True Repentance

True repentance is possible solely because of the goodness of God...The goodness of God is experienced because of His Grace...Therefore, the Gospel is good news to the community of humanity about Jesus’ Gospel of GRACE. Therefore, the Gospel is not about scaring the hell out of people or their being cursed by God for not obeying religious rules!

Because of the religionizing of repentance, it is associated with being forgiven of our sin. However, turning away from sin is the fruit of true repentance while forgiveness of sin is a result of the finished work of Christ on the cross through the shedding His blood.

Repentance is because of God goodness and is our responsibility by turning away from sin to God, it does not a result of saying the famous “sinner’s prayer”! There is no saving power in the “sinner’s prayer” itself...The saving power is God’s Grace...”for it is by Grace you are saved.”

Forgiveness is solely because of God’s goodness and God’s doing and not by man’s goodness or by man’s doing.

” Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord “ (Acts 3:19)

Repent (turn away from) selfish sin to God who has taken on your sin by His sacrifice for sin on the cross and God will present you with a clean slate and your sin will be “cast into the sea of His forgetfulness NEVER to be REMEMBERED against you any more.” Do not try to get rid of sin before coming to God...it is an impossibility! Come as you are, bring your sins to God and the blood of Jesus His Son will cleanse you from all sin!

People try by self will and effort to turn away from sin by measuring up to religious expectations, because of wrong thinking on repentance. They are led to believe, they should turn away from sin before coming to God, resulting in a forever battle with sin or worst they give up on God because they cannot stop sinning.

Jesus died for sinners. If we think that because of repenting we deserve God’s Grace then we are mistaken. God’s Grace is for sinners as well as saints. However, the self-righteous spiritual know-alls cannot experience God’s Grace because Grace is accepted by those who depend solely on Jesus and His work and not on their own good works to acquire or maintain salvation.

God’s grace is followed by true repentance by turning away from self and sins way to God’s way.

” Jesus said to the woman caught in adultery, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.” (John 8:10-11)

Notice that Jesus did not say: ‘woman, you must repent of adultery first then I will not condemn you, then I will forgive you’! She was forgiven without repenting because of God’s Grace and received God’s undeserved Grace, and she experienced true repentance by going and sinning no more because of the sustaining power of God’s Grace. There was no condemnation of her by Christ because she did not say “the sinner’s prayer" but, she was forgiven, otherwise Jesus would not have said to her ‘…go and sin no more’

Jesus is not in the sinner condemnation business and people who have experienced true repentance are not in the sinner condemnation business. They and into sharing God’s Grace business because of His goodness. They are into living the good news Gospel of God’s Grace...not the bad news of the you lose gospel of self assertion to maintain their salvation.

People who do not have Christ in their life receive God’s unconditional forgiveness and love! by receiving it freely not by their doing of good works to be forgiven or to maintain their salvation. The good works of believers are a response of true repentance and forgiveness, not a means to attain or maintain it.

As believers we need to change our mind towards sin. Sin is a done deal because of Jesus and the cross. We are to live our lives by walking in the complete and total forgiveness of all our sins and live a free life, simply because we are free because of God’s Gracious Grace.

- Glenn Regular