 'we' in 1 John refers to the apostles who actually heard, saw and touched Jesus.
What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and our hands have touched, concerning the word of life— and the life was revealed, and we have seen and testify and announce to you the eternal life which was with the Father and was revealed to us— what we have seen and heard, we announce to you also, in order that you also may have fellowship with us, and indeed our fellowship [is] with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 1 John 1:1-3
Those addressed as 'you' were other believers who were not personal witnesses of Christ. They would have been like those mentioned in the book of Hebrews.
How will we escape [if we] neglect so great a salvation which had [its] beginning [when it] was spoken through the Lord [and] was confirmed to us by those who heard, Hebrews 2:3
This is verified by John's expression of the hope that the apostles' joy may be full, not the joy of the believers to whom he wrote.
And these [things] we write, in order that our joy may be complete. 1 John 1:4
This undoubtedly refers to the apostles' joy of seeing their spiritual children, those whom they had begotten in the faith, grow into maturity, because it mirrors a similar statement made by Paul that expresses a similar hope of joy.
Complete my joy, so that you are in agreement, having the same love, united in spirit, having one purpose. Philippians 2:2
John then tells his spiritual children who didn't know Christ personally spiritual principles and truths that the apostles learned firsthand from Christ.
And this is the message which we have heard from him and announce to you, that God is light and there [is] no darkness in him at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we do not have sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, so that he will forgive us [our] sins and will cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. 1 John 1:5-10
Then John makes clear who is addressed as 'you' in his letter by calling then his spiritual children in the faith.
My little children, I am writing these [things] to you in order that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous [one], 1 John 2:1
One verse in the whole bible. That the Apostle Paul, nor any other NT author, didn't bring up sin confession for forgiveness once is revealing. The silence speaks loud. I think what they understood and what you don't is the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. They had no desire to trample underfoot the Son of God by trying to attain forgiveness through some other means than faith in Christ.
Sin confession [for forgiveness] replaces faith in Jesus for the total forgiveness of sins; its almost as if Jesus didn't die on the cross to deal with sin once and for all. That is ignorance and/or doubt to try to attain forgiveness already given by God through faith in Jesus. Jesus' sacrifice is sufficient, wouldn't you agree? Then why put forth a doctrine contrary to the Gospel?
Sin confession [for forgiveness] replaces faith in Jesus for the total forgiveness of sins; its almost as if Jesus didn't die on the cross to deal with sin once and for all. That is ignorance and/or doubt to try to attain forgiveness already given by God through faith in Jesus. Jesus' sacrifice is sufficient, wouldn't you agree? Then why put forth a doctrine contrary to the Gospel?
Scripture isolated can cause all sorts of opinions and traditions to be put in place
Pay attention to the ..we and our and the you in 1 John chapter 1
"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we (believers - namely John ) have looked at and our hands have touched - this we proclaim concerning the Word of Life"
(I John 1:1).
In other words, John is establishing that he was an eyewitness to the fact that Jesus truly did come in the flesh. He did this to convince the Gnostics that Jesus was not an illusion.
"We ( believers - namely John himself ) proclaim to you (unbelievers - gnostics ) what we have seen and heard, so that you (unbelievers - gnostics ) also may have fellowship with us ( believers ). And our ( believers )fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ" (verse 3).
This verse says two things. First, John repeats the fact that he, the rest of the apostles and other people saw Christ in the flesh. He wanted the Gnostics ( unbelievers ) to realize that there were many people who could testify to the reality of Christ.
Second, he is saying that there are some people in the audience who were not in the fellowship with Christ. ( just like we do now in all churches....there are both types of people )
"This is the message we ( believers ) have heard from Him and declare to you ( unbelievers ): God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all" (verse 5).
John's message in this verse is clear: God is light and in Him there is no darkness. We are either in the light (saved) or in darkness (lost). Scriptures are full of this comparison between light (saved) vs. darkness (lost).
"If we claim to have fellowship with Him yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth." (verse 6).
In other words, if someone says he has fellowship with Christ, but is walking in darkness (lost), he is lying and not practicing the truth. The Gnostics ( not true believers ) claimed to be in fellowship with Christ (saved), and yet were actually living a lie and therefore weren't practicing the truth.
"If we( believers ) walk in the light, as He is in the light, we ( believers ) have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us ( believers ) from all sin" (verse 7).
In other words, if we walk in the light (are saved) we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin. To put it another way, once we are saved, we are permanently in the fellowship because the blood of Jesus continually cleanses us from all sin.
Therefore, we aren't forgiven because we confess our sins. We are forgiven because of what Christ did for us on the cross.
"If we( John putting all of us in the same boat before coming to Christ ) claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us" (verse 8).
John is now addressing the belief the Gnostics had regarding sin because they didn't believe it was real and therefore believed they had no sin. The "we" John is using here refers to all people before coming to Christ including all believers too which "we" had to acknowledge at some point in our lives.
