Author: Bible Community Church

What Real Faith Is – Hebrews 11:1

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Heb 11:1

The eleventh chapter of the book of Hebrews is all about faith. After defining faith in verse one, the author then takes the reader on an exhilarating sweep through several biblical accounts of what men and women of God accomplished by faith. In short, they are examples of those who lived in the reality of Jesus’s resurrection. The book of Hebrews is important to our church today because we need faith to believe in the resurrection. We may have heard the gospel and of the resurrection for a long time, but professing is not enough- if we seek to live the resurrection life through our actions and attitude, we need faith. So then, who has faith? And what does genuine faith look like? We begin our new sermon series on faith with these two questions.

There are two types of people in this world- those who are of faith, and those who are not of faith. The last verse in Hebrews 10 speaks of those who seem to have faith, but are in the end destroyed, and of those who have the faith that preserves their soul before God. How can the genuine kind of faith be produced in us? It by an assurance of God’s forgiveness through Jesus Christ. Heb 10:18-20 tell us of those who are confident to come before God through Jesus Christ. Though they may have been the worst sinners, they are convinced of God’s forgiveness through the blood of Jesus Christ. Those who are of faith know that God was crucified in their place, and they now have a new understanding and a new way of living. Their minds, hearts, and bodies are completely turned towards Jesus, their Savior and Lord.

Do you realize how precious and powerful your salvation is? The church tends to push this central truth aside to focus on small things that can not compare. But before anything else, we must know where we stand when it comes faith. If you were to die today, and God asks why He should let you enter heaven, what would you say? There is only one door that leads to eternal life, and it is through one person- Jesus Christ. Jesus says the way that leads to life is narrow, and those who find it are few. Are you of the few who have genuine faith? (Matt 7:13-14)

What does genuine faith look like?

Those who possess faith have the Spirit of Christ. The Spirit of Jesus is the Holy Spirit whom Jesus promised to send to us to be with us forever. He is the Helper who was sent to guide, comfort, and lead us into making us more like Jesus through the Word of God. (Rom 8:9; Jn 14:18, 26) Christians are not perfect, but they are always growing because they are governed by the Holy Spirit whose sole purpose is to glorify Jesus. Living by faith means being filled with the Holy Spirit and being led by Him every day. His desire is to reign over us, conquer the power of sin, and prove that we belong to the Kingdom of God.

Those who possess faith love Christ distinctively. Apostle Paul considered everything as rubbish- quite literally, dung- compared to the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus his Lord. (Phil 3:7-9) Do you have this distinction for Christ? This is not an “extreme” kind of faith- this is how the Bible describes genuine faith. If Jesus’s worth to you is on the same level as marriage, kids, money, career, or anything else, you do not have faith. Without faith, you can not be emboldened to stand for Christ, because a half-hearted love for Christ will not risk anything for Him. We must not cheapen Christ, using faith as a means to get our own desires. Worldly gain is not the evidence of God’s blessing, because anyone can be rich, healthy, or famous without Christ. If we truly take time every day to measure what matters the most, we would consider as rubbish everything but Christ alone. The full measure of God’s blessing for us is Christ Himself.

Without faith, you can not do anything related to the Christian life. Faith is strengthened by remembering the gospel every day. The more you know the gospel, the more you will love it, for in the gospel, there is love, joy, and peace. The more you love the gospel, the more you will readily share it, as something you’ve experienced yourself. The gospel answers the ultimate question of our longing souls- How can a sinner be made righteous? In Christ alone- the righteous shall live by faith. (Rom 1:17) By faith, Christ will be central in your life, and in Him, there will be no distinction between life and death, for if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. This is the resurrection life.

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How to Live in Heaven on Earth – Colossians 3:1-2

After encountering the risen Lord, apostles Peter and John no longer measured anyone by money or repute- they had the life of Christ, and it was incomparable to anything that existed in the world. Jesus was all they had, and He was all anyone needed. (Acts 3:6) King David also described the resurrection life in Psalm 23. Although he predated Jesus’s life on earth, in the Spirit of the risen Lord, David wrote in verse 5, You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.

How can we live the resurrection life in our daily, ordinary lives? Based on these verses in Colossians, we see three things that are necessary to the believer- faith, Christ in our actions, and Christ in our thinking. We will cover the first two here today.

