Repentance

If YAHWEH can repent why do people, especially Christians, think they are free from REPENTANCE?

From a human standpoint, YAHWEH is "slow" in delivering His promises. But, unlike man, YAHWEH is not constrained by time and what we call "slowness" is really God's patience toward us. His desire is that we come to repentance, and He patiently gives us every opportunity to do so.

2 Peter 3:9 "The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance."

ELOHIM does not force anyone to repent; He provides everyone with the opportunity to come to repentance. And since everything is a matter of choice, this divine grace can be resisted and rejected.

Proverbs 1:23-25 "If you had repented at my rebuke, then surely I would have poured out my spirit on you; I would have made my words known to you. Because you refused my call, and no one took my outstretched hand, because you neglected all my counsel, and wanted none of my correction..."

YESHUA's first words when He began His ministry on earth were calling people to repent:

Matthew 4:17 "From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."

And throughout the Bible, we see persistent communication calling people to repentance.

Luke 13:5 "No, I tell you. But unless you repent, you too will all perish."
Revelations 3:19 "Those I love, I rebuke and discipline. Therefore be earnest and repent."
Revelations 3:3 "Remember, then, what you have received and heard. Keep it and repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know the hour when I will come upon you."
Mark 6:12 "So they set out and preached that the people should repent."
Acts 3:19 "Repent, then, and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped away,"

Not just the gentiles or the transgressors of the Law but also those who are righteous.

Luke 15:7 "In the same way, I tell you that there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous ones who do not need to repent."

Notice that The Most High Himself has stated that He can repent of His intentions.

Jeremiah 26:3 "Perhaps they will listen and turn—each from his evil way of life—so that I may relent of the disaster I am planning to bring upon them because of the evil of their deeds."
Jeremiah 26:13 "So now, correct your ways and deeds, and obey the voice of the LORD your God, so that He might relent of the disaster He has pronounced against you."
Jeremiah 18:8 "But if that nation I warned turns from its evil, then I will relent of the disaster I had planned to bring."
Jeremiah 18:10 "And if it does evil in My sight and does not listen to My voice, then I will relent of the good I had intended for it."

However, if The Most High has called you to fully serve Him by making use of any special abilities He has bestowed upon you, He does not repent of it.

Romans 11:29 "For God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable."
Numbers 23:19-20 "God is not a man, that He should lie, or a son of man, that He should change His mind. Does He speak and not act? Does He promise and not fulfill?. I have indeed received a command to bless; He has blessed, and I cannot change it."
Psalms 110:4 The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind: “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek."

Surprisingly, fewer and fewer believers give any importance to repentance. What then make them think they are exempt from doing it? Let first define repentance in order to better understand why this act that must be done regularly is the basis and the very heart of divine salvation.

What is repentance?

The term repentance is derived from the Hebrew word teshûbah or shûb. According to the Jewish dictionary, the Hebrew word shûb appears 1058 times in the Old Testament and has 3 implications:

All transgression and sin is the natural and inevitable consequence of turning away from YAHWEH and His laws.
It is man's destiny, and therefore his duty, to be with The Lord as The Lord is with him.
Every man has the power to redeem himself from sin by resolutely turning away from it and turning to YAHWEH, whose goodness always extends to the sinner who returns to Him.

Therefore, by definition, "repent" means "to turn", by literally changing direction. It is not mere self-pity; rather, it is going back to The Lord by turning away from sin. Repentance involves a radical change of intention, behavior and lifestyle to return to The Lord.

Jeremiah 4:1 "If you will return, O Israel, return to Me,” declares the LORD. “If you will remove your detestable idols from My sight and no longer waver."
Jeremiah 35:15 "Again and again I have sent you all My servants the prophets, proclaiming: ‘Turn now, each of you, from your wicked ways, and correct your actions. Do not go after other gods to serve them. Live in the land that I have given to you and your fathers.’ But you have not inclined your ear or listened to Me."
Ezekiel 14:6 "Therefore tell the house of Israel that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Repent and turn away from your idols; turn your faces away from all your abominations."

Behavioral science informs us that just as our minds influence our behaviors, our behaviors also influence our attitudes. Repentance encourages a mental disposition to obey God's commands and accept His provisions for salvation, thus changing the way we behave. If firmly rooted and nurtured, the inner and outer qualities of repentance are closely connected and cannot be separated.

However, even with unwavering faith we are all susceptible to sin: either in our behavior, our thoughts, or our words, because of our sinful nature that constantly drives us away from God. Every sin, no matter how insignificant it may seem to us, is one more transgression in the book of our life and only the blood of the lamb can erase that transgression through sincere repentance of one's fault before the Lord. This is only possible for those who have accepted YESHUA as their Lord and Savior.

