How do you repent?

[Travis]

Hello Travis, intellectual competence is not a requirement for salvation nor for sanctification as i'm sure we already know; even the disciples were thought to have lacked the intellectual ability the world demands.Acts 4:13 God has ordained a structure in the church, the Scripture clearly teaches we are one body in Christ. The body, or sphere of believing Christians, are to be in unity and one accord, ministering together as a whole for the edifying of the body of Christ. If one individual lacks the ability to read another is able to help in that area, no Christian can grow effectively without a body of believers to minister to their individual needs. Ephesians 4:11-16 Praise God for His wisdom!

Well, I'm glad to hear you say that.

Sometimes I think we may forget that a large portion of Christians (if not a majority) over the last 2,000 years probably did not know how to read well, if at all. Christianity is not about reading one's bible. I think that many who are not Christians get the wrong impression it is. I heard a story once about a man who had been witnessed to multiple times but just wouldn't become a follower of Christ. He was not opposed to hearing the gospel, or talking with Christians, it did not make him angry or upset him. He did not scoff at the message either, he just would kindly dismiss these people when they would ask if he wanted to make a commitment to following Jesus Christ. One day someone finally asked him why he did not want to be a Christian, and after a little prodding, he answered honestly and said, "I can't read."

He had gotten the idea that to be a Christian, one must read the bible, and do so often. That reading the bible and being a Christian were inseparable. Thankfully, the person who found this out corrected this misconception, and that man gave his life to the Lord. I think this shows how careful we need to be about how we present what Christianity/the Gospel is to the world though.

True story.

Travis

 

[rag4aCrown]

If one individual lacks the ability to read another is able to help in that area, no Christian can grow effectively without a body of believers to minister to their individual needs. Praise God for His wisdom!

I can not agree with this.
the Holy Ghost, the only true Teacher, knows every word of God. the Spirit of truth, my other comforter, will not allow me to recieve a lie. amen. Us three are One, we are in unity with One and we bare witness of One. amen.

Yes, praise God for His wisdom and understanding by revelation knowledge of Jesus Christ. amen

 

[Justin15]

I can not agree with this.
the Holy Ghost, the only true Teacher, knows every word of God. the Spirit of truth, my other comforter, will not allow me to recieve a lie. amen. Us three are One, we are in unity with One and we bare witness of One. amen.

Yes, praise God for His wisdom and understanding by revelation knowledge of Jesus Christ. amen

Hello Rag4aCrown, I do strongly agree with you my friend concerning the teaching ministry of God the Holy Spirit. The bible teaches us He will guide us into all truth; 1 John 2:27 Nevertheless, the bible also teaches that God has gifted certain men with the gift of teaching Eph 4:11-12 to edify the body of Christ, The Spirit of God authenticates the truth of the teachers by instrumentally using the Word of God as our source of divine truth. If a teacher teaches anything contrary to God's Word the Spirit will convict us of the error and move us to either confront the teacher biblically or to remove ourselves from the leadership of the false teacher. This is why it is imperative that we take Paul's admonition to Timothy very seriously, "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth." 2 tim 2:15 If we are ignorant to the sound doctrine (healthy teaching) of the bible we are more susceptible to fall victim to false teaching. Also, the Holy Ghost is the Spirit of truth, who indwells believers at the moment of salvation, this is the Comforter who Christ promised would come in John 16, which was evidenced in Acts on Pentecost.

 

[rag4aCrown]

Hello Rag4aCrown, I do strongly agree with you my friend concerning the teaching ministry of God the Holy Spirit. The bible teaches us He will guide us into all truth; Nevertheless, the bible also teaches that God has gifted certain men with the gift of teaching to edify the body of Christ, The Spirit of God authenticates the truth of the teachers by instrumentally using the Word of God as our source of divine truth. If a teacher teaches anything contrary to God's Word the Spirit will convict us of the error and move us to either confront the teacher biblically or to remove ourselves from the leadership of the false teacher. This is why it is imperative that we take Paul's admonition to Timothy very seriously, "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth." 2 tim 2:15 If we are ignorant to the sound doctrine (healthy teaching) of the bible we are more susceptible to fall victim to false teaching. Also, the Holy Ghost is the Spirit of truth, who indwells believers at the moment of salvation, this is the Comforter who Christ promised would come in ; which was evidenced in Acts on Pentecost.

totally agree. amen
the Holy Ghost is the comforter that Jesus has sent, and another comforter who the Father will send. they are One in the same, being God.
amen. good fellowship, God bless you brother.

