I hope this will clarify what repentance is, and why most who profess Christ, are dead to God and holiness, and could care less to live a pure life, before God who has given His creation all power over sin, temptation and the devil!
But the repentance must be real and from the heart, otherwise as I learned the hard way, you are just giving God lip service, and this is a very dangerious place to be in!
Deeds Worthy of Repentance
Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance! Mt3:8 4:17, Lk3:8,
What are Deeds Worthy of Repentance? Biblical defined they are:
‘Something that carries weight of value, to merit something worthy of gaining’
Basically it’s what PROVES you have Repented of your sins: that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance.Acts26:20
But in the Repeat after me world DEEDS Worthy of Repentance are unheard of, replaced by apologies and vain words without purpose. Basically they all agree that Ceasing from sin and doing what is Right is not part of Repentance or Salvation. In their minds ‘not of works’ means man has NO part whatsoever in the Redemption process. Repentance then is ‘Changing’ ones mind but NOT turning from sin. In fact some Pundits actually say there is no Scripture in the entire bible that says you Must Turn from sin to be saved! They see Romans 4:6-8 as David declaring that a man is Justified ‘in his sins’, apart from ANY Deeds he may or may not have done.
Here’s a Summary of their twisted Premise:
Man is Born a depraved Sinner and can Never Stop sinning, but he can CHANGE his mind
If you could Stop or Turn from his sins he wouldn’t need Jesus & would be Saving himself
So Deeds of ANY Sort are out of the question, since Works=Merit & Salvation is a free gift not of works.
Therefore Doing what is Right or Stopping any particular sin is NOT part of Repentance, but is the RESULT of Salvation. Follow this backward logic …. First you ‘Get Saved’ (by trusting in Jesus or faith alone) Then you are able to Repent; (Change your mind about sin, but NEVER Stop doing it!) God has to GRANT you Not only the Repentance, but also the ABILITY to Do what is Right (which means merely changing your mind about Him) Thus, according to their version of Salvation Synergy (working together with God) is not involved, which is a BOLD FACED DENIAL of Scripture:
We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. 2Cor6:1
Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? James2:22
Pundits of Reformed Doctrine constantly accuse the early Church fathers of gross error concerning the issue of Repentance. Claiming they preached a ‘Works’ based Salvation ignorant of God’s Grace. YET they COMPLETELY ignore what the Scriptures teach about Crucifying the Flesh with it’s Passions and Desires … Because that REQUIRES Effort on man’s part and Negates their fallacy of Salvation apart from works. The ONLY way Bible Scriptures demanding Obedience, Striving, to go and sin no more or a departure from iniquity can make any sense to them is by man being Justified in his sins and then Trusting that Christ Provided His Righteousness & Obedience as a Substitute.
From that point man may or may not live a holy separated life, doing what is Right by faith, Depending on WHICH Bible Pundit you’re listening to. However they ALL AGREE that DEEDS (good or bad) have no bearing on the Outcome of Salvation. (since man is saved by ‘faith alone’) But some will insist more on producing good fruit in accordance with Salvation while many others will totally discard any necessity of them. All of this (the Doctrines & the rhetoric) is a result of Stripping man of his God given ABILITY to make a Right Choice within himself, turn from sin and seek God in Repentance as instructed in the Bible.
Although the Bible SOUNDS as though God is asking man to Do the impossible, it is Really saying that GOD will DO it for him! That’s why everything in the Bible to the professed Christians supposedly saved under this Mess appears divergent to their beliefs and they go into a state of denial when confronted by the truth; because to them doing anything is saving themselves, even if its merely OBEYING God.
In Essence God Must:
Grant man Repentance; meaning He must give them the Ability to make a Right Choice, change their minds and turn to Him. But under this scheme most people still believe that man retains his own free will to choose, however he CANNOT choose to Stop sinning and Do what is Right unto God, because that would be ‘works’ thereby canceling out the free gift.
Rationally this all sounds like a minor stumbling block in the Path to true Salvation; Perhaps just a mere misunderstanding of terms or even Semitics. HOWEVER this goes MUCH Deeper than an in house argument over Doctrines. It overthrows the Very Foundation of the Gospel Message! Man’s ABILITY to TURN from Sin (get clear of wrong doings, cease to do evil learn to do good) it the VERY CORE of Repentance unto life! (Acts11:18) Without it NO ONE can find Redemption in Christ.
God ‘Grants’ Repentance, Acts11:18, 2Tim2:25, This DOES NOT imply that God is somehow giving man ability to do something where he was lacking it before. It SIMPLY Means:
‘To give to one asking, let them have as a gift, extend them an invitation’
To ‘Peradventure’ in the KJV version of 2Tim2:25 can be rightly translated ‘PERHAPS’
Since it’s the Holy Spirit that Convicts man of Sin, Righteousness and Judgment to come, Perhaps man on hearing the Word will Choose to turn from his sin and God will extend him the free invitation to repent.
