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 with out 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.
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Would you say this is "tree of life thinking" vs. "knowledge of good and evil thinking"? Also, I quit drinking alcohol many years ago and did so because a young person from my church almost saw me in a liquor store. I knew the stance that the parents of this young person had taken concerning alcohol and felt led to follow Paul's example of eating meat that had been offered to idols. If it would offend an immature believer, I would abstain.
The fact that alcoholism "runs" in my family was another good reason for me to abstain. I say that it doesn't bother me to see other christians drinking but I must confess that there is a twinge of thought in me that says, "they don't need to be doing that". So I wonder if, at the root, I'm patting myself on the back for abstaining and judging others for not? (You can probably plug any "sin" into this example.) Is this mind set going to hinder me from receiving the Grace of God in my life? If so, is it a fast and pray/ pray more in tongues issue?
Putting this in writing has made it clear that I need to take this issue to my pastor. Your thoughts will be appreciated as well.
Billy Aaron
Finally a succinct and clear explanation of an essential aspect of our relationship with God that will help us to rightly focus our efforts. It is confirmation that keeping ourselves in the word keeps us in right thinking about our relationship. Nothing else will direct our thoughts besides listening for God's answers to our prayers. Very nice affirming article.
The conscious state of sin keeps our minds on self, the condemnation and shame it brings while constantly focusing on doing some type of action to move God to forgive, bless and heal us. We are in unbelief, and our hearts are hardened. And, we are therefore, denying the redemptive work of Christ. As we make the choice to renew our minds, and align our thoughts, words and actions to God's truth, to what His word says about us, we will discover His true nature. We will discover how much He loves us. We will see ourselves through His grace, and know that we are forgiven now and forevermore and have right standing with Him. We will also see that sin has no power over us except what we give it! It is a choice, we have to want to let go of things that only serve the flesh and are against God's word. It's a matter of accepting God's grace by faith, and resisting those things we know are sin through revelation knowledge given to us by hearing the word of God.
I think you are putting a spin on the Bible…in doing so you are trying to create a God to fit your life style! There are some truths in what you say, but in has a twist of deception! I am sure that this thinking of yours appeals to young believers struggling with their flesh! I am looking for the fruit! Overcoming !!!!
some people don't completely understand the true Gospel. Jim explained it very well. The cross is offensive to people that why when the true gospel is preached people get offended and think your preaching heresy and deception. The gospel is what it is no need to pervert it with mans works thanks for the ad.
God had it planned from the beginning. As a man thinketh so IS HE. He would give us a whole new testament telling us who we are now so that when we actually believe who HE made us, this state in Him would become our life. Sin is no longer worthy of our time and thoughts. You will never overcome sin by focusing on sin. You overcome the problem by focusing on the solution which is you are no longer a sinner but righteous. What is faith? The evidence of things not seen. Even if you feel like a failure if you can accept and believe in this gift of righteousness you become exactly what you believe. Thank you Jim for the encouragement message and I am thankful to see this message coming to the forefront of His body.