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Genuine Repentance?????


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Ezekiel 18:30 Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord GOD. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.
This verse, which you quote, negates your teaching saying "Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions;" and not individual sins.

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Honestly, this whole 'don't you dare repent' cause it's a lordship heresy kills my joy when it comes to living for God. I mean, they make it sound that's it bad if you want to fully OBey whatever God asks you to. If I want God to forgive my sins, how can He forgive them if I'm continuing in them? It's not logical. Those who oppose repentance, are sometimes attacking Jesus being Lord of someone's live, but as Christian, it's only normal for us to want to OBey the Lord Jesus Christ. It's true that natural man cannot live for Him unless he puts his faith in Christ first, but after that, what happens? Are they trying to imply that there won't be any change at all? This can't be possible with the Holy Spirit living inside a person.
Also, the purpose of salvation is not only to provide justification for humankind with God, to make a reconcilliation but also to produce fruit after we become His children. If not, then why are we still alive after we get saved? The purpose is to spread the good news, to exemplify the godly behaviour in our lives, to bring forth good works, etc.

Ephesians 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.


Part of the prOBlem is that so-called "Lordship salvation" has been greatly misunderstood, misrepresented and misapplied. True "Lordship salvation" simply says that if one truly takes Jesus as Saviour they will also take Him as Lord. Indeed, Jesus stated that we are to keep His commandments. John, through inspiration of the Holy Ghost, said that if we love Jesus we will keep His commandments.

Repentance is central in Scripture. Scripture is also clear that following Christ as Lord is a sign we are truly His. Those who proclaim Jesus as their Saviour yet refuse to accept Him as Lord are deluding themselves.

Scripture tells us to examine ourselves to make sure we are saved. We are to do this by seeing if we are truly following Christ (as Lord) and if we are we will be able to see the fruit of this in our lives.
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Jerry,
Thank you for your response! I appreciate the time you took to write that. Now, I want to make sure that I am not misunderstanding what you're saying. It SEEMS to me, that you are saying that a lost sinner needs to repent of these individual sins, and assuming all of their sins, in order to be saved. Am I understanding you correctly? One needs to turn from their sins to be saved.

Does that mean they just begin to hate their sins (i.e. change their minds about them), or do they stop doing them? I know there is a lot of misunderstanding about this, so I do want to be as clear about it as I can.


Peter was speaking to Jews and Jewish proselytes who more than likely knew the Old Testament. He did not give specific sins for them to repent of - though the Law certainly does in the OT.


Now, I am just looking at the immediate context of Peter's preaching. It seems to me that Peter is dealing with these Jews about something very specifically, and that is, for the most part, Acts 2:32-36:

[v. 32] "This Jesus (of Nazareth, as mentioned in verse 22) hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.
[v. 33] Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.
[v. 36] Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.

They were then convicted about the fact that they had crucified Jesus of Nazareth, who is "both Lord and Christ", or the Messiah they had been looking for. Peter deals with them all through Acts 2 about their rejection of Jesus of Nazareth who is the Messiah. It seems to me that the only thing Peter commanded them to repent of was their rejection of their Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth.

I see the same thing in Acts 3. The main difference is that, in chapter 2, Peter emphasizes the man, Jesus (i.e. emphasizing "of Nazareth", and the "this Jesus", and "that same Jesus"). In Acts 3, Peter makes it quite clear he is preaching about the Messiah. He calls Him "the Holy One", "the Just", and "the Prince of life", all very clear Messianic names. Peter tells them in verse 13:

[v. 13] The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of JacOB, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go.

[v. 14] But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you;

Then in verse 19, he commands them to repent. Again, it seems to me that he was commanding them to repent of their rejection of the Messiah.

Now, many of the New Testament verses you quoted are just simply statements of fact; these people, who are definitely unconverted, will not inherit, or see, the kingdom of God. There are no commands for them to repent of those sins, but just states that they will not go to heaven (basically).

