Forgiveness & Repentance

Forgiveness and repentance are two areas in the Christian life that seem to keep appearing before me in ways of study, conversations and teaching. God has put them there for a reason and I have taken the opportunity to continue to dig further. I have never given much thought to these before and never considered how different they are yet intricate to one another in our Christian life.

For those of us who are Christians, we are positionally forgiven, but the act of repentance is still expected regularly. With repentance there is to be a turning from our sin. This does not mean we will not be tempted and fall, but our heart should be so grieved when we fall. I John 1:5 - 2:17 talks about how we should turn from sin. Mark 9:47 talks about how if our eye causes us to sin, pluck it out. The plucking out of our eye should cause us less pain in our spirit than actually sinning. Really consider this. God offers up to us as illustration to pluck out our eye if it is causing us to sin. Have you ever thought to take action on such a thing? Imagine the pain of such an action, yet God tells us it is better to do that than to sin. Weigh that out and realize the importance of turning from sin and toward God. If your sin is not causing you enough pain that you desire to turn from it, have you embraced the sin and made it an idol in your life? Is Christ truly part of your life? Is He your Lord and Savior?

Our outward actions of sin are not the only things that we should be confessing. We also need to confess those thoughts and desires that are filled with sin. All sin starts in our mind. We allow ourselves to think about it and entertain it before we officially act on it.

Repentance is a grace of God's Spirit by which we, as sinners, are inwardly humbled and visibly reformed. True repentance involves a hatred for sin and a turning from it.

How much are you willing to give up to serve God? Are you willing to pay that last full measure of devotion?

We need to think about turning from sin as Pastor Hsi did, "I might die in this struggle, but I'm not wiling to continue in sin and live."

Are you willing to consider your sin this seriously that the you are willing to be heart broken before the Lord with your sin that you are willing to die to turn from it rather than have it part of your life? Do not settle with knowing you are forgiven because of Christ’s blood, take action to fall on your face in total and complete abandon.