The Bible calls all men and women to faithful, authentic, genuine and contrite repentance. God calls His people to repentance out of genuine and redemptive love. Repentance takes place in the thought life or in the very mind of men and women. God is aware of our thought life and He cares how we react to things we think about or what we think about.
What do you do with thoughts of sin? How do you make "peace" with God in regards to your sin? Have you noticed that your thought life is not entirely pure before God? Have you noticed that you have fallen into sin? The Bible says we are radically depraved and thoroughly polluted. We speak like repentance is a way to get right with God. I think it is right to speak this way. In saying this, we also ought to know that nothing we do gains God's favor. The divine favor of God comes only through our Savior and Creator Jesus Christ in His life and death alone. If we want to please God in progressive sanctification, we ought to always obey His Word. "...Be holy, for I am holy." Jesus not sinners gained God's favor for us through His person and work alone. He alone had this supernatural ability because He alone was sinless and the God-man!
To make sin less than sin being serious is not making much of the written law of God. We ought to judge ourselves in light of the law of God. The law of God teaches us to be holy people. Jesus Christ perfectly obeyed the law of God in His perfect life. That is, He earned salvation for us by His immaculate life without the slightest bit of sin.
His deity blocked out the original sin of the Virgin Mary in His virginal conception in Mary's holy womb. I think in passing there is a controversy in how we speak of Jesus, His conception and His birth. There was not a "Virgin Birth" as Rome declares. Rather there was "Virginal Conception." I think many have sided with an easy error and a man-made opinion that does not line up with the divine Word.
Sinners have everything tainted with deep stains of great sin. It is impossible to clean ourselves. We cannot get clean through something of this world or through opinions of men. Rather we can only be clean through the washing of the Cross of Jesus Christ in His shed, all-sufficient blood!
There is no sinner that can be right with God or make peace with God through the law of God. We cannot save ourselves through works of satisfaction. We cannot perfectly obey the law of God because there is great darkness in us.
We need the light of the infallible Word. That is, God's written Scripture is like learning from God Himself. Why do you leave the Word on your dusty shelf? Or in your case, why have you neglected to read it? Are you like St. Jerome and only read other works besides the Bible?
Get into the written Word and mediate on it throughout the day! It is hard to train our minds to mediate on God's law because we so corrupt. However, the written Word has the supernatural power to renew our minds in radical transformation against sin by the divine presence of the Holy Spirit. It has the divine power to be used to conform us to the very image of Jesus Christ.
The thought life of the wicked is evil (Gen 6:5), abominable (Prov 15:26), sinful (Is. 59:7), devoid of God (Ps. 10:4), spiritually futile (Rom 1:21) and in great need of repentance (Acts 8:22). The thought life of the believer is governed by the inward presence of the Holy Spirit. We ought to train our minds to obey the law of God because in it we find the mind of Christ. We ought to have every thought captivated to the perfect mind of Jesus Christ. Surely we do not have His perfect mind now. However, we seek to live a life of the power of God's Spirit and Word that mortifies and crucifies the sinful nature of mere man. Mortification is through constant repentance through the crucified Creator. It is not through meritorious sufferings in this life or in the next life. We can only be purged of our sins through the Cross of Jesus Christ.
What is contrite repentance? It means you spiritually understand that you have committed wrongdoing and offended a holy and just God. Do not be like Esau who repented according to fear of punishment. That is, this kind of repentance is not authentic repentance. It does occur in the mind of unbelievers.
There is no sin that Jesus will not forgive you for but you must go to Him. I suggest to you that it takes the presence and power and person and work of the Holy Spirit to have a sinner come to Jesus Christ. If you have fled to Jesus, it is evidence of God's work in you. Confess all your thought crimes to God the Father through the Lamb of God. Thought crimes are spiritual sins that violate the law of God and NT commandments.
Is your every thought captivated to the obedience of Jesus Christ? You will fall short but the way out is genuine repentance through the God-Savior Jesus Christ! Do you believe things that do not line up with rightly handling God's written Word? Do not let a sin get passed you. Rather bring everything to God in constant prayer. Do not compromise the law of God with your personal sin. Compromise is easy but following Jesus is hard. Following Jesus means taking up our cross. It's not works of satisfaction. Rather it is being legally dead to sin and alive to Jesus. We can walk with Jesus and mortify the deeds of the flesh through God-honoring repentance.
If we could see your mind, would it show that you faithfully repent of sin? Repentance does not earn for us favor with God. Rather the call to repentance is a command of the written Scriptures. Repentance and confession of sin is a way to have God's forgiveness and cleansing through His dear Son. Many people in false religion repent to a false God or falsely repent to God. We can only be forgiven and cleansed through Jesus Christ the only God-man! It is because of Him alone that repentance stands! Without the true and real Jesus, there is no true and real hope.
The bodily risen Creator Jesus Christ demonstrates that Jesus' call to repentance is genuine. Have you started repenting today? It will only end until you die or until you reach the gates of heaven. Will you be ready to stand before God? Remember that only a Spirit and Word-born and driven repentance and faith will honor God.
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