THE FIRST STEP TO ETERNAL LIFE—— REPENTANCE!

 THE FIRST  STEP  TO  ETERNAL  LIFE

The Experience of Real Repentance 

by 

Keith Hunt

Man is material - mortal (Job 4:17). He was FORMED from the ground, the DUST of the earth (Gen.2:7). God is SPIRIT (John 4:24), that is God is composed of Spirit. He is HOLY, so God is then Holy Spirit. His body and being is Spirit not physical, though He can if He desires manifest Himself to man in a physical manner as He did to Abraham (Gen.18). The physical being alone is not COMPLETE until UNITED with the spiritual. Man was made to receive the very Holy Spirit, the very NATURE of God (2 Pet.1:3-4). To receive that nature we actually then receive the LOVE, the POWER, the CHARACTER of God WITHIN us as a GIFT (Rom.6:23; 5:5; 8:9-17; Gal.5:22,23; 2 Peter 1:3-4). God knew by making mankind free agents and not robots, that man could not have this perfection of character, which it is His purpose to create within us, by an instantaneous flick of the fingers. It requires time. It requires submissiveness, decision making, co-operate will, self direction on mankind's part, teaming up with the nature of God. This perfection of character can only come through EXPERIENCE - with man/woman willing to YIELD to the NATURE and the WILL of the Eternal. Mankind was created with HUMAN NATURE which is a mixture of GOOD and EVIL (Luke 6:45). Too much of the time the evil tends to overpower the good (Rom.7:13-23). Man must come to the KNOWLEDGE of his natural ways that are NOT God's ways. He must come to EXPERIENCE REAL REPENTANCE of the evil side of his nature - where he has THOUGHT, SPOKEN, and LIVED contrary to the WILL and the WAYS and the THOUGHTS of the Lord. A very large part of the Gospel concerns REPENTANCE! A very LARGE part of the Bible contains the EXAMPLES of REAL repentance. In this lesson we shall discover: 1) The importance of preaching REPENTANCE. 2) What we are to REPENT of. 3) The experience of REPENTANCE. PREACHING REPENTANCE IN THE BEGINNING Gen.2:17; 3:6; 4:8; 6:5 Has this world been EVIL from the BEGINNING? Gen.6:12-13 Did the early people of this world CORRUPT God's way of life? What did God propose to do about all this corruption? Ge. 6:14-18 Who only was found worthy to be saved from the utter destruction that God would bring upon evil mankind? Gen.7:1; 2 Peter 2:5 Was Noah a righteous person? Did Noah PREACH righteousness to his wicked generation? Note. Righteousness is defined in the Bible as God's COMMANDMENTS (Ps.119:172). As Noah was building the Ark he was also preaching to a wicked, corrupt mankind God's true ways, the way of keeping and observing God's commandments. He no doubt preached that people should CHANGE their ways to conform to the Eternal's ways, to REPENT of their evil deeds and thoughts and follow the RIGHT ways as revealed by God. Ezek. 14:1-11 1) Does God condemn Idolatry? 2) Who is God speaking to here? 3) What does He tell them to do? 4) What will the Lord do to those who persist in idolatry? 5) Will both the punishment of the False prophet and Those that seek them be the same? 6) Why does God correct and punish? Note. Even with ancient Israel when they went astray from God's commandments He cried out to them to REPENT! They were to repent of their TRANSGRESSIONS - their INIQUITY - the evil of their hearts and to develop a NEW HEART. See Ezek.18:30-32. JOHN AND JESUS Matthew 3:1-11 1) What did John the Baptist PREACH? 2) What did the people confess? 3) Is repentance to produce FRUITS? What kind of Fruits? 4) Did John indicate that many of the religious leaders of his day had never really REPENTED? Mark 1:14-15 1) After the ministry of John, what was the Gospel Jesus preached? 2) Is REPENTANCE a very important part of the Gospel? Note. The purpose of John was to PREPARE the hearts of the people for the coming of the Messiah. This he did by preaching that men should REPENT - that they should confess their SINS and walk in the STRAIGHT WAY of the Lord. When the Savior of mankind began His public ministry He continued to PREACH the theme that humanity should REPENT! Jesus taught that REPENTANCE was absolutely necessary to be "saved" - without it mankind would only PERISH (Luke 13:3). One of the very purposes that Jesus came was to call SINNERS to REPENTANCE (Matt.9:13). He said there is MORE JOY in heaven over ONE sinner that REPENTS than dozens of just persons(in their mind) who think they need no repentance (Luke 15:7). When Jesus sent out the twelve to proclaim the Kingdom of God, they first preached that men should REPENT (Mark 6:7-12). Just before Christ ascended into Heaven, He told the disciples what their great commission was to be. REPENTANCE and REMISSION of SINS was to be preached to all nations (Luke 24:47). THE APOSTLES - ONE OF THEIR THEMES Acts 2:14-40 1) When did this sermon by Peter take place (see verses 1-13) ? 