Repentance from what?

[At Peace]

Hi folks,
I just read this verse..."I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." (Luke 5:32)
What are the sinners repenting of?
As the verse lists sinners as the target of the repentance, don't you think they are to repent of sin?
And if they go back on their "turn from" sin, haven't they committed idolatry by loving something more than they love God?

 

[Br. Bear]

If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, Who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory.
Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry:

For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience: in the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them. But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.

Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him: where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.
Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.

And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him. Colossians 3:1-17

let us not forget psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord

 

[Br. Bear]

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction. Proverbs 1:7

 

[Joefizz]

Hi folks,
I just read this verse..."I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." (Luke 5:32)
What are the sinners repenting of?
As the verse lists sinners as the target of the repentance, don't you think they are to repent of sin?
And if they go back on their "turn from" sin, haven't they committed idolatry by loving something more than they love God?

It also makes one a "liar" this is why the bible tells of "not making vows to God" because God will "collect".

 

[At Peace]

It also makes one a "liar" this is why the bible tells of "not making vows to God" because God will "collect".

I agree "it makes them a liar", but won't the penalty for breaking a vow be the same as any other sin?
Two sins will be judged the same as one, or a hundred.
They all will hear..."depart from me ye that work iniquity". (Mat 7:23)

 

[Br. Bear]

Would you be free from the burden of sin?
There’s power in the blood, power in the blood;
Would you o’er evil a victory win?
There’s wonderful power in the blood.

Refrain

There is power, power, wonder working power
In the blood of the Lamb;
There is power, power, wonder working power
In the precious blood of the Lamb.

Would you be free from your passion and pride?
There’s power in the blood, power in the blood;
Come for a cleansing to Calvary’s tide;
There’s wonderful power in the blood.

Refrain

Would you be whiter, much whiter than snow?
There’s power in the blood, power in the blood;
Sin stains are lost in its life giving flow.
There’s wonderful power in the blood.

Refrain

Would you do service for Jesus your King?
There’s power in the blood, power in the blood;
Would you live daily His praises to sing?
There’s wonderful power in the blood.

Refrain

Lewis E Jones

 

[Dave M]

I do not know, but from my personal experience it took me many times of continued repentance to finally be freed from slavery to sin.

So has anyone on here just repented one time and that was it you were free from that sin and never did it again???

for me it went something like this, knowing it was wrong, and staying away from it for a while then doing it and feeling terrible getting on my knees and praying for the longest time ever, then a long time would pass and I would stumble and then I would pray and include fasting, and the periods between the sin grew longer each time, and the desire to commit the sin would be less and less.

Fast forward to just recently I had a few second desire for this sin and the first thoughts that came to my rescue were NO I WILL NOT MAKE MY LORD MAD AT ME, JESUS IS MY KING AND I WILL OBEY HIM. the desire left me.

to get to this stage took years of battle. and struggle.

Now before all this I was catholic and thought simply by going to confession I was forgiven and could sin all I wanted, that by going to confession I was getting a free pass to sin. I still remember the very day I was in line at confession waiting for the preist so I could confess my sins, and thinking this is stupid adn left that and got on my knees for the longest time in my life was my first real time repenting. was only a few years ago.

 

[amadeus2]

It is our ways which when followed lead us back to sin again even though we thought we had sincerely repented. People form habits throughout their lifetimes, some good and some evil. This is everyone that does this. When one of these people encounters God and wants to serve God and love God he has to repent, which mean to change. Alone he cannot change many things in himself so as he repent he must also begin to pray regularly [talk to God] asking for His help:

"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." Matt 7:7-8

One thing which we must ask of God is help to change our ways which lead us to sin. These are those evil habits we have formed. They did not just go away when we met the Master, because we likely did not even know everything that needed to be changed. In the beginning of our walk with God we may have been "perfect" in what we knew needed to be done... but as we grew we learned that there was other things in us that needed to be changed. They were there already but we did not recognize there for what they were.

