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Repentance Part 2

This is the final part of an article adapted and revised from The Word of His Grace radio program, "Repentance" that originally aired in 2005. (Click here to read part 1.)

We Have Brought Our Sufferings on Ourselves

A U-Turn sign saying, Godly repentance is an about face from unbelief to belief.
Repentance is translated from the Greek word metanoeō. It literally means “a change of mind.” We turn from trying to establish our own righteousness to trusting in the completed work of Jesus Christ as our Savior.

So we see that we as a race are the direct cause of many of our own miseries. Ever since the Fall of man in the Garden of Eden, we are sinful by nature, and this causes us to be greedy,
covetous, murderous, adulterous, warlike, and generally lawless. I am not saying that we all have all of these tendencies to the fullest degree possible. But we all naturally have them to one degree or another, and, of course, we affect each other. I may never have stolen anything, but if someone steals my car, I am affected by someone else’s sin. And other people are affected by my sins.

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Repentance Part 1

This article is adapted and revised from The Word of His Grace radio program, "Repentance" that originally aired in 2005.
St. Paul Preaching in Athens by Raphael (1515).
St. Paul Preaching in Athens by Raphael (1515). Paul boldly told the Athenians that God now commands all people everywhere to repent.

There is Paul, facing the great minds of his day—the pagan philosophers of Greece. He is standing in one of the very centers of pagan thought, Athens. He is speaking to people who have never heard of Jesus Christ and know nothing of the true God. Greater skeptics one could hardly imagine. Does Paul weaken his message in order to reach these people? Does he say that we really all worship the same god, just with different names? Does he debate with them over their points of philosophy? Does he hire temple prostitutes to dance and sing (with Christian words, of course) to bring in the crowds? No. Emphatically, no! Oh, he uses an anecdote and a stunning opening statement to get their attention. But he never gets down on their level. He held the banner of Jesus Christ high.

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What Would Jesus Have Said in Response to the Terrorism of September 11?

The shocking events of September 11, 2001, have stamped horrific images indelibly into our minds. But those airliners turned fireballs and towers atomizing their way to earth may also have altered the very course of human events in such a way as to plunge civilization instantly into an age of uncertainty or even chaos.

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