Repentance

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that ALL SHOULD COME TO REPENTANCE (2nd Peter 3:9).   God wants ALL people to repent; that is, change their minds.  God wants us to change our mind about how we view our sins.  Most people try to rationalize and justify their sins.  God wants us to “confess” or “admit” to Him alone that we are hell-deserving sinners.  God also wants us to change our minds concerning any unbelief we may have had in the Lord Jesus Christ.   We must turn to Christ in faith and believe on Him alone for the forgiveness of sins.   This is repentance—a changing of the mind concerning our sin and of the Lord Jesus Christ.   Simply confess your sins to Christ and ask Him to come into your heart as Savior.  

God COMMANDS us to repent.  “And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent” (Acts 17:30).   It is not an option whether or not we want to repent, it is a divine command from Almighty God.   It is wicked for any person not to repent when they have been warned to do so.   We hear Bible preaching everywhere in this great nation, we are all without excuse if we fail to heed the masters call to repentance.

Repentance can be explained by the following illustration.  Let’s say a man is driving down a country road for several miles.  He sees a sign and suddenly realizes that he has been going the wrong way.  Now he has to make a decision, “should I keep going in the wrong direction or turn around and go back towards the right way?”  Of course, it would be foolish for him to continue in the wrong direction but no more foolish than most people when it comes to God’s Word.  So many folks don’t seem to care about pleasing God.  If that man decides to turn around and does so, that is repentance.   He has changed his mind concerning his direction in life.  He first had to realize and then admit that he was going the wrong way.   He then had to acknowledge and follow the right path.  For the man to continue in the wrong direction for any reason would have been foolish.  There is no reason for any person not to repent.   God wants all people to admit that they’ve been going the wrong direction in life.  Then God wants us to follow the right path, Jesus Christ.  “Jesus saith unto him, I am THE WAY, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6).  Jesus is the road to Heaven, there is NO other road which leads there.  Have you been driving down the wrong road?  The road to hell is paved with good intentions and is lit with neon signs.  The road to life is plain and simple, nothing spectacular.  The road to hell exalts religion; the road to Heaven exalts Jesus.  There are two types of religions in the world: DO and DONE.   Either you believe that you must DO something to get into Heaven OR you are simply trusting Jesus and all that He has DONE to pay for your sins.   DO or DONE, which are you?   I’m in the DONE category! 

There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.  And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things?  I tell you, Nay: but, EXCEPT YE REPENT, ye shall all likewise perish.  Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, Nay: but, EXCEPT YE REPENT, ye shall all likewise perish” (Luke 13:1-5).   What was Jesus saying?  This is very much like what we read in the newspapers today, tragedy after tragedy.   We hear all types of evil tidings and it makes us sad sometimes to hear about the woeful things happening to other families and people.  What did Jesus mean?   Jesus was simply saying that it could happen to anyone!  Death is sudden and we have no guarantee of tomorrow.   Are we any better than anyone else that we are immune to heartache and tragedy?  No, not for one moment.   I recall hearing of a tornado that ripped through a little Baptist church in Georgia, killing many of the members.   Were they being judged of God?  No, not at all.  The earth is under a curse since the days of Adam.   Bad things happen to everybody!  If not, you’ve got something to look forward to.   You can’t be too careful these days.   Believers are NOT immune to anything.   If a Believer walks down a dark alley at night, he or she is just as susceptible to crime as anybody else would be.  God gave us a wonderful brain and we must use our common sense in the decisions we make.