All of these bad habits in and of themselves were not even necessarily sin to us, but as we followed them repeatedly the result was sin repeatedly in spite of our efforts. This is why we always need God's help. The key is never quit trying... and more importantly never quit sincerely asking God for help in changing these ways... getting us off of those pathways and onto the highway of holiness.

"Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.
Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts." James 4:2-3

Again, "ask and it shall be given you".

 

[Joefizz]

I agree "it makes them a liar", but won't the penalty for breaking a vow be the same as any other sin?
Two sins will be judged the same as one, or a hundred.
They all will hear..."depart from me ye that work iniquity". (Mat 7:23)

The end of that scripture is "I never knew you" showing that such a person to hear this would be one who went against God and "pretended" to be his.
Well actually we may "assume" that sins are judged equally but that's in "our heads" God judges justly he is under no obligation to treat one sin the same as another this is shown in times such as the "flood of the world", "Destruction of sodom and gomorrah", and in sins known as "abominable" to God, we aren't God so it's best to be "sure" of what God sees as wrong or worse abominable so that we don't give out "inaccurate information" for while we certainly would "like" sin to be judged "evenly/equally" this is not up to us.

 

[Hekuran]

I do not know, but from my personal experience it took me many times of continued repentance to finally be freed from slavery to sin.

So has anyone on here just repented one time and that was it you were free from that sin and never did it again???

for me it went something like this, knowing it was wrong, and staying away from it for a while then doing it and feeling terrible getting on my knees and praying for the longest time ever, then a long time would pass and I would stumble and then I would pray and include fasting, and the periods between the sin grew longer each time, and the desire to commit the sin would be less and less.

Fast forward to just recently I had a few second desire for this sin and the first thoughts that came to my rescue were NO I WILL NOT MAKE MY LORD MAD AT ME, JESUS IS MY KING AND I WILL OBEY HIM. the desire left me.

to get to this stage took years of battle. and struggle.

Now before all this I was catholic and thought simply by going to confession I was forgiven and could sin all I wanted, that by going to confession I was getting a free pass to sin. I still remember the very day I was in line at confession waiting for the preist so I could confess my sins, and thinking this is stupid adn left that and got on my knees for the longest time in my life was my first real time repenting. was only a few years ago.

Like freeing an overgrown garden of weeds? It takes a lot of persistence to get some of those monsters out by the roots. And you have to keep an eye out for little green shoots to catch theme before they grow into something nasty.

 

[Joefizz]

Like freeing an overgrown garden of weeds? It takes a lot of persistence to get some of those monsters out by the roots. And you have to keep an eye out for little green shoots to catch theme before they grow into something nasty.

And pestilence as well I am not fond of insects though worms were my first creatures that I was fascinated with.

 

[At Peace]

The end of that scripture is "I never knew you" showing that such a person to hear this would be one who went against God and "pretended" to be his.

As you do seem to realize that false "turns from", (repentance of), sin are of no value, why did you have so much scorn against "living perfectly and sinless" in another thread?
The only alternative to false repentance is real repentance...and that bears perfection in Christ...just like He commanded us in Matt. 5:48.

Well actually we may "assume" that sins are judged equally but that's in "our heads" God judges justly he is under no obligation to treat one sin the same as another this is shown in times such as the "flood of the world", "Destruction of sodom and gomorrah", and in sins known as "abominable" to God, we aren't God so it's best to be "sure" of what God sees as wrong or worse abominable so that we don't give out "inaccurate information" for while we certainly would "like" sin to be judged "evenly/equally" this is not up to us.

There is no need to fear judgement, as it is written..."There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love." (1 John 4:18)

 

[At Peace]

So has anyone on here just repented one time and that was it you were free from that sin and never did it again???
.

Yes, but my repentance from sin was in tandem with my baptism into the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. (Rom 6:3-7)
Without the "raised with Christ t walk in newness of life" portion of Romans 6, I would still be walking in the flesh instead of in the Spirit.

