Repent First

“Regret” is a plain sense of sorrow for offensive or immoral behavior. “Penitence” is a sincere admission of transgression with an implication that the penitent intends to undertake moral improvement. “Contrition” is an absolute relinquishment of self to complete and perfect penitence for misdeeds. “Compunction” is a simple pang of conscience for a contemplated action of questionable morality. To “REPENT” is a deep commitment to turn away from our sin (or that which offends God).
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We must REPENT and give control of our life to God. This is God’s Blessing to us, by His Grace, to exercises our gift of “freewill” to choose Him, REPENT, and follow Jesus’ path. Glory to the Lamb of God! In His infinite mercy and inconceivable love, He forgives us and blesses us, even when we do not deserve it.
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Today’s evangelists are doing a great disservice to their listeners by preaching a watered down version of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Their words serve only Satan, as their followers fall away from Grace and God’s Blessings He intended for us. We cannot be seeking, or doing, God’s Will for us as we live for the world. We fool ourselves into believing that we must get by in the world, or give into desires of the flesh, and God does not hold it against us.
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We live in ‘secret sin’, or what we consider ‘little sins’, which aren’t hurting anyone. If it offends God, who is Holy without compromise, it hurts us and our relationship with Him. We can’t possibly receive that which He has intended for us. We may feel like everything is fine, and we are getting away with our desires, for now, but, we are heading for disaster. Many live in adultery, or with hate for one another, and say they are “Blessed by God”. They are so confused.
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Many people are walking around calling themselves Christians, and believing they are, but, live far out of the Will of the Father (Mat 7:21). They live in iniquity, which they never gave up from the time they said a little prayer, sometime ago, and tagged themselves “Christian”. God hates all sin, large or small. The watered down Gospel we receive does not depict the true God’s Holy and Just nature. Evangelists would have us believe that attempting ‘good works’ by walking in righteousness is not what God expects from us. The truth is, ‘good works’ will not alone get us to Heaven, but, is completely expected of us, by God’s commands.
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I encourage you to read The Four Step Program if you are seeking knowledge regarding salvation, and what it takes. It really is very simple, but, it is acquired in steps, not just one simple act of reciting a prayer and saying we believe it. I say to you, out of love, you are only fooling yourself and gain nothing if you have not truly turned your life over to the Lord. If life went on as usual for you, and you do nothing to resist temptations, and live in sin, you were never really saved at all.
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The first step in accepting God’s greatest gift of salvation, is to admit we are a sinner. Then we must repent, or turn away from that which offends God (sin). We do not become sinless Saints. We are still human, and expected to slip. We are convicted by the Holy Spirit in our hearts that we have offended God, and we immediately repent, and ask forgiveness. He is faithful to forgive us. We do not continue with the sin, until we are satisfied, knowing it is wrong, but, we will seek forgiveness afterward.
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Our own President claims to be a Christian, but, supports killing God’s creations. What a horrible message to the people he leads, that you can be a Christian and choose any ridiculous thing in life regardless it offends God in the most heinous ways. These types of Christians have no idea what the Bible says, or believe it. This is what a Christian is. A follower of Jesus’ Gospel, and God’s commands. We cannot call ourselves Christian and do evil. It is mixing water with oil…it doesn’t!
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The Blood of Jesus does not mix with sin, it covers it, washes it clean. The very first thing to be accomplished in order for us to be washed clean by the blood, is to repent, and stay away from sin as much as possible. If we are aware that what we are doing is wrong, God always provides a way out of temptation. We cannot use the excuse, “The devil made me do it”. We have been given intelligence to know right from wrong. We have been given the Holy Spirit, if we truly accepted Christ, and if we seek His assistance, He will assist us out of temptation, always.
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God does not force us to turn away from sin, or the world. He gave us freewill, to choose for ourselves. This is what our salvation is dependant upon. Our choosing to walk in the other direction, away from the world and fleshly desires, is exactly what a Christian makes. We are also expected to read His Word, and serve Him, by speaking of His ‘goodness’ to others.
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The Lord’s Word is clear, and inerrant. If we do not believe that, then we are not “Christians”. We have compromised the commands of the Gospel, to suit our desires. Hence so many religions which are supposedly based on the Holy Bible. Everyone wants to interpret God’s Word to suit their own needs and desires. It is not a smorgasbord, where we pick and choose what we like for today. Just like man’s law, or civil law, we cannot decide we don’t like the way it sounds, so we don’t have to obey it, as it was written by men.
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God’s law was written by men, by the will of God, and the accounts of Jesus’ life. Man’s law was written by men, by the will of the people, mostly inspired by God’s law. We cannot choose to ignore man’s law. God’s desire for a relationship with us, is based on our faith, and depends on our exercising our freewill to choose Him. However, we must take the narrow path, that leads to the narrow gate, into His Kingdom.
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Evangelists not only lie, but, take snippets out of context, to support their Warm and Fuzzy Sermons. They count on appealling to those, especially whom, refuse to get into the Word on their own. They sell books, many books, appealing to those, especially whom, refuse to repent, but, do not want to realize they are so far away from God. We cannot blame the evangelist as we are standing in Judgement.

