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I realized that I have moved away from Jesus in the last few days, and I no longer tend to be like I used to be. How can I get back together and act like the day I was saved? I’m tired of being selfish, impatient, without empathy and a slave to sin. I want to get to know God again
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Repentance of Christ
The repentance practiced in today’s Christianity is not the repentance of rebirth in Christ. True repentance means reflection, awakening, and resolution to never commit sin again. However, the repentance of today’s Christians remains trapped within the limits of a life that can only repeat sin throughout one’s lifetime—it is not the true, reborn repentance of Christ.
The repentance of Christians, which stems from self-reliant reflection, awakening, and determination, originates from the realm of the world and the flesh—the very foundation of sin—and therefore becomes meaningless. The repentance of Christ belongs only to those who abandon everything that belongs to the world and the flesh, take up their own cross, and live for the hope of Christ, pursuing His love through suffering, toil, and sacrifice. This repentance leads one to receive divine guidance into the power of God’s love, poured out only upon those who abandon the instinctive life of sin that belongs to the world and the flesh, and instead center their lives on the hope of Christ, aiming for the life of Christ that follows His love.
The reflection and repentance that merely repeat self-awareness, resolutions, and determinations inspired by sermons of pastors who exalt words and theories throughout their lives always end up turning back to self-interest, producing only the repeated result of sin. This happens because rather than pursuing righteousness, justice, equity, and faithfulness, they follow greed and lust—the nature of the flesh—which always prioritizes personal gain. The evil habits (the members of the body) that cause humans to repeat sin throughout their lives can never be removed by human awareness, pride, conviction, will, or determination. For this reason, all mankind, including Christians, cannot be freed from sin.
But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.(Romans 6 : 17~23)
Christians all claim to be children of God who do not commit sin. They also call themselves believers of Christ. Yet while living in the path of sinners belonging to the world and the flesh—unable to escape from a life that can only repeat sin—they act as though they have been freed from sin and are true Christians. Those who spend their entire lives sinning, repenting, and then sinning again—trapped as slaves to the evil habits of sin until death—are not true Christians.
The awareness, resolutions, and determinations inspired by pastors’ emotional sermons always lead back to the same limit: even when one recognizes and understands sin, one cannot help but repeat it. This reveals that humans, bound to the evil habits of the flesh, remain lifelong slaves to sin.
Through one’s own willpower, pride, awareness, and determination, no one can overcome the human limitation that inevitably leads to repeated sin. In other words, through the emotional stirrings of sermons and self-reliant reflection or determination, no one can conquer the evil habits of human nature that make sin inevitable. Therefore, just like the followers of all other religions, Christians too spend their entire lives repeating meaningless repentance while continuing to repeat sin.
And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.(1 John 3 : 3~4)
For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.(2 Corinthians 7 : 11)
And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.(1 John 3 : 3)
Those who possess the hope of Christ, which follows after the love of God, do not harbor the lusts and greed that are the root of sin. Because they pursue the love of God, they are given the opportunity to escape from the evil habits that continually produce sin. But can one who lives a fleshly life—following the nature of the body in which sin and desire endlessly repeat—ever achieve the repentance of rebirth that comes from a pure heart? No—within the path of sin where sin is repeated, one cannot attain the repentance of rebirth that is made clean in Christ.
The repentance of Christ is the truth in which the power of God works within those who live for the hope of Christ that follows after the love of God. It is the love poured out by God that grants them the divine power to kill the evil habits of human nature that arise from the flesh. The truth of God is not learned, studied, or understood through the intellect or inspiration of sermons; rather, it is realized when the power of God’s love works within the hope of Christ—a hope that follows the love of Christ, who bore His cross and sacrificed even His life. This divine power destroys the evil habits that make humans repeat sin throughout their lives. Teaching this living truth is the sacred duty of God’s true shepherds.
The truth of God leads people to receive the divine power of love that transcends the human limitation of a life that can only repeat sin. And the beautiful repentance of Christ, revealed in those who abandon the worldly and fleshly life that constantly repeats sin and instead live for the hope of Christ that follows God’s love, is the repentance of rebirth—a repentance that is united with God’s love and clothed in goodness and purity. Those who follow after the love of God do not harbor lust or greed born of the flesh, and therefore sin must die within them. Thus, the hope of the Christian who follows the love of God is the hope of eternal life.
…Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.(2 Thessalonians 2 : 3~12)
Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others….(Ephesians 2 : 3~7)
Once again, I say to you: within the hope of Christ, it is the love of God—poured out through the working power of God—that operates. Therefore, the awareness, resolve, and determination that arise from one’s own zeal, inspired merely by the teachings and emotions of today’s Christian sermons that exalt words and theories, are not the repentance of Christ at all.
And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.(Romans 5 : 3~5)
Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:(1 Peter 1 : 5~6)
For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.(1 Corinthians 1 : 17~18)
For though he was crucified through weakness, yet he liveth by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God toward you.(2 Corinthians 13 : 4)
Before the repeated sins of Christians today, their repentance has gradually turned them into beings who either take their sins lightly, become increasingly bold before their sins, or even grow shameless and unashamed, no longer feeling the pangs of conscience. Their pride, under the illusion that they have been forgiven through the blood of Christ, has become a faith devoid of the light and salt of true Christian example—filled instead with hypocrisy, self-display, and social charity that lack the genuine spirit of Christ’s love. Such faith, which follows only words, theories, and ideas in order to avoid the path of love, labor, and sacrifice—refusing to bear one’s own cross and to give even one’s life for the love of Christ—cannot attain the repentance of rebirth.
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.(John 3 : 3)
I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;(Ephesians 4 : 1~4)
Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness; In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began; But hath in due times manifested his word through preaching, which is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our Saviour;(Titus 1 : 1~3)
If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister; Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church: Whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfil the word of God; Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:(Colossians 1 : 23~27)
Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,(1 Peter 1 : 2~4)
And again, Esaias saith, There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise to reign over the Gentiles; in him shall the Gentiles trust. Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.(Romans 15 : 12~13)
In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began; But hath in due times manifested his word through preaching, which is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our Saviour;(Titus 1 : 2~3)
For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel; Which is come unto you, as it is in all the world; and bringeth forth fruit, as it doth also in you, since the day ye heard of it, and knew the grace of God in truth: As ye also learned of Epaphras our dear fellowservant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ; Who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit. For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness; Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:(Colossians 1 : 5~12)
The Christian who follows the hope of Christ that springs from the love of God is led in life by the love of God. But all those who live according to the world and the flesh move according to their own thoughts and judgments that stem from the nature of the body. Because their prayers seek only worldly happiness, blessings, success, and comfort for themselves, they are all like Esau—living a fleshly life that can only repeat sin while longing for their own blessings. As a result, they are pitiful Christians who never even gain the true opportunity to repent. They pray only vain prayers, seeking worldly relief just as the people of the world do.
Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright. For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears.(Hebrews 12 : 16~17)
For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.(2 Corinthians 7 : 10)
All faiths that belong to the world and the flesh are of the spirit of the flesh, not of the Spirit of God. A Christian who follows the flesh and continually repeats sin is not a true follower of Christ; because they cannot put to death the evil habits that arise from the body, sin continues to repeat itself. The power of God’s love at work—the divine strength that operates through His Spirit—is the power that destroys the evil habits born of the desires and nature of the flesh that cause sin to be repeated.
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.(Romans 8 : 9~15)
For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.(Romans 7 : 5~6)
Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;(1 Peter 2 : 11~12)
Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:(1 Peter 1 : 5~6)
Relying on human zeal, pride, and determination that arise only from awareness, resolve, and decision inspired by emotional sermons and human teachings leads to nothing but a lifetime of repeated sin. In other words, it produces results as meaningless as a child’s diary—filled with fleeting emotions but no true change. The divine ideals, wisdom, and power of God’s love cannot work within such faith, for the truth of God’s love that manifests through His power cannot dwell there.
Repentance in Christ means abandoning one’s own thoughts, opinions, judgments, and standards. In other words, the Word of God serves as a mirror reflecting our distorted, twisted, wrongful, and shameful selves. The Scriptures are a mirror that exposes all our sins. Yet when people interpret and use the Bible as a tool to justify their own sins, such interpretations and explanations are in fact the assertions of those who have betrayed the Word of God—statements born from the very nature of the flesh.