 

[Spear]

Hi jeffness

I see many responses talking about and confirming the 'meaning' but not really getting to the 'method'. There are keys, spiritual lines or angles one can draw between scripture. First of all, you are not the Saviour. You can not save yourself. Second of all, according to Him He took your sins. Romans speaks of dying to our sin and also dying to the law. So He died for your sins. So now putting sin away is not a matter of salvation but rather 'sanctification'. You have been born again and you desire to 'repent'. That is the working of the Spirit. Tell me, when did the Lord say, 'fix yourself!'. Did He tell Adam and Eve that? Why do you think we are given a 'Helper', a "Comforter" and even a 'Physician'. He does the saving work, the sanctifying work, the healing work. You are not able to 'fix self' or by 'self' resolve a single thing. There is a reason why Romans says, "mortify the deeds of the flesh THROUGH THE SPIRIT". It does not instructyou as if you are your own Saviour to 'mortify the deeds'. It says, "through the Spirit". What does that mean?

Well, you would not even be able to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord if the Spirit does not allow it.

Not by Might nor by Power but BY MY SPIRIT.

So then, what is your solution? You see, religion dictates that you MUST fix self to GET accepted. He says,

ACCEPT SALVATION YOU ARE ACCEPTED.

Salvation, deliverance, sanctification... it is a process. Martin Luther said that one must not repent out of fear of hell. That would be to kick back faith in His Atonement through His Blood and institute self-works to get saved. I agree. We can not fix self and even if we could, he stands as the Sanctifier.

Would you be fixed by self or Him?

He said, 'If you love Me you will obey Me". Can you even think that you can love Him without Him all alone in your insignificant world like all of us? Can we even love something without Love, who is God, within us? We need Him to obey Him, kapish? We need Him.

So, the answer to your question is this, and even farther out of context. THE FOCUS IS NOT SIN! THE FOCUS IS NOT RIGHT/WRONG. THE FOCUS IS NOT ANYTHING ELSE EXCEPT ONE THING. HIM! HIS PERSON. KEEP HIS PERSON YOUR FOCUS NO MATTER HOW YOU SIN AND ALLOW HIS PERSON IN SPIRIT TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE BECAUSE THAT IS THE JOB OF THE POWER OF THE CROSS AND HE WILL NOT GIVE YOU THE GLORY OF FIXING YOURSELF!

That is how you repent. You realize that you cannot unless He gives you His Heart to repent. Seek Him! Ask Him to save you from YOURSELF and give Him that GLORY! Resign then, and rest in His Saving Right Arm. Don't kick and fuss to fix the mess. Absorb His Love to lovingly obey Him back. Rest, or die fighting a battle none of us can win. He won it for us. There are too many reasons why we do what we do, but relax, He is the Doctor. Get your fingers out your worm ridden wounds and look to Him. Ask Him to lead your repentance. He is the Doctor now, see? You are not qualified to ask, "how do I fix myself". Rest in His Care. He will kiss your heart and make it soft and when you do repent you will be happy you did, not because it was a matter of hell or not, but rather because it will be a matter of love eternal that He secures. So then rest friend. Rest in His Love.

 

[ATP]

A good way to repent is to get rid of the sources of temptation. For example, if you smoked cigarettes for twenty years don't go to the places where you bought them. If you're a recovering alcoholic don't go to a bar or liquor store. If you used to gamble don't go to the casino's. If you listened to worldly music throw it away. Create a new life for yourself that doesn't involve temptation on all levels, and is clean and pure. (Luke 4:12 Jesus answered, "It is said: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'") The book 'Repentance' by Richard Owen Roberts is good to read too. Gaining knowledge on any subject of God is a good start. With the help of the Holy Spirit we can overcome and have our minds and hearts changed. Through His Grace anything is possible really. - ATP

 

[rag4aCrown]

What if they don't know how to read?

