 To View This Bible Study Click On The Picture!
The Process Of Repentance
By Pastor L. Marshall
If there is one word that would describe ‘the act’ of repentance, it would be the word submission. For it is submission that God desires from every person on earth. 2 Peter 3:9 states that the Lord “…is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that ALL should come to repentance.” To repent is to submit to the will of God. Without submission to the will of God, no man can be saved.
The true meaning of this present life can only be possessed as one prepares for the life to come. This preparation towards salvation, invites first and foremost a person’s repentance of sins as he turns from his carnal way of life and surrenders (submits) completely to the will of God.
We may ask, “Why did God create us capable of sin?” Answer lies in the fact that God’s desire is to be glorified by His creation, and in order for Him to receive glory we must have the freedom to choose! When we choose to serve Him as opposed to being forced or “programmed” to serve Him, He receives glory.
Our choosing to serve Him is an indication of our faith, our trust, and our LOVE for Him.
The process of repentance affects three primary areas of our lives. First, true and effective repentance must take place in our heart, which is the spiritual core of each of us and is the emotional core of our being. Through genuine repentance from the heart we enter into a personal relationship with God. Secondly, our mind must embrace and obey the teachings of Scripture.
Repentance means a change of mind as well as a change of heart. Thirdly, we must submit our human willto the will of God! We must forsake our former lifestyles, attitudes, and values based on carnality and embrace a lifestyle based upon the righteousness offered to us through Jesus Christ. Repentance is not only departing from evil practices; it is also embracing the ways of God! As I said in time past, “We need to love WHAT He loves, and to hate WHAT He hates!”
Other elements involved in the “process of repentance” are
1) Conviction (Acts 2:37) “…they were pricked in their heart, and said… what must we do?”
2) Godly sorrow (2 Corinthians 7: 10) “…godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation”
3) Restitution (Luke 19: 8,9) Zaccheus said, “…if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.
And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house…”
In conclusion, may we all as God’s church pray for a continual “spirit of repentance” to ask God’s forgiveness whenever we fail Him, and then “change!”
Romans 2:4 “…the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance”
| 
