"Jas
4:8 KJV Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your
hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded."
We must confess sin and repent if we are the sinners
God has also taught us that that is how we come to God if we will really come to Him in the name of His Son Jesus Christ.
Today we don't need to take a bath to clean ourselves first, but have we cleansed our hands before we come to God? In another words, have we repented? Otherwise, we have not accepted Jesus, obeyed His words, or kept His commandments; we have only heard His words. We are not doers of His Words (Matt 7:21). We have not become His true believers yet. We are only the lukewarm believers or the double-minded believers whom the Lord will spue out (Rev 3:16).
The double-minded have confused themselves and others when they have not repented
Many double-minded believers said that they don't need to repent to be saved. But ironically they would argue vehemently that, whenever they believe, they HAVE REPENTED ! I will ask them, Please think, Did you say that you must believe to be saved? If you did, don't you realise that it could mean that you must repent to be saved too since you argue vehemently that 'to repent' is same as 'to believe'? Why do you now change your words and say that you can be saved even if you do not repent? Sometimes you need to reflect and find out if there is something wrong with your reasoning or your flow of thought. Your confusion of the need to believe and the need to repent has not only confused yourselves; you have confused everyone about God's salvation and the need to repent.
Hence, I would never tell the people that the need to repent and the need to believe is the same. I will tell them,
1. whenever you believe (like the devil - Jas 2:19), you may not do anything, but
2. whenever you repent, you must do something which shows that you have repented; otherwise, you 'repentance' is just a meaningless hollow repentance. If you just confessed it, it could be only a vain confession of sin or apology, like the vain hypocritical confession of obedience by king Saul even though he argued vehemently or said it twice to Samuel that he had obeyed the voice of God. But Samuel knew that he had rebelled because of the fear of men:
1Sa 15:13-22 KJV And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD ..(19) Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the LORD, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the LORD? (20) And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. (21) But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal. (22) And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
To repent is not the same as to believe
The people who say that to repent is to believe and to believe is to repent will one day say that to obey is to believe and to believe is to obey too. They would like to confuse everybody because they do not like to repent or obey.
But Jesus has shown us very clearly that to believe is not to repent (and to repent is not to believe). When the sinners under the Old Testament repented, they would do something which showed their repentance.
Mat 11:21 KJV Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
However, when the sinners today repent, they must show fruits of repentance. This is the grace revolution of Jesus Christ based on the gospel that He preached:
Mar 1:14-15 KJV Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, (15) And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
Luk 19:8-9 KJV And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. (9) And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham.
Mat 3:6-8 KJV And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins. (7) But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? (8) Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:
Act 26:20 KJV But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.
God would reject the lukewarm believers because they rebelled
Many lukewarm believers still argue that to repent is just to change their minds, turn to God, and believe only. They insist that there is no need to bring any fruit or do any work which meets for repentance because it is based on the following (one) Bible verse:
Act 20:21 KJV Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
I will tell them, Do you know that repentance toward God or faith toward God is dead without works? It means that it is not true repentance or true faith. If the prodigal son did not turn away from sin and turn to his father, he would have died in sin too. If the publican did not humble himself and confess his sins to God, he would not have the commend of Jesus Christ too (Luk 18:13-14). Of course, today we do not follow a strict pattern of expressing our repentance by putting on the sackcloth, beating our chest, or confessing repeatedly like a stupid mad parrot. However, John defined repentance beautifully as something a person or anyone would normally do if he sinned or knew that he was a sinner:
Luk 3:3-14 KJV And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins; (4) As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight .. (6) And all flesh shall see the salvation of God. (7) Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? (8) Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, .. (10) And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then? (11) He answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise. (12) Then came also publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, Master, what shall we do? (13) And he said unto them, Exact no more than that which is appointed you. (14) And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages.
Of course, the list of what we do can continues. If the preachers were to ask John the Baptist, I believe that he would tell them to preach no more false doctrine or lies. If the cheaters were to ask him, he would say, 'Cheat no more'. Obviously, he would never say that to repent is to believe only, especially if he knew that he was preaching the salvation and the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins under the New Covenant of Jesus Christ prophesied by the Esaias (Luk 3:4-6).
Repentance and water baptism is still an important New Testament practice and symbol
Many argue that the preaching of repentance by John the Baptist was still under the Old Covenant. I will tell them, If John was clearly prophesied as the one who prepared the way of the Lord under the New Covenant, how can his preaching be under the Old Covenant? If you have really studied all the cases of repentance in sackcloth and ashes under the Old Covenant, you would know that repentance in water baptism is a sign which can only be found under the New Covenant.
