Repentence Is Not a One Time Event- Part 1

I hear people all the time trying to put humanistic leanings on the wonderful grace of God, and in these leanings, these people bring back the judgment of God on the sins of those whose sins have been totally forgiven. God's grace is complete, in that His grace covers ALL our sins from the past, present, and future. In our human or natural way of thinking, we can come up with a law that makes sense, that could, in some ways, seem to make it look like we are taking advantage of this grace. Some thoughts people have are "I can do whatever I want, and God's grace will cover my sin." His grace will cover your sins, but never forget God's desire in the sanctification process. The desire for us to be "Holy as He is holy." The thinking was dealt with in Paul's letter to the church at Rome in Romans 6: Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? 2 Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it?3 Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death? 4 For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. 5 Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was. 6 We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. Sin no longer has reign over us and this freedom we have in God's grace enables us to draw closer to God. We realize our wrongdoings in a deeper sense, and we come to God with a changed heart that is a repentant heart that says, "I give you my will to you and ask for your forgiveness and make that sin dead in my life and you my very life." Thus, God's grace kicks in to keep us growing and not living under the control of that sin. He changes our "want tos."

In this growing relationship, the enemy stands as "the accuser of the brethren." In Revelation 12:10, John states that the enemy is our accuser and that is his identity and activity. Why does he accuse? Possibly to nullify the death of sin in our lives and cause us to become disenchanted and weak. The enemy offers the opposite of what God offers because he is the accuser, and God is the giver of grace.

Today's Message,

David Warren