COMMENTS ON REPENTANCE PLEASE.....

What does it mean to repent?

For example:

1. Brother Boniface Has been nicking paper at work. Now he no longer does it because he no longer work in that department.

2. Sister Tushida wants a role in church, and pastor says the role is not consistent with an unchristian habit she has. Sister wants the role so bad she gives up the habit.

LET US ALL SHARE OUR VIEWS, I BELIEVE GOD WANTS TO SPEAK WITH US FOR 2012.

Psalm 51 is David's cry to God for repentance for the pattern of sin he engaged in following his transgression with Bathsheba. You can almost picture David on his knees crying out to God at the top of his lungs in asking Him to wash away his sins.

This Psalm also offers us a picture of what repentance should look like in our lives.

First, David acknowledges his sin. Next, he asks for forgiveness. Then, he asks God to renew him. Finally, he asks God to help him use his sin to teach those who are engaged in sin and are in need of repentance


Brother Boniface would probably steal the paper again were he to have the opportunity, as circumstances not a need to repent that has caused him to stop.

Would sister Tushida have seen the need to repent were it not for the role?

To repent indeed means to acknowledge sin / fault, make a u turn, turning away from sin, change of mind such as to produce regret or even remorse on account of sin, to change one's mind and purpose as the result of after knowledge, a true sense of one's own guilt and sinfulness and turning from it to God.

I dont think brother Boniface has repented. It is just because he is no longer in that department that he has stopped nicking the paper. There is no admission or acknowledging of sin. I am sure if he was given an opportunity to go back to that dept he will even nick more perhaps thinking that it his last opportunity, per-adventure he might not go back there ever again, forgive!!!!
As for sister Tushida its a different story. It is just because of the so much wanted post that she has changed. She has not stopped because she has realised what she was doing, but because of the so called post. There are high chances that she will go back her old ways if the post is not given to her or is taken away from her at some point.

Therefore there is no repentence shown in the two. They have not acknowledged their sin, unless they are not aware of what they are doing. The Bible says in Acts 17v30...and the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent. So unless somebody brings it to their attention that they are wrong, they might continue.

To repent means turning from sin. It also means to change one's mind. The bible tells us that true repentance will result in a change of action (Luke 3:8-14, Acts 3:19). Acts 26:20 declares, ".... I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds"(KJV). The New Living Translation says "and prove they have changed by the good things they do. In short repentance is a change of mind that results in a change of action.
A tree is known by its fruits, in the same way someone who is pertinent will bring forth works of repentance ( Matthew 3:.

There is true repentance and there is false repentance. Some of us may be very seriously and solemnly affected when we go to God's house but our hearts may be hardened and we may not truly repent. Some of us may even be moved to sincere emotion under God's Minister, standing aghast at the thought that God will punish us for the sins. For that moment we feel sorry and ask for forgiveness but it only lasts for a little while and then we go back to our old ways.
Many a times we humble ourselves before God for a time yet we remain slaves of our transgressions. We may be afraid of damnation but we are often not afraid of sinning, we may be afraid of hell but but not of our iniquities, we may be afraid of being cast into the pit but not afraid to harden our hearts against God's commandment.
We tremble at hell but truly it is not the state of our hearts that trouble us but hell. The fact that we are afraid and tremble and full of emotion when the gospel is preached does not mean we have repented. It is false repentance.

If hell were extinguished, our repentance would be extinguished. If the terror awaiting us were withdrawn, we would sin with a higher hand than before.
But it is possible for a us to repent without any terrific display of terrors of the law. We may repent entirely through the power of the voice of mercy. Some hearts God opens to faith(as in the case of Lydia- Acts 16:14). Others He assaults with the sledge hammer of the wrath to come, some he opens with the pick lock of grace and some with the crowbar of the law. There are different ways of getting there but the question is, are we there? Have we got there?

In the case of brother Boniface, maybe it is God showing him mercy and saving him from the crowbar of the law. Maybe he has one of the hearts that God opened with the pick lock of grace. To the human eye and understanding it may appear that the brother is no longer nicking the paper because he no longer works in that department. But what if it is God showing him mercy? The brother may sit and reflect and realise what a lucky escape he has had and may repent fully and will never repeat it even if the opportunity arises. We will only know when another opportunity like that presents itself.

For Sister Tushida, the fact that she is even willing to put aside her unchristian character to take up a position in the house of God tells the kind of spirit she has. it shows a love for ministry that she herself may not know that she possess. As she lays aside the unchristian behaviour even if under false pretence am sure God will work on her and as she works in the ministry and grows daily she will gradually be renewed for God's work and that unchristian behaviour may be a thing of the past.
Having said that, only time, situation and circumstance will tell if brother Boniface and sister Tushida have really repented until then I cannot conclude that they haven't.
As I stated earlier, there are different ways of getting there, brother Boniface may have got there by chance and grace and sister Tushida may have got there dubiously but the question is are they truly there? And if they are, will they stay there? Everyone deserves a chance and they have to be given the chance to prove themselves rather than just assuming they have not repented purely because of how they got there.

To conclude, we must ask ourselves these questions. Will we repent of our sins if no punishment were placed before us? If we knew we might give up our lives to sin and that we may do so with impunity, would we still feel that we hated sin? And that we could not and would not commit sin? Would we still desire holiness? Would we still desire to live like Christ? If so then we can say sincerely that we have a repentance which is unto life.

Brethren, let us remember that repentance is a grace. We must trust in the Lord, and try every day to get a penitential spirit. We must have sincere penitence and then under divine grace we will go on from strength to strength until we hate and abhor sin.