I am sharing here what the Holy Spirit has taught me about true repentance. You may or may not agree with this but I am sharing it here to save someone from false security so that they can make an informed decision while they have time.
# There exists a false teaching in Christianity that if only you say,” Jesus, forgive me of my sins,” then automatically God forgives you.
I once believed this but as I have come to learn more about God ,I have realized that this isn’t true.
It isn’t every person who says,” forgive me Lord,” who is actually forgiven.
Only the repentant are forgiven.
It is one thing to ask for forgiveness, and it is another thing to repent.
To repent is to have a change of heart, to be remorseful, or to regret our actions and see the need for us to change.
Our confession of sin must be preceded by a repentant heart. A heart that is truly willing to turn away from the sin we are confessing.
Only then will we find forgiveness, because God is able to see our hearts.
Luke 24:46-48”This is what is written: the Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and REPENTANCE for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in His name to all nations beginning in Jerusalem.”
Matthew 3:8 talks of producing fruits of repentance.
It is not merely telling God that you are sorry, repentance is followed by actions that will show that you were truly sorry.
These actions are not going back to keep doing the very thing you were saying you were sorry for.
The bible says God isn’t mocked, what a man sows, he reaps.(Galatians 6:7).
You cannot deceive God into thinking you have repented just by saying some words.
He is able to see your heart.
He is able to see if truly you regret sinning, if truly you have had a change of heart and do not want to continue sinning.
If you have repented, you will find forgiveness.
But if you have not repented and you are just trying to make your conscience feel better by saying “God forgive me” when deep down your heart you do not even see your sin, when deep down your heart you have no intention of changing,I have to tell you, there’s no forgiveness for you. God isn’t mocked.
God is not a machine that is set to automatically act in a certain way if a particular word is spoken,NO.God sees the heart,He sees the remorse or lack of remorse and He acts accordingly.
God is not deceived by our outward show,He sees deeper,seeing even into your heart.
After they asked the Apostles what they could do to be saved in the book of Acts 2:37-38, Peter told them to REPENT of their sins and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgives of sins.
So repentance,is necessary when it comes to receiving forgiveness from Jesus Christ.
Isaiah 29:13”And the Lord said,’because these people draw near to Me with their mouth,while their heart is far away from Me,and their fear is a commandment of man which has been taught of them……”
God was condemning these people because on their lips, they were claiming to want to draw near to God but He could see that in their hearts there was no place for Him.God was not deceived by their mere utterences,He can see the heart.
# The other thing I have learnt is that ONLY GOD CAN GRANT YOU A REPENTANT HEART.
This is why we need Jesus. We have no ability to repent without Him. We have no ability to be remorseful for our sins unless the Holy Spirit touches us.
The bible says No one can come to God unless God Himself draws them.
We hear sermons from the servants of God but only the Holy Spirit can convict us and touch our hearts, convince us of our sin and cause us to repent.
There can be no repentance without God.
John 6:44 says,”No one can come to me unless the Father who sent Me draws them to Me…..”
In short,on our own we have no ability to be remorseful for our sins and have a change of heart and turn to God in repentance.
Repentance is the work of God and it is deeper than just saying,Forgive me Lord.
It’s a supernatural work of God and results in the repentant person becoming a new creation.
When this supernatural work of God has been done in you,you will no longer struggle to stay away from the sin you repented of.
Actually,it will take you putting in effort if you are to commit that sin.This level of repentance exists and I can testify that God does this work in all who are willing.
PERSONAL TESTIMONY ON THIS;
When in the world,my younger sister Zipporah and I were so addicted to music by westlife.We had all their albums and would make sure we learnt ALL their songs word for word such that we could sing them all without looking at lyrics.We knew every beat in every song,we knew where the singers would do a high pitch and low.
But when God showed mercy to us and we came to know Jesus Christ,something supernatural happened.
This was after the Holy Spirit baptism and we did not realize this had happened till days later I realized I couldn’t remember any title of any song by westlife!
It was as if that part of my memory had completely been wiped clean.
I was shocked and then I tried to see if I could remember any of their lyrics and I realized they were completely wiped out too!
I couldn’t remember any song,not even one,even when I tried to remember, and then I realized this must be supernatural.
