COMMON CONFUSION ABOUT FORGIVENESS AND REPENTANCE. Do we need to differentiate between forgiveness and repentance? I believe it would be good for all of us to understand what each of these terms mean so that nothing left undone...because almost everyone believes that God forgives us for the sins we have committed even though we have not turned away from them...and that is not true. REPENTANCE means the turning away from sin. [It is commonly thought that it only means to say one is sorry]. The Koine Greek word for repentance is metanoia [which means you feel very, very sorry...AND will not do it again. It means to think differently to take Gods side against self, it means to do a 180 degree turn or an about face, to go the other way you once traveled] That is not the common belief among those who do not know what God expects. And believe me, there is a world of difference in what God expects of us and what we do. FORGIVENESS comes from God when/as we have repented or turned away from sin. There is no forgiveness apart from it. To glibly say, I am sorry without remorse and grief from having done offended God, having done something evil with no real intent to change...IS NOT repentance. A desire to change is not enough. A husband who abuses his wife and say he is sorry but continues to be abusive his wife very soon is not trusted by the wife. But most people, in their ignorance, believe that God forgiveness us anyway. That is not so and He does not forgive us if we continue to do the same thing. I cannot stress the importance of this enough because on it hangs the eternal welfare of any who do not actually change. NOW NOTICE what Jesus says here. I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Luke 13:3 Do you see that? Perish obviously is not talking simply about dying. It is talking about being eternally damned away from the presence of the Lord in everlasting destruction and hell fire. NOTICE ONCE MORE when Paul said to the Romans, What shall we say then? shall we continue in sin the that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us that were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death? Therefore, we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. Romans 6:1-4 ---can you not see it? Gods grace is not available to the person who does not stop sinning or practicing sin. ---a profession or confession of faith saves no one, unless they turn away from sin...or stop sinning. ---repentance and forgiveness are two sides of the same coin...repentance on one side and forgiveness on the other. NOW, do we all do that perfectly? Of course not, but God expects us to at least try. It is not some frivolous thing with God that we continually stumble off or continue in sin. He has made provision for us when we fail, but at all costs there must be a turning away for sin, or there is no forgiveness. I John 2:1-3 If you have a problem with this, may God open your understanding because it would be terrible of you to live you life with the illusion that you were doing right, while all the time you were opposing God.
Posted on: Tue, 02 Sep 2014 11:14:43 +0000
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