The Secret Of True Repentance

sermonindex Jan 2, 2012

I have read and studied many books on the subject of repentance, by Thomas Watson, H.A. Ironside, Charles G. Finney, Paris Reidhead and many, many more. Understanding true repentance is vital because Jesus Christ said, "I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." (Luke 13:5)

I do not think it is possible for anyone to believe that repentance is not absolutely necessary to experience genuine salvation.

Mark 2:17, "When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."

Acts 17:30, "And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:"

Acts 20:21, "Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ."

2 Tim. 2:25, "In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;"

2 Peter 3:9, "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."

Acts 11:18, "When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life."

Acts 5:30-31, "The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins."

In this article we will examine just what is true repentance is. I will use the letter that Hudson Taylor wrote to his sister Amelia on October, 1869. Please remember that he had been in China since 1855 as a missionary, preaching the gospel.

Please examine what he said and did before he found the required repentance. The numbers are for reference only. There are NOT steps to be followed.

Here is what he wrote.

1. "Perhaps I shall make myself more clear if I go back a little. Well, Dearie, my mind has been greatly exercised for the past six or eight months, feeling the need personally, and for our Mission, of more holiness, life and power in our souls. But personal need stood first and was the greatest. I felt the ingratitude, the danger, the sin of not living nearer to God. I prayed, agonized, fasted, strove, made resolutions, read the Word more diligently, sought more time for retirement and meditation - but all was without avail. Every day, almost every hour, the consciousness of sin oppressed me."

Here he confessed his sins of lack of holiness, ingratitude and not being close to God. He prayed, agonized, fasted, strove, made resolutions, read the Word more diligently, sought more time for retirement and meditation - but all was without avail. Every day, almost every hour, the consciousness of sin oppressed him. There was no true repentance here.

Then Hudson wrote.

2. "I knew that if I could only abide in Christ all would be well, but I could not. I would begin the day with prayer, determined not to take my eye from Him for a moment, but pressure of duties, sometimes very trying, constant interruptions, often very wearing, would cause me to forget Him. Then one's nerves get so fretted in this climate that temptations to irritability, hard thoughts and sometimes unkind words are all the more difficult to control. Each day brought its register of sin, failure, and lack of power. To will was indeed present with me, but how to perform, I found not."

He was completely determined to abide in Christ but found out that he could not. He found that he could not even control his own thoughts. All he experienced has sin, failure and lack of power.

Next he wrote.

3. "Then came the question, "Is there no rescue? Must it be like this till the end - constant conflict and, instead of victory, too often defeat?" How, too, could I preach with sincerity that to those who receive Jesus, "to them gave He power to become the sons of God, " (i.e. God-like) when it was not so in my experience? Instead of growing stronger, I seemed to be getting weaker and to have less power against sin; and no wonder, for faith and even hope were getting very low. I hated myself; I hated my sin; and yet I gained no strength against it."

So far in all of his attempts had totally failed to even become nearer and closer to God. Even his hatred for sin did not assist him in the slightest way.

I remember that that in my own experience with sin in the past, the fact that I truly hated and despised my sin accomplished nothing! The truth was, that my hatred for sin only made me more miserable and loathsome.

Hudson continues.

4. "I felt I was a child of God; His Spirit in my heart would cry, in spite of all, "Abba, Father", but to rise to my privileges as a child, I was utterly powerless. I thought that holiness was to be gradually attained by a diligent use of the means of grace. I felt that there was nothing I so much desired in this world, nothing I so much needed. But the more I pursued and strove after holiness, the more it eluded my grasp, till hope itself almost died out, and I began to think that perhaps to make heaven the sweeter, God would not give it to us in this life."

He had a true desire to be totally holy. He pursued and stove after it with everything that he had but found out that he could not attain it.

5. "I do not think I was striving to attain it in my own strength. I knew I was powerless. I told the Lord so, and asked Him to give me help and strength and sometimes I almost believed He would keep and uphold me. But on looking back in the evening, there was sin and failure to confess and mourn before God."

He asked God daily for help and strength but still had to confess sin and failure over and over again.

6. "I would not give you the impression that this was the daily experience of all those long, weary months, but it tended to be a too frequent state of soul and I almost ended up in despair. And yet, never did Christ seem more precious a Savior who could and would save such a sinner! And sometimes there were seasons not only of peace but of joy in the Lord. But they were fleeting and at best there was a sad lack of power. Oh, how good the Lord has been in bringing this conflict to an end!"

