Headed the wrong way?
Is the route you are traveling taking you away from God? If so, it’s time to make a U-turn. God tells you to repent – to do an about-face. If you don’t, the consequences will be disastrous.
God Calls Us To Repent.
Jesus says that unless you repent you will perish (Luke 13:3) I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked. Isaiah 57:21 No one can have peace with God unless he repents, for repentance is ending our resistance and surrendering to his will. We must die to self.
Jesus commands all men to “repent… and believe the gospel” The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel. (Mark 1:15)
Paul preached “repentance towards God, and faith towards our lord Jesus Christ” (Acts 20:21) Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. God commands men everywhere to repent of their sins. (Acts 17:30)
Sin is refusing God His right to govern me, even though He created me. Sin is rebellion against God. It is the determination to please myself, no matter what God says. It is saying in my heart, “I’m going to have my own way regardless of God’s commands.” Do you realize that you have lived like this?
What Is Repentance?
Repentance is not merely remorse for sin, for we can regret the trouble sin brings us without leaving our sin.
Repentance is not conviction, for often we know we are doing wrong but we do not change our ways. Convictions means that there is something that needs to be repented of in our lives. If we need to repent of something, this means that we are presently a sinner and do not have salvation in Jesus.
Repentance is not fear of hell, for we may be terrified at the thought of death but keep living as we are.
True repentance is reaching a place where I am horrified by my sinfulness, grieve deeply because of it, acknowledged it before God, and completely forsake it. It means surrendering entirely to Jesus and obeying him in all things.
When we repent, we turn to God rather than running from him. Repentance means giving up all sinful practices. It means letting go of unbelief and trusting in Jesus Christ for pardon.
Results of repentance
God says,
He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.
“For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.” 2 Corinthians 7:10
Genuine repentance results in confessing and forsaking all sin. A sin that is rarely rebuked is the sin of believing heresy. Hersey is false doctrine that is contrary to the teaching of Christ. Believing heresy is a willful choice/sin and considered to be a work of the flesh.
Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
Galatians 5:19-21
To Name A Few False Doctrines
- We are all born sinners
- Jesus never commanded perfection
- I can never lose my salvation
- The holy spirit will never leave me
- Remarriage is not adultery
- A man can have multiple wives (polygamy)
- Jesus is his own father
- Babies go to hell
- It is impossible to stop sinning
- We have a sinful nature
- Jesus has already returned
- Baptism in water is not a command by Jesus
- Women can preach/teach to men
- I am still saved even though I am a sinner
- I am sanctified little by little and not all at once
Believing and teaching false doctrine means that you do not have salvation presently.
Instead of spending years trying to unlearn all the lies that you have been taught, it is godly to choose to forget everything and start anew. A blank canvas. This is also commanded by the Lord.
Forsaking false doctrine little by little as it is presented to you is sin.
Whether you are a professing Christian with sin in your life or someone who has never surrendered your life to Christ, the choice is repent and follow Jesus or do not repent and follow Satan. We must turn from a selfish life of pursuing our own will, or we will be destroyed.
We must turn in brokenness of heart to God, by faith seeking his mercy in Christ. We must be completely determined to please and serve him. Otherwise, we will burn for eternity (forever) in the lake of fire if we die as a sinner. Which shall it be?
When a person experiences repentance towards God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ he will want to be baptized and unite with god’s people. He experiences much more than “turning over a new leaf. ” He/she receives a new life. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. He/she is “born again,” and that newly born life shows itself in rightful living.
Salvation (forgiveness and eternal life) comes as a gift from God, without any merit of our own to all who will receive it. The good works of the believer follow as a result of being saved. Good works apart from faith in Jesus will not save you, we are saved by grace. However, good works are commanded to maintain salvation after we are saved. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.
If you’re headed the wrong way, repentance is the only way to get back on the right road with God.
Isaiah 1:18 KJV
“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”
This is partly written by someone else but has been edited by me.
Women of the pilgrimage 
Leave a comment