Again, maybe I am misunderstanding you here. Thanks again for taking the time to help me. I am not arguing with you about this; I just wanted to state what I saw in Acts 2:38 and Acts 3:19, since I had asked you specifically about those verses.! God bless, Brother!
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Jerry,
Thank you for your response! I appreciate the time you took to write that. Now, I want to make sure that I am not misunderstanding what you're saying. It SEEMS to me, that you are saying that a lost sinner needs to repent of these individual sins, and assuming all of their sins, in order to be saved. Am I understanding you correctly? One needs to turn from their sins to be saved.

Does that mean they just begin to hate their sins (i.e. change their minds about them), or do they stop doing them? I know there is a lot of misunderstanding about this, so I do want to be as clear about it as I can.



Now, I am just looking at the immediate context of Peter's preaching. It seems to me that Peter is dealing with these Jews about something very specifically, and that is, for the most part, Acts 2:32-36:

[v. 32] "This Jesus (of Nazareth, as mentioned in verse 22) hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.
[v. 33] Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear.
[v. 36] Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.

They were then convicted about the fact that they had crucified Jesus of Nazareth, who is "both Lord and Christ", or the Messiah they had been looking for. Peter deals with them all through Acts 2 about their rejection of Jesus of Nazareth who is the Messiah. It seems to me that the only thing Peter commanded them to repent of was their rejection of their Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth.

I see the same thing in Acts 3. The main difference is that, in chapter 2, Peter emphasizes the man, Jesus (i.e. emphasizing "of Nazareth", and the "this Jesus", and "that same Jesus"). In Acts 3, Peter makes it quite clear he is preaching about the Messiah. He calls Him "the Holy One", "the Just", and "the Prince of life", all very clear Messianic names. Peter tells them in verse 13:

[v. 13] The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of JacOB, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go.

[v. 14] But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you;

Then in verse 19, he commands them to repent. Again, it seems to me that he was commanding them to repent of their rejection of the Messiah.

Now, many of the New Testament verses you quoted are just simply statements of fact; these people, who are definitely unconverted, will not inherit, or see, the kingdom of God. There are no commands for them to repent of those sins, but just states that they will not go to heaven (basically).

Again, maybe I am misunderstanding you here. Thanks again for taking the time to help me. I am not arguing with you about this; I just wanted to state what I saw in Acts 2:38 and Acts 3:19, since I had asked you specifically about those verses.! God bless, Brother!


Usually individual sin help a sinner see the bigger picture of sins and their relationship with God. So they change their mind about sins they want to stop doing them because they want to OBey God. What is the first step of OBedience? baptism. And that point on, we keep doing our best to OBey.
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If those sins prevent someone from inheriting the kingdom of God, then it certainly follows that those specific sins must be repented of in order to be saved - otherwise, they would be inheriting the kingdom anyway. For the most part, these specific sins listed are basically those of the 10 commandments that people have broken - though those passages do list several others (of which, some are what we might call lifestyle sins: drunkenness, homosexuality, witchcraft [ie. the occult, magic, drugs]).

Repentance is changing your mind which results in a change of conduct. It is not cleaning up our lives - it is no longer taking pleasure in those sins as we once did and turning from them in our hearts - and this will result in a change in our conduct. A repentant sinner will begin to live differently, and either no longer do those sins, or will struggle greatly with them, not merely giving into them as before.

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Peter was speaking to Jews and Jewish proselytes who more than likely knew the Old Testament. He did not give specific sins for them to repent of - though the Law certainly does in the OT. Some passages commanding the lost to repent of specific sins:

Ezekiel 14:6 Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations.

Ezekiel 18:30 Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord GOD. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.

Here is a reference to the lost Ninevites repenting of their sins ("turn" is a synonym of repent), and Jesus does use the term repent in the NT regarding them:

Jonah 3:10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.

Matthew 12:41 The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.

Matthew 9:13 But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

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 8:22 Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. (Debatable whether Simon was saved at this point or not, but still worth quoting.)

Specific sins mentioned:

Revelation 9:20-21 And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.

Revelation 16:9-11 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory. And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain, And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.

