WHERE ARE YOU (#3)?
(Sin)
- (Anonymous) – “Once we assuage our conscience by calling something a ‘necessary evil,’ it begins to look more and more necessary and less and less evil.”
I. WE MUST RECOGNIZE and ACCEPT that WE are ALL SINNERS in NEED of SALVATION (Agree with God that We are Lost).
(Galatians 3:21-22) – “Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law. [22] But, the Scripture has confined all under sin, that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.”
(Romans 3:23) – “…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…”
(Isaiah 64:6) – “…we are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags; we all fade as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.”
II. WE MUST BELIEVE GOD is WILLING to FORGIVE US and CLEANSE US from ALL SIN (Biblical Faith).
(1 John 1:7-9) – “…if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. [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 just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
(Psalms 32:5) – “I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said: ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,’ and You forgave the iniquity of my sin.”
III. WE MUST CONFESS and REPENT of ALL OUR SINS and SINFUL WAYS (Abandon ALL of Our Sinfulness).
(Proverbs 28:13) – “He who covers his sins will not prosper; but, whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.”
(Hosea 5:15) – “I will return again to My place ‘till they acknowledge their offense. Then, they will seek My face; In their affliction they will earnestly seek Me.”
3 imperatives for true, Biblical repentance…
1) Repentance begins with the conviction of the sinful heart by the Holy Spirit.
God, through the manifestation of His prevenient grace, causes you to deeply and seriously consider and accept that you are a sinner and eternally lost; thus, deserving punishment, and unable to save yourself.
(Psalms 38:3-4) – “There is no soundness in my flesh because of Your anger; nor, any health in my bones because of my sin. [4] For my iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me.”
(Ezra 9:6) – “…I said: ‘O my God, I am too ashamed and humiliated to lift up my face to You, my God; for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has grown up to the heavens.’”
2) Then, by the enabling grace of God, we become extremely sorrowful, leading to true contrition.
True, sorrow for your sins and your sinful past. As the Holy Spirit performs this work of deep sorrow initiated by His enabling grace upon your heart and life, this produces and cultivates deep within your will the desire to sin no longer. As a new creature in Christ Jesus (born-again child of God), you are now keenly aware of and sensitive to sin because you now realize that all sin is a trespass and evil action against God. All of which is now within you because of God’s enabling grace!
(2 Corinthians 7:9-10) – “…I rejoice, not that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were made sorry in a Godly manner; that you might suffer loss from us in nothing. [10] For Godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but, the sorrow of the world produces death.”
(Matthew 26:75) – “…Peter remembered the Word of Jesus who had said to him: ‘Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.’ So, he went out and wept bitterly.”
3) Finally, as a truly redeemed child of God, you are resolved to live a life pleasing unto the Lord.
You turn from all sin; and, commit to obey the Lord in all your heart, mind, and deeds. This we do to bring glory that is due unto God. Also, as true born-again Christians, we are committed to obedience because we know what Jesus has done for us. True, Godly repentance involves the mind, the emotions, and the will.
(Mark 12:30-31) – “…you shall ‘love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. [31] And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
(1 John 3:5-6) – “…you know that He was manifested to take away our sins; and, in Him there is no sin. [6] Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.”
(1 John 2:1) – “My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And, if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous.”
(Hebrews 7:25) – “…He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.”
(Hebrews 9:24) – “…Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true; but, into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us…”
- (C.S. Lewis) – “Christ died for men precisely because men are not worth dying for; to make them worth it.”
- (Catherine Booth) – “The Gospel that represents Jesus Christ, not as a system of truth to be received, into the mind, as I should receive a system of philosophy, or astronomy, but it represents [Jesus] as a real, living, mighty [Lord and] Savior, able to save me now.”
(2 Corinthians 6:1-2) – “We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. [2] For He says: ‘In an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you.’ Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”
