Wow! That is a great question! The truth is because of His great mercy. Jesus is giving us all a chance to be rescued from our sin and to come to Him before He returns.
You see, when sin came into this world through the act of disobedience by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden when they ate the forbidden fruit, it opened up the door for Satan to enter and create all sorts of chaos and to try and disrupt God’s unstoppable plan. Satan has tried so hard, and for a long time, to get us all to turn away from God by tempting us with all sorts of bad things! And, because God gave us all free will, we’ve made a mess of this world. The world is full of bad people, terrible situations and evil temptations.
The good news is that, in order for us to have eternal life with Jesus, we have to admit our sins, believe that Jesus is who He says He is and then choose to follow Him. We have to turn from all those bad things and bad people and accept Jesus’ gift of grace. If we don’t, we’re not going to enjoy the salvation that Jesus gives us and the eternal life He promises.
But, make no mistake. Jesus will someday come back and He will defeat Satan once and for all. But, He loves us and wants to give us every opportunity to come to repentance and to choose Him as our Savior before He does return. That’s why He is waiting.
Showing posts with label repentance. Show all posts
Showing posts with label repentance. Show all posts
Thursday, 28 October 2010
Tuesday, 16 June 2009
How do we repent? And where?
You asked, “How do we repent?” and “Where?” In order to understand how we repent, we need to know what it means to repent. In the easiest terms, to repent means to change the direction you are going in regards to sin (doing bad things). It means making a complete 180-degree turn and walking the other way. It is an action verb, which means you have to do it. It is not something that is done to you. So, to repent from your sins means to turn away from them completely and to walk the other way.
But, here’s the best part! When you repent your sins and accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, do you know what gift you receive? Peter, one of Jesus’ disciples, said it in Acts 2:38 when he said, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Do you know what that means??? It means that when you repent and turn away from sin, you don’t do it alone. The power of the Holy Spirit has been given to you through Jesus Christ! And remember what it says in Philippians 4:13, “I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.”
As far as your question regarding “where” you repent…you repent in your heart through prayer. You can do that anywhere. You can do it in the privacy of your bedroom, or in church, or with your family or with a group of your friends. It doesn’t matter as long as you’re sincere. God knows your heart and He loves you so much! He loves you so much that He gave His one and only Son to die for you so that you can have eternal life! Is that awesome or what??? And this is what is so wonderful about God…He didn’t wait for you, or me, to become good or perfect before He sent His Son down here. Romans 5:8 says that, “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
You don’t have to be perfect for God to love you. You don’t even have to be good. God loves you no matter what! But, guess what? Good people don’t go to Heaven. Forgiven and saved people do. And in order to receive God’s forgiveness, you must repent your sins. Just stop doing them and purposefully walk away from them. It’s hard…I know! But, “I can do everything through Him that gives me strength.”
But, here’s the best part! When you repent your sins and accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, do you know what gift you receive? Peter, one of Jesus’ disciples, said it in Acts 2:38 when he said, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Do you know what that means??? It means that when you repent and turn away from sin, you don’t do it alone. The power of the Holy Spirit has been given to you through Jesus Christ! And remember what it says in Philippians 4:13, “I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.”
As far as your question regarding “where” you repent…you repent in your heart through prayer. You can do that anywhere. You can do it in the privacy of your bedroom, or in church, or with your family or with a group of your friends. It doesn’t matter as long as you’re sincere. God knows your heart and He loves you so much! He loves you so much that He gave His one and only Son to die for you so that you can have eternal life! Is that awesome or what??? And this is what is so wonderful about God…He didn’t wait for you, or me, to become good or perfect before He sent His Son down here. Romans 5:8 says that, “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
You don’t have to be perfect for God to love you. You don’t even have to be good. God loves you no matter what! But, guess what? Good people don’t go to Heaven. Forgiven and saved people do. And in order to receive God’s forgiveness, you must repent your sins. Just stop doing them and purposefully walk away from them. It’s hard…I know! But, “I can do everything through Him that gives me strength.”
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