Repentance...What Is It? Part I

I've been doing a lot of thinking on this subject recently and wanted to do a little study on it. So over the next week or so, Lord willing, I'll be doing posts on it.

There comes a time in all of our lives when repentance becomes a necessary part of our spiritual walk. Well, it's always necessary in the spiritual walk. Whether it is the beginning of our spiritual birth or a stepping stone to spiritual growth. Understand, though, you can not grow spiritually with God until you have been spiritually birthed. There is always order in GOD'S plan. And by the way, without God, there is no spiritual birth or growth. Just thought I'd throw that in there.

Acts 9:35 "And all that dwelt at Lydda and Saron saw him, and turned to the Lord." Peter had just came to Lydda and found Aeneas who had been sick of the palsy for eight years. Peter looked at him and said, "...Anneas, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole: arise, and make thy bed." At that moment, Aeneas arose IMMEDIATELY. No doubt in those eight years, everyone had seen this poor man struggle through with his sickness until the man of God came on the scene, with the power of God in his words, and he was instantly healed. Because of that healing, he was made whole and all those that saw him repented and turned to the Lord.

Acts 8:22 "Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee." To repent is to turn away from your sin and never look back. We've all seen people go to the alter, week after week, asking the Lord to help them with the same sin they've struggled with for years. But never once have they repented of that sin and given it completely over to the Lord. Never to return to it again. The burden of sin we carry begins in our heart. We can make our plea for forgiveness until the day is long, but if our repentance is only in our head, there is no true repentance. Repentance must come from the heart and there, God forgives us.

I Samuel 7:3 "And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the LORD, and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines." Looking up Ashtaroth (feel free to correct me if I'm wrong) I found that he was a god in demonology, a prince of Hell. Samuel was telling Israel that God would deliver them if they would RETURN to the Lord with all their HEARTS. Not their head. Not their bodies. Their HEARTS. We can physically return to the Lord. On the outside, people see us living for the Lord. Doing our reasonable service for Him. But the Lord sees how we're living in our heart. He sees if we are turning to God or if we are holding on to Ashtaroth. If our hearts do not return to Him, He can't deliver us from our sin. If repentance is only in our head, we will fall back again. If repentance is in the heart, God can and will deliver us.

Acts 15:3 "And being brought on their way by the church, they passed through Phenice and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles: and they caused great joy unto all the brethren." When I read this, one thing came to mind in reference to repentance. The church rejoiced. Granted, there were Pharisees in the midst. There were ALWAYS Pharisees. Unfortunately, they're still around in our churches today. But we can't worry about the Pharisees. The church should be rejoicing when one converts or returns to God through true repentance. If we would quit wondering if "they really got it" and just rejoice in the moment, God will take care of the rest.