When did you repent?

I think this a difficult question in our day as there are so many forms of a gospel that many are led to believe they have repented under the true Gospel, but may yet be far from the Kingdom.

In my own testimony, a gentleman shared Scritpure with me over the phone(wrong number by the way!), and it was as if a light went on, and I saw tha had offended God, and I asked Christ to save me. It of course has been a continual repentance from that day forward. Yet prior to that, I did not really care about my soul. I was troubled in conscience off and on, yet had no power to change what was troubling me as I couldn't put my finger on it. This is why it must be the Spirit that convicts of sin, and illuminates Christ through the preaching of the Scriptures, and not a manipulation of emotion, or reason simply to gain a statistic.

I firmly believe that a man cannot truly repent unless he is regenerated first so that he sees his crime. A natural man has no care for his offence against God, so it is impossible for a natural man to repent. But praise God, he commands that men repent and believe, and gives the ability to repent and believe to whom He will.

roaringlamb wrote:
But praise God, he commands that men repent and believe, [b]and gives the ability to repent and believe [u]to whom He will.[/u][/b]

Amen, and the Scripture reveals His will:

1Ti 2:3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
1Ti 2:4 [b]Who will have all men to be saved,[/b] and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

Praise God for that! And His will and actions are not in contradiction.

After the Lord draws you to Him, illuminate your soul, reveals your sins, now it's your turn, you can harden your heart or you can respond and turn to God in repentance:

Act 26:20 But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that [b]they[/b] should repent and [b]turn[/b] to God, and [b]do[/b] works meet for repentance.

John the baptist says the same thing:

Luke 3:8 [b]Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance,[/b] and begin not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, [u]That God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.[/u]

I want you to know that the greatest heresy in the American evangelical and protestant church is
that, if you pray and ask Jesus Christ to come into your heart, He will definitely come in. You
will not find that in any place in Scripture. You will not find that anywhere in Baptist history
until about 50 years ago. What you need to know is that salvation is by faith and faith alone in
Jesus Christ. [b]And faith alone in Jesus Christ is preceded and followed by repentance[/b] . . . a
turning away from sin, a hatred for the things that God hates and a love for the things that God
loves, a growing in holiness and a desire not to be like Britney Spears, not to be like the world,
and not to be like the great majority of American Christians, but to be like Jesus Christ!

Paul Washer

Faith is a state or an attidue of the heart, and consists of both repenting and believing from the heart...

...and seeking Him.

Heb 11:6 But [b]without faith[/b] it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God [b]must believe[/b] that he is, and that he is a rewarder of [b]them that diligently seek him.[/b]

Jeremiah 29:13 [b]And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me [u]with all your heart.[/u] [/b]

John 7:36 What manner of saying is this that he said, [b]Ye shall seek me, and shall not find me:[/b] and where I am, thither ye cannot come?

John 7:37 In the last day, that great day of the feast, [b]Jesus stood and cried,[/b] saying, If [b][u]any man[/u][/b] thirst, let him [b]come unto me,[/b] and drink.

Jesus is crying, you need to stand up and go and you will say I am dead and I cannot hear His voice and cannot stand, you don't have excuse because when Jesus said come that means you can come, when He says repent that means you must repent, when says seek Me that means you can seek Him, and not because this is something from [b]you[/b], but because He gave ability and revealed His will, by His mercy and grace [b]everyone[/b] who will come, He will not reject!

Joh 6:37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and [b]him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.[/b]
Joh 6:38 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
Joh 6:39 And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.
Joh 6:40 [b][u]And this is[/u] the will of him that sent me, [u]that every one[/u] which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life:[/b] and I will raise him up at the last day.

NIV Ezekiel 18:31 Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, O house of Israel?

NIV Ezekiel 18:32 For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!

Mark 6:12 And they went out, and preached that [b]men should[/b] repent.

I belive God gives us the ability to repent, he gives us the free choice to either repent and be saved , or not and die in our sins.

Deu 11:26 Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse;
Deu 11:27 A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day:
Deu 11:28 And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known.

isent the people "choosing" to serve other Gods? to walk another way? God wants all people to be saved, we may all choose to come to HIM who can save us.

isent the people "choosing" to serve other Gods? to walk another way? God wants all people to be saved, we may all choose to come to HIM who can save us.

That's why we preach the Gospel to every one, that they might choose, their ways or God's ways.

Jos 24:15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, [b]choose you this day whom ye will serve;[/b] whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

The salvation is for everyone.

1Ti 2:3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
1Ti 2:4 [b]Who will have all men to be saved,[/b] and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

my own testimony is that i was utterly tired and despised my way of life, i would rather have died then continued to live like that, and also in a phone conversation i was told about Jesus and who he was and what he did on the cross and what i had to do to be saved. And i [b]choose[/b] to belive right then and there. And before i came home i was born again and recived a new heart.

And im so think God is wonderful that he wishes the same thing he did for me to ALL men!

Glory to God

Very interesting what the Strongs says about this word which here is translated as [b]partiality[/b] and KJV as [b]respect of persons,[/b] it says:

pros-o-pol-ape-see'-ah
From G4381; partiality, that is, [b]favoritism[/b]: - respect of persons.

Webster:

Favoritism
FA'VORITISM, n.

1. The act or practice of favoring, or [b]giving a preference to one over another.[/b]

2. The disposition to favor, aid and promote the interest of a favorite, or of one person or family, [b]or of one class of men, to the neglect of others having equal claims.[/b]

Lazarus1719 wrote:
Because the doctrine of partiality is terrible and unscriptural, and the truth is that God wants all men to repent and be saved, God then cannot be blamed for the impenitence of the world, but it must be credited to man's own freewill, since our just and gracious God gives man ability to a company what He commands of them.

Impenitence is man's own willfull obstinance, a refusal to do what God requires him to do, what God gives him the ability to do; so impenitence is the fault of man's freewill and not the fault of God's Sovereignty, since God is not partial but wants all to repent and be saved.

God's Holy Sovereign Will cannot will that the majority of the world live in sin and die in sin. All sin is rebellion against the Will of God. Sinners live in sin and die in sin contrary to God's Holy Will.

So we can grieve with God over the sin and impenitence of the world.

Genesis 6:5-6

"And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart."

And we can long for man's repentance, just as God longs for man's repentance:

Eze 18:32 - For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.

Eze 33:11 - Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn yourselves, turn yourselves from your evil ways; for why will ye die?

fribergs lexicon

proswpolhmpte,w (or proswpolhpte,w) show partiality or favoritism, treat one person better than another

James 2:9 But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin, and are convinced of the law as transgressors.

and what i find strange about this doctrine, that God says it is sin for me to show partiality, how then can he do it him self? isent that what hypocrites do? tell others do do things they them self dont. Is the almighty God like that?

John 1:7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that [b]all[/b] men through him might believe.

Titus 2:11 ¶ For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to [b]all[/b] men,

Now here is a calvanist that could preach ! [url=https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=6524&forum=34]Compel them to come in[/url] by Spurgeon. We need more preachers who preach like this.