He is referring specifically to the Gnostics, who believed they were without sin. Because they claimed to be without sin, then they were only deceiving themselves and the truth (Jesus) was not in them.
However, verse 9 says that "if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." In other words, if the Gnostics were to confess they had sins, then God, Who is faithful and righteous, would forgive and cleanse them from their unrighteousness.
In the Greek language, the words "forgive" and "cleanse" mean past actions that have results today and will continue to have results in the future. Also, the word "all" used in these verses means all. It doesn't mean that we are cleansed of our past sins and our past unrighteousness, it means we were cleansed of all our unrighteousness. And if God cleanses us from all unrighteousness, then we are cleansed forever!
"If we claim we ( all of us were in this boat at one time ) have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar and His word has no place in our lives" (verse 10).
Basically this verse is a repeat of verse 8. To put it simply, it means that the Gnostics can't claim to be without sin and yet be saved. John is saying that because the Gnostics claimed they had no sin, they were actually calling God a liar and therefore didn't know the truth.
The purpose of the first chapter of 1 John was to compare the truth of God to the error of gnosticism. John was addressing the Gnostics, who were deceived by their own teaching. He wanted the Gnostics to understand that what they believed conflicted with what God said. He was not, however, addressing believers.
Pay attention to the ..we and our and the you in 1 John chapter 1
"That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we (believers - namely John ) have looked at and our hands have touched - this we proclaim concerning the Word of Life"
(I John 1:1).
In other words, John is establishing that he was an eyewitness to the fact that Jesus truly did come in the flesh. He did this to convince the Gnostics that Jesus was not an illusion.
"We ( believers - namely John himself ) proclaim to you (unbelievers - gnostics ) what we have seen and heard, so that you (unbelievers - gnostics ) also may have fellowship with us ( believers ). And our ( believers )fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ" (verse 3).
This verse says two things. First, John repeats the fact that he, the rest of the apostles and other people saw Christ in the flesh. He wanted the Gnostics ( unbelievers ) to realize that there were many people who could testify to the reality of Christ.
Second, he is saying that there are some people in the audience who were not in the fellowship with Christ. ( just like we do now in all churches....there are both types of people )
"This is the message we ( believers ) have heard from Him and declare to you ( unbelievers ): God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all" (verse 5).
John's message in this verse is clear: God is light and in Him there is no darkness. We are either in the light (saved) or in darkness (lost). Scriptures are full of this comparison between light (saved) vs. darkness (lost).
"If we claim to have fellowship with Him yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth." (verse 6).
In other words, if someone says he has fellowship with Christ, but is walking in darkness (lost), he is lying and not practicing the truth. The Gnostics ( not true believers ) claimed to be in fellowship with Christ (saved), and yet were actually living a lie and therefore weren't practicing the truth.
"If we( believers ) walk in the light, as He is in the light, we ( believers ) have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us ( believers ) from all sin" (verse 7).
In other words, if we walk in the light (are saved) we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Christ cleanses us from all sin. To put it another way, once we are saved, we are permanently in the fellowship because the blood of Jesus continually cleanses us from all sin.
Therefore, we aren't forgiven because we confess our sins. We are forgiven because of what Christ did for us on the cross.
"If we( John putting all of us in the same boat before coming to Christ ) claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us" (verse 8).
John is now addressing the belief the Gnostics had regarding sin because they didn't believe it was real and therefore believed they had no sin. The "we" John is using here refers to all people before coming to Christ including all believers too which "we" had to acknowledge at some point in our lives.
He is referring specifically to the Gnostics, who believed they were without sin. Because they claimed to be without sin, then they were only deceiving themselves and the truth (Jesus) was not in them.
However, verse 9 says that "if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." In other words, if the Gnostics were to confess they had sins, then God, Who is faithful and righteous, would forgive and cleanse them from their unrighteousness.
In the Greek language, the words "forgive" and "cleanse" mean past actions that have results today and will continue to have results in the future. Also, the word "all" used in these verses means all. It doesn't mean that we are cleansed of our past sins and our past unrighteousness, it means we were cleansed of all our unrighteousness. And if God cleanses us from all unrighteousness, then we are cleansed forever!
"If we claim we ( all of us were in this boat at one time ) have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar and His word has no place in our lives" (verse 10).
Basically this verse is a repeat of verse 8. To put it simply, it means that the Gnostics can't claim to be without sin and yet be saved. John is saying that because the Gnostics claimed they had no sin, they were actually calling God a liar and therefore didn't know the truth.
The purpose of the first chapter of 1 John was to compare the truth of God to the error of gnosticism. John was addressing the Gnostics, who were deceived by their own teaching. He wanted the Gnostics to understand that what they believed conflicted with what God said. He was not, however, addressing believers.