The first principle of authentic Christian discipleship is that we must choose to look at and define any key words, concepts principles and ideas the way that God Himself looks at them and defines them in His Word.
This Blog Will Discuss:
- Messiah's first public command is to REPENT (Matthew 4:17) .
- What It Really Means to MAKE Disciples (Matthew 28:18-20)
- What does it mean to repent biblically?
- Messiah gives some clear scriptural models of repentance.
- How do I repent successfully?
Jesus Christ said: ...."Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Matthew 4:17 (NASB)Those of you who know me are aware that I have been working on a book that meticulously gives practical advice on how to obey everything that Jesus Christ commanded in the New Testament. That project is still underway, but this teaching series is an undergirding support for that book. Why am I writing and giving instructions on how to obey everything that Jesus Christ commanded in the New Testament? I'm doing it because I'm obeying principle number one of authentic Christian discipleship.
If I am going to be involved in authentic Christian disciple making, then I MUST define making disciples in the same manner that Jesus has defined the term, and Jesus specifically says that making disciples requires teaching people how to obey everything that Jesus commanded; (Matthew 28:18-20).
Folