“And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.” – Mark 1:15
True repentance comes from genuine conviction. Conviction is the divine work of the Holy Spirit in which he repoves you of your sin. He shows you your true standing with God by shining the light of holiness, the fullness of the gospel, and the sacrifice of the risen Christ on your heart and life. This will by consequence cast a dramatic contrast on a sinful person and cause one to long for change. Change which begins at repentance.
When you go to the doctor to get your yearly checkup you expect him or her to tell you the true condition of your physical body. Whether sick or healthy you want the truth. This is especially true when you are really sick. If you have a sickness that might kill you, but you can change, then you want to know. Even if the diagnosis exposes your imperfection, how much better to know now while you can change. The same is true of the spiritual man. The sickness of sin is termal. It will doom you. The good news is there is a cure. This sickness is highly treatable, with one hundred percent success. If you repent, and believe the gospel. The power of Christ can wash away the sins you have committed, and instantly transform you to walk according to his steps. He will deliver you from sins past, and with the power of the Holy Ghost, keep you from sinning. However, he is not going to run you down and make you accept Him. You have to turn from your sin. As a man going down the wrong road, or an animal walking directly into a trap. The cry is turn around! Turn around! Turn to Jesus. Turn with your whole heart. It is a decided turn from wrong, and the immediate consequential action is to do right. The works mirrored the resolve. The belief manifested in change. Repentance. Turning away and begging forgiveness with manifest change. You might be living in a damning spiritual condition and callous or ignorant. Herein is the danger of sitting under the teaching and preaching of those who tell you only what you want to hear and not what God wants you to hear. Repentance is more than just “I’m sorry.” It is “I’m sorry and I am not going to do it again.” You are making a U-turn. You are turning away from what you want and towards what God wants.
A truly repentant heart is instantaneously forgiven by our loving Father. The scripture says that “if we confess our sins, he is faith and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9). God is not interested in rubbing your face in what you have done against him; he is waiting to forgive you, longing to absolve you of your transgression, but you must meet the condition. Once a human heart repents and it is genuinely changed, the next direction is towards righteousness. Therefore the seamless and necessary second work of grace is the receiving of the Holy Ghost. It is not the Fathers will that we “continue in sin that grace may abound.” Which is one of the reasons why he counseled us in the scripture to believe the gospel. The gospel is Jesus Christ, and the will of Christ (and God) is for HIs people to be sanctified. Jesus himself longed for us to experience the love and fellowship that He experienced with God. This is why Jesus died to sanctify those that believe. Repent and believe the gospel.