I told my sister about it and she too realized she couldn’t remember anything,neither the songs or lyrics!They were all completely gone!
And through this God taught me that when we repent and get deeper in our relationship with God,our struggle with sin lessens as our flesh dies and obedience to God begins to become the natural for us.
You get born again,all things become new and you become a new creation.
This is so real and I believe it because I personally experienced it,but it starts with the flesh being crucified and it starts with spending time in God’s presence.
This spiritual rebirth happens when we yield to God and start seeking Him.
For me, this testimony I shared happened after I had been spending a lot of time with God such that I was literally ADDICTED TO GOD.
At first,prayer took effort,but as I surrendered and kept asking God to help me repent,to help me get closer to Him,I began longing for more prayer time.
Prayer time would literally excite me.I would literally feel my heart excited when I know am going to pray.
It happened when my siblings and I just started following Jesus, and we began to pray.
We were fasting and we were spending the entire day in prayer.
We would spend the whole day seeking God and divided our time mainly into bible reading,singing, and prayer.
But I remember that even after spending the whole day in prayer,my desire was not satisfied,at night I would still sneak away to a spare room and just pray and bask in God’s presence.
When I was in God’s presence I felt the most satisfaction and nothing else mattered.
I had been addicted to the internet before,but during this period of seeking God,my phone broke and that didn’t bother me.I felt no loss staying without my phone which I had previously been addicted to and didn’t even make efforts to replace it.
One day,I was with Zipporah and two of my brothers,we were coming from somewhere and were relaxed in walking and just chatting,taking our time.
And I remember I just had this overwhelming desire to just be with Jesus in prayer,I felt as though we were walking too slow and wasting time,I just wanted to pray,not because I had a request,but just because I wanted to spend time with Jesus.
I told my siblings that we had to hurry.
When we just got home,I didn’t even get into the house.I just went straight to the backyard,got on my knees to pray and suddenly I was satisfied!Like someone who is so thirsty and they finally get a drink. It was during this period that my memory was erased of those worldly demonic songs I had been listening to while in the world.
I realize that all this had nothing to do with me,it was the work of God.
I just had to be yielded to Him.To be surrendered.
So we cannot die to sin if we are not spending time with Jesus. Enough time, not just two minutes of your day. We need to spend time with God and allow Him to change us.
Jesus said if anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself, carry his cross and follow me.
And unless a seed falls to the ground and dies, it abides alone.
Death to self is a must when it comes to true salvation. It happens as you wait upon the Lord.
You don’t deny yourself just by saying “No” to yourself because you are not strong enough to say no to the flesh,the Holy Spirit is the one who gives you inner strength to live free from the flesh and its control.
That happens when you seek God with all your heart (Jeremiah 29:11)
Seeking God is the area the devil will fight you the most,because he knows what will come out of it.
It is possible to lose your salvation without realizing it.
When you lose it,it begins to affect your hunger for God.You just find that you are no longer thirsty for God,you are no longer longing for Him, and you don’t love Him as much as you used to when you just began,you’ve lost your appetite for the word of God,and you no longer desire to pray.
These are signs of spiritual death and Jesus is saying remember where you have fallen and go back to your first love.
“Nevertheless I have something against you because you have lost your first love.Remember therefore where you had fallen and repent and do the first works or else I will come unto you quickly and remove thy candlestick out of its place except you repent.” (Revelations 2:4-5)
Just like you lose your appetite when you get sick physically,even in the spirit you lose your appetite for God and that results in death if it is allowed to continue.
The bible says walk in the spirit (presence of God/fellowship with God) and you won’t fulfil the desires of your flesh.(Galatians 5:16)
And only those who are led by the Spirit are the children of God.(Romans 8:14)
It is impossible to walk with God if your flesh is still alive.
God will vomit you out even if you have just have 10% of the flesh still left in you. (Revelations 3:16) He wants your all, or nothing.
You will only die to the flesh when you get on your knees to seek God.
So,saints be encouraged,today if you hear His voice do not harden your heart.Get on your knees and start seeking God in true repentance and always seek His correction and judgment about your life because He is willing to help you forsake your sin. Psalms 19:9-13
God Bless You
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