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| Repentance |
Introduction Read Genesis 6:6 Read 1 Kings 8:46-50 Read Matthew 4:17 Read Proverbs 28:13 Read Luke 15:11-32 Read 1 John 1:8-10 Conclusion |
| Central to salvation is repentance. Central to a Christians walk with God is repentance. But what exactly is repentance? In some translations of the bible, such as the King James, the word 'repent' is used in this verse. Many modern translations have moved away from 'repent' and instead use such phrases as 'was grieved' or 'was sorry.' In the text of the bible, the origin root word conveyed a sense of a physical sigh associated with sorrow, compassion or comfort. No matter how the word is translated, true repentance does included heart felt sorrow. But is there more involved? Many people do express regret, yet are they are truly sorrowful? Too often, people are only sorrowful for being caught or having a negative consequence of their action. Is this true repentance? In this verse, as part of Solomon's prayer of dedicating the Temple, we see him asking God to forgive the people when they have had a change of heart and repent. The original biblical text used phrasing that literally means to 'turn away or retreat from.' This implies that the person must turning away from the sin and returns to God. Therefore, true repentance involves action. Just saying that you are 'sorry' with no change of action begs the question, 'Do you have true repentance?' Central to Jesus ministry was his call for people to repent. The Apostles continued this message in the rest of the New Testament and is as still relevant now as it was then. In the original Greek text, the word translated as 'repent' in this verse literally means to 'change one's mind, to think differently.' The idea expressed here means that the person is deeply changed. That a person's mind is turned from the ways of sin and fix on producing good fruit. To have repentance, there has to be an admission of sin. Does there have to be a public declaration of sin, perhaps, but this does not hold true in most cases. It is to God that we are held accountable. It is to God that we must confess our sins. When we confess our sins, we admit that we are wrong. Once we have admitted our sin, we much turn away from it, as is echoed in 1 Thessalonians 1:9. In this parable of the Prodigal Son, we see an illustration of true repentance and God's willingness to takes us back. But at the end of this parable we also see how Christians are to accept those lost sheep back into the fold. So often Christians find it difficult to accept some into the church for past action of those people. It is true that it is only God can see the hearts of men, but we are to accept all who come to church. Even as believers, we still sin. If we claim we do not sin, we are only lying to ourselves. But we should not accept this situation as inevitable and instead we should strive to be more holy and Christ like. Often time people put others on a high pedestal of being without sin. This is especially true for church leaders. We all sin and fall short of the glory of God and it is unreasonable to believe that no one besides Christ that does not sin. To understand what sin is and to know when we have sinned, we must spend time in God's Word and be in communication through prayer with Him. We are helpless when it comes to sin and trapped by its lure. But if we are truly sorrowful (repent), and if we have a change within our mind (repent) so that we confess our sins, we can receive the power to turn away (repent) from sin. |
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