“Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts of the Apostles 2:38 NLT)
Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away. (Acts of the Apostles 3:19 NLT)
When, by the grace of God, we are finally ready to acknowledge our sinful condition and the fact that we have no hope in saving ourself, the first thing we must do is repent. The dictionary definition of repent says it all. – To feel sorry for past conduct. And for that sorrow for sin to lead you to decide to change your “life for the better. – Repentance involves a conscious decision to change. To turn away from life as you’ve been living it and be ready to start fresh with Jesus.
Throughout scripture God has provided warning after warning for people to repent. He also created us with free will which essentially leaves the ball in our court. Don’t ignore the messages you sense from the Holy Spirit saying. “Hey. This message is for you. Look at your life now. It’s time to turn away from your lost condition and let Jesus offer you eternal salvation.” If you continually choose to ignore these messages, your heart will get harder and harder until one day it won’t matter to you anymore. You will be officially comfortable with life the way you’re doing it and you won’t feel the need for a Savior.
I’ve heard it said, “God wants you just as you are, but he doesn’t want to keep you that way.” Some people mistake the idea of repentance with the idea that they need to reach some certain level of righteousness on their own before they can turn to God. But that is not what repentance means. Once you turn around and take the first step in a new direction, God will begin his work in your life. You cannot change your life on your own. It’s a partnership that will only work if you decide to change and then allow God to work in your life.
Don’t wait until it’s too late! Take the first step and repent.
“God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him. For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead.” (Acts of the Apostles 17:30-31 NLT)
So the disciples went out, telling everyone they met to repent of their sins and turn to God. (Mark 6:12 NLT)
“Therefore, tell the people of Israel, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Repent and turn away from your idols, and stop all your detestable sins. (Ezekiel 14:6 NLT)
Jesus ministry begins — From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near. ” (Matthew 4:17 NLT)
I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners and need to repent.” (Luke 5:32 NLT)
“Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Won’t she light a lamp and sweep the entire house and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she will call in her friends and neighbors and say, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost coin.’ In the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels when even one sinner repents.” (Luke 15:8-10 NLT)
I have had one message for Jews and Greeks alike—the necessity of repenting from sin and turning to God, and of having faith in our Lord Jesus. (Acts of the Apostles 20:21 NLT)
LORD, you are searching for honesty. You struck your people, but they paid no attention. You crushed them, but they refused to be corrected. They are determined, with faces set like stone; they have refused to repent. (Jeremiah 5:3 NLT)
Then Jesus began to denounce the towns where he had done so many of his miracles, because they hadn’t repented of their sins and turned to God. (Matthew 11:20 NLT)
For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death. (2 Corinthians 7:10 NLT)
The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. (2 Peter 3:9 NLT)
People who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy. (Proverbs 28:13 NLT)
