The Power of Repentence

One of the greatest gifts that God has blessed man with is His no-strings attached opportunity to have complete forgiveness.  I mean, we serve a God, which loves us so much that at no charge to us, He has provided us with the ability to fix up, even after we have been born again.  Now, I need to go on record to state that we here at the Eastland Church of Christ, have no desire to appear to be “holier-than-thou.”  We want men and women the world over to know that we, like each of you, do fall in our walk toward righteousness and are at-times found guilty of sin (cf. Romans 3:23).  It is this self-same sin, that demanded our need for water baptism and cleansing from the grips of eternal death that the Enemy placed us woefully under. 

However, God blessed us with these words in 1 John 1:8-9 “(8) If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. (9) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (ASV)   Now, just the mere utterance of words alone will not provoke God’s mercy toward our favor; rather, we must be reminded that He is the One who searches our hearts for sincerity (cf. Matthew 15:7-9).  Our confession must be accompanied by repentance. 

The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia expounds accurately on the word “Repentance” in this manner: “The term signifies "to have another mind," to change the opinion or purpose with regard to sin.  It is equivalent to the Old Testament word "turn.”  In other words, along with our confession or admitting of our sins, we are additional called to “turn” from this path of wickedness, and willfully walk another one, that is in accordance with God.  That’s why Jesus said in Luke 13:3, “I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” (NIV)  It is for this reason that we righteously hold to the fact that we will forever have freedom from sin on this time side of life, through God’s gift to us, repentance.

Kevin D. Jones, Sr.
Minister
Eastland Church of Christ