What these heaps of Bible Pundits have done by twisting Scripture to Persuade people they lack the Ability to turn from their sin is EXACTLY Stated by Christ in Mat15:16: ‘Your Doctrines have made the Word of God of NO EFFECT!’ (rendered it void, deprived it of force & authority!) Essentially they have Shut up the Kingdom of against men! (Mt23:13) Denying it to themselves and others SIMPLY because they REFUSE to STOP Sinning and Turn to God!
One Pundit outrageously States that there is NOT a single Scripture in the entire Bible that says you Must Repent from Sin to be Saved! Others Claim that Repentance is NOT a Mandate for Salvation. Certainly their Condemnation is not far-off. If a Person Repents, WHAT is he REPENTING FROM??? ‘unbelief’
The Lord said Preach ‘Repentance for Remission’ Lk24:47. Remission of what? If God Winked in times
Past but now commands all men everywhere to Repent’ Acts17:30, What did He Wink at? If Repentance
is merely a CHANGE of mind, as the Pundits claim, what is CONVERSION? Acts3:19, Mat13:15, Mk4:12.
The Very spirit of Repentance is TURNING from SIN not merely changing the mind. If man really does
Lack the Ability to Stop sinning WHY does God Constantly imply that he can? He told Cain: ‘Sin lies at
the door, its desire is for you, but YOU should RULE over it’ Gen4:7. He told the People to ‘Go and Sin
no more!’ John5:14, 8:11. He said over and over again:
‘By mercy and truth iniquity is Purged, and by the fear of the Lord men depart evil!’ Prov16:6
‘Be not wise in your own eyes, fear the Lord and Depart from evil’ Prov3:7
‘Behold the fear of the Lord is wisdom and to depart evil is understanding’ Job28:28
The Promise of God’s Mercy has ALWAYS been contingent on Turing from Sin:
Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, Learn to do good; Seek justice, Rebuke the oppressor; Defend the fatherless, Plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together, Says the LORD, Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool. If you are willing and obedient, You shall eat the good of the land; But if you refuse and rebel, You shall be devoured by the sword. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken. Isa1:16-20
Produce DEEDS Worthy of repentance and getting clear of your wrong doing is NOT Saving yourself!
Ability to do so is part of the free GIFT He promised man in His Word that would lead us to godliness.
The Reason Professing Christians can ‘never stop sinning’ is NOT because they lack any Ability to do so.
It’s because they have NEVER Crucified their flesh with its Passions and Desires in Repentance! They
came into the Kingdom still ‘Carnal’ Sold under Sin and have no understanding or Discernment WHY
they continue to fall prey in repeated failure to the Lust of the flesh. The Preaches keep telling them God
will Clean them up and change their desires, so don’t worry about it, Salvation is assured. But the Wages
of sin is still Death and as they continue to Walk in Darkness their situation grows worse and worse.
Families are torn apart, relationships devastated, health and well being consumed.
My question is WHY do people who believe these lies that God Saves them in sin and is suppose to clean
them up later continue to Wine and Cry about the Mess sin has made out of their lives? It’s ALL your
OWN DOING, you brought the misery on yourself by choosing sin to begin with. There is Really only
ONE answer to your dilemma … STOP Doing it!!! God hasn’t magically Changed your inner Desires
from Evil to Good so far, HOW long are you going to Wait? Until you’ve Destroyed more lives,
brought more shame on yourself and others, been given over to complete reprobation? Haven’t you
been coddled enough with the saved in sin non-sense? Has it given you any Peace or healed the misery
inside your heart? DO YOU LOVE what SIN has DONE to your life? Have you any desire to ESCAPE its
Corrupting influence and be truly Clean within? There’s no EASY Way out of this Mess!
You have to DIE with Christ to all the Lust, filth and uncleanness, PUT to death your body of sin once
and for all in bitter Repentance. SEEK Him with every ounce of Strength you have in a DETERMINDED
effort to Break free from your bondage to sin. Dispel all the Confusion in your mind about what people
have told you about God. GIVE HIM a chance to respond with His Healing Mercy when you Come
Clean in a Self-Cleansing Humility of Genuine godly sorrow He will not despise.
YOU have to make the first move. He is Waiting for YOU with an Out Stretched arm to employ your God
given ABILITY to OBEY HIM! The longer you Wait, wallowing in your misery, mocking Him with
excuses, THINKING you have His approval, the further you will Sink into the Depths of your mind
numbed delusion. It’s NOT GOD’S fault you remain in bondage to sin, YOU alone are to BLAME!
Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot
hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face
from you, Isa59:1-2
TURN Away from the lying Preachers who have robbed you of ABILITY and TRUST What God has said.
Courtesy standingthegap.org