More passages where the lost are commanded to turn from specific sins in order to be saved (ie. inherit salvation):

Galatians 5:19-21 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

Ephesians 5:5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

1 Timothy 1:8-11 But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully; Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disOBedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine; According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.[/align]


Jerry, I highlighlighted a small quote before these passages. I'm concerned and confused by this statement regarding I Corinthians 6:9-11. This verse is listed under the verses you stated ARE FOR THE LOST?! How can you say that when you even quote verse 11 And such WERE some of you: BUT YE ARE WASHED, BUT YE ARE SANCTIFIED, BUT YE ARE JUSTIFIED in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the SPIRIT OF OUR GOD. ( Capitilized why I cann't understand why you are saying this was addressed to the lost!?) Would you explain? His by Grace
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Verses 9-10 are referring to the lost and the sins they do - but verse 11 gives the contrast and states that these believers no longer do the sins they did before they were saved.

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Repentance is changing your mind which results in a change of conduct. It is not cleaning up our lives - it is no longer taking pleasure in those sins as we once did and turning from them in our hearts - and this will result in a change in our conduct. A repentant sinner will begin to live differently, and either no longer do those sins, or will struggle greatly with them, not merely giving into them as before.


:amen:
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If those sins prevent someone from inheriting the kingdom of God, then it certainly follows that those specific sins must be repented of in order to be saved - otherwise, they would be inheriting the kingdom anyway. For the most part, these specific sins listed are basically those of the 10 commandments that people have broken - though those passages do list several others (of which, some are what we might call lifestyle sins: drunkenness, homosexuality, witchcraft [ie. the occult, magic, drugs]).


But is it these sins that prevent someone from inheriting the kingdom of God, or is their rejection of Christ? I'm reminded of what John 3:18 says: "He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."

Notice, it is not believing on Jesus Christ that condemns a person; not because they sin all these different types of sins. Not because they broke the 10 commandments. Yes, sin separates from God (Isaiah 59:1), but it is that one sin of rejecting Christ that will condemn a person to hell for all of eternity.

It still seems to me that Peter was urging them to repent of their rejection of Christ; not of individual sins. It is Christ that makes us new. "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17). "And such were some of you..." Why? Because we repented of those sins? Or is it because we "are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of Jesus Christ, and by the Spirit of our God" (1 Corinthians 6:11).

We cannot be justified or washed or sanctified until we have repented of our rejection of Christ and by faith receive Him as our Saviour. An unsaved person cannot repent of their sins until the Lord Jesus Christ makes them a new creature. The Lord gives us a new heart and a new mind when we are saved; and with that, He gives us new desires.

Repentance is changing your mind which results in a change of conduct. It is not cleaning up our lives - it is no longer taking pleasure in those sins as we once did and turning from them in our hearts - and this will result in a change in our conduct. A repentant sinner will begin to live differently, and either no longer do those sins, or will struggle greatly with them, not merely giving into them as before.


Boy, I sure do agree with this, though. True repentance will cause a change of conduct. So many professing "Christians" never really see a change of conduct. And that is a major issue! Sure, we no longer take pleasure in those sins, but because Christ has changed us. An unregenerate man cannot change his desires. Can a leopard change his spots? Of course not. And neither can an unsaved person change their desires about sin. The only thing they can change is their rejection of Christ. It doesn't matter the sins; a person's sins do not condemn them to hell. Only rejecting Christ does that!

Perhaps we are saying the same thing?
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An unsaved person cannot repent of their sins until the Lord Jesus Christ makes them a new creature. The Lord gives us a new heart and a new mind when we are saved; and with that, He gives us new desires.


I think we are all pretty close to being on the same page but I do have a issue with that statement in bold print. Scripture is quite clear that repentance must come before salvation.


"Matthew 21:32 For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him."

In this verse Jesus condemns the Pharisees for unbelief, and then puts repentance as a requirement before one can truly believe.

I believe repentance and saving faith are so closely connected that it is difficult to separate the two. If a person truly believes on Christ they will have a repentant heart toward their known sins at the moment of salvation. Conversely, if someone has a truly repentant heart toward their sins(their sins as a whole, lots of lost people may genuinely repent of some specific sin that is OBviously harmful and even quit doing it) they also are usually ready to believe and be saved.

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

This verse also puts repentance before faith.
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I think we are all pretty close to being on the same page but I do have a issue with that statement in bold print. Scripture is quite clear that repentance must come before salvation.


"Matthew 21:32 For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him."

