Turn Away From Sin

Let’s talk about repentance and what it means.  How do we show that we have repented?  When a person repents it means that they turn away from their sin and go in the opposite direction.  Repentance is thinking and acting different, having a change of mind.  

I don’t think you can be a Christian without repentance.  There are people that say the sinner’s prayer but never really repent and they continue in their old sinful lifestyle wondering why there is no change in their lives.  In the old days when people repented they put on sackcloth and threw ashes on their heads, some even tore their robes as a sign of repentance. 

Repentance was a very important subject to Jesus.  One day Jesus was talking to the people telling them they needed to repent.  At the time some told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilot mingled with the sacrifices.  Then Jesus answered them saying this in Luke 13:2-5, “And Jesus said to them, ‘Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate?  I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.  Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem?  I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.’”  Two times Jesus said, “but unless you repent, ye will all likewise perish.”  It is not the way you die, or the way you may escape death, that makes you more righteous, we have all sinned and we all need to repent.  

This is not the first time Jesus talked about repentance, He preached about it in Matthew when He first started preaching.  It says this in Matthew 4:17, “From that time Jesus began to preach and say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” 

Also when John the Baptist began his ministry it says this in Matthew 3:1-2, “Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’”  Before Jesus was crucified for our sins John baptized the people for repentance after they confessed their sins.  This baptism wasn’t for just anyone but only for those who truly repented of their sins.  

When some of the Pharisees and Sadducees came to be baptized, John rebuked them and said this in Matthew 3:7-9, “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, ‘You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance; and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.’”  

I hope now you can understand how important repentance is to the believer and also to the un-believer.  So, if you haven’t repented of your sins and confessed them to the Lord, I would suggest that you do, so that you do not perish without the Lord because that would be the saddest day of your life.  So think about it and don’t put it off!  God bless you and have a great day!!