Have faith. Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ…

Believers are one with Christ in His life, death, and resurrection. They live by faith in the risen Lord, knowing that sin is dead through Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross. His death accounted for every single one of our sins, satisfying God’s justice, and bringing us to peace with God. Only Christ alone can save. (Col 2:8) The only righteousness that God accepts is the righteousness of Jesus Christ- every other means that man comes up with to be right with God will fall short. (Phil 3:7-9) If you find in yourself anything else to be proud of, it is an idol. God has freely given us everything we need to be saved. Be sure that your faith is in Christ alone.

Not only must we be clear in our faith that our sin and selves have been crucified with Christ, but we must also be convinced that we have been raised with Him in order to live the resurrection life. In Christ, we can claim every promise of God, because we are God’s children and fellow heirs with Christ. We can be sure that God works all things together for good for His children, and that there is nothing that can ever separate us from His love. (Rom 8:16-17, 28, 31-35) Our death and resurrection with Christ is shown through the symbol of baptism. (Col 2:12-14) We must therefore no longer seek the world and our old lives, but we must have faith in Christ to walk with Him every day.

Seek the things above. Keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God…

At the moment of salvation, the believer sets his sight on heaven. Once an earthly man, he becomes a pilgrim who seeks the things above in heaven, where Christ is. Christ seated at the right hand of God denotes His equal position, honor, power, and authority with God. For us to seek God’s kingdom is to rigorously search out Jesus’s will in every area of our lives, even when it goes against our own will. His ways are always right, and even when we can’t understand them, we will trust in Him and obey. (Matt 6:10; Lk 5:4-5) In the will of God, the risen Lord is there. Only those who believe Jesus died for their sins and rose again from the dead can seek His will. The one with living faith will continue seeking Jesus, His kingdom, His will, and His righteousness. (Matt 6:33)

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How to Experience the Resurrection Life Everyday – John 5:25

Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. John 5:25

When Thomas the disciple witnessed Jesus’s death on the cross, his hope in Christ was buried as Jesus was sealed in the tomb for three days. Thomas- the zealous disciple who was willing to die with Christ- surely thought Jesus was no more. But after Jesus appeared to Thomas after rising again from the dead, Thomas believed, confessing Jesus as his Lord and his God. (Jn 20:28)

The reality of Jesus’s resurrection means that He is actively living, able to show Himself to us. But in our actual lives, shadows of doubt often weaken our convictions of the presence of the risen Lord. What then is the solution to bring the reality of Jesus’s resurrection into our ordinary lives? How can the resurrection remain central during hardships and suffering? We can experience the resurrection life as we understand and recollect the biblical description of salvation, as it is laid out in John 5:25.

You must recollect who Jesus is. Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is…

What Jesus is about to say to the crowd is a truthful statement, its importance emphasized by Jesus repeating “Truly, truly…” In order to live a life centered on the resurrection, we must first know who Jesus Christ really is. Jesus is the divine Savior, who was sent by God the Father, so that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. (Jn 3:16) Jesus proclaims now is the time for salvation. He is God, the Lord of all, who came to redeem sinners. The way of salvation is narrowed down to one name- Jesus Christ. (Acts 4:12) We must first know the biblical, historical Jesus in order to live in the reality of HIs resurrection.

You must know who you are. …when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God…

Many fail to deeply understand who they were before they were saved. They may have emotionally experienced hitting rock bottom, sensing their need for God, but this mere self-conviction can be easily placated with morality and religion. Jesus says everyone is spirituallydead. You can not be saved unless the Holy Spirit convicts you of being dead in spirit. Man’s sinful nature becomes apparent when his sin is pointed out. Sinners hate talking about their sin. They feel no burden of sin; they have no guilt. They reject the gospel, because it points to their unbelief, which is the most damning sin of all. (Jn 3:19; 2Thess 1:8) In God’s mercy, He will often strip them away of everything before their conversion, because without this understanding of being dead in spirit, none can be holy.

We must always recollect how we were dead in spirit before God made us alive in Christ. We fail to be driven by the resurrection when we fail to repent. Being ignorant of your sin leads only to pride. As we know and remember our true state before our conversion, we will be humbled, knowing our need for a Savior. (Lk 5:8) Deeper repentance leads to deeper love for Christ. To know you’re a sinner is to know you are nothing without Jesus.

