Have you thought much about REPENTANCE? Do you think the Church needs repentance? Yes, and rightly so. I believe it is important for us to discover what true repentance really is. If we think it means to turn from wrong-doing and aim at doing right then we are sadly mistaken. It seems though that this is exactly what is being preached in some churches today… a message to convince people that they have missed it somewhere; the result of which could affect their salvation and their assurance of being taken up in the “rapture.”
So the altars are being filled with people repenting to God. I know it sounds like the right way to go and what every pastor would desire for his people… Well, haven’t we all been taught since we were children that to feel ashamed and sorrowful is a form of Godliness?
Consider this with me…God doesn’t need us to help Him with the forgiveness process. God so loved the world (us) that He GAVE… and Jesus took all our sin on Himself in exchange for His righteousness… He FINISHED the work at the cross, died and rose again for our justification—just-as-if-we’d-never-sinned. I want you to understand that God has forgiven ALL your trespasses once and for all in the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Repentance isn’t about you doing the right thing; it is about you THINKING the right thing. The action of “turning” in the word repentance is you turning from the wrong thinking that continually puts you and your behavior at the top of the list and redirects your thoughts totally to the perfect behavior of our Lord Jesus. If your thinking is right concerning your freedom from sin, then the power to resist sin will be evident and to change your behavior will be easy. This is the foundation of the redemptive work of Christ. He became sin with our entire life’s worth of sin—past, present and future—so that forever we could rest in the righteousness of His perfection. You must always identify yourself with the ability or grace that comes in your position of right-standing with God. If you try to change your behavior without His ability then you are naturally tied to your own efforts. AND man’s efforts rise and fall with our emotions. WHILE the ability of Jesus is 100% based upon His completed and finished work of redemption. There is nothing else that He can do to improve on what has already been done. How does God see you? He sees you PERFECT! RIGHTEOUS! FORGIVEN! The blood of Jesus cleansed you completely.
We will always struggle if our emphasis is on US and OUR behavior. God wants our attention to be focused on the way HE sees US… then sin will no longer be the issue and Jesus will be the focus of our attention, our devotion and our love. It’s not about how much we love Him… it’s all about how much He loves US.