 

[Joefizz]

As you do seem to realize that false "turns from", (repentance of), sin are of no value, why did you have so much scorn against "living perfectly and sinless" in another thread?
The only alternative to false repentance is real repentance...and that bears perfection in Christ...just like He commanded us in Matt. 5:48.


There is no need to fear judgement, as it is written..."There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love." (1 John 4:18)

It wasn't scorn I just simply don't like lying and would have others do the same.

 

[At Peace]

It wasn't scorn I just simply don't like lieing and would have others do the same.

Your position then, is that you can never be free from sin...in spite of what the bible says?

 

[Joefizz]

It wasn't scorn I just simply don't like lieing and would have others do the same.

To further clarify one of my beliefs is that only Jesus and God were and are "sinless" and "perfect" not us.

Your position then, is that you can never be free from sin...in spite of what the bible says?

No my position is that not one person on this earth is sinless or perfect or both however through Jesus and God's grace we are free from being "Slaves to sin" there is quite a difference between being free from sin and being sinless, one is through the Holy spirit and "actually possible" the other is "not possible" until we die and eventually receive our new bodies.

To further clarify one of my beliefs is that only Jesus and God were and are "sinless" and "perfect" not us.

Also to be "clear" when I say "sinless" and "perfect" I mean divine or immaculate as in not "sinful" whatsoever, many boast puffing themselves up declaring they after accepting Jesus are "sinless" and "perfect" or more in depth "without flaw" I have seen this many times and it is "revolting" and a "total lie" even some going so far as to sin horrendously against someone to "prove they are sinless" only to "sin" while doing so and making themselves "foolish" to others.

Anyways sorry for the slight derail whoever's thread this is.(Salvation, and prideful so called perfect people are what get me full of vigor for the Lord because each must be taught)

 

[Br. Bear]

Greetings,

I do not know, but from my personal experience it took me many times of continued repentance to finally be freed from slavery to sin.

should we present the Lord with gold and silver or with pure gold and silver, fine gold, purified?

For Thou, O God, hast proved us: Thou hast tried us, as silver is tried. Psalm 66:10

That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: 1Peter 1:7

Some stop at seeing Jesus as Saviour, others go on and see Him also as Lord


Bless you ....><>

 

[Dave M]

it really boils down to understanding the flesh is cursed the spirit used to be a slave to sin now the spirit has been set free by Jesus Christ. the flesh that we all live in is sinful by nature. Really that simple. Yeap you can over come the flesh but your still a sinner even when you overcome the flesh because if you were not a sinner you would not have to over come the flesh to begin with. Now by the spirit we have the power to over ride to fight back to win against our sinful nature. But imagine if you will that you did not have the sinful nature to begin with you would not need to fight it. You would not need to over come it. Yes you can win against the sinful nature but that does not change the fact you have a sinful nature the flesh

My understanding when the bible talks about being perfect is in the spirit, when the bible says sin no more, it means that we now have the power to sin no more, it does not mean that we do not have a sin nature, it means we now have the power to turn from it. This is my understanding and I might be wrong I am no Know it all that is for sure. I only seek the the truth.


the "old and new" the bible speaks about has to be the spirit as my flesh is the same.

if you do a quick search on the flesh you will see it is not changed no one changes the flesh we all live in.

Galatians 5:19-21
Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Romans 8:8
Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Galatians 5:16
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

Romans 8:6
For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.

1 Corinthians 10:13
No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

Romans 8:5
For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.

Romans 8:13
For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
if you do a quick search on spirit you will see in the spirit is whear we please God whear the change takes place.

Galatians 5:16
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

John 6:63
It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.

1 John 4:13
By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.


understanding our two natures is important part of growing as a Christian is my thought.

this is why Jesus had to be born of a virgin by the holly spirit so he did not receive the curse of the sin nature
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Proof of the sin nature abounds. No one has to teach a child to lie or be selfish; rather, we go to great lengths to teach children to tell the truth and put others first. Sinful behavior comes naturally.