FROM THE HEART; even someone that doesn't know how to read, speaking from the heart; God hears our heart.
One can quote every scripture in the Word, but if one is not speaking from the heart, little is gained.
John the Baptist said it best. Who warned you vipers of the wrath to come? Therefore bring forth gifts worthy of repentance, CRYING OUT Abba Father.
God sees our heart; He knows our heart.

 

[Br. Bear]

Greetings

REPENTANCE (to repent) is merely but surely this: To turn to Jesus Christ the Son Who gave His Life a ransom for many, Who first loved us, Who while we were yet sinners, died for us; turning away from all else, for it is impossible to turn to Him, to enter in with any baggage from this world, including everything we know or possess or all we are related to.
Jesus Christ is the Door by Which we must enter in and to come to Him, we must and have to turn to Him away from all else, that is, repent (for it is impossible to even look upon Him unless we fix our gaze upon Him Who alone is worthy of our praise). We can not walk this way and that at the same time nor can we look eastward and westward nor up and down at the same time. In like manner, we can not come unto Him, the spotless Lamb of God, unless we first turn to Him and then come, away from the world and all that is in it.

We must come as a child would come, forgetting about all else.

I have heard it said often that repent is to turn 180 degrees and march but alas, this is pointless. Jesus says to all who will hear, Come unto Me. Follow Me, To merely turn and march is of no use, Repentance, that is, Godly repentance the which that is needful and true, is to come unto Jesus Christ, to enter In through Him to Life, out of Death, to Light, out of Darkness.
All else adds burdens and needless obstacles in the Way.
Jesus is the Way, no other and none other, only Jesus.

Repent, turn ye and come away, come unto Me (Christ Jesus the Son of God) that ye might have Life.

Jesus is the way of repentance, the door by Which we must enter, but know this, ye can not enter with anything but your own self. Unless ye repent, unless ye come unto Him, ye will not find rest nor Life but will remain in Darkness and lost, without Hope.

look unto Jesus, listen to Him, follow Him for He is our Peace.

I became a Christian without having any idea about what repentance means or most everything else that is pushed doctrinally by so many keen folk. I knew not Peter or Paul or the Prophets nor about praying or reading plans or Bible Study or any such thing that soon gets presented to a new convert to the faith we hold so dear in Jesus Christ our Lord.

John 3:15-18 That whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

Bless you ....><>

 

[kjw47]

I never really thought about this until tonight, but I realized something I really struggle with is repentance. I don't struggle with the idea of repenting, I just don't know how to do it. What I have gathered is that we are supposed to just feel bad for our sins and then ask God to forgive us, but I know there is more to it than just that, I just don't know what it is. So could someone please, in plain english tell me how do you repent? You constantly hear, "You need to repent" but no one ever explains how to, so any help is greatly appreciated.

Thank you and God bless.

A good day to you, Of course asking forgiveness is a definite requirement of repentence, but as well as we find at 1Corinthians 6:9-11--it makes the statement--- that is what some of you were= past tense--that means stopping the doing of a sin is required as well.
I believe the only way this is accomplished is by doing Matthew 16:24-- we must disown ourselves to be a true follower of Jesus.
I believe if one asks forgiveness, does the sin again, asks forgiveness and does the sin again, this is just mocking Jesus sacrifice for us. I do believe Gods word teaches--that if we willfully sin it is just like driving the stakes through Jesus flesh all over again. We wouldn't want to do that. I know it is not easy in an imperfect state of being, but we must try with our whole heart, soul, mind and strength. We can always ask for support of our fellow believers as well and pray.

 

[Stickz]

Hebrews 12:1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Hebrews 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:3 For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.
Hebrews 12:4 Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.

The word 'repent' has a few different meanings, but I feel like a sinner should realize that they aren't happy being one and go to God for the change as well as the forgiveness. Read the Bible and spend time with God in prayer, He rewards those who diligently seek Him. If the world and the things of the world make you happy repentance is going to be very difficult for you.