A Call to Repentance: By: Dr. Charles Stanley (ITM) 44 Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and He said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day, 47 and that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. Luke 24:44-48 (NASB) The Lord Jesus Christ said, “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance” (Luke 5:31). He wanted unbelievers to turn from their wrongdoing toward a life of obedience to God. That is still His desire today. Repentance, which follows confession of sin, is a commitment to alter direction and leave wrongdoing behind. This change of heart is a necessary step in the decision to follow Jesus Christ as Savior. The Holy Spirit transforms the inner person so that the child of God has a new attitude about his purpose. And when attitude is different, conduct will be too. Soon the believer begins to see that some choices do not fit his new life. He becomes sensitive to habits and attitudes that displease God. And when he discovers one in his life, he confesses and repents so the wrong does not hinder his relationship. The changes take place gradually—we should all realize that God loves us just as we are, but He loves us too much to let us stay that way. Some unbelievers refuse to receive Jesus as Savior because of an incorrect assumption: they think that all wrong behavior must be fixed before one can come to Christ. But they realize that on their own, they cannot live a righteous life. Since this predicament can seem like an insurmountable obstacle to salvation, believers must know the truth about repentance and share it with lost souls. People don’t clean up their life before entering church—they come to church “dirty”! God does the cleaning of heart, soul, and mind when someone repents.
Posted on: Thu, 26 Sep 2013 08:27:16 +0000
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