Talking with some people who asked Him about the sinful ways of others… Jesus taught that it would be an eternally favorable act — to change your way of living.
“…unless you repent [change your old way of thinking, turn from your sinful ways and live changed lives], you will all likewise perish.”
– Verse 5 of Luke 13:1-5 1
See: Psalm 51 type repentance and salvation
Becoming accepted
Becoming accepted by God is not a matter of not sinning, but rather a matter of having a heart that repents of all that.
Before you accept Christ, sinning is a symptom that shows your need of repentance. God is calling you to a personal “turning away from” that rebellion against God — yielding your will.
Excuse me
When it comes to our sin and sinning – it’s easy to excuse ourselves. There is usually always “a bigger sinner than I”. So I don’t look so bad.
Turn your heart away from sin
You can’t stop sinning (1 John 1:8; Romans 7). It’s happening. But you can turn your heart away from sin. God requires that.
Repent of your sin and accept Jesus as your Savior. He is the only One who forgives you for all that. We go to Heaven only because we turned our heart to Jesus.
No repentance? No Heaven.
Still content in your sin? Still damned all to Hell.
Once we are saved, then sinning less comes little by little as we learn to follow Him more closely. But we are not saved by sinning less. We are saved by the sheer mercy and grace of Jesus.
2 Consider it nothing but joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you fall into various trials.
3 Be assured that the testing of your faith [through experience] produces endurance [leading to spiritual maturity, and inner peace].
4 And let endurance have its perfect result and do a thorough work, so that you may be perfect and completely developed [in your faith], lacking in nothing.
– James 1: verses 2-4.
Psalm 51 type repentance and salvation
Excerpt: God is asking us to repent truthfully – and will not accept any act of our own to earn His salvation. He does not want our sacrifices (v16) nor our “burnt offering”. The Psalm implies that He despises all but an honest repentance (v17).
For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
The Psalmist owned-up to being sinful (v1-4). He confessed, I have “sinned and done what is evil in your sight.”
my my my
My transgressions.
My iniquity.
My sin.
Will you be turned away by Jesus?
Just at that time some people came who told Jesus about the [a]Galileans whose blood Pilate [the governor] had mixed with their sacrifices. 2 Jesus replied to them,
“Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans because they have suffered in this way?
3 I tell you, no; but unless you repent [change your old way of thinking, turn from your sinful ways and live changed lives], you will all likewise perish.
4 Or do you assume that [b]those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed were worse sinners than all the others who live in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no; but
unless you repent [change your old way of thinking, turn from your sinful ways and live changed lives], you will all likewise perish.”
Footnotes
- Echoing Luke 9:23, this Amplified version includes the definition of what Jesus meant with the word “repent”:
1) change your old way of thinking,
2) turn from your sinful ways and
3) live changed lives. - Excerpt: There is no way on earth that any of us can live to merit God’s forgiveness – His grace, and His mercy. No way in hell. No way in the whole God-damned universe [Read: Romans 5:12; Being God Damned] — because it is not good enough for holiness, Holy God. Without Christ, what am I? Certainly not holy – without fault. How can I hope to merit anything of God?
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