From La Vista Church of Christ post August 6, 2024 by Terry Wane Benton
God loved us at our worst, but that never meant He accepted us all without repentance and change (Romans 5:8; Luke 13:3; Acts 2:38). So, God’s love motivates us to change so that He can accept us into fellowship. Love does not mean automatic acceptance into fellowship.
God loves us all, but the 3000 had to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus before they could be forgiven of sins and accepted into fellowship with God (Acts 2:36-41). Love did not automatically accept them. Love is a good incentive to repent (Romans 2:4ff); without repentance, love is wasted on us. Love longs for our repentance (II Peter 3:9) because God cannot accept us into salvation and fellowship without it.
Repentance is something that everybody needs to do
(From Gary Henry’s “Daily Family Bible Studies” year 2 week 9)
Sometimes we forget that repentance is something that everybody needs to do. God commands us to repent of our sins, and we cannot be saved without obeying that command. If we are fairly “good” people, however, we may think our own sins are not serious enough that we need to repent as others do. We may reserve the word “repent” for murderers, adulterers, drunkards, and the like — believing that we ourselves merely need to “mend our ways” a little or engage in a bit of “self-improvement.” But the Bible is clear: “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead” (Ac. 17:30,31 ESV).
Most of us underestimate how many of our problems are the result of sins that we need to repent of. Sin has a way of wreaking havoc in our lives — making us unhappy with ourselves, disrupting our relationships with others, spoiling our work, and much more. We pay a high price for our sins. And as long as we call our sins by some nicer sounding name and avoid doing what has to be done, we will continue to suffer the consequences. The pain will not go away until the cancer is cut out. If only we could see how often our problems would vanish if we would merely have the courage to call our sins exactly what they are . . . and repent of them!
When we wander away from Him, God wants, like a loving Father, to win back our hearts and receive us home again. Knowing that God is on our side and that He patiently awaits our repentance ought to make a difference in our attitudes. As Paul asked, “Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” (Rom. 2:4 ESV). We need never doubt God’s love for us or His willingness to forgive. He is eager to accept our repentance and clear us completely of our wrongdoing. But we must have the courage to admit that the command to repent applies to us. As we go through this week, let’s consider this often-neglected command of God. Let’s see what sins we need to repent of, and let’s simply do it!