When the lukewarm believers keep arguing and telling us that repentance (with fruit or turning away from sin) is not important, not under grace, or not applicable to us, we know that it is just their excuse to reject the words of the Lord. Like king Saul, they have not only disobeyed God, they have rejected the words of God in rebellion:
1Sa 15:20-26 KJV And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have .. (22) And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. (23) For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king. (24) And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice. (25) Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD. (26) And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD hath rejected thee from being king over Israel.
The lukewarm believers were washed or bought; but now are naked
Of course, we have been washed by Jesus; otherwise, we cannot be in Christ. When we repent AND invite Jesus into our lives, He would still wash us. He would wash our feet so that we can always walk in Him and come to God, but we must wash our hands ourselves. Of course, we do not expect others to wash our hands when we know that washing our hands is a cultivated personal and spiritual habit for all the believers according to the written words of God (James 4:8). Hence, with the law of God in our minds (Heb 8:10, 10:16) and cleanliness in our hands, we will continue to walk with the Lord who will still cleanse our feet continuously with His words (or with the lamp of God). So, we do not interpret the washing of hands or feet literally or foolishly. But, when the lukewarm believers happily yielded their hands or minds to the beast to receive his mark, their hands and minds were no longer clean in the sight of God. It was a metaphor, a picture, or a sign which showed that they have traded the commandments of God with the lawlessness of the beast. They have lost their wedding garment when they departed from God's commandments. They have become naked again even though they may think that they were washed or bought by Jesus Christ. They will become speechless before God. We noticed that there were a lot of metaphors in the words of God eg. the wedding garment, the lamp, the hands and the feet, the water, the nakedness, the lukewarmness, .. etc. We don't swim like the fish, but we can certainly use its metaphor to tell people not to think like it. Yes, we can use it; but please don't think like it. To see more stories about the fish, click here:
1. https://plus.google.com/103386467367636094616/posts/FUg75zhD4ye
2. https://plus.google.com/103386467367636094616/posts/C9LFToSFCYn
3. https://plus.google.com/103386467367636094616/posts/MUbChDYa71E
Rev 3:16-17 KJV So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. (17) Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
Rev 13:16 KJV And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: .. 14:11-12 And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. (12) Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
2Pe 2:1-2 KJV But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. (2) And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.
Mat 22:10-12 KJV So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests. (11) And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: (12) And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.
We must confess sin and repent if we are the sinners
God has also taught us that that is how we come to God if we will really come to Him in the name of His Son Jesus Christ.
Today we don't need to take a bath to clean ourselves first, but have we cleansed our hands before we come to God? In another words, have we repented? Otherwise, we have not accepted Jesus, obeyed His words, or kept His commandments; we have only heard His words. We are not doers of His Words (Matt 7:21). We have not become His true believers yet. We are only the lukewarm believers or the double-minded believers whom the Lord will spue out (Rev 3:16).
The double-minded have confused themselves and others when they have not repented
Many double-minded believers said that they don't need to repent to be saved. But ironically they would argue vehemently that, whenever they believe, they HAVE REPENTED ! I will ask them, Please think, Did you say that you must believe to be saved? If you did, don't you realise that it could mean that you must repent to be saved too since you argue vehemently that 'to repent' is same as 'to believe'? Why do you now change your words and say that you can be saved even if you do not repent? Sometimes you need to reflect and find out if there is something wrong with your reasoning or your flow of thought. Your confusion of the need to believe and the need to repent has not only confused yourselves; you have confused everyone about God's salvation and the need to repent.
Hence, I would never tell the people that the need to repent and the need to believe is the same. I will tell them,
1. whenever you believe (like the devil - Jas 2:19), you may not do anything, but
2. whenever you repent, you must do something which shows that you have repented; otherwise, you 'repentance' is just a meaningless hollow repentance. If you just confessed it, it could be only a vain confession of sin or apology, like the vain hypocritical confession of obedience by king Saul even though he argued vehemently or said it twice to Samuel that he had obeyed the voice of God. But Samuel knew that he had rebelled because of the fear of men:
1Sa 15:13-22 KJV And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD ..(19) Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the LORD, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the LORD? (20) And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. (21) But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal. (22) And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
To repent is not the same as to believe
The people who say that to repent is to believe and to believe is to repent will one day say that to obey is to believe and to believe is to obey too. They would like to confuse everybody because they do not like to repent or obey.
But Jesus has shown us very clearly that to believe is not to repent (and to repent is not to believe). When the sinners under the Old Testament repented, they would do something which showed their repentance.
Mat 11:21 KJV Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, Bethsaida! for if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes.
However, when the sinners today repent, they must show fruits of repentance. This is the grace revolution of Jesus Christ based on the gospel that He preached:
Mar 1:14-15 KJV Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, (15) And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.
Luk 19:8-9 KJV And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. (9) And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham.
