THEME : REPENTANCE (PART ONE) Repentance is a conscious turning away from sin and a whole hearted turning back to God. God requires repentance of all who have sinned and distanced themselves from Him. Repentance must be accompanied by: 1. The acknowledgement of ones guilt and forsaking the sin (Psa. 51:5; Jer. 2:19) 2. Confessing the sin (Psa. 32:5) 3. Praying to God to forgive past sins and asking forgiveness from those against whom one has sinned (Psa. 51:3, 4, 11-13) Repentance is not a superficial weeping under a flood of emotions, as some understand it, but a conscious action which is directed at reconciliation with God and our neighbour. Much time and energy must be applied toward this understanding. Sometimes restitution will also be required, toward however many the sin affected, in order to rectify the damage which the sin brought with it and to fulfil all that the Lord has commanded (Ex. 22). Zacchaeus said, Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold (Luke 19:8). 1. Acknowledgement and forsaking of ones sin. True repentance cannot be present if there is no deep inner acknowledgement of ones own guilt and if no forsaking of sins is evident. David says, «I will declare mine iniquity, I will be sorry for my sin (Psa. 38:18). In order to understand our behaviour better, we must separate ourselves from activity and from noise, allow the light of Gods Word to invade us through fasting and prayer so that the Holy Spirit may convict us, in order to bring us to our senses the same way as the prodigal son (Luke 15:17-19). We must examine ourselves (1 Cor. 11:28). The prodigal son acknowledged his sin, forsook it and separated himself from it. After that he arose, and came to his father (Luke 15:18-20). Without separation from sin, purification is impossible. 2. Confession—uncovering ones sin He that covereth his sins shall not prosper (Pro. 28:13). David says, When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me ... I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou for gavest the iniquity of my sin (Psa. 32:3-5). Confess your faults one to another (James 5:16). Repentance without confession is not valid. For it is written, If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (I John 1:9). Before Whom Must We Repent? We must repent before those against whom we have sinned (Luke 17:4) before those who know about our sin—that is, before those whom we may have offended (Luke 17:1, 2) before God. Only God in Christ Jesus can remove and forgive our sin (Luke 5:24), because without the shedding of blood is no remission (Heb. 9:22). The Sequence of Repentance If we have sinned against our neighbour, as far as we have acknowledged our sin, we must not wait until he, our neighbour, confronts us; we must go to him, confess our guilt and repent before him; and if damage occurred as a result of the sin, we must be prepared, as far as possible, to do everything to make restitution for the damage and to be reconciled (Luke 19:8). Then we must go to those who know about the sin and repent over it because we have been a stumbling block to them (Luke 17:1, 2), and only then make confession and repentance before God. If, however, no one knows anything about the sin except the one against whom the sin was committed, then we must first repent before him and only then before God (1 Cor. 8:8-13). God does not accept our gifts, prayers and repentance as long we have not been reconciled with the one against whom we have sinned (Matt. 5:23, 24; Isa. 1:15-18). If we have sinned against the congregation we must first repent before the congregation and then before God. By : Apostle amos chirwa.
Posted on: Fri, 05 Dec 2014 08:10:47 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015