The Four Step Program

For a few months I have been spreading the same message through my articles on various pages, discussion groups on other’s Christian pages, and wherever possible. I have been doing this through obedience to the Lord and with the help of His Divine guidance. It certainly has not set well with other Christians, and especially with evangelists and top televangelists.

I have received countless negative feedback and requests to stay out of discussions as my message totally conflicts with their ‘warm and fuzzy’ sermons and attractive websites. Out of over thirty requests to exchange links with other’s pages, I received two. Praise the Lord for that and God Bless them. As most know I have a full list of various links with different Christian points of view. I may not subscribe to everything they are preaching, teaching, or advising, but, as I responded in their rejection letters (the ones gracious enough to send a letter), It is about spreading the Word and leading people in the right direction. If my page is not appealing enough to someone seeking answers, then at least they may be led by other’s.

Abortion, and support for it, is just as prevalent among Christians as anyone else. Divorce rate is 50%; 29% of those are Christians. Sexual amorality has no distinction among Christians, yet so many think all who profess Christianity will go to Heaven; millions will be taken in the rapture.

As many of whom follow my articles have known, the constant theme is, many who think they are going to heaven, simply are not. This is not popular among many, as you can imagine. There are the ones who think they don’t have to believe in anything, as long as they are ‘good’. This group covers many, from atheists to people sitting in church to appease someone else. There are the ones who think they don’t have to believe Jesus is the only way, but, claim they are Christian. Oprah is the high priestess of that new religion. Then, there are the ones to which I have been called to reach out to; the ones that said the prayer of salvation at some point, and claim they are Christian only for that reason. They rely on what they think is a Bible believing Pastor to feed them all the words they need. The problem is, many of those Pastors will not see Heaven. They think because Jesus died horribly for our sins, they won’t pay for a sin free-for-all.

Just because a man is standing in front of a crowd and he has a license to minister does not mean he is a true man of God. If he is a televangelist the odds are even greater he is not a man of God. This is not to say that everyone who is on the two most popular Christian networks is not to be trusted, but, you must discern. It is our individual responsibility to know God’s Word, and know when it is abused. There are so many of whom say God speaks to them all the time and they are passing His message to you. That makes them a prophet. A prophet in a $3,000(US) suit, selling blessings to meet your budget. I have always felt such sorrow for those who could not afford a blessing and missed out. Actually, if they just picked up a Bible and found out what it really means to be a Christian, they would receive more blessing than they would know with what to do. The only one receiving anything is the televangelist… all your money. They will convince you it is God’s Will that they live better than most, in order to spread God’s Word.

Most of today’s evangelists are teaching the same misguided doctrine. They have plucked out of context those scriptures which, viewed partially, backs up their worldly message of don’t worry about sin; or ‘if it feels good – do it’, you will be forgiven. For the most part, they take passages from letters from Paul TO OTHER CHRISTIANS. Paul was not writing spam to heathens in hopes they would ignorantly follow and be duped into believing. He was writing to Christians to encourage them and let them know how important it was to not forget the mission of spreading God’s Word. They are already presumed to be without sin on a regular basis.

Everybody is aware of John 3:16, but, this passage became not as popular with the evangelists as did Paul’s letter to the Romans 10:9, That if you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved. There are many other instances similar to this, but, this being the most used. Whether it is implied, or mistakenly received, so many, no, too many believe this is saying all you have to do is believe, and you will be back in Kansas, like Dorothy.

If we were to read on from Romans 10:9, we would clearly see this passage is to provoke in us the witness to others, which was the gift given to us as believers. It does not mean all we need to do is believe Jesus died for our sin and go on sinning. As believers, we also are professing we believe His Word, in its integrity. To suggest to a believer that God’s law was just Old Testament “legalism” and it doesn’t have to be regarded in these modern times, is ridiculous. The legalism of which they refer, pertained to how they wore their beards, or proper attire, or how to worship in regards to what was available at the time. Not the commandments. When Paul wrote his many letters to believers, it was much easier to be without sin in those days, when they had none of the temptations we have today. This does not mean it is alright to give into the temptations of today, because there are so many… too many for us to deal with.

The temptations must be dealt with, regardless the rest of the world has gone in the wrong direction and succumbed to Satan’s lies. We as believers are supposed to be aware of the commandments and make every attempt to follow His word, rather than cherish iniquity, and presume God will not judge us as we have chosen to follow the world, instead. God doesn’t even figure into our path of selfish choices, and we have been given the false message He doesn’t want us to be unhappy in whatever situation we’ve been given, so, it is OK to sin to get out of it; and He will forgive us afterward. This is wickedness, which we rationalize, to serve our own ‘worldly’ desires.

