Mark Vestal Supporter Proud of nothing of myself. Freed by Christ who did it all!

Having faith in Jesus Christ is the sole requirement (Eph 2:8). Repenting (changing your mind) about sinning comes AFTER salvation.

After having faith in Christ, we begin to desire removing sin from our lives as our walk in faith grows. We know that by God's grace we will not be judged on our performance in doing this (1 Thes 5:9).

God loves us so much that He forgave us of all our sins at the cross. By God's grace we are offered the gift of salvation and may accept His free gift by belief, when we are then guaranteed everlasting life (John 3:16, 1 Cor 15:1-4, Eph 2:8, 2 Cor 5:19, Eph 1:12-13, Eph 4:30).

Jesus Christ took the punishment that we deserve and is how we are able to see how deep God's love for us is (Rom 5:8). Understanding God's true love for us is the internal motivator to help us desire to love God more effectively in return.

Ephesians 2:8-9
"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."

2 Corinthians 11:3
"But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ."

April 23 2023 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Murray Roulstone A Watchman on the Wall

Jesus said in Luke 13:3: "Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish."
Jesus said in Mark 1:15: "Repent, and believe the gospel."

So, I think we can confidently conclude that repentance is essential for salvation of an individual to take place; it's part of the process.

It helps in this discussion to know what the word "repent" means. It stems from the Greek word "metanoeo", and has the idea of: to think differently, or afterwards, i.e. reconsider (morally, feel conpunction). It has the idea of exercising the mind, to change.

I believe that the Word of God reveals to us our sinful position and condition before a Righteous God who is Holy, Holy, Holy, through verses like Romans 3:10, "There is none righteous, no, not one." Also Romans 3:23, which tells us, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Romans 6:23: "For the wages of sin is death..." Isaiah chapter 64 tells us that, "All our righteousness are like filthy rags." We have to agree with God, through the exercising of our mind, as we are convicted of our sin by The Holy Spirit, that yes, we are sinners and are lost.

You see, if you are unsaved, you are separated from God by your sinful nature and all the sinful things you do; we are born sinners. Then, the Word of God and His Law comes along and explains to us our standing before God via such verses as listed above. Then the Holy Spirit convicts us of the fact that we are indeed sinners, and that we need a Saviour.

If a sinner does not realise that they are in fact sinners, then they do not see a need for a Saviour.

I like to give the analogy of the Titanic. As all the passengers were boarding the Titanic, they were anticipating a wonderful adventure in the latest cruise ship and were no doubt looking forward to their 10 course meal coming up for dinner that night.

I doubt that any of the passengers on that fateful voyage would have even given the lifeboats a second glance, and if they did, it may have been to smirk as the Titanic was considered unsinkable. But then the unthinkable happened, the boat hit an iceberg and began to sink. As the ship sank, those on board suddenly realised that THEY NEEDED A LIFEBOAT. They realised the desperate situation they were in, and that they would drown and be lost if they didn't get in a life boat.

Likewise, it is only when we realise we are filthy, rotten, dirty, helpless sinners that we realise we need a Saviour. We turn from our sin to the Saviour, The Lord Jesus Christ, who died on the cross, shed His blood, was buried, and then rose from the dead on the third day, and is now seated at the right hand of The Father. He died in our place, He died for us instead of us. He paid the price.

Romans 10:13 says, "For whosoever shall call on the name of The Lord, shall be saved."

I believe the Bible teaches that having repentance that leads to salvation happens only once. One is born again and sealed by the Spirit of God, then the saved sinner is safe in the hand of The Lord. See Romans 8:37-39, among others.

On a daily basis, a saved sinner will confess their sins to maintain that right relationship with The Lord, as we read in 1 John 1:9.

Acts 16:31: "Believe on The Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved."

May 02 2023 • 1 response • Vote Up • Share • Report

Tim Maas Retired Quality Assurance Specialist with the U.S. Army

I always found C.S. Lewis' title The Great Divorce to be very helpful in regard to this question.

In the book (written as fiction), Lewis finds himself among a group of people who could potentially go to heaven, but each of them sets a greater importance on retaining a sinful vestige of their earthly life (usually in the form of an attitude or mindset) that pales in comparison to the joy that would await them in heaven, but from which they are unwilling to "divorce" themselves -- that is, to forsake or give up.

The text can be read at https://archive.org/stream/ebook-lewis-c-s-the-great-divorce/ebook-lewis-c-s-the-great-divorce_djvu.txt

May 03 2023 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report