Let What Is Happening Today Move You To Repentance!

Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord (Acts 3:19-NKJV) 

In the above scripture, repentance brings about a “conversion” or change that obliterates sin and brings the fresh presence of God into our lives. This happens initially when we come to Christ, and also happens progressively when we choose to come a step closer to Him. James, Jesus’ half brother said it this way - Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you! (see James 4:8).

There are three ingredients that converge together to bring each of us closer to God. They are conviction, confession, and repentance. 

Let’s look first of all at conviction. We have no desire for God until He draws us to Himself. You could say it this way, our coming to God in Christ starts with God Himself. Our change in life when we become believers is initiated by God Himself! Jesus said -  No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day (John 6:44 - NKJV). If you have any desire for spiritual things, any desire to seek God and to read the bible, you can’t brag on yourself about it. It comes from God! A.W. Tozer calls it prevenient grace, or grace that precedes. 

This conviction from the Holy Spirit ruffles our feathers so to speak and makes us quite uncomfortable! It makes us feel our lack of relationship and fellowship with God. This conviction makes us aware of a deep void between us and heaven! 

Jesus talked about this conviction as the Holy Spirit comes in John 16:8-11 (NKJV) And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: 9 Of sin, because they do not believe in Me; 10 of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; 11 of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. 

The sin that the Holy Spirit convicts us of is the rejection of Jesus or the sin of unbelief in Him! The righteousness that the Holy Spirit convicts us of is the failure of our own good deeds or works to make us right with God. It is only the righteousness or right standing with God through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ that makes us able to stand in God’s presence. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life, no man comes to the Father except through me! (see John 14:6). 

Jesus was made to be our sin judgment when He hung on a Roman cross! For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him (2 Corinthians 5:21- NKJV). The judgment that the Holy Spirit convicts us of is the fact that it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment (Hebrews 9:27). We face our own judgment for sin after we die if we do not accept Jesus’ payment for our sins before we die. When we yield to the Holy Spirit’s conviction and give our lives to Jesus, then the judgment we face is cancelled! Jesus endured our judgment in our place when He hung on the cross!

Here is a simply true story to illustrate what conviction is like. Years ago, I was meeting with a couple in my office and the young man said to me, When we attend services here I feel so bad. After you preach I feel so bad!. I knew intuitively what the young man was experiencing and I said to him, What you are feeling is the conviction of the Holy Spirit about your personal sin and need for Jesus Christ to cleanse you from it. The young man saw what I was saying, and prayed with me to receive Jesus as His Savior from sin!

Confession is our response of humility to the conviction that the Holy Spirit brings our way. The Apostle Paul makes it so clear: That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation (Romans 10:9-10-NKJV). Our response to the Holy Spirit’s conviction is to initially confess that we are sinners in need of a savior. 

Here is a way to pray to receive Jesus:

God, I repent of my sins. Today I change my heart and mind about how I have been living my life. I ask you to forgive me for every sin that I have committed from the time I was born until today: every sin in thought, in word, in action, or in motive. I ask you to forgive me now. I believe that Jesus Christ is the virgin-born Son of God, that He died in my place to pay for my personal sins, and that He rose from the dead to make me right with You. Jesus, come into my life. I give myself wholeheartedly to You for the rest of my life. Change my interests and desires. I give my life to you today. Thank you Father for saving me from my sin, in Jesus’ name. 

Repentance is a decision to turn completely around and go a different direction in life. Repentance brings Jesus into how we think, how we talk, how we relate to people, what we value, how we spend our time, what we do with our money, how we treat our spouse, what kinds of friends we hang out with, and on and on it goes. Repentance gives us a new kind of living! Repentance brings a life revolution! John Milton in Paradise Lost said: Repentance is the golden key that opens the palace of eternity! 

John the Baptist preached: Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand! John the Baptist baptised Jews and prepared them to receive Jesus as their Messiah.

For believers, repentance plays an important role in life change. God is calling the church in America to repent of lukewarmness, and to give Jesus first place status in every area of life. 

Today, I can hear the Holy Spirit emphasizing 2 Corinthians 7:1 to all of us: Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. God is shining His spotlight so to speak on areas in all of our lives where we need to make changes and stop compromising with the flesh and with our fallen culture in America. He is asking us as believers to once again repent and become as close as we were to Him when we first believed. Time is short. Now is the time to give Him our all.

Repentance creates fresh life and fresh fruitfulness in your spiritual life. When a tree or plant is pruned, it becomes even more fruitful than before. Let’s take time to repent now of any areas of compromise. Allow the Holy Spirit to convict, then repent in the areas He shows us, and then enjoy God’s presence in a fresh way!