We must recollect our faith. …and those who hear will live.

To hear means to obey, trust, and believe. When we heard the gospel, we felt in our hearts that Christ is our only hope, and we believed in Him. Just as how the dead girl rose from the dead when she heard the voice of Christ, so we heard God’s call at the time of our salvation. (Lk 8:54-55; Rom 10:17) The voice of Jesus is in the gospel- it is truly the good news, the pearl of greatest price. There is nothing good we have done before God, but in His love He offers us salvation through Jesus Christ. Salvation begins with a change of mind as we hear and believe, and consequently, our actions change by faith.

Those who hear Jesus will live with an unrivaled love for Jesus. (1Pet 1:8-9) As we love Christ, we will live by faith, praying to Him through suffering, praising and Him through the cheerful times. (James 5:13) We will serve the lost souls around us, knowing that Jesus has called us to make disciples of all the nations. (Matt 28:18-20). Recollecting how God saves will keep Jesus’s resurrection central to our lives, leading us to depend on the living Lord to empower us to live by true faith.

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Be Steadfast! – 1 Corinthians 15:58

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord. 1Cor 15:58

Paul’s concluding exhortation to the Corinthians describes the faithfulness of those who believe in Jesus’s resurrection. It logically follows the marvelous truth that was expanded in the previous verses and summed up in v. 57: God has given us the victory over death through our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus’s resurrection is the essential foundation to living by faith. Without it, all works are built on sand, unable to stand through the testing of faith and God’s judgment. But those who live with a deep conviction of Jesus’s resurrection live in the reality of Jesus’s lordship. They are the “beloved brethren,” loved by God the Father. Therefore, they are faithful, with a living hope that comes from Christ alone. (Phil 2:9-11)

If we are grounded on Jesus’s resurrection, how then should we demonstrate our faith?

Be steadfast.

You must be firm in our faith. Whereas immovability has to do with action and movement, steadfastness speaks more to what is inside- your heart. To be steadfast is to have peace in your heart, no matter what is happening around you. You have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, therefore, trust in the Lord. He is the living God, who is always faithful. (Rom 5:1)

We often lose our peace when we can’t understand what is happening around us and why. We can remain steadfast through prayer. The Bible says-

…do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Phil 4:6-7)

We pray because our God is the living God. He is our Lord, who can change all things, including our will to conform to His Will. As we have a biblical perception of God, our problems will pale before His sovereignty, power, and love. He will give us peace.

Be immovable.

We must stand strong and stay put in faith. Apostle Paul demonstrates it in 2 Cor 4:8-9-

We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed…

Christians will constantly be attacked by the world, Satan, and demons, who will always challenge us to go back to our old lives of sin and death. How can we stay immovable? It is only by remembering and seeing Jesus’s resurrection clearly in all circumstances. As we trust in Scripture, we will not be moved by the world’s philosophies and false gospels- though we may find ourselves standing alone in our confession that Jesus is the only way to be saved, we stand firm because the risen Lord is with us.

Always abound in the work of the Lord.

Every believer has their own duty from the Lord to practice and obey. Christians are laborers- we are alive to be sent and to do the work of God. We must not be lazy, seeking a life of leisure and worldly pleasures, which is a form of self-worship. Rather, we must be diligent in the work of the Lord.

What exactly is the work of the Lord? The work of God is to believe in Jesus Christ. (Jn 6:29) It is to grow in faith. As Jesus occupies your heart, our desire is to be more like Him and to tell others about Him. He is the object of our faith.

Evangelism and missions are also the work of the Lord. (Matt 28:18-20) Our readiness to go is not by our knowledge, it is by the power that Jesus gives. There is no greater news than the gospel. It has an everlasting effect of eternal joy and salvation. As we truly appreciate the gospel, we will not be able to remain quiet and idle. The news we have is overwhelmingly good- by it we have been saved.

You must know you will be rewarded.