He did experience seasons of peace and joy with Jesus but they only lasted a short while.

7. "All the time I felt assured that there was in Christ all I needed, but the practical question was how to get it out. He was rich, but I was poor; He was strong, but I was weak. I knew full well that there was in the vine, in the root, the stem, abundant fatness; but how to get it into my puny little branch was the question."

He knew that the answer for all his sin, failure and despair was in Christ but he just did not know how to access the power that was in Christ.

8. "As gradually the light dawned on me, I saw that faith was the only prerequisite to laying hold of His fullness and making it my own. But I had not this faith . . . I strove for it, but it would not come; I tried to exercise it, but in vain. Seeing more and more the wondrous supply of grace laid up in Jesus, the fullness of our precious Savior - my helplessness and guilt seemed to increase. Sins committed appeared but as trifles compared with the sin of unbelief which was their cause, which could not or would not take God at His word, but rather made Him a liar! Unbelief was, I felt, the damning sin of the world - yet I indulged in it. I prayed for faith but it did not come. What was I to do? "

Now he was begging to see that the only requirement of laying hold of Christ and His fullness and accessing it was faith. He found that he did not have that faith in himself and could never somehow even generate it. This knowledge only made him feel more helpless, dirty and guilty.

He saw that his damming sin was his own unbelief. He even knew that this sin of unbelief was the real cause and root for all his other sins. He was calling God a liar. If he only could repent and forsake that sin all would be well. He could not repent or forsake this sin and even when he prayed for faith, nothing happened.

9. "When my agony of soul was at its height, a sentence in a letter from dear McCarthy was used to remove the scales from my eyes, and the Spirit of God revealed the truth of our oneness with Jesus as I had never seen it before. McCarthy, who had been much exercised by the same sense of failure, but saw the light before I did, wrote (I quote from memory): "But how to get faith strengthened? Not by striving after faith, but by resting on the Faithful One."

It is important to understand that the Holy Spirit opened his eyes to the truth as he read what McCarthy had written him. The Spirit of God revealed the truth of his oneness with Jesus to him as he had never seen it before.

10. As I read I saw it all! "If we believe not, He remains faithful." I looked to Jesus and saw (and when I saw, oh, how joy flowed) that He had said, "I will never leave you." "Ah, here is rest!" I thought. "I have striven in vain to rest in Him. I'll strive no more. For has He not promised to abide with me - never to leave me, never to fail me?" And Dearie, He never will!

This is the key and real secret of true repentance. This was not something that Hudson Taylor had done at all. The Holy Spirit opened his eyes to the existing truth that his friend was sharing with him.

When the Holy Spirit opens your eyes to the reality of Christ, His holiness, His perfection, His fullness, His mercy, His Love, His faith and His faithfulness then you will be able to fully repent without any effort.

True repentance is a gift of God and only exists as the Holy Spirit shows you the existing reality of Christ Himself and what God in Christ has already accomplished for you and in you. It is impossible for any true repentance to take place without the Holy Spirit's work in opening your eyes to see Christ.

Now all these facts were true before Hudson Taylor saw them. He was just in the dark concerning these truths.

Look what Hudson had written.

"I do not know how far I may be able to make myself intelligible about it, for there is nothing new or strange or wonderful - and yet, all is new! In a word: 'Whereas I was blind, now I see.'"

Hudson could not open his own eyes. It is The Holy Spirit's job to open your eyes by taking the TRUTH OF CHRIST and then revealing and showing it to you.

John 16:13-15, "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you."

Look at all the things Hudson did to repent and failed. As the Holy Spirit opened his eyes to the reality of Christ, repentance came easy.

There is only one true gospel message that contains the power for full and complete salvation. This message is the only message that can transform and conform your life into complete perfection. This is the massage of what God in Christ has already accomplished for you and in you even before the world was created.

The Spirit of God will reveal the truth of your oneness with Jesus to you as you have had never seen it before. That is the main reason I am even writing this article.

Many Christians are completely consumed constantly looking at themselves and their performance. They invest much time, effort, energy and attention on improving their actions and the attempt to repent from sins. Their entire focus is spent on themselves and what they are doing or not doing. Many of them have the same damming sin that Hudson had, the sin of unbelief, which is the real cause and root for all there other sins. They do not believe God. They do not depend on the Life of Christ at all.