Mat 3:6-8 KJV And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins. (7) But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? (8) Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:
Act 26:20 KJV But shewed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and throughout all the coasts of Judaea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance.
God would reject the lukewarm believers because they rebelled
Many lukewarm believers still argue that to repent is just to change their minds, turn to God, and believe only. They insist that there is no need to bring any fruit or do any work which meets for repentance because it is based on the following (one) Bible verse:
Act 20:21 KJV Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.
I will tell them, Do you know that repentance toward God or faith toward God is dead without works? It means that it is not true repentance or true faith. If the prodigal son did not turn away from sin and turn to his father, he would have died in sin too. If the publican did not humble himself and confess his sins to God, he would not have the commend of Jesus Christ too (Luk 18:13-14). Of course, today we do not follow a strict pattern of expressing our repentance by putting on the sackcloth, beating our chest, or confessing repeatedly like a stupid mad parrot. However, John defined repentance beautifully as something a person or anyone would normally do if he sinned or knew that he was a sinner:
Luk 3:3-14 KJV And he came into all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins; (4) As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight .. (6) And all flesh shall see the salvation of God. (7) Then said he to the multitude that came forth to be baptized of him, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? (8) Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of repentance, .. (10) And the people asked him, saying, What shall we do then? (11) He answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise. (12) Then came also publicans to be baptized, and said unto him, Master, what shall we do? (13) And he said unto them, Exact no more than that which is appointed you. (14) And the soldiers likewise demanded of him, saying, And what shall we do? And he said unto them, Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages.
Of course, the list of what we do can continues. If the preachers were to ask John the Baptist, I believe that he would tell them to preach no more false doctrine or lies. If the cheaters were to ask him, he would say, 'Cheat no more'. Obviously, he would never say that to repent is to believe only, especially if he knew that he was preaching the salvation and the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins under the New Covenant of Jesus Christ prophesied by the Esaias (Luk 3:4-6).
Repentance and water baptism is still an important New Testament practice and symbol
Many argue that the preaching of repentance by John the Baptist was still under the Old Covenant. I will tell them, If John was clearly prophesied as the one who prepared the way of the Lord under the New Covenant, how can his preaching be under the Old Covenant? If you have really studied all the cases of repentance in sackcloth and ashes under the Old Covenant, you would know that repentance in water baptism is a sign which can only be found under the New Covenant.
When the lukewarm believers keep arguing and telling us that repentance (with fruit or turning away from sin) is not important, not under grace, or not applicable to us, we know that it is just their excuse to reject the words of the Lord. Like king Saul, they have not only disobeyed God, they have rejected the words of God in rebellion:
1Sa 15:20-26 KJV And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have .. (22) And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. (23) For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king. (24) And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice. (25) Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD. (26) And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD hath rejected thee from being king over Israel.
The lukewarm believers were washed or bought; but now are naked
Of course, we have been washed by Jesus; otherwise, we cannot be in Christ. When we repent AND invite Jesus into our lives, He would still wash us. He would wash our feet so that we can always walk in Him and come to God, but we must wash our hands ourselves. Of course, we do not expect others to wash our hands when we know that washing our hands is a cultivated personal and spiritual habit for all the believers according to the written words of God (James 4:8). Hence, with the law of God in our minds (Heb 8:10, 10:16) and cleanliness in our hands, we will continue to walk with the Lord who will still cleanse our feet continuously with His words (or with the lamp of God). So, we do not interpret the washing of hands or feet literally or foolishly. But, when the lukewarm believers happily yielded their hands or minds to the beast to receive his mark, their hands and minds were no longer clean in the sight of God. It was a metaphor, a picture, or a sign which showed that they have traded the commandments of God with the lawlessness of the beast. They have lost their wedding garment when they departed from God's commandments. They have become naked again even though they may think that they were washed or bought by Jesus Christ. They will become speechless before God. We noticed that there were a lot of metaphors in the words of God eg. the wedding garment, the lamp, the hands and the feet, the water, the nakedness, the lukewarmness, .. etc. We don't swim like the fish, but we can certainly use its metaphor to tell people not to think like it. Yes, we can use it; but please don't think like it. To see more stories about the fish, click here:
1. https://plus.google.com/103386467367636094616/posts/FUg75zhD4ye
2. https://plus.google.com/103386467367636094616/posts/C9LFToSFCYn
3. https://plus.google.com/103386467367636094616/posts/MUbChDYa71E
Rev 3:16-17 KJV So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. (17) Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
Rev 13:16 KJV And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: .. 14:11-12 And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. (12) Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.
2Pe 2:1-2 KJV But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. (2) And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.
Mat 22:10-12 KJV So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests. (11) And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: (12) And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.
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