Quote:
Originally Posted by agoodlife2live
So, repentance (e.g. change of mind), followed by the right actions, to "go and sin no more", is enough. No real need for an altar, no need for the grace of God, no need for mercy. But now I can just simply sin until I feel really guilty, then I simply stop sinning, and live as if I never sinned at all. To me this sounds like “self-justification” - Considering that “justification” of sins through the blood means, 'God sees that person clean, just as if they never sinned'.
My question remains, “where is the blood applied in this scenario”? When did God recognize that person as being reconciled to Himself again? Is there no need to seek out forgiveness for sin committed against a Holy God, simply because through the power of the mind you stopped doing whatever it was that you felt guilty of doing (repented)?
I guess that I cannot reconcile to my mind, how one can repent, yet not seek the forgiveness and reconciliation to God, at an altar (where ever that maybe). I have always thought the tears I cried on the altar were not so much as “feeling” bad for sinning as much as my plea to God of my need and desire for His Spirit to renew right thinking and right actions in my life through the leading of the Holy Ghost. Did not David in Psalms 51 set a beautiful example of a souls appeal to God for forgiveness? I have always felt that Psalm would have been written after David felt conviction and then he displayed a mind change, by first and foremost seeking forgiveness.
In short I always thought:
Repentance (change of mind) + seeking Forgiveness = Reconciliation to God & a renewing of the Holy Ghost, which empowers one to "go and sin no more"
While the new presentation of repentance is:
Almost the same, except it eliminates the need for God to forgive the sinner. Saying Repentance (change of mind) + Right actions = forgiveness and reconciliation |
There is only 1 saving repentance. Turning from sin doesn't save. Turning toward Jesus does. One can turn from sin without turning toward Jesus. One cannot turn toward Jesus without turning from sin.
Turning toward Jesus make one a believer, a Christian. In this respect, most don't have to ever turn towards Jesus more than once. So saving repentance is done by most one time and that is all.
Sometimes people want to break down sin repentance and all this to a microscopic level. They think that after just one sin you have turned away from Jesus and are in need of repentance to turn back toward him. To them there is this constant turning from Jesus and turning back toward Jesus. I can't say they are wrong but I believe there is a better way.
I want to offer a very zoomed out view of these things. We turn towards Jesus once in repentance. We then stay turned toward him but instead of going directly at him on a straight path we instead follow a curvy road and while that road will take us to him, each curve represents a mistake or sin we go through along the way. So while some of the curves may have us going the wrong direction for a brief moment in time, there is much more of the road going toward Jesus than going away from him. So as long as we are on that road then we are going in the right direction, toward Jesus.
So, what is the proper way to deal with our sins while we are on the road toward Jesus? I tend to think saying sorry to God (who sin wrongs) is a good start. Though I don't think saying sorry is an absolute every time requirement. God is smart enough to tell that we are sorry by our actions even if we don't say it. The most important way to deal with our sins while we are on the road toward Jesus is to stop doing them.