When Jesus said repent and believe
the gospel, he was saying that your whole life is about repentance. This is not
about beating yourself up all the time, this is about being honest with God. It
is a good thing when God helps you see a bad thing. Then you know you can take it
to him and ask him to cleanse you and help you deal with it.
Here is the question that you, and me, and everyone else who calls themselves a Christian, needs to address and answer. Am I living a rebellious lifestyle, or a repentant lifestyle?
An unrepentant person is someone who celebrates their sin instead of grieving over it. A repentant person knows it is sin, says it is sin, and deals with it as sin. The gospel is not good news for unrepentant sinners. It is good news for sinners who repent.
Hear me clearly. A repentant lifestyle isn’t about anxiously having to find every little thing you’re doing wrong every day. Repentance isn’t about making yourself miserable; it is about giving yourself to God! And confessing when you haven’t been giving yourself to God. Asking for mercy. Asking for grace. Living the truth. A truly repentant life is a life that is truly rejoicing and resting in Jesus. Hallelujah! The problem isn’t your sin. The problem is when you say it isn’t sin. And the problem isn’t when you struggle with sin. The problem is when you don’t or won’t.
Yes, I believe that some people are born with certain predispositions and powerful passions, but just because you are born with it is no excuse for doing it. God’s grace isn’t supposed to inspire you to wonder how much sin you can get away with, but how much sin you can get away from.
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