Repentance, Then Faith Towards God
Repentance is something I knew nothing about, although if you had asked me what it meant, I probably would have told you it was saying "I'm sorry". But not until after coming to Water of Life Church in 1985, and God started tearing down the false foundations that had been laid in my heart so that a true foundation could be established in my heart, did I come to see what repentance really was. And apostle's and prophet's are the ones whom God has ordained to lay the foundation in a person's heart, Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone. They are the first ones God has set in the church - I Corinthians 12:28 and Ephesians 2:20.
I came to see that saying "I'm sorry" was nothing more than worldly sorrow, but there was a godly sorrow which worked repentance to salvation. Paul speaking in II Corinthians 7:9-10 told the Corinthians, "Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death." The sorrow of the world - saying "I'm sorry" would work death in you, which you could say would be a dead deed, or a dead work, and even ultimately end in a physical death. But there was a godly sorrow which would work repentance to salvation, and that repentance would not damage you. Repentance simply means to change from what you believe and from your will, to the will of God and what God says. His will is always revealed in His Word.
Hebrews 6, which tells of the foundation that God will lay in your heart, talks about repentance from dead works. And a dead work is a dead deed. And some examples of dead works are: "God uses doctors to heal, Jesus intended for some people to be financially poor, some of my sins may be forgiven; but there are some that I will have to live with the rest of my life, bad things happen to good people, God will help those that help themselves," etc. And when repentance comes in those areas, you will change and believe what Jesus says. So instead of believing the previous statements, you will believe - "By the stripes of Jesus I am healed, Jesus was rich and became poor so that I through His poverty might be rich, when Jesus was raised from the dead He forgave all my sins and cast them in the sea as far as the east is from the west - never to be remembered again, the thief (Satan) comes but for to steal, kill and destroy, but Jesus came that we might have life and have it more abundantly, I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me, etc. Are you getting the picture?
It is these dead works that keep us from having faith towards God. And remember that it takes faith mixed with the gospel to profit you - not faith alone. So you have to change from what you have been raised to believe and believe what Jesus did for us on the cross when He was raised from the dead. Repentance is always in the heart - it is not simply speaking something with your mouth. That change will take place in your heart and it says in Romans 2:4 that it is God's goodness that leads us to repentance. But once you hear the truth spoken by the Spirit of God, you will be responsible for those words that have been spoken. And Jesus said if you reject them, then they will judge you in the last days. Pride will say, "Well, I just don't believe that. I was taught differently, so I am just going to keep believing what I was taught in the Methodist, Catholic, Baptist, etc., church." But humility will say, "Lord, thank you for granting me the grace to humble myself and believe what your Word says, even though this is not what I was raised to believe." And God grants grace to the humble every time; but He resists the prideful. Humility will always submit to the Word and will of God - in every situation. Pride never will.
Let's go to Mark 1:14-15 and see what it says. "Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel." He was telling them the power of God was at hand and they needed to do something - turn from what they believed, and believe the death, burial and resurrection power of the Lord Jesus. And that is what He is telling us today. After repentance comes, then you are able to acknowledge the truth, that truth being the gospel - II Timothy 2:25. As long as you believe lies, and everything you and I believe is a lie (Romans 3:4) if it is not what God says, those lies will hinder your faith, and they hinder you from seeing the power of God manifest in your life. That is why is says repentance then faith towards God. You will also have to do something else in order for faith to be dealt to you by God. In Romans 12:1-3 it tells us what that is, so let's turn there now.
Verse 1 begins, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according a God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith."
You will have to present your body to God so that He can do with you as He pleases. You will have to lay down your life and pick up the life of the Lord Jesus daily and follow Him. That is the gospel. Picking up the death, burial and resurrection daily; walking in the power that raised Jesus from the dead. It is not living unto yourself any longer, but living unto the One who died, and was buried and rose again for you. When you do this, God will give you the measure of faith you need to do whatever it is He tells you to do. And this is where your soul will struggle. Because as I have said many times, the soul does not want to lay down anything and follow anyone, but itself. And you will have to overcome that soul by obeying the truth (the gospel) through the Spirit. You will have to put to death the deeds (or works) of the flesh through the Spirit - praying in other tongues. You will have to humble yourself and do what the Spirit of God is directing you to do each day - not your own desires. Your flesh will die daily - just as Paul stated in I Corinthians 15:31.
Jesus is our example. This man did not even do His own will, but He did the will of the Father. He only spoke what the Father told Him to speak. He said of His own self He could do nothing, and as the Father spoke, He spoke. You talk about a submitted life to the will of God. And that is how ours will be, if we are going to become a Christian - not doing our 'own thing' in Jesus' name. That is rebellion and the church is full of it. The church Jesus is coming back after will not be doing its own thing, or speaking its own words in Jesus' name. It will be doing the will of God from the heart; serving God with our spirit in the gospel; being led by the Spirit of God. Jesus is coming back after a church that is without spot, wrinkle or blemish - and that won't take place in the air as we go to be with Him. You will either have been perfected, or you may be left. Perfection is completion - not being 'holier than thou'. It is being completed in all areas of our lives, being preserved blameless spirit, body and soul unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In Philippians 2 it tells us to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling because it is God which works in us both to will and to do of His good pleasure. As we repent of dead works and believe this gospel, salvation will come forth in our lives. And you can be assured of this, that the work that God has begun in you, He will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Amen!
