"...and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” Luke 24:47
In the present-day Church System repentance has come to
mean something entirely different than the Bible definition. When they
say ‘Repent’ (and
many of them have eliminated the word from their vocabulary) it
suggests a ‘TRUSTING’ in some kind of theological
arrangement that fits into their systematic understanding of Scripture.
In reality, this is far removed from what Jesus and the apostles
preached for the remission of sins.
The solid foundation of following Christ is a departure
from sin. (2Tim. 2:19) Remove this fundamental premise from repentance
and you negate the entire process. Under present theology, man is born a sinner having been imputed with the guilt of Adam and thereby incapable of free will. Thus, this necessitates the creation of ‘Doctrine’ to bring about his salvation apart from any effort on his part. So repenting (if preached at all) means an apology for ‘a nature’ you have no control over. The best God can do is save you ‘in your sins’,
impute you with the righteousness and obedience of Jesus and then
pretend you’re no longer a vile sinner because you’re under
grace.
Given that you can't completely abandon a 'nature'
inherent in your flesh, a genuine willingness to stop sinning is a
valid aspect of salvation. As long as you're in the process of 'emerging'
from your sins, even gradually, signifying a reduction in sin over
time, this qualifies as authentic salvation. Although to protest
their faulty theology, many preachers will say that the lack of
fruit-bearing translates into a false conversion. (Obvious
contradiction!) But the bottom line is they all insist that
salvation is ‘Not of Works’
(Eph. 2:8-9) and no one can judge, so they will NEVER actually tell
anyone that their behavior may jeopardize the outcome of their
salvation. Again, you’re ‘willingness’ is enough. You express that with a sorrowful apology and God will forgive.
However, the repentance in Scripture uses an ENTIRELY
different language that’s completely foreign to present-day
theology. First of all the message is always addressed to the human
mind under the full assumption of free will ability to respond. God does not coerce,
He invites man to make a choice. That’s why He demands that
repentance and faith be proven by DEEDS! (Acts 26:18) Notice the vast
difference in verbal communication:
”Let the wicked forsake his ways and the unrighteous man his thoughts, let him return to the Lord”
”Listen and TURN from your evil ways!”
”Amend your ways and your doings and obey the Lord!”
”He who covers his sins shall not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them shall find mercy.”
”Come out from among them and be ye separate, says the Lord!” |
No one in genuine repentance presumes upon the
Lord. They seek reconciliation in brokenness and humility expecting
nothing. Note the King of Nineveh directing his city to turn:
Let neither man nor
beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; do not let them eat, or drink
water. But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry
mightily to God; yes, let everyone turn from his evil way and from the
violence that is in his hands. Who can tell if God will turn and
relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish? Jonah 3:7-9.
When the Lord Himself spoke of repentance in Matt.
12:38-42, he compared the present message preached to the message of
Jonah, which includes an obvious departure from sin in the repentance
process. There wasn’t merely a ‘willingness’
to stop sinning in Nineveh or some kind of apology to God for being
sinful. The people got CLEAR of their wrongdoing and cried out to the
Lord. They obeyed the voice of the Prophet and PROVED it by their
DEEDS. This matches perfectly with the model of repentance explained in
2Cor.7:10-11.
For godly sorrow
produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the
sorrow of the world produces death. For observe this very thing, that
you sorrowed in a godly manner: What diligence it produced in you, what
clearing of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what vehement
desire, what zeal, what vindication! In all things you proved
yourselves to be clear in this matter.
Real Repentance Produces an Outcome:
Diligence to DO what is right!
Clearing of wrongdoing!
Fear of God
Vehement desire change
WHERE is any of this in the ‘TRUST’ Model?
You apologize for being a sinner
Repeat some words
Then trust you have received Jesus into your heart
And PURITY of heart
The sin remains. The bondage stays put. You’re a
slave to whom you obey convinced you’re a child of God by proxy.
(John 8:39) Yet NOWHERE did Jesus EVER tell anyone to ‘Trust’ in His finished work and receive Him as their personal Savior! Instead, He told them to:
OBEY His commands, keep His word, put their hand to the
plow, count the cost, Take up your cross, be DOERS of the word! Go and
sin no more. Deny yourself, follow Me!
HOW does any of this translate into ‘Trust’? Is a person trying to ‘save themselves’
by obeying God, or doing the works of righteousness? (1John 3:7-8)
It’s easy to be a hypocrite and follow the crowd down the wide
road to destruction. You believe your preachers are saying all the
right things and they have your best interest at heart. But the message
is founded in error based on a theology that promises you liberty in
your sin. (2Pet. 2:18) In salvation you remain self-centered, a wretched man, chief of sinners,double-minded, COVERED by grace!
Instead of repentance proven by deeds, you TRUSTED in a doctrine invented by men. In the manner in which you heard the message it ‘seems’ you have something. BUT what you have is shifting sands that will be taken away at the judgment. (Lk. 8:32)
Today’s professing Christians are vile and full of
evil dispositions. They will not yield to Biblical truth or crucify the
passions and desires of their flesh. The preachers have them convinced
that God will forgive all their sins because of grace. They read the
Bible but remain blind to its precepts. (Never able to come to a
knowledge of the truth! 2Tim. 3:7)
They have fallen prey to Strong Delusion
and given in to the error of the wicked. They seem to have the upper
hand with the fashion of Christianity, but it’s a complete
counterfeit. Your only chance to escape these lies is to come out now
or be judged with them.
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