There is a real need for repentance. As the Holy Spirit opens your eyes to the reality of God has already accomplished for you and in you, you are given the ability to turn away from the sin of unbelief. You will have the ability to give up on your ability to produce any faith to repent. You will have the ability to turn to Jesus Christ and rest in Him. You will be able to stop relying on your own resources to repent or be holy. You are made free to stop using any self-efforts to improve.

Do not allow your Christian experience to be about your efforts, your sins, your good works, your promises to do better or even you ability to trust in Him. It's not about you! Christianity is all Him, Him, Him!

As the Holy Spirit opens your eyes you are free to turn Him and acknowledge that you never will be able to live up to your own self-righteous standard. Just cast yourself on His grace and love. This is true repentance. Then, and only then, will you find that Christ and Christ alone is your Deliverer. He will free you from being held hostage in a prison of self-perfectionism.

When you have turned away from your efforts to change yourself, you will hear God tell you, "I never intended for you to change yourself. I just want you to rest here in my arms. I will bring about the changes in your life. You just stay here and enjoy me."

Here is the rest of his letter.

11. "But this was not all He showed me, nor one half. As I thought of the vine and the branches, what light the blessed Spirit poured directly into my soul! How great seemed my mistake in having wished to get the sap, the fullness, out of Him. I saw not only that Jesus would never leave me, but that I was a member of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. The vine now I see is not the root merely, but all - root, stem, branches, twigs, leaves, flowers, fruit; and Jesus is not only that; He is soil and sunshine, air and showers, and ten thousand times more than we have ever dreamed, wished for, or needed. Oh the joy of seeing this truth! I do pray that the eyes of your understanding may be enlightened, that you may know and enjoy the riches freely given us in Christ.

Oh, my dear sister, it is a wonderful thing to be really one with a risen and exalted Savior, to be a member of Christ! Think what it involves. Can Christ be rich and I poor? Can your right hand be rich and the left poor? Or your head be well fed while your body starves? Again, think of this bearing on prayer. Could a bank clerk say to a customer, "It was only your hand that wrote that check, not you," or "I cannot pay this sum to your hand, but only to yourself?" No more can your prayers, or mine, be discredited if offered in the name of Jesus (i.e. not in your own name, or even for the sake of Jesus, but on the ground that we are His, His members) so long as we keep within the extent of Christ's credit - a considerably wide limit!

If we ask anything unscriptural or not in accordance with the will of God, Christ Himself could not do that; but "If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us; and . . . we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him."

The sweetest part, if one may speak of one part being sweeter than another, is the rest which full identification with Christ brings. I am no longer anxious about anything, as I realize this; for He, I know, is able to carry out His will, and His will is mine. It makes no difference where He places me, or how. That is rather for Him to consider than for me; for in the easiest positions He must give me His grace, and in the most difficult His grace is sufficient.

It matters little to my servant whether I send him to buy a few dollars worth of things or the most expensive articles. In either case he looks to me for the money and brings me his purchases. So if God places me in great perplexity, must He not give me much guidance; or in positions of great difficulty, much grace; or in circumstances of great pressure and trial, much strength? There is no fear that His resources will be unequal to the emergency! And His resources are mine for He is mine, and is with me and dwells in me.

All this springs from the believers oneness with Christ. And since Christ is now living in my heart by faith, how happy I have been! I wish I could tell you instead of writing about it.

I am no better than before (in one sense, I do not wish to be, nor am I striving to be); but I am dead and buried with Christ - yes, and risen too and ascended; and now Christ lives in me, and "the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."

I now believe that I am dead to sin. God reckons me so, and tells me to reckon myself so. He knows best. All my past experiences may have shown that it was not so; but I dare not say it is not, when He says it is. I feel and know that old things have passed away. I am as capable of sinning as ever, but Christ is realized as present as never before. He cannot sin; and He can keep me from sinning.

I am sorry to have to confess it, but I cannot say that since I have seen this light I have not sinned; but I do feel there was no need to have done so. And further - walking more in the light, my conscience has been more tender; sin has been instantly seen, confessed, pardoned; and peace and joy (with humility) instantly restored; with one exception, when for several hours peace and joy did not return - from lack, as I had to learn, of full confession, and from some attempt to justify self.

Faith, I now see, is "the substance of things hoped for" and not mere shadow. It is not less than sight, but more. Sight only shows the outward forms of things; faith gives the substance. You can rest on substance; you can feed on substance. Christ dwelling in the heart by faith (i.e. faith in His word of promise) is power indeed, is life indeed. And Christ and sin will not dwell together; nor can we experience His presence with love of the world or carefulness about "many things."