The Bible explains the reason for the trouble. Humanity is sinful, not just in theory or in practice but by nature. Sin is part of the very fiber of our being. The Bible speaks of “sinful flesh” in Romans 8:3. It’s our “earthly nature” that produces the list of sins in Colossians 3:5. And Romans 6:6 speaks of “the body ruled by sin.” The flesh-and-blood existence we lead on this earth is shaped by our sinful, corrupt nature.

The sin nature is universal in humanity. All of us have a sinful nature, and it affects every part of us. This is the doctrine of total depravity. All of us have gone astray (Isaiah 53:6). Paul admits that “the trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin” (Romans 7:14). Paul was in his “sinful nature a slave to the law of sin” (Romans 7:25). Solomon concurs: “Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous, / no one who does what is right and never sins” (Ecclesiastes 7:20). The apostle John perhaps puts it most bluntly: “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8).

What is the sin nature?

 

[Joefizz]

it really boils down to understanding the flesh is cursed the spirit used to be a slave to sin now the spirit has been set free by Jesus Christ. the flesh that we all live in is sinful by nature. Really that simple. Yeap you can over come the flesh but your still a sinner even when you overcome the flesh because if you were not a sinner you would not have to over come the flesh to begin with. Now by the spirit we have the power to over ride to fight back to win against our sinful nature. But imagine if you will that you did not have the sinful nature to begin with you would not need to fight it. You would not need to over come it. Yes you can win against the sinful nature but that does not change the fact you have a sinful nature the flesh

My understanding when the bible talks about being perfect is in the spirit, when the bible says sin no more, it means that we now have the power to sin no more, it does not mean that we do not have a sin nature, it means we now have the power to turn from it. This is my understanding and I might be wrong I am no Know it all that is for sure. I only seek the the truth.


the "old and new" the bible speaks about has to be the spirit as my flesh is the same.

if you do a quick search on the flesh you will see it is not changed no one changes the flesh we all live in.

Galatians 5:19-21
Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Romans 8:8
Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Galatians 5:16
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

Romans 8:6
For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.

1 Corinthians 10:13
No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

Romans 8:5
For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.

Romans 8:13
For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
if you do a quick search on spirit you will see in the spirit is whear we please God whear the change takes place.

Galatians 5:16
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

John 6:63
It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.

1 John 4:13
By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.


understanding our two natures is important part of growing as a Christian is my thought.

this is why Jesus had to be born of a virgin by the holly spirit so he did not receive the curse of the sin nature
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Proof of the sin nature abounds. No one has to teach a child to lie or be selfish; rather, we go to great lengths to teach children to tell the truth and put others first. Sinful behavior comes naturally.

The Bible explains the reason for the trouble. Humanity is sinful, not just in theory or in practice but by nature. Sin is part of the very fiber of our being. The Bible speaks of “sinful flesh” in Romans 8:3. It’s our “earthly nature” that produces the list of sins in Colossians 3:5. And Romans 6:6 speaks of “the body ruled by sin.” The flesh-and-blood existence we lead on this earth is shaped by our sinful, corrupt nature.

The sin nature is universal in humanity. All of us have a sinful nature, and it affects every part of us. This is the doctrine of total depravity. All of us have gone astray (Isaiah 53:6). Paul admits that “the trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin” (Romans 7:14). Paul was in his “sinful nature a slave to the law of sin” (Romans 7:25). Solomon concurs: “Indeed, there is no one on earth who is righteous, / no one who does what is right and never sins” (Ecclesiastes 7:20). The apostle John perhaps puts it most bluntly: “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8).

What is the sin nature?

I agree with this post for it's pretty much what I have been saying.

 

[Curtis]

Circumcision was a sign of the Old covenant. The new covenant also has a "circumcision" but it is not in the flesh but of the spirit in cutting off the sins of the body of flesh from mans re birthed spirit.

Col 2:10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:
Col 2:11 In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:

Just because the sins of the flesh have been cut off from man spirit, they still exist, and want to control the whole man. Before salvation man had no choice but to serve sin, but now he has the ability to not obey the flesh by walking in the Spirit.