No Going Back

Repent and Believe

Mark 1:14-15 ESV

“Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’”

The gospel of God is the good news of God, so it is the Scriptures as well as it the good news of our salvation from sin. It is the written and expressed divine will and purpose of God for our lives, which we can read about both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. And in either one the message is still the same. We must forsake our sinful practices and we must follow our Lord in obedience to his commands, and we must live holy and righteous lives, in the power of God, and no longer in sin. For if sin is what we practice, we will die in our sins. But if we forsake our sins and obey the Lord, in practice, and we walk in his righteousness, then we have eternal life.

[Lu 9:23-26; Jn 6:35-58; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-17; Eph 4:17-24; 1 Pet 2:24; 1 Co 6:19-20; 2 Co 5:15,21; Tit 2:11-14; Jas 1:22-25; 1 Jn 1:5-9; Rom 12:1-2; Eph 2:8-10; Heb 12:1-2; Jn 6:44; 2 Pet 1:1; 1 Co 15:58; Php 2:12-13; Col 1:21-23; 1 Co 10:1-22; Heb 3:1-19; Heb 4:1-13] 

Now, many people will tell you that this word “repent” just means to confess our sins in the sense of just admitting that we have sinned. But to confess means to be in agreement, to speak the same as, and to align with God regarding our sins. And people will tell you that “repent” means merely to have a change of mind. But the word literally means “changed after being with,” and “think differently after,” “after a change of mind,” and to change one’s mind and/or purpose. And it is used to teach that we must have a change of mind which results in a change in the inner man, particularly with reference to acceptance of the will of God (source: biblehub.com interlinear).

And then if we read the Scriptures which teach us that we must repent, and if we read them in context, we will see that the overall message being taught with regard to repentance is that it is a change of mind about our sins which results in us forsaking our sins and rejecting them in order to now follow Jesus Christ in obedience to his commands, and according to his will and purpose for our lives. And his will is that we forsake our sins and obey his commands (New Covenant) and that we live holy lives pleasing to him. For this repenting involves turning from sin and turning to follow Christ.

[Matt 3:8; Matt 4:17; Matt 11:20-21; Matt 12:41; Matt 21:28-31; Mk 1:15; Lu 5:32; Lu 13:3; Lu 15:2-8; Lu 24:47; Acts 3:19-20; Acts 5:30-31; Acts 8:22; Acts 11:17-18; Acts 17:29-31; Acts 20:21; Acts 26:16-20; Rom 2:4; 2 Co 7:8-10; 2 Co 12:21; 2 Tim 2:24-26; 2 Pet 3:9; Rev 2:5,16; Rev 3:3,19]

Following Jesus Christ

Mark 1:16-20 ESV

“Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.’ And immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.”

When we believe in Jesus Christ with God-given and God-persuaded faith in him, we are crucified and buried with Christ in death to sin, and we are raised with Christ to walk in newness of life in him, no longer as slaves to sin but to God and to his righteousness. So, we are not to let sin continue to reign (have control) in our mortal bodies, to make us obey its passions. For if sin is what we obey, it leads to death. But if obedience to our Lord is what we obey, it leads to righteousness and to sanctification, and its end is eternal life with God (see Romans 6:1-23; cf. Romans 8:1-14).

And Jesus said that if anyone would come after him he must deny self, take up his cross daily (die daily to sin and to self) and follow (obey) him. For if we hold on to our old lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if for the sake of Jesus we lose (die to) our old lives of living in sin and for self, and we now live for the Lord, we will have eternal life. For whoever is ashamed of Jesus and his Word, when he returns, he will be ashamed of them, i.e. he will deny them for they denied him.

[Luke 9:26; Matthew 7:21-23; Matthew 10:32-33; Matthew 15:7-9; 2 Timothy 2:11-13; 2 Timothy 3:1-5; Titus 1:15-16; 2 Peter 2:1-3; Jude 1:3-4] 

Now, you may be asking yourself at this point, “What does this have to do with fishermen leaving their nets to follow Jesus?” And the answer is “Everything!” For what is the picture here? When Jesus called these men to follow him, they did not drag their feet. They did not hesitate. They did not make excuses for why they couldn’t follow him right then or for why they must delay following him to a later time. And they didn’t follow him just a little bit and then keep going back to being fishermen. They left it all right then and there and followed Jesus Christ with their lives.

And this is what it should look like when we believe in Jesus Christ with God-persuaded and God-gifted faith in him. We should immediately leave our former lives of living in sin behind us and we should now follow Jesus Christ in obedience to his commands (New Covenant) and in obedience to his will, plan, and purpose for our lives. It doesn’t mean we will be absolutely perfect from that moment forward. The disciples were not perfect people. But it does mean that we don’t follow Jesus half-heartedly while we keep going back to living in sin. We now put our sins behind us and we follow him in the ways in which he leads us, according to the Scriptures.

Seek the Lord  

An Original Work / July 20, 2012

Based off Isaiah 55

“Come to Me all you who thirst; come to waters.

Listen to Me, and eat what’s good today,

And your soul will delight in richest of fare.

Give ear to Me, and you will live.

I have made an eternal covenant with you.

Wash in the blood of the Lamb.”

Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him. 

Let the wicked forsake his way, in truth.

Let him turn to the Lord, and he will receive mercy.

Freely, God pardons him.

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,

Nor are your ways My ways,”

declares the Lord, our God.

“My word that goes out of My mouth is truthful.

It will not return to Me unfulfilled.

My word will accomplish all that I desire,

And achieve the goal I intend.

You will go in joy and be led forth in peace.

The mountains will burst into song… before you, 

And all of the trees clap their hands.”

https://vimeo.com/379408296