Toil refers to labor that is marked with suffering, weariness, and utter exhaustion. To toil for the Lord is to risk your life because of Jesus’s resurrection. It is the test of true, saving faith. Toiling is a matter of life and death, but there is no cowardice in Christians because of the living Lord. Christians are able to face persecution and toil to the end because their toil is not in vain. When Jesus returns He will reward us based on what we have done. Only those who truly believe in Jesus’s resurrection will toil. They will be hated in this world because of their faith, but it will all be worth it when they will be rewarded in the Lord.

These are the four sign of faithfulness in those who trust and believe in Jesus’s resurrection. Let us examine yourselves and be assured that we are building our lives on Christ and His Word alone.

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Death Becomes Subdued – 1 Corinthians 15:50-53

Everybody faces death, which is why people avoid thinking of death or even despise death. Whether we are young or old, we realize this inevitable truth that death has power over us and there is no escape. Death is the cause of such great sorrow and consuming fear. However, in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, a believer no longer needs to fear death because death has been defeated by Christ.

Man’s attempts at defeating death
There are three ways people try to confront death but fail.

  • Pretend death is not real or ignore the reality of death.
  • Try to circumvent death through science or technology (example: cryogenics)
  • Try to prolong life and health by reducing the effects of aging.

The Bible explains the reason why all human attempts cannot overcome death is because death is the result of sin (Rom. 6:23). Though, Christians will also die, their death is not defeat but it is victory in Christ. Instead of death being loss, to die is to gain (Romans 8:18, Phil 1:21-22). By the death and resurrection of Jesus, sin and death have been defeated.

Death has been defeated by the death of Christ. (v. 50)
Death is necessary because the flesh cannot inherit the heavenly. Christ also came and died in the flesh in order to defeat death (Heb 2:14). The death of our earthly bodies is necessary because we cannot enter heaven in our current flesh. While alive, we cannot be with Jesus in His heavenly kingdom. Therefore, our death in Christ is not to be avoided, but desired as the means to enter heaven.

Do you identify with Christ and His death (1 Cor 15:3-4)? Only by dying with Christ, can death be defeated (Gal 2:20).

Death has been been defeated by the resurrection of Christ (v51-52)
Before Christ’s death and resurrection, what happened after death was a mystery. No one knew what came after death except for the unavoidable decomposing of the body. Just as everyone dies, everyone decomposes. Contrastingly, in Christ’s resurrection, the fate of the believer is not decomposition but glorious transformation.

The absolute power of Christ’s resurrection over death is demonstrated by how quickly this transformation will take place. Death is not able to resist or delay it’s defeat but Christ’s victory in instantaneous (smallest amount of time).

This change is also at God’s appointed time, at the last trumpet. God has complete authority over death and it’s timing. Death is completely obedient to God’s will. (1 Thess 4:16-17)

Conclusion (v53)
Death has already been defeated by the work of Jesus, and the promise of the gospel is the future resurrection. To defeat death, we must put on Christ. Jesus Himself is the means and the prize for the defeat of death. He is the clothing of the resurrection. Therefore, we are to live by faith, and not by sight.

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A Glimpse of the Believer’s Glorious Body, Part 2 – 1 Corinthians 15:44-49

it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. So also it is written, “The first man, Adam, became a living soul.” The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual. The first man is from the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven. As is the earthy, so also are those who are earthy; and as is the heavenly, so also are those who are heavenly. Just as we have borne the image of the earthy, we will also bear the image of the heavenly. 1Cor15:44-49

Observing the Resurrection of Christ and pondering on our own resurrection are a refreshing endeavors for us, the believers. It excites the hope in the hearts of the believers for the heaven to come in the same way that the light at the end of a tunnel propels travelers onward. It is a joyous and glorious vision of the future that ignites passion for the Lord even in the midst of life’s circumstances.

As we observe this portion of Paul’s writing in 1 Corinthians 15 in which Paul outlines the resurrection that is to come for the Corinthians, we are reminded of Christ’s conflict with the Saducees, who, like some in Corinth, did not believe in the resurrection.

The Saducees were a powerful political party of Israel at the time of Jesus, and equaled the Pharisees in political power and influence. While the Pharisees believed in the resurrection, the Saducees did not. Accordingly, the Saducee’s challenge against Christ was against the resurrection.