The intercessors in your churches can certainly intercede in your favor in order to ask for a revelation or a discernment from the Holy Spirit. But, understand very clearly that apart from the thousand intercessors angels, no human being like you can intercede or plead with YAHWEH in order to obtain FORGIVENESS for your transgressions. You MUST ask forgiveness for yourself and you can do it alone in the privacy of your room.

1 Samuel 2:25 "If a man sins against another man, God can intercede for him; but if a man sins against the LORD, who can intercede for him?"
Isaiah 43:25-26 "I, yes I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake and remembers your sins no more. Remind Me, let us argue the matter together. State your case, so that you may be vindicated."
Job 33:23-24 "Yet if there is a messenger on his side, one mediator in a thousand, to tell a man what is right for him, to be gracious to him and say, ‘Spare him from going down to the Pit; I have found his ransom!"

True and sincere repentance is immediately followed by divine forgiveness that one feels in the HEART.

You will recognize you have received divine forgiveness because your past transgressions will become almost inaccessible to your memory. Every time you will try to recall the details of what you did, it will become a very difficult mental exercise, as if those details were now erased or blocked off. In addition, the feeling of doubt and shame you used to feel when thinking about your past transgressions will give way to a feeling of peace of heart where you no longer perceive your past transgressions as a heavy weight in your life.

Acts 3:19 "Repent, then, and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped away."
Hebrews 8:12 "For I will forgive their iniquities and will remember their sins no more.”
1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

"Repentance involves faith, without faith no one can repent", What then is faith?

The Lord asks us to "believe" in him. But you cannot believe unless you know, and you will not know any better unless you have believed.

Mark 5:36 "But Jesus overheard their conversation and said to Jairus, “Do not be afraid; just believe.”

Faith is not just the ability to verbally say "I believe and love Jesus." It is much deeper than that

Faith is holding YAHWEH and YESHUA to their words and trusting that it is so.

Hebrews 11:6 "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who approaches Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him."
Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is the assurance of what we hope for and the certainty of what we do not see."

Faith begins with a fervent desire to know God and to draw closer to Him. Once you have formed this desire in your heart, you will then give access to the Holy Spirit to take over your entire being, and fully empower you with the supernatural gift of faith that will enable you to see God in the world and in human beings. It will also awaken your spirit of discernment and enable you to understand Scriptures without ambiguity.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.."

When you refuse to believe in The Most High, you are subjecting yourself to a certain perspective of constant questioning that forces you to choose doubt over assurance, fearful regret over forgiveness of sins, and fear of death over hope in eternal life.

The Holy Scriptures clearly tell us that only the acceptance of YESHUA as Lord and Savior and sincere repentance can give us access to the kingdom of heaven. Therefore it is presumptuous and even dangerous to believe in a far-away vision of death where all will be well and everybody goes to heaven.

John 14:6 "Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."
John 6:44-47 "“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the Prophets: ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from Him comes to Me— not that anyone has seen the Father except the One who is from God; only He has seen the Father. Truly, truly, I tell you, he who believes has eternal life."

Some Christians also seem to believe that divine grace is solely a matter of God's sovereign will, completely apart from human free will. This would imply that the offer of salvation is not, in the true sense of the word, an "offer" but rather a form of favoritism where God only gives special grace to some people, and only they can be saved.

Such reasoning reduces the call to repentance to so many empty words. YAHWEH's grace is not limited to one race or nation, it is given to all and He may use those He has blessed with special abilities to influence others and lead them to His knowledge and to repentance. It does not mean that such individuals are "favored" by God.

Acts 11:18 "When they heard this, their objections were put to rest, and they glorified God, saying, “So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life.”

God can, however, harden the heart of man for the fulfillment of his command (as he did with Pharaoh). Just as clay is no longer malleable once it has hardened, Pharaoh's heart was hardened into the evil condition it was in. Theologically, it means that the protective hand of YAHWEH was no longer restraining Pharaoh because his repentance was no longer a possibility.

2 Timothy 2:24-26 "And a servant of the Lord must not be quarrelsome, but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, and forbearing. He must gently reprove those who oppose him, in the hope that God may grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth. Then they will come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, who has taken them captive to his will."
Romans 2:4 "Or do you disregard the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance?"

What about those who have repented and fallen back into the same sins?

When a person repents but does not change his or her behavior then there are two possibilities:

Either their repentance never really occurred in the first place.
Or that individual's repentance was "short-circuited" due to a lack of discernment.

