Understanding The Foundation of Repentance
The foundation of true biblical repentance is the accurate revelation of who Jesus Christ is and what He has done for us.
In Acts 20:21 Paul preaches repentance toward God.
This means the essence of repentance is the changing of our attitudes toward God.
True biblical repentance necessitates a changing of our minds toward God first, only then can there be a real change in how we see ourselves.
Biblical repentance does not require us to focus on trying to change our own habits or lifestyle.
True repentance occurs when we see God as He truly is, a loving Father waiting eagerly with open arms and an open heart for us to return to Him.
In the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15:20-24, Jesus said, “The younger son got up and started back to his father.
But when he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt sorry for him. He ran to his son and hugged and kissed him.”
Before the son did one single thing the father did 5 things – 5 is the number of God’s grace.
1) The Father saw him
2) He felt sorry for him
3) He ran to him
4) He hugged him
5) He kissed him
Only after this was the son able to say something and even then the father would not let him finish his rehearsed speech.
The son began saying how sorry he was but the father interrupted him by saying, “Hurry and bring the best clothes and put them on him.
Give him a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. Get the best calf and prepare it, so we can eat and celebrate with him.
This son of mine was dead, but has now come back to life. He was lost and has now been found.”
Today, this is how God sees you and I when we come to Him asking for forgiveness.
True repentance is seeing God as He really is and not as the world sees Him. It is understanding that God is really FOR us and not at all against us… This is at the heart of true repentance!
Will you come to God today?
“Listen, now is really the “right time”! Now is the “day of salvation!” 2nd Corinthians 6:2
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Does Christianity Make Sense? 
So by that logic it’s ok to own slaves?
No Bernhard. It’s not OK to own slaves as we understand it in the 21st century.
It’s not OK to allow children to suffer before they can get close to Jesus either. Yet Jesus said, “Suffer the little children to come on to Me”
Some biblical words, phrases and concepts take on completely different interpretations when you take them out of their original context and try to apply them according to our 21st century language and culture.
This is the reason why accurate Bible interpretation is not something that can be done by just anybody. It usually takes a skilled and seasoned minister of Jesus Christ to accurately interpret the Scriptures and then preach or teach it to others.
This is NOT to say that any Christian cannot accurately interpret Scripture but it typically will take a profound love of the Truth, years of study and an intimate fellowship with the Holy Spirit to consistently interpret Scripture accurately.
Hope this answers your question.
So are we speaking selfproclaimed “minister of God” or those appointed by the church? If selfproclaimed any person with an aim can twist the word to make themselfes rich or even turn people into sin. And if appointed by the church makes one a trustworthy person then why is the sin so large within the church itself (sexual predators and greedy ministers)?
Bernhard, no true Minister of God is self-proclaimed.
God Himself calls, anoints and appoints His Ministers to perform His will in the earth! It seems when you say, “The Church” you’re referring to the Roman Catholic Organization.
FYI… The Roman Catholic Organization is a man-made organization and is absolutely NOT sanctioned by God and is NOT the Church of God/Jesus Christ mentioned in the Bible!
The true Church referenced in the bible is made up of individual human beings from every part of the world, every race, every language, every culture.
These are individuals who have expressed faith in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ at Calvary! They have believed that Jesus Christ is God, incarnated as a Man so He could die to pay the penalty for their sins and rose from the dead justified because He did not sin personally and so was not worthy of death.
Because of this expressed faith in the risen Christ they have had their spirit recreated and reconnected to God and their inner nature transformed so that they now share in the divine nature of God.
The Holy Spirit also now takes up residence in their reborn spirit and guides them from the inside, continually imparting eternal life to them from within… These make up the true Body of Believers, The true Church of God and of Jesus Christ!
It is important to note that even after having gone through such an experience these people are still human beings clothed in flesh and subject to the faults and frailties of the human condition so that they may through their own free will, contrary to the mandate of God participate in any number and manner of sins to their own hurt.
But who, because of the matchless grace of God are living under the perpetual forgiveness that the shed blood of Jesus Christ provides.
The long and short of it is that a true born again Christian is someone who was born a sinner like everyone else but who has chosen to no longer remain condemned but rather accept the free gift of Salvation that God freely offers to every human being and who strives everyday to live a life pleasing to God and worthy of emulation.
See that right there is the issue i have with morals based on holy writings. You have your faith and i accept that but you seem to view it as the only true faith. If the same question would be asked a catholic he would claim only his faith is the true faith.
So any follower of said faith will have different moral standpoints and the whole idea of a “moral based on god” is nonexistent since the morals change depending on what faith you have.
True humanitarian morals that come from a good heart needs no scriptures since IT IS wrong to murder, rape, steal and pray on your next man.
Any man NOT raping and killing because a god tells him so IS evil at heart and his kindness is only there because of selfishnes. (I am Swedish so hope my English is understandable)
Your English is perfect!
I wouldn’t have known you were not a native English speaker if you hadn’t said so.
You’re doing an excellent job!
Bernhard, you said, “Any man NOT raping and killing because a god tells him so IS evil at heart and his kindness is only there because of selfishness.” There is great truth in that statement!
The Bible declares that ALL men ARE evil at heart! And because of this ALL men ARE doomed to eternal punishment!
That’s the very reason God became a Man! It’s so He could die to pay for man’s sin.
The righteousness of God demanded that blood be shed as payment for man’s sin and since it was man’s sin to be paid for that means it was man’s blood that needed to shed as payment.
But ALL men are born sinners, unrighteous and they only get worst from that point onward.
The problem facing the human race was that only pure, holy blood that was not tainted by sin could atone for the sin of the Human Race that’s why God Himself had to become a Man so that He could shed His blood for the sin of the entire world!
The beauty and power of becoming Born Again, Bernhard is NOT that once you surrender to Jesus Christ you now have to struggle to TRY and do the right thing BECAUSE God said so and if you don’t, then you are in danger of some sort of punishment. That’s NOT it at all!!!
After you accept God’s free gift of Salvation and become born again He changes your inner nature so that you don’t WANT to sin anymore! Plus… He gives you The Holy Spirit to continually impart wisdom and strength for daily victorious living! Victorious life in Christ is effortless when we do it right!
Christians who struggle to live right and constantly find themselves participating in sinful activity are not accessing the power God gave them and are trying to live a supernatural life with natural abilities… that will never work! NO ONE can live up to God’s standard of holiness without God’s divine power working on the inside of them.
Even if you are already born again you still have to submit yourself to the guidance and empowerment of the Holy Spirit for daily strength and wisdom to overcome the temptation to sin. If you are NOT born again this is quite impossible! (Con’t)
The unfortunate reality is that for the unsaved person, i.e. someone who is NOT born again it does not matter how good a life you live you can never attain God’s standard of righteousness!
The reason is that your primary problem is not about good vs. bad but rather life vs. death!
Every human being is born spiritually dead i.e. their spirit is separated from God and it does not matter how much good they do in their entire lifetime it cannot give life to their dead spirit.
They are born spiritually dead and will die spiritually dead! They are born separated from God and will die separated from God! And no amount of good works can change that!
That’s the reason Jesus came and died and resurrected from the dead! It was NOT to make bad people GOOD but to make dead people LIVE! This is the true power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
It, and it alone has the power to give spiritual life to dead humans… NO religion on earth can do that! And that is the primary experience that all humans need… to be made spiritually alive!
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This was the entire conversation with Bernhard but there were other comments made by different people about this same topic which I will share in another post.
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