What does it really mean? Did you know repentance was the first thing Christ preached? Let's find out why.
Right after Christ’s testing in the wilderness, before He had even called his first disciple, He began his foundational teaching of repentance.
“From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, ‘REPENT, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 4:17
Why is repentance the foundation for all the rest of Christ’s teachings? Because without this solid foundation, everything else you build on it will come crashing down. Without it, nothing Christ says will be of any use to you.
“Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again THE FOUNDATION OF REPENTANCE from dead works (sin) and of faith toward God.” Hebrews 6:1
Here is what your pastor may not understand because of the traditions passed down in the church.
Repentance is ONLY possible IF you submit that all God’s ways are true and right. That means ANY instruction of God from the day Adam was formed to today, every and all instructions are correct and are required to be followed.
NOTHING CHANGED in regards to the Laws of God after the resurrection, the ONLY difference is that it is now possible to get a pardon for your offences of THOSE VERY LAWS. It doesn’t mean you can disregard those Laws, it just means if you break one UNINTENTIONALLY then you can ask for and receive a pardon. This was not possible before the Resurrection because the necessary atonement for our offences was Christ. He was the perfect sacrifice needed to allow forgiveness when we sin. The Laws and offences still stand.
For example, you can agree that:
Before the resurrection – murder is against the law
After the resurrection – murder is against the law
Nothing changed, God’s Laws still stand. But what has happened is that people don’t like to follow laws, so they created a version of God where one doesn’t have to. In one idolatrous version of God, they say God’s Spirit now guides them and the laws are not necessary, allowing them to ignore many of God’s Laws. This is completely false. God’s Spirit would NEVER approve of you ignoring and so breaking the Laws He gave.
This desire for rebellion against God has been there from the very beginning, and it was this very weakness that the devil used to lead us into breaking God’s first Law. (Eve eating from the forbidden tree) The definition of sin has not changed, even after the resurrection, it means to break God’s Law.
“Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.” 1John 3:4
This lawlessness today means that people prefer leading their lives by a book of morality that they have created. They may do some good things that you find in God’s Rulebook, but they do many things that are violations. They refuse to admit that these violations are wrong. This lack of admission is unrepentance. This is what keeps you from getting a pardon for the death sentence that awaits all people.
It doesn’t matter how well you know the bible, or how good you are at speaking, God will not pardon the unrepentant. In God’s court, the unrepentant are condemned. Repentance means you are sorry for a wrong you committed, and you are willing to change. You will not be forgiven for a crime you refuse to admit is wrong.
This foundational understanding of the validity of God’s Laws is mandatory to your salvation, without it you cannot repent or accept the real Christ who is the Son of the true God. The Father and the Son have the same doctrine.
“Jesus answered them and said, ‘My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me. If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority.’” John 7:16-17
The Father, His Son, and all His servants teach repentance to the Father’s Laws. The Father taught it, Christ taught it, John the Baptist taught it, all the apostles taught it, we ALL teach it.
“Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, ‘See, you have been made well. SIN NO MORE, lest a worse thing come upon you.” John 5 :14
“Awake to righteousness, and DO NOT SIN; for some do not have the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame.” 1 Corinthians 15:34
“having eyes full of adultery and that CANNOT CEASE FROM SIN, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children.” 2Peter 2:14
“So they went out and preached that people should repent.” Mark 6:12 (after Christ gave the apostles instructions and sent them out)
Christ tells us that the people who have made up a corrupt version of Himself will not qualify for life.
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS!’” Matthew 7:21-23
You cannot claim to follow Christ and yet continue in lawlessness. The body of Christ is an obedient body, and we who join as that body do the will of the Head, not our own. A disobedient body part is a diseased body part and will be cut off. Christ is the head of the body, and God is the head of Christ. There is no room in the kingdom for willful lawlessness.
“But I want you to know that the head of every man is Christ, the head of woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.” 1Corinthians 11:3
“For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ.” 1Corinthians 12:12
Faith leads to obedience, holding obedience while under the pressure from sinful people will lead to suffering for God, suffering for God makes you a living sacrifice acceptable to be part of God’s body.
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you PRESENT YOUR BODIES A LIVING SACRIFICE, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” Romans 12:1
It all starts with REPENTANCE, friends. True repentance. In order to be sorry you must admit wrong-doing. You cannot receive a pardon for an offence you refuse to acknowledge, you will be condemned. The sentence is coming and it will be carried out. Do not let the teachings of man hide the teachings of God. Read it yourself, do not follow the blind man over the cliff. Take control of your salvation, take it out of the hands of the blind, turn around and come back to God.
Many pastors and churches today teach the same disobedient doctrine that has been handed down. These lawless ideas came from leaders in Rome who had no intention of serving the real God. They took the Hebrew Bible and forcibly moved the followers to abandon these Laws. Rome created a new tradition where they could use the Bible to profit themselves. They created their own versions of laws like tithing and the Sabbath. These crimes will not go unpunished. Now is your chance to break away from a life of crime, and start a clean path to life forever with God.
You don’t have to understand everything immediately, you just have to trust that all His ways are correct. You don’t have to have an answer for a wicked person, other than that you trust that all God’s ways are right and that's why you won’t break His Laws, not even under pressure from your family or friends or employer or co-workers or even authorities.
Once you have that foundation set, you can now build on it as you learn the Laws of God, which are Laws of Love. All Laws of God are from God, and God is Love, so all the Laws are of Love.
“He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” 1John 4:8
All God’s Laws fall under two categories, LOVE for your God and LOVE for your neighbor.
“‘Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?’ Jesus said to him, ‘You shall LOVE the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall LOVE your neighbor as yourself’ ON THESE TWO COMMANDMENTS HANG ALL THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS” Matthew 22:36-40
Choose Love and Receive Life!
Comments