Matthew 13:19 "When anyone hears the message of the kingdom but does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the seed sown along the path."

However, through continual repentance, the believer will eventually give up falling into the same sin. Hence the extreme importance of teaching repentance not only to pagans but also to believers.

Is repentance on the deathbed good enough for the sake of the soul?

The Bible teaches that true repentance from sin is the combination of 3 steps:

1. Realizing that one's way of life is unacceptable to God and praying for forgiveness of past sins.

Paul stated in Acts 20:21 that we must repent to God and exercise faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. Our sins can only be forgiven if we return to God and sincerely ask for forgiveness and have faith that the Blood of YESHUA Ha Maschiach has the power to erase the guilt of past sins.

Acts 20:21 "annonçant aux Juifs et aux Grecs la repentance envers Dieu et la foi en notre Seigneur Jésus Christ."

2. Changing one's way of life in order to produce thoughts and actions that deflect from sin and turn rather to obedience to God's laws.

During the ministry of John the Baptist, a number of Jews flocked to the Jordan River to be baptized by him. Prior to their baptism, as a pre-requisite, John instructed them to display the fruit of the spirit in their lives as evidence of their repentance.

Luke 3:7-8 "Then John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit, then, in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham."

3. Being baptize in YESHUA's Name

John the Baptist demanded that Jews put into practice the teachings of the Scriptures. He knew that baptism was symbolic of the binding of the old self and the forgiveness of sins. Therefore, baptism would only make sense if there is repentance and a change of heart.

Romans 6:3-4 "Or aren’t you aware that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may walk in newness of life."
Acts 2:38 "Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit."

But repentance does not end there; it must continue throughout the life of the believer.

On the basis of these three steps, the concept of deathbed repentance is not only erroneous but also harmful. Those who believe in deathbed repentance often cite the thief on the cross to show that one can live as they please all their life and just confess their sins on their deathbed to be saved. Is that so? Let's carefully examine what the Scriptures say:

Luke 23:43 "And Jesus said to him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

At first glance this verse gives the impression that the thief immediately entered paradise with YESHUA on that day. But this cannot be the case since YESHUA himself stayed in Sheol for three days and three nights prior to his resurrection, and then he stayed on earth for 40 days before ascending to the heavens.

Matthew 12:40 "For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."

It is also well documented that before YESHUA's death, prophets and saints were kept in a place of preservation after their death, called Abraham's Bosom. This would imply that the thief on the cross did not immediately enter the Heavens after his death, but he too was temporarily kept in Abraham's Bosom until YESHUA had descended into the depths of the underworld, freed the captives and ascended to the Father.

Now, if you carefully consider Luke 23:43 you will notice that the translators most certainly misplaced the comma, perhaps due to a lack of clear understanding or due to a typographical error. Indeed, if you insert the comma after the word "today", the meaning of the verse changes significantly and becomes consistent with the rest of the Bible and the Scriptures.

"And Jesus said to him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.” - implies that the thief will enter paradise with Jesus on this very day.
"And Jesus said to him, “Truly I tell you today, you will be with Me in Paradise.” - implies that on that day Jesus made a solemn promise to the thief that he too will have a part in paradise.

The case of the thief on the cross is unique. His words were neither a cry of desperation because he was going to die, nor were they an expression of self-pity. Despite the mockery and scoffing of the people, he publicly acknowledged he deserved his punishment, he exhibited respect for God, he showed compassion for Jesus Christ, and put his faith in him (Luke 23:40-41). He certainly did not have the opportunity to walk a life of obedience to God's commands which is a necessary step in the process of repentance. But he was directly in the presence of God who could see the sincerity of his heart. In return, YESHUA comforted him concerning his destiny in the Kingdom of Heaven.

The Bible teaches that immediately after death, the spirit either goes to Sheol (the abode of the dead) or to a temporary resting place, to await the final judgment. There will be a time when the thief and millions of others will be resurrected and given the opportunity to have eternal life.

Revelations 20:12 "And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne. And there were open books, and one of them was the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their deeds, as recorded in the books."

Salvation is a great and free gift from God, but it is not a bargain. You cannot live in sin and expect to repent on your deathbed at the last minute and obtain salvation in the same way as those who dedicated their entire lives to Christ.

YESHUA gave his life to pay the penalty for our sins. Our response must be to relinquish our lives so that God can mold us into people of righteous character, prepared for His glorious Kingdom.

Romans 6:10-12 The death He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life He lives, He lives to God. So you too must count yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus"

May the Holy Spirit guide you through the understanding of this message.

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