In this verse Jesus condemns the Pharisees for unbelief, and then puts repentance as a requirement before one can truly believe.

I believe repentance and saving faith are so closely connected that it is difficult to separate the two. If a person truly believes on Christ they will have a repentant heart toward their known sins at the moment of salvation. Conversely, if someone has a truly repentant heart toward their sins(their sins as a whole, lots of lost people may genuinely repent of some specific sin that is OBviously harmful and even quit doing it) they also are usually ready to believe and be saved.

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

This verse also puts repentance before faith.


I agree, repentance, then salvation.
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I think we are all pretty close to being on the same page but I do have a issue with that statement in bold print. Scripture is quite clear that repentance must come before salvation.


Yes, I agree, we must be. I agree with you that repentance comes before salvation, alongside faith. But I disagree that it is sins we are to repent of, as in, individual transgressions of God's law. I think you nailed it on the head below:

"Matthew 21:32 For John came unto you in the way of righteousness' date=' and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: [u']and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him."

In this verse Jesus condemns the Pharisees for unbelief, and then puts repentance as a requirement before one can truly believe.


This is exactly right; Jesus condemned them for their unbelief. THAT is what we must repent of. An unsaved person cannot "change his mind" about the acts of sins until Jesus through the Holy Spirit gives him a new heart. It is unbelief that sends a person to hell; therefore it is unbelief that we must repent of prior to salvation. Repentance of unbelief/rejection of Christ must come before salvation; of that I do not dispute.

I think we are saying much the same thing and just going in circles. It's just one of those things that is often misunderstood. Thank you for your help!
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An unsaved person cannot "change his mind" about the acts of sins until Jesus through the Holy Spirit gives him a new heart.



If that were true what good is the conviction of the Holy Spirit? Part of his jOB is to convict the lost world of sin, righteousness, and of judgment. If they were not capable of responding to that conviction it would be a waste of time. I know when I got saved the Holy Spirit did not convict my heart of "unbelief" per se, what he convicted me of was my sin. I saw that that conviction of the Holy Spirit was the truth, and that put my heart into a position where I wanted to get saved. If a lost person does not see their sin for what it is and repent in their heart of it then they have no reason to believe on Christ.
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But is it these sins that prevent someone from inheriting the kingdom of God, or is their rejection of Christ?


It because of their love of their sins that many will not turn to Christ/receive the Gospel - so they may be convinced intellectually that Jesus IS the only Saviour, but won't repent of those sins that hold them back from trusting in Him alone.

2 Thessalonians 2:10-14 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the OBtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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:amen:!! Thank you for expressing what I trying to but failing!:icon_pray::icon_pray::icon_pray:




But is it these sins that prevent someone from inheriting the kingdom of God, or is their rejection of Christ? I'm reminded of what John 3:18 says: "He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."

Notice, it is not believing on Jesus Christ that condemns a person; not because they sin all these different types of sins. Not because they broke the 10 commandments. Yes, sin separates from God (Isaiah 59:1), but it is that one sin of rejecting Christ that will condemn a person to hell for all of eternity.

It still seems to me that Peter was urging them to repent of their rejection of Christ; not of individual sins. It is Christ that makes us new. "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17). "And such were some of you..." Why? Because we repented of those sins? Or is it because we "are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of Jesus Christ, and by the Spirit of our God" (1 Corinthians 6:11).

We cannot be justified or washed or sanctified until we have repented of our rejection of Christ and by faith receive Him as our Saviour. An unsaved person cannot repent of their sins until the Lord Jesus Christ makes them a new creature. The Lord gives us a new heart and a new mind when we are saved; and with that, He gives us new desires.



Boy, I sure do agree with this, though. True repentance will cause a change of conduct. So many professing "Christians" never really see a change of conduct. And that is a major issue! Sure, we no longer take pleasure in those sins, but because Christ has changed us. An unregenerate man cannot change his desires. Can a leopard change his spots? Of course not. And neither can an unsaved person change their desires about sin. The only thing they can change is their rejection of Christ. It doesn't matter the sins; a person's sins do not condemn them to hell. Only rejecting Christ does that!

Perhaps we are saying the same thing?
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