Jesus’ Command

    Jesus’ Command

Jesus said, “I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (Luke 5:32)  All true born again Christians understand, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…” In keeping with the key truths spoken by Jesus Christ, it is imperative that we grasp the meaning of “sinners” and “repentance.”

“Sinners” (ἁμαρτωλός hamartōlós) are people who miss the mark in living the life God intends for them to live.  Therefore, sinners are people who live as they choose, without regard to God’s will. (The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament)  “Repentance” (μετάνοια metánoia) is a change of mind, leading away from evil to righteousness, from good to striving towards God’s best for us.  (Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament: based on semantic domains (electronic ed. of the 2nd edition., Vol. 1, p. 509). New York: United Bible Societies.)  “Repentance” is a profound change of mind involving the change of direction of life from that of self-centeredness or sin-centeredness to God or Christ-centeredness. God’s forgiveness is available only to those who are repentant, for only they can receive it.” (The New International Dictionary of the Bible)

All of us, need to repent! Rather Your Are:  A Hypocrite (ὑποκριτής hupokritḗs) a pretender, one who preaches God’s Word, yet, his way of living reveals the counterfeit he really is. (Matthew 23:25-31; Romans 9:4-8)  Rather Your Are:  Sexually immoral, an idolater, one who hates others, one who brings discord into the family or the work place, one who practices witchcraft, one who is a jealous person, one who exhibits fits of rage or has selfish ambitions. (Galatians 5:19-20) The call is to repent.  Rather Your Are:  a  person who exchanges the truth about God for a lie, one who has unnatural or shameful lust for one another, one who is greedy, a murderer, a gossip, one who disobedient to parents, has no fidelity, a God-hater, one who insolent and arrogant. (Romans 1:18-32) Jesus’ command is to repent.  Rather Your Are:  an adulterer, a thief, a slanderer, a swindler or involved in homosexuality. (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)  It is the Lord’s will, “…all should reach repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9)  All sins are manifestations of a life needing to come to true repentance, put right with God.

Many spend their time pointing out the sins of others while overlooking their own sin, others justify or proclaim them as given at birth.  The Bible says sin come from a depraved mind, the results from not thinking it worthwhile to retain or seek the knowledge of God. (Romans 1:28)  The Bible says “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.” (Acts 3:19)  John the Baptist has a message for us all, “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.”  Jesus gives us this powerful exhortation, “…I tell you;  but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

There is a God who created us, Jesus Christ died for us, and the Holy Spirit longs to empower us to live a life of repentance, one that is pleasing to the Lord.  Were is our hearts in regard to repentance? Jesus is not influenced by the conjecture of men, only by the will of His Father in heaven. In a day were many are proclaiming tolerance, Jesus proclaims repent.