REPENTANCE

[Michael]

"If they had stood in My counsel,
And had caused My people to hear My words,
Then they would have turned them from their evil way
And from the evil of their doings."
- Jer 23:22

Has the man behind the pulpit we hear on Sunday morning, "stood in the Lord's counsel"?
Or is he speaking the "imaginations of his own heart", or perhaps the "traditions of man"?

As brother Zac Poonen recently stated, 'there are no churches preaching True Repentance these days."
Well, some of us are, even if it is from our garage or home fellowship. I was blessed to have been a part of an assembly that did preach Biblical Repentance for over 40 years here is SoCal. And the Lord has been impressing on me, and others around this nation, to share the Truth of His Word. My prayer is that more of those in the pews will begin to hear a Word like was proclaimed from Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Isaiah, and such words as from the Psalmist -

"Come, you children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
12 Who is the man who desires life,
And loves many days, that he may see good?
13 Keep your tongue from evil,
And your lips from speaking deceit.
14 Depart from evil and do good;
Seek peace and pursue it.

15 The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
And His ears are open to their cry.
16 The face of the Lord is against those who do evil,
To cut off the remembrance of them from the earth."
- Psalm 34:11-16

For truly, Repentance is not something we do at church for a few moments Sunday morning, but Biblical Repentance, such as God requires, is a way of life; a turning from sin to God; a "striving against sin to the shedding of our blood" if need be, knowing that if we are not diligent in our efforts to "put to death the deeds of the flesh" and "touch not the unclean thing" we will find ourselves wanting in that Day, having missed out on the promises of God to those who "overcome."

Yes, this is a hard word. But it is Truth, friends.

May we truly have "ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches."

God's Wisdom and Understanding to us all,
Michael


https://youtu.be/f_hmPGFgsNM

 

[Michael]

Whatever Happened to Repentance? (A.W. Tozer)

A solid exhortation from A.W. Tozer, one of our top modern era Christian Theologians, and one whose Spirit-led writings have influenced me and countless others greatly.
Encouraged to come across this short devotion on Repentance that confirms what the Lord has been showing me these past several years.
Amen.

Tozer Devotional

Whatever Happened to Repentance?

The idea that since the emergence of Christ into our world there is no longer any sin problem is completely preposterous, and not less so is the notion that the approach of the lost man to God is theological instead of moral. Yet this is what the not-the-sin-question thing has taught the religious world to believe. This idea has been expanded, extended and illustrated in how many thousand sermons over the last fifty years till it has become part of the total belief of evangelical groups all over the world. I have personally heard earnest men tell their hearers that they need never fear being sent to hell because of their sins; that the only thing that could possibly condemn them is their failure to “accept” Christ. Thus the whole terrible sin question has been reduced to a theological technicality, and sin itself, that damning and destructive enemy of God and men, has been whitewashed and rendered tolerable, contrary to the whole spirit and mood of the Scriptures and to the beliefs of Christians since the days of the apostles.

Regardless of what men may say, we are still face to face with the sin question, and no man who has neglected to deal with his sins can even remotely understand the question of the deity of Christ and the mystery of the Godhead. Until the sinner has been brought before the bar of God and convicted of personal guilt, any notions he may have about Christ are bound to be academic, nothing more, and wholly unrelated to life.

One deadly result of our failure to face up to the fact of sin is the widespread moral insensitivity which characterizes Christians these days. Because there is only a Son question and not a sin question at all, there is little or no repentance required as a preparation for saving faith. The new convert accepts Christ and adopts a certain easy code — a bit above that of the irreligious world, to be sure, but infinitely below that of the New Testament. The nerve has died in the Christian conscience and the sin that would have driven our Christian fathers to their knees in a paroxysm of repentance leaves us almost untouched. It’s lots easier to shift the whole thing over to the “Son question” and escape the pains of repentance. Lots easier, but extremely dangerous, and this latter is what we appear to have forgotten.


This devotional, along with a thought & prayer,as well as other devotionals can be found here - https://cmalliance.org/devotions/tozer?id=1023

Truly, may our Repentance lead to a True and Eternal Salvation. As our Lord Jesus declared -

"I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” - Luke 15:10

 

[Michael]

This exegesis from BibleStudyTools is pretty good, and further confirms from the Hebrew and Greek the understanding I have presented throughout this thread; the True meaning of Repentance.

https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/repentance/