And now I must close. I have not said half I would like to say if I had more time. May God give you the grace to lay hold on these blessed truths. Do not let us continue to say, in effect, "Who shall ascend into heaven? that is, to bring Christ down from above." In other words, do not let us consider Him as far off when God has made us one with Him, members of His very body.

Nor should we look upon this experience, these truths, as only for the few. They are the birthright of every child of God, and no one can dispense with them without dishonor to our Lord. The only power for deliverance from sin or for serving the Lord is Christ.

Your own affectionate brother,

J. HUDSON TAYLOR"

R

rickyearle Jan 2, 2012

REPENT YES! change and go from unbelief to believing!

http://www.gotothebible.com/HTML/whatisgospel.html

S

Sidewalk Jan 3, 2012

By the time I finished my letter to my pastor on the theme of "Why they don't repent," the missive had ballooned to 7 pages. I presented both practical and theological reasons why people in modern American churches become repentance-less Christians. You know them, the gloomy faced friends and neighbors who cannot be distinguished from the rest of the population except for the "Not of this World" sticker in the back window of their cars.

The pastor is an easy-believeism Baptist guy, and has a prominent national multi-media ministry. He doesn't have time to answer the unwashed like myself who attend his church. I am not a member, as I don't join churches where I have no preaching privileges. I attend, and preach elsewhere as opportunities present.

I digress. The main themes of why I don't think people repent is 1) the doctrine of the inborn sinful nature means they are naturally powerless over "normal" sin in their lives. They feel no real guilt, no need to plead for forgiveness, and inwardly believe that it's really God's fault since He made them that way.

I have yet to discover a verse in the bible that excuses sin as natural, but a whole lot of people believe it is. And there is no depth to their walk with God.

Then there is, working with the sinful nature notion, the "Once saved always saved" ticket to sanctified rebellion.

I say ticket, because that's what I thought I had when I believed this way. I had sin (all forgiven past, present, and future) and some guilt, and a rather low opinion of God. I had to respect that He was the boss, but I sure didn't like Him. For me, there was no real relationship possible with that kind of God. The sacrifice of Jesus on the cross was God's way of apologizing for creating me a sinner. He owed me.

It was through the writings of Charles Finney that I first saw how error had taken root in my soul. When I took full responsibility for my sin and pleaded with God for forgiveness I knew I did not deserve, I was.... let me use the word "converted."

Whether I was saved in my former head knowledge of God and acceptance of Christ, I do not know. But following repentance, the love and grace of God flowed in and the relationship truly began.

Not to belabor this, but what has formed in my spirit is a repentance virtue that gets called upon from time to time. I hate sin, want it out of my life- but I get caught by a very Holy Spirit of the Lord. He exposes me! Of course I don't like it, but broken fellowship is so much worse!

He is changing me into the image of His Son! That's a lot of work, but impossible with someone who cannot, will not repent!

I truly hope this is helpful to somebody. Because as I mentioned in the header, talking about repentance cuts people too deep sometimes, and sends them out the door. My sense is that in this forum there is more hunger for God than that!

sermonindex Jan 3, 2012

False repentance is just the exchange of a self righteousness behavior to one that appears to be more acceptable.

The root sin of unbelief remains within the heart.

D

DickH Jan 4, 2012

There are some significant issues in the note left by 'sidewalk'. It seems that it is not clear who is the author of our salvation. That is to say, Christ redemptive work was complete. He did not provide us a path that, if we were to properly pursue it, would lead us to a saving life in Christ. His work was complete. That being so, how could one that God has drawn to himself find a flaw in Christ's work, that could/would un-do the completed work of Christ? Like everything of our holy and perfect God/Savior, we are dependant upon Him. Even for true repentance. Our own attempts at remorse or repentance are unacceptable. 'tuc's note concerning Hudson Taylor explains the truth of the matter well.

We (i.e. belivers) are by no means powerless over sin, its just not our power that conquers it.

J

jimp Jan 4, 2012

hi, true repentance is the act of turning the rule of our lives over to the Lord by reckoning ourselves dead. altars are places of sacrifice and in order to be saved we must die to our way and put on Christ. that is why we are buried with Him (in His death) and raised up in newness of life. as dead men we now walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh.it is all done by God and that is why we must be born from above.jimp

C

Christinyou Jan 4, 2012

John 6:37-40 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. 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. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.