2) WHO did he preach to them about? 3) What question did the people put to the apostles? 4) What did Peter reply? Acts 3:11-26 1) WHO again did Peter speak about to the people? 2) What did he tell the people to do? Note. Peter boldly PREACHED Christ as Savior and that all men should REPENT - be converted and turn away from their iniquities. Then their SINS could be BLOTTED OUT through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Acts 8:1-12 1) Who were the only Christians in Jerusalem at this time? 2) What did the others do? 3) What did Philip preach? 4) Were many BAPTIZED? Note. We have seen both from the ministry of John the Baptist and the apostle Peter that REPENTANCE must come before baptism. Philip in preaching Christ and the Kingdom of God must have taught the people to REPENT in order for them to request baptism. We shall study all about the subject of baptism in a later lesson. Acts 9:10-31 1) After Paul's conversion and baptism what did he preach? 2) By what we have studied so far, would preaching Christ include the theme of REPENTANCE? Acts 10:23-48 1) Did God show to Peter that Christ and Salvation should go to the Gentiles? 2) What was the FOCAL point of Peter's message to Cornelius? 3) Did Peter preach the FORGIVENESS of SINS? 4) Were many Baptised? Note. Peter was here again preaching his Pentecostal sermon - Jesus Christ as Savior. Upon REPENTANCE and accepting Christ's death and resurrection men could have forgiveness of sins and eternal life through the Holy Spirit. The THEME of the early Church was first, Jesus Christ as Savior - repentance and Forgiveness of Sins. Second, the Return of Christ and the coming of the Kingdom of God to earth. Saving people was foremost on the minds of the apostles and church members alike. Read the rest of the book of Acts and take note of the speeches and sermons. As you do, note such passages as Acts 16:30-31; 17:3, 30; 18:24-28; 26:17-18, 20; 28:23, 31. WHAT IS REPENTANCE? Note. Webster's Dictionary defines REPENTANCE as: " To feel sorry or self-reproachful for what has done or failed to do; be conscience-stricken......To feel such regret or dissatisfaction over some past action, intention, etc. as to changed one's mind about.......To feel so contrite over one's sins as to change, or decide to change, one's ways......." This is what VINE'S EXPOSITORY DICTIONARY ON NT WORDS has to say on REPENT and REPENTANCE: ".......to perceive afterwards (Meta, after, implying change, Noeo, to perceive; Nous, the mind, the seat of moral reflections).......hence signifies to change one's mind or purpose, always in the NT involving a change for the better......." Matt. 9:13 Who did Jesus come to call to Repentance? Acts 3:19 What can be blotted out upon Repentance? Acts 5:31 What is some of the work Jesus is NOW doing? Note. The Scriptures clearly show that REPENTANCE has to do with SIN! We are to REPENT of SIN. Repent of being a sinner - of living, acting, doing, thinking, IN sin. SIN - RIGHTEOUSNESS ? 1 John 3:4 Does God tell us in this verse what constitutes SIN? Romans 7:7 What did Paul say showed him what sin WAS? Is it not the TEN Commandment law that says: "Thou shalt not covet."? (Ex.20"1-17). Romans 3:20 Is Paul here telling us by what standard we can derive the KNOWLEDGE of what sin is or is not? James 2:10-12 1) Does this law have points? 2) What are some of its points? 3) Are these the same points as recorded in Ex.20:1-17? James 2:10-12 (continued) 4) If we WILLFULLY break ANY ONE of these points of the whole law, are we a TRANSGRESSOR - do we SIN (see again 1 John 3:4) ? 5) What is this law called (verse 12) ? Note. We are to REPENT of breaking (transgressing) God's Holy Spiritual law (Rom.7:12,14). Repent of BEING sinners and want to DO and LIVE righteousness (Matt.5:17-20; 6:33). A Bible definition of "righteousness" is ALL of God's COMMANDMENTS - Psalm 119:172. REPENT TOWARDS WHOM ? Romans 3:23 How many have sinned? Luke 13:3; Acts 17:30 How many are to REPENT? Acts 20:21 Towards WHOM are we to REPENT? HOW TO REPENT! Deut.4:29; Isa.55:6 Are we to SEEK God? How much are we to seek for Him? Isa. 57:15; 66:2 What KIND of a person will God LOOK AT? 2 Chron. 7:14 What else does the Eternal add to the ingredients of REPENTANCE? 1 John 1:9; Proverbs 28:13 What TWO requirements are given in these verses in order to obtain MERCY and FORGIVENESS? Job 33:27, 28 God is looking for mankind to ACKNOWLEDGE what? Isa.55:7; Jer.4:1, 2, 14 What is man to FORSAKE in order to return unto God? Ezekiel 18:21, 30-31; Acts 17:30 Is God CALLING OUT for mankind to REPENT? ........... First written in 1987. Re-written and revised in April 1997. by Keith Hunt