Repentance! Part II

"Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins" Acts 5:31.

Repentance includes sorrow for sin and turning away from it. We do not renounce sin unless we see its sinfulness; until we turn away from it in our hearts, there will be no real change in our lives.

How do we recognize the sin in our lives? In the Savior's life the principles of God's law, love to God and to man, were perfectly exemplified. Benevolence, unselfish love, was the life of His soul. It is as we behold Him, as the light from our Savior falls upon us, that we see the sinfulness of our own hearts" Steps to Christ, p. 28.

When the light from Christ penetrates into our souls, we begin to see our selfishness and the resistance we have against the principles of doing the right thing that our Creator has attempted to communicate to us in the Bible. We ignore the scriptures and the lessons Jesus shared with His disciples as He lived with them and taught them the principles of the life.

On one occasion supposedly religious men accused a woman of adultery and cited a law of Moses that such should be stoned. Jesus responded by saying, "He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first." Then he stooped down and began to write their sins on the dust of the ground, and their consciences were convicted and they left one by one. Jesus turned to the woman and asked, "Woman, where are your accusers? Has no one condemned you?" She answered, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said to her, "Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more."

"Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, 'I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life'" John 8:3-12.

When we allow the light of life, the light from Christ to shine into our souls, we begin to see our imperfections, selfish motives and our struggles against God's principles of love, justice and doing what is right (Jeremiah 9:23, 24), then we know that our own righteousness is indeed filthy, and that the blood of Christ alone can cleanse us from the defilement of sin.

When we begin to understand what Jesus has done for us on the cross and that it is His blood that cleanses us from the defilement of sin, our hearts are renewed and we come close to Him.

"If you see your sinfulness, do not wait to make yourself better. How many there are who think they are not good enough to come to Christ. Do you expect to become better through your own efforts? 'Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard his spots? Then may you also do good, that are accustomed to do evil' Jeremiah 13:23. There is help for us only in God. We must not wait for stronger persuasions, for better opportunities, or for holier tempers. We can do nothing of ourselves. We must come to Christ just as we are.

"But let none deceive themselves with the thought that God, in His great love and mercy, will yet save even the rejecters of His grace. The exceeding sinfulness of sin can be estimated only in the light of the cross. When men urge that God is too good to cast off the sinner, let them look to Calvary. It was because there was no other way in which man could be saved, because without this sacrifice it was impossible for the human race to escape from the defiling power of sin, and be restored to communion with holy beings, -impossible for them again to become partakers of spiritual life, -it was because of this that Christ took upon Himself the guilt of the disobedient and suffered in the sinner's stead. The love and suffering and death of the Son of God all testify to the terrible enormity of sin and declare that there is no escape from its power, no hope of the higher life, but through the submission of the soul to Christ.

"The impenitent sometimes excuse themselves by saying of professed Christians, 'I am as good as they are. They are no more self-denying, sober, or circumspect in their conduct than I am. They love pleasure and self-indulgence as well as I do.' Thus they make the faults of others an excuse for their own neglect of duty. But the sins and defects of others do not excuse anyone, for the Lord has not given us an erring human pattern. The spotless Son of God has been given as our example, and those who complain of the wrong course of professed Christians are the ones who should show better lives and nobler examples. If they have so high a conception of what a Christian should be, is not their own sin so much the greater? They know what is right, and yet refuse to do it" Steps to Christ, pp. 31, 32.

"You who in heart long for something better than this world can give, recognize this longing as the voice of God to your soul. Ask Him to give you repentance, to reveal Christ to you in His infinite love. In the Savior's life the principles of God's law, love to God and to man, were perfectly exemplified. Benevolence, unselfish love, was the life of His soul. It is as we behold Him, as the light from our Savior falls upon us, that we see the sinfulness of our own hearts" Ibid., p. 28.

May God's love, His Presence and His blessings continue to be with you!