A

ArtB Jan 4, 2012

Thanks for you post Tuc, Hudson Taylor's words are very inspiring, He was a terrific Christian, and I'm sure he still is.

I just want to write the definition of word in the Greek that is translated to English as 'repent'.

Metanoein: To Think differently or afterwards. i.e. reconsider.

Of course, The NT Scriptures provide the context in which 'repent' is being used.

L

looserchapel Jan 5, 2012

Metanoein: To Think differently or afterwards. i.e. reconsider.

Of course, The NT Scriptures provide the context in which 'repent' is being used.

Brother, since you seem to be acquainted with greek, I wanted to ask this question:

On the one hand repent is from Meta-noein, which means think differently or afterwards, and on the other hand, we know that meta-morphosis is, for example, the phenomenon that occurs when a caterpillar become a butterfly, I really wonder (again, I'm no greek scholar): does the "meta" in metanoien suggest such a drastic and powerful "change" as it clearly suggests in metamorphosis??

Blessings

S

Sidewalk Jan 5, 2012

Since Jesus is the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world it is clear to me that the fullness of God's love created a plan of salvation before the commission of even one sin. From eternity He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. God Himself is clearly the author, architect, and executor of salvation.

It is also my belief that Jesus, the holy son of God, being at the same time fully human, made His own decision to go to the cross. He was not forced by the Father, and the angst recorded in the garden of Gethsemane was very, very real. Twice Jesus left the point of decision to leave- saw His beloved disciples sleeping in total ignorance of the momentous decision being made- and returned to where He sweated out those first drops of blood. The decision to save Peter, James, John, Sidewalk, and DickH was that His love for us was greater than his revulsion of the cross.

Yet God has established His own limitation. He cannot save any person who will not repent. Here is where I part with the Calvinist teaching of irresistable grace. Any man can resist if he wishes, and consign himself to an eternity without God. The death for his sin is provided and complete- but must be received. Repentance and faith are both necessary, and both must be grasped. Yes God draws, but in order that love be genuine it must be reciprocal.

I know that the idea that a man has more power than God at this point is hard to comprehend, but it is true, and Hell is the proof of it.

The atoning death of Jesus Christ works like this: That death is sufficient to cover the sins of every man who ever sinned, but even if no man ever repented and took advantage, it would still be held in complete honor in the presence of God, just as valid.

That's why we as Christians are commanded to make disciples of ALL men- there is more than enough grace and forgiveness! Not all will come, will bow- but that's not my concern. My commission is to first by my life, then by my words invite them all to the glory of the kingdom of God, found only in the blood covenant of His Son Jesus.

O

Oracio Jan 5, 2012

Great post tuc. I also found much truth in what Sidewalk and jimp wrote. Praise the Lord for the truth of His unchanging Word!

Ever since my conversion back in 1998 I have found the word "surrender" to be helpful in describing biblical repentance. Repentance is surrendering or giving up yourself to Christ. If it's willful outward sinful behavior(whether profanity, sexual immorality, drunkenness, etc.), you surrender it, or give it up for the sake of Christ with His help and grace. Or if it's inward sins(like lust, hatred, unforgiveness, or unbelief), you give it up and exchange it for Christ's truth by His grace.

So for example, when I became born again, I simply said, "God, I'm tired of running from you and doing my own thing in rebellion against you, after all the goodness and mercy you have shown me. Please forgive me of my evil deeds committed against you. From now on I want to turn from my wicked ways and surrender my whole life to You as best as I know how."

At that time I did not really know or understand much about faith in the finished work of Christ on the cross but I was truly broken and contrite toward God and sincerely desired to please Him from then on.

I wasn't really aware that sin is not just outward but inward also.

I figured I would try to clean up my act as best as I knew how and actually thought that I could stop sinning completely if I really tried hard enough. Well, I soon failed(I had a lust issue and learned that it was as adultery in God's sight, and I had anger issues also)and found that I was completely powerless against sin and temptation in my heart and life. Immediately the Holy Spirit began to show me that I could not stop sinning by my own self-will or determination, because sin and temptation were too strong. He began to show me that I needed to look to Christ and rest and trust in His finished work on the cross and His grace(undeserved favor).

I realized that in this life I will never be 100% perfect and that God was not expecting me to be completely sinless in this life. I realized that Christ had suffered and died to pay for all the sins I would ever commit in this life and that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus(Romans 8:1). I learned that sanctification is a process where you become more and more like Christ as you grow in grace through continual repentance and faith(2Corinthians 3:18).

