The True Gospel of Jesus Christ either makes men mad or glad Then Peter and the other Apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, Whom you killed and hanged on a tree. Him has God exalted with His Right Hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins (Acts 5:29–31). From reading the Text, it becomes overly obvious that Simon Peter subscribed not at all to the modern method espoused by the Church of embracing all things and saying nothing negative about anything. So, we can follow the modern method, which is totally unscriptural, or we can follow the Bible. We cannot follow both! Peter’s use of the titles, “a Prince” and “a Saviour to Israel,” expresses Royalty and Atonement. Not only is the Lord Jesus the Medium of forgiveness and life, but He is the Dispenser of both. He gives, not sells, Repentance and Forgiveness. Forgiveness of sins means release from the eternal punishment of sins, and Repentance expresses and involves a moral revulsion against sin and a determined breach with it. Repentance is a Divine Gift, as Forgiveness is a Divine Gift. However, God cannot forgive sins of those who will not seek such or do not believe such. True Repentance is when we say of ourselves what God says of us. We must admit the full bore of our spiritual condition, which is negative, to say the least. This is the reason it so hard to get people to repent. They do not want to admit what they have done, which, in essence, says what they are. Sinners are not condemned so much for what they do as for what they are. True Bible Repentance goes to the heart of the problem, which alone can bring about forgiveness of sin (I Jn. 1:9). For such to be, Holy Spirit conviction must be the order of the event. However, Holy Spirit conviction comes only by a proper Ministry of the Word. Regrettably, the Holy Spirit is sorely lacking in much of the modern Church. That being the case, there is little True Repentance and little resultant forgiveness of sins. The True Gospel of Jesus Christ either makes men mad or glad; it seldom, if ever, leaves them neutral! From The Expositors Word For Everyday
Posted on: Thu, 07 Aug 2014 04:01:52 +0000