Good evening visiting Pharisees, wolves and

[Withdrawn]

Originally Posted by Praxeas

what does "Repentance" mean? If a person sins once, because they were weak, do they need to repent all over again?

Yes... repentance is a frame of mind, a lifestyle, a new outlook.

The word used for "repent" in Acts 2.38 is matanoeo, which literally means to change your mind, to think differently. It's found 32 times in the NT, and is always translated as "repent" in some form. It's not a "Godforgivemei'msosorry" prayer, it's a new attitude about the things in our lives that God has convicted us of. If we don't think differently about those things, how much will we really change?

So... will someone go immediately to hell for a sin they committed after their last "Godforgivemei'msosorry" prayer? Depends on how they view the sin they've just committed. If they're enjoying it, or if they're reveling in it, then that's certainly a possibility (I'm no man's judge). But if they are under conviction and are walking circumspectly in repentance, is a "bow your head for a Godforgivemei'msosorry prayer" really required?

I don't believe our salvation is as fragile as so many do. I honestly believe if people in our movement would ask God for a revelation of GRACE we'd see a lot less people living in fear and condemnation. We'd hear fewer statements like "I'd rather make heaven by a mile than miss it by an inch."

[Adino]

Hey guys! Happy Fourth of July!!!

Had a moment to check in on the forum and saw my name tagged. Wish I had more time to participate regularly but the occasional engagement will have to do.

Jeffery said:

Gospel is not to make bad people good, but to make dead people live!

Great statement, Bro. Love it!

Prax said:

Confession and Repentance are not necessarily the same thing..

Prax, you've introduced an interest discussion with this statement. I think we'd have to clarify what it is we are "confessing" in order to see confession's relation to repentance. I look at repentance and understand it to mean a returning to God. It's a turning away from something and a turning toward something.

The repentance in salvation deals with a turning away from 'dead works' and a turning toward God through faith in Christ. In repentance man turns to God through faith in Christ. The repenting heart returning to God does so by making Jesus Christ the object of its trust. Conversion to Christ thus takes place in repentance. The heart is quickened to faith in Christ in repentance. The heart is made alive to Christ.

I believe confession deals more with the acknowledgment of the need to return to God than it does with listing every transgression one feels he's performed against God. Yes, we should acknowledge ours 'sins' but the greater picture is that we should acknowledge we have sinned against God and that we need to return to him through faith in the testimony he gave of his Son. The confession of Jesus as Lord and Christ is the true focus of conversion. Confession of Christ as the object of one's faith is the goal of repentance and faith in Christ is itself evidence of a regenerate heart.

Christ took our sins to the Cross and paid in full the penalty thereof. All sins imputed to Christ have been dealt with on the Cross. They have been forever historically remitted before God. Though forgiven, mankind is yet spiritually dead and needs to come to Christ in faith for spiritual life. He that does not believe in the testimony God gave of his Son is condemned, not because of the commission of a 'bad deed' but because he has not believed. Man is not condemned for anything imputed to Christ on the Cross.... condemnation in Scripture comes only to the man who does not believe in Christ. Again, why is he condemned? All those spiritually dead are in a state of condemnation because they have yet to accept the life of Christ. He that believes has life. Once a heart is made alive to Christ it remains alive and perpetually justified before God (no matter how many times one may stumble) as long as faith in Christ exists.

[Adino]

Jason mentioned a passage I think is of great interest. In fact, this should probably merit its own thread....

Mark 1:15 states...

And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

I think we miss the import of this simple statement. Jesus proclaimed the "gospel of the Kingdom" (Matthew 4:23; 9:35; 24:14; Mark 1:14-15) saying the "kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye and believe the gospel." Here's a point I think many have missed. Inherent in Jesus' teaching that the kingdom of God had come was the underlying message that the Messiah, the ruler of the kingdom of God, had come as well. By proclaiming the arrival of the Messianic Age to the Jews, i.e, the coming of the kingdom of God, Jesus was proclaiming the arrival of the Messiah.

The "gospel" of Jesus, like the "gospel" preached by his disciples after his death, burial and resurrection, really focused on the advent and identification of Messiah. Peter makes it clear in his Acts 2 sermon that the resurrection declared Jesus as the prophesied Holy One. God had declared Jesus both Lord and Christ of the "last days" prophesied by Joel, i.e., this Jesus of Nazareth was both Lord and Christ of the Kingdom of God. To repent and believe the Gospel was to turn back to God by placing one's faith in the arrival of the Messiah and His kingdom. Those who placed their faith in Messiah/Christ were no longer condemned but in possession of eternal life as a humble subject of the eternal Messiah and his kingdom.

POSSIBLE BOMBSHELL ALERT!

Now consider all this as the underlying context of John 3 and Christ's dialogue with Nicodemus:

Revisiting John 3 and Christ's conversation with Nicodemus I am drawn to Christ's initial response to the words "Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him." I've always thought Christ's response a bit odd and seemingly irrelevant to what Nicodemus had just said. It seemed as though Christ simply took the opportunity to make a point to Nicodemus about the necessity of being born again (from above) while all but ignoring the words this "ruler of the Jews" had just spoken. To me, Christ's response has always seemed somewhat awkward in regard to the flow of the dialogue. This dialogue becomes more understandable if we begin to look at it in light of the context of Christ's Gospel message of the Kingdom.

It is possible Christ's response to Nicodemus is not as awkward as I first thought. It is very possible that Christ, in his response, was reprimanding the 'rulers of the Jews,' of whom Nicodemus was representative, for not recognizing the arrival of the kingdom of God! It is very possible this conversation underscores the fact that the Jewish rulers saw Jesus ONLY as a "teacher come from God" and NOT AS Messiah.

When Christ points out the necessity of being born again (born from above) in order to see/observe/perceive the kingdom of God it is another way of stressing that one's heart must be born from above in order to come to faith in the Kingdom's Messiah. The rulers of the Jews had not accepted Jesus as their Messiah. Christ told Nicodemus that they, as all men, were in need of spiritual new birth in order not only to enter into the Messianic kingdom but in order to recognize that it, and its ruling Messiah, had indeed arrived!

The rest of John chapter 3 goes on to focus on the heart born again to faith in the only begotten Son of God being granted perpetual life and entrance into the eternal kingdom.

He that believes has life! (John 3:15-16, John 3:36; John 5:24; John 6:40; John 6:47; John 11:25,26)

So much here to glean.....

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!