So now when I realize I messed up again I simply come to God and say something like this from my heart, "Lord, I am sorry for my sin against You. I take full responsibility for it. Please forgive me and wash me clean through your precious blood. I sincerely want to turn from that sin and not do it again. Please help me by your Spirit. Thank you for your patience and mercy toward me. In Jesus name I pray amen." In other words, I simply come to God willing to "surrender" that thing to Him and receive His grace to move forward. And He continues to shape and mold me into His image by His grace. He is awesome!

A

ArtB Jan 5, 2012

[quotelooserchapel]

Brother, since you seem to be acquainted with greek, I wanted to ask this question:

On the one hand repent is from Meta-noein, which means think differently or afterwards, and on the other hand, we know that meta-morphosis is, for example, the phenomenon that occurs when a caterpillar become a butterfly, I really wonder (again, I'm no greek scholar): does the "meta" in metanoien suggest such a drastic and powerful "change" as it clearly suggests in metamorphosis??

I am not an expert on today's or the ancient Greek language by any means, but I do have the ability to look up the English translation of Greek words from reliable sources.

Meta means 'beyond'. When famed expert on 'what is science', Karl Popper referred to evolution as not science, that it falls into the category called Metaphysics, which means 'Beyond Physics', meaning that the Theory of evolution is outside of physics (i.e. outside of real science). Biology, Chemistry, Astronomy, etc. are variations (specialties) of Physics. When a biologist or Chemist have problems with the science in their respective field, they turn to the physicist for the a solution or resolution.

So in this same sense, meta means 'beyond'.

In the case of metanoein:

Noein means has to do with ones thoughts, in the sense "things conceived in/with the mind"

So metanoein primarily means: beyond things one presently conceives with the mind, which is reasonably translated to English as: Think differently, reconsider.

Morphosis is the sequence of physical development in an organism. Metamorphosis means beyond Morphosis, the occurrence of a secondary sequence of physical development in a creature.

I just came home from an overnight at the Church I attend, We had the Homeless stay overnight for three nights, we provide them a warm place to stay and volunteers prepare and prepare and serve them very excellent meals with deserts and drinks. I'm the guy who stays with them and accommodates them overnight. I'll be doing it again tonight. Slept less than hour. Hope to sleep now.

O sleep, O gentle sleep, nature's soft nurse! W.S.

J

JoanM Jan 5, 2012

In terms of things written by man on repentance, Richard Owen Roberts has written a clear and strong book, full of Truth on the subject. He also has several audio/vidio messages on this site.

The book is titled: REPENTANCE The First Word of the Gospel.

I bought three. My Pastor at the time did not seem to appreciate it as much as I did. He left with little warning to take a position heading up a large local charity, saying he had not enjoyed preaching for over two years.

If you would like a taste in paraphrase: Repentance was John's first word and it was Jesus's first word [Matt 4:17]: not grace, not love but repent.

After hearing so many lies in our "christian" culture, the chapter on the myths of repentance is wonderful to hear. Paraphrase: God does NOT love the sinner and hate the sin: He hates the sinner. How many times have you seen that lie miss-lead a hungry, needy, seeking one. Mr. Roberts has had this burden for so long (his messages show that) that he leaves no stone un-turned.

I am following this thread with interest although I will not have much time to reply. Yes, to re-newing our mind.

Thanking Him
Joan

S

Sidewalk Jan 6, 2012

This is a good thread, and I am loving the lively discussion- thank you all for sharing the wisdom God has dispersed here!

It is true that many Christians never seem willing to bow down and genuinely repent of their sins for whatever reasons. Either pride or having only heard a familiar but incomplete gospel message- "Just come as you are, just accept Jesus as your personal savior and you will instantly be saved."

"Do you accept Jesus as your personal savior?"

"Uh-huh."

"Great! You're in! Go read your bible..."

And Satan chuckles.

Repentance confronts the obstacles to a relationship with Jesus. The object of that relationship is intimacy with God, and Power- the very things that Jesus has- and wants for us. (In that order, by the way.)

It just seems to be God's way, that He first breaks us so that we can be molded into what He can use. The repentance is coming to complete honesty with who we are, what we've done, who God is, and what He's doing. It is not to keep us face down in shame but to raise us up to show forth His glory in us. We are sons and daughters of God, destined to be conformed to the firstborn Son, to be the body He longs for, to confront the wicked world and turn it upside-down. Would that we be the people who actually scare Satan!

The glory is after the repentance, but so worth it!