https://odb.org/MY/2023/06/30/parting-words
It is possible that some of us may have forgotten that one of the tenets of salvation is repentance from sin. While it is true that salvation is by the grace of God and not our good works like in the case of other faiths, we always need to remember that salvation is not merely saying or professing the sinner’s prayer. The public utterance of our lips is our proclamation that Christ is our Lord and Saviour. It is the confession of our hearts that Jesus died for our sins and rose victorious, resurrected from death to give us the hope of glory that one day we would likewise be resurrected like Him in our glorified bodies although when we die our flesh will return to the ground – from dust to dust.
Yet at the foundation of our proclamation is the confession of our hearts that we are sinners (in fact Christ called us to be His own while we were yet sinners) and that we repent from our sins. Repentance is to completely turn away from the path of sin and to begin the walk on the path of righteousness. We can only take one road – either the wide way that leads to destruction or the narrow road to eternal life.
As we have said in these pages before, we do not become sinless overnight, and we still need the blood of the Lamb to justify us. But that’s not a passport to continue to sin and do evil and attribute that to the weakness of our flesh. In other words, there must be real and concerted efforts towards righteousness because liberty from sin is real and achievable with the empowerment and strength of the Holy Spirit. Even if it’s a constant battle between our old flesh and our new creation in Christ, it’s a battle we must continue to wage. We must never give up and give in to the devil. This is a battle we must always fight. If we had compromised and lost, we must pick ourselves up and continue the fight. That, to me, is the true meaning of repentance. We turn away from sin and continue to turn away from sin. If we sin, we need to confess our sins before God and continue on our journey on the path of righteousness.
Even if our acceptance of Christ has given us the ticket to be on the boat to eternal life, we must make sure we are still on the boat, the boat where Christ transforms us each day more and more into His image as we allow Him to mould us. Having the ticket but not being on the boat that Christ has appointed for us will mean that we may not land at the right place to present the ticket for entrance into eternal life. Make sure we are on the boat while tightly clutching to the entrance ticket. Repentance is a sure way to ensure that we are still on the boat to eternal life!
Ronnie's Thoughts 