In their challenge to Jesus, the Saducees described the application of the Jewish law that calls on a man to marry his brother’s wife in the event of his death. One woman was married five times as a result of four deaths among five brothers. Using this premise, they ask their question – in the resurrection, who is the husband of the wife? This question challenged Jesus’ authority and wisdom by creating a scenario in which the active obedience of the wife through remarriages resulted in a sin, namely, polygamy, because of the resurrection.

Jesus address this question by stating that there are no marriages in heaven. Marriage is a blessing, to be sure, but it is primarily the way God brings two imperfect beings together in a complementary relationship. The implication of Jesus’ response is that the resurrected believer will be perfect in Christlikeness in His resurrected body.

Back in 1 Corinthians 15, Paul harkens back further to the Creation account in the beginning chapters of Genesis. From verse 44 to 49, Paul refers to Adam, the first man, and Jesus, the second Adam as he contrasts the two federal figures upon mankind. He denotes the earthly body as the natural man’s body and the heavenly body as that which is gained in the resurrection. In Adam, then, all human beings have a living soul (Gen 2:7), a body made of dust (Gen 3:19), an earthly disposition (v.48), and are ultimately the full expression of earthly sin nature (v.49). In Jesus, all believers are given new life (1 Cor 5:17), a new body, a heavenly disposition (Col 3:1-2), a new identity as the children of God (Rom 8:15). Although Adam passed on life through his seed, the life that he passed on was of sin and death. Jesus, with the life-giving Spirit, gives eternal life to his believers.

What are we to do with this hope given to us by Christ? We are to bear the image of Christ, the heavenly Lord and Savior, through a life of active repentance and submitting to the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the living Head. In this, we honor and glorify Christ.

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A Glimpse of the Believer’s Glorious Body – 1 Corinthians 15:39-44

All flesh is not the same flesh, but there is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another flesh of birds, and another of fish. There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body, it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 1Cor 15:39-44

How are the dead raised? And with what kind of body do they come? These are the two questions Apostle Paul presumes will be raised by the Corinthians who deny the fact of the bodily resurrection. To answer the first question, Paul uses an analogy, comparing the nature of seeds to the resurrection- both are mysterious, and both are radical. In response to the second, Paul gives us a glimpse of the what the resurrected body will be like through a series of qualitative contrasts.

Paul begins his defense by stating, All flesh is not the same. Unlike animals, man was created in God’s image. (Gen 1:27) He has a spirit, and is able to know God and worship Him. (Ecc 12:7) He is able to analyze numbers and literature, create art, and build meaningful relationships with other fellow men. Why was man uniquely made? God created man with the resurrection end in mind. Just as the celestial bodies all differ in glory, the resurrection body is unique in kind, in level, and in character.

It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body…

Though every one of us will one day perish, the bodily resurrection will raise us to life immortal. The resurrected body has nothing to do with death. (Lk 24:5) It is raised an imperishable body because of the divine nature in our hearts- though we are not yet perfect, we have been made partakers of God’s divine nature through His Holy Spirit dwelling in us. (2Pet 1:4) Salvation is a gift- it can never be purchased by wealth or good works, so we rejoice and are full of hope because of God’s amazing grace.

It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory…

Man is depraved because the Fall affected the whole person of man. Because of our sinful nature, we dishonor God even though we desire to honor Him. How does man dishonor God? Man dishonors God by suppressing the truth. (Rom 1:18-20) Even though all the evidence to believe in God is here, he doesn’t want to believe, and therefore suppress the truth. Man dishonor God by not fearing Him- having no thanksgiving, acknowledgement, or praise for everything God has given to them. (Acts 12:21-23) Lastly, man dishonors God by denying Jesus as the Lord and Savior. The resurrected body will be raised in glory- it will be complete, able to honor and glorify God. By putting on the perfect righteousness that Christ provides us in our glorified state, whatever we do, God will be honored perfectly. (Is 35:8-9)

It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power…

Man is fragile and weak. We are dependent on something or someone every moment of our lives. The Bible describes our lives as a vapor, and warns us to not presume tomorrow will come. (James 4:14) But the at the resurrection we will become supernatural, unrecognizable from the broken conditions we’re in now. (Jn 21:4) We will be perpetually filled with the Holy Spirit, always bearing fruit, unceasingly glorifying our God.

It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body…

In our natural state, we are weak, dishonoring, and perishable. Our flesh is suitable to leave on earth. The natural man does not believe in the resurrection- he does not trust Jesus’s word. The resurrected body is a spiritual body, but that does not mean it is immaterial- the spiritual body includes the physical body. (Lk 24:39) As Paul states logically, if there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

At the resurrection, our perishable, weak, natural, dishonoring bodies will be laid to the dust, and through Christ we will be raised an imperishable, spiritual body in power and glory. This is the grace of God. Looking forward to Jesus’s coming brings hope and joy to the present- it dispels fear and strengthens faith to lay down our fleeting lives for the One who died and was raised for our eternal sake.

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Are You Really Saved?

…Even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed signs and great miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed…Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was bestowed through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money…But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!  You have no part or portion in this [f]matter, for your heart is not right before God…” Acts 8:9-24

John Newton, the man who penned the beloved hymn, Amazing Grace, once said that one of the wonders he expects to find in heaven is to miss some he had expected to see there. To consider the possibility of not truly being saved is a sobering thought to everyone who has heard and believed the gospel for salvation. There are instances in the Bible of those who have tasted the goodness of the word of God, yet have fallen away as false converts, proving they were never saved from the beginning. In Acts 8, Luke introduces us to a man called Simon. He practiced magic, amazing crowds in Samaria as one who supposedly had divine power. (v. 9-10) But when Philip came and preached the gospel, the people- including Simon- believed and were baptized. At first, there was no reason to doubt the authenticity of Simon’s conversion- he followed Philip, witnessed great works of God, and fully agreed with the gospel message- but in due time, Simon’s true nature was revealed to prove his false conversion. (v.13)

When the apostles heard that the Samaritans believed in the gospel, Peter and John came to lay their hands on them so they could receive the Holy Spirit.* As Simon saw the authority and mighty works of the apostles, his old nature resurfaced with thoughts and desires for his own glory. He remembered the attention he received from practicing magic, and he wanted to use the works of God to leverage himself again. Simon’s god was still the world, and he desired it more than anything else. When he offered Peter and John money to likewise receive their divine abilities, Peter sharply commanded Simon to repent, revealing his state of condemnation, and his need for salvation. (v.18-23)

Simon had never repented. Repentance is not merely a reflection on sin- it is a turning away from sin, and turning unto God for salvation. Have you truly repented? We might find ourselves trying to repent of all the individual sins we commit- sexual immorality, evil desire, worldliness, hatred- but even with continual repentance, we fall into the same sins. We find it impossible to repent of every sin, because we sin relentlessly beyond the scope of memory, consciousness, and time. Like the Pharisees, many turn to behavior modification in an attempt to establish one’s own righteousness, but this only earns Jesus’s condemnation. How then must we repent to see the fruit of genuine repentance? God’s first commandment is, You shall have no other gods before me. Every sin against God reveals an allegiance to anything other than God. It shows that we are still owned and controlled by something else- self, Satan, and the world. True repentance is a change in ownership. As Jesus becomes your Lord, King, and Master, He enables you to bear fruit in keeping with repentance.

True repentance begets an appreciation for forgiveness. There was nothing we could have done to earn God’s forgiveness, but He saved us by His grace, making Christ to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. (2Cor 5:21) Because we have been forgiven, we no longer have fear of God, but we call Him Abba, Father, approaching His throne of grace at every time of need. (Matt 11:28) We trust in Jesus more than anyone or anything else, and we put our lives under His lordship. His Spirit dwells within us, empowering us towards sanctification through loving obedience. In His mercy, we confess our sins daily, knowing we have been forgiven once and for all, and we pray without ceasing, because our God hears and answers every prayer. (Jn 13:7-11, 1Thess 5:17) There is no blessing that can ever compare to this gift of salvation.

According to church history, Simon the apostate eventually became one of the founders of heretic gnosticism. He failed to repent, and therefore showed no fruit of genuine repentance. Repentance is a gift of God. Of the aforementioned surprises in heaven, John Newton claimed the greatest wonder of all would be to find himself there. Every one who repents and turns to Christ will experience the same sentiment, as they are welcomed by God to forever rejoice and praise Him for this amazing grace.

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