Many call themselves Christians as they belong to a church and believe there is ‘some kind of God’. They do not know what kind, because just like atheists, they block out the evidence which is contrary with their views, so as to support their lifestyle. They have never said the prayer of salvation, and like atheists, are stubborn to do so, as they know it would mean making changes and giving up their iniquity. These people, including atheists, are in a much better situation to go to Heaven than most professed believers, which whom, have said the prayer of salvation. This is simply because the atheists always have the opportunity to repent and accept Christ as their Saviour. The disillusioned ‘believer’ will be caught off guard one day, as they are blind to the fact they are not saved. Even Oprah has a chance to realize how completely stupid she is, regardless how rich she is, and drop to her knees and repent. When they do realize their calamity and say the salvation prayer, hopefully they will realize it is a package, a multi-step process, and not just in and of itself, saying it, means they are saved.

The prayer of salvation can be stated in many ways, as long as all the requirements are covered. The most basic, and effective wordage would be as follows:

Lord God, I am a sinner. I repent of my sins, and ask your forgiveness. I believe you died on the cross for my sins because you love me. I now ask you to come into my heart and be Lord of my life.

By saying this prayer to Jesus and meaning it with all your heart, you are committing to four basic and very prominent steps to ensuring your salvation.

Step 1. You are confessing you are a sinner. This is where you should take a few moments to acknowledge your most prevalent iniquity to the Lord. Whoever walks another through this prayer should allow for this moment of meditation between the recipient and His Saviour.

Step 2. You vow to the Lord you will repent, or turn away from, your sin, and ask His forgiveness. All your sin, not just the big ones, but, you’ll hang onto the ones you conceive to be not so bad, as this will surely make Him happy; you gave up the big ones, right? God hates all sin. ALL sin; big or little. If you are making a commitment, you go all the way. We do not bargain with God on which sins would be OK to keep. We are promising to not intentionally sin. This why the first thing we should do is find a Bible and learn His commandments; and always know it is His law, now and forever. You are now, also, stating to yourself you are dead to sin.

Step 3. You are letting the Lord know you believe with all your heart that he came to earth as one of us, but, innocent, and in a humble way, and suffered what NO man would ever, just to give you this opportunity to believe in Him and what He stands for, and therefore enabling you to share the Kingdom of Heaven. If we don’t believe this, we don’t stand a chance, but, that is not saying that is all we have to believe. Otherwise, the prayer of salvation would be quite short. “I believe you died and was raised again”. No commitment on our part, other than to believe that? Interesting.

Step 4. You are giving up your will for your life and telling God you now want only His will for you. You are seceding to the fact your way doesn’t work, no matter how much you think it does, and seeking His way. If you seek after His Word and truly repent, He will allow the Holy Spirit to guide you through everyday life in a way that will keep you righteous. He will show you how to resist temptation and live in the mainstream and yet be faithful to Him. If we do not follow the Will of the Father, He will say “Depart from me, I never knew you“.

After completing this process, you will immediately experience a profound change in yourself and your life, if you were sincere. But, the point here is, the commitment here, on our part, is a package deal. It is never expressed in God’s Word, anywhere, that all we have to do is say that little prayer, and profess we believe it. God knows we are sinners by nature, and He is faithful to forgive us, as we acknowledge our slip up, and repent. We cannot hide any sin, and He will not ignore any sin, regardless how we rationalize it. Our Lord is more Holy than we can conceive. We are so fortunate that He is. We cannot take advantage of His goodness, however, or He will let us know of His wrath, real quick. If He was not a just God, we would not have a prayer.

Gal 2:20, It is no longer I who live, but, Christ who lives in me, and this life I must live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave His life for me.

Larry Huch, a well known televangelist, is waving his Bible at his audience and entertaining them with the idea they may sin; as God did not expect “Americans in 2009” to be bound by His Word as it was two thousand years ago. I am not making that up. That is exactly what Mr. Huch said. Hopefully very few believe him when he speaks garbage like that, because, just like Oprah, if she doesn’t change her ways, he will go to hell.

I have had many letters from ‘believers’ stating we cannot lose our salvation. Really?!! You go right on believing that, if you insist. But first, you should read Matthew, chapter 7, over and over apparently, until you get it. Wouldn’t a little reading with an open mind be worth not going to hell? There are so many passages pertaining to sin and iniquity, and what it means to God. I don’t find anywhere it means you can keep right on doing it and still go to Heaven, because a false prophet said you will. God expects us to go through great suffering, if need be, to stand for our beliefs, and we will be blessed after this life on earth as we know it. Nowhere in the Bible does it say we are promised riches or complete happiness, except through Him. If we have anything that would be of help to another, we are to give it up. Why do we believe that a man, or woman, wearing expensive clothes and jewelry, living in mansions obtained from spreading the Gospel, are holy people? We rationalize they deserve riches as they are doing such ‘good works’. God doesn’t expect everyone to be poor, but, He doesn’t expect everyone to enter the kingdom of Heaven, either.