To View the Video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/F9sRuif_xis
SHOW NOTES
Welcome to a new week of the Hope Rescue Podcast, and if this is your first time here, welcome! We are excited this week to be continuing our series called "Dumb Things Christians Say." If you missed the last few episodes, we started this series in episode 54 where we discussed the cliche "God needed another angel in heaven." In episode 55 we discussed the cliche "God will never give you more than you can handle." And last week in episode 56 we debunked the saying "Never judge." This week we are discussing the saying, “God accepts you as you are. There is no reason to repent to be saved.”
Tim starts by confirming that according to scripture, there is nothing we need to do to be saved other than believe. But does that mean we don't have to repent? Tim teaches us that there are two forms of repentance in scripture. The first is repentance of being a sinner or in other words, repenting of the condition that you have without Christ. The second form of repentance is repentance for specific sins, or in other words acknowledging something in particular that was sinful.
Scripture also gives us three specific things we should repent of before we are saved:
1. Repent of a false view of ourselves. In order to come to Jesus in faith, we have to acknowledge that there is something wrong with us. We have to acknowledge that we are sinners.
2. Repent of a false view of salvation. Many people don't come to Christ because they believe they are good enough people who don't need a savior. But we are only saved through faith in Jesus Christ.
3. Repent of a false view of God. We must understand that God is the provider of salvation.
Our condition is that we are sinners that need Jesus Christ as our savior, and that is why we repent. Along with repenting of our condition, we must also repent of specific behaviors as said before. For example, if a person lies, they should repent of that specific sin. The word “repent” actually means a change of mind with a change of behavior. The Greek word for repent, “metanoó” can be defined as a transformative change of heart.
To summarize what we have learned so far, before a person chooses to accept Jesus, they must repent of their condition as a sinner. Once a person is saved, he or she must continually repent for specific sins they have carried out. Tim says, “Repentance doesn't have to be a long, drawn out act of contrition. It's about acknowledging who you are without Christ.” In short, sinners repent of who they are. Christians repent of what they did.
Repentance isn't about keeping track of everything we have done wrong. It's about being intimate with Christ, but our sin acts as a barrier between us and the Lord. Sin pushes away from God, while repentance pulls us closer to the Father. To become a child of God and be born again, it takes faith in Jesus Christ. It's impossible to believe in Jesus without acknowledging that we are sinners that need saved.
Here are some tips so that we don’t misunderstand repentance:
Don’t confront non-believers about their behavior. Do not try to convince non-believers to quit behaving the way they do.
Don't exclude severe sinners from evangelism. Avoid concluding that someone has gone too far. God can save anybody. It's not that one person is worse than another. We are all sinners without Christ.
Lovingly confront believers about sin. Before confronting him or her though, make sure the behavior is actually sin.
When sharing the gospel, don't talk about your lifestyle. Talk about who God is. Put the emphasis on Christ's work in your life, not on yourself.
When dealing with followers of Christ, share how sin negatively impacts their intimacy with God and destroys their best life. When we repent of our sin, we are seeking to restore our connection to God.
To close, understand that repentance is not a work to get your salvation, but repenting is the act of acknowledging your inadequacies and God's incredible grace to give you eternal life through Jesus Christ.
QUOTES
“Repentance isn't necessarily a long, drawn out act of contrition. It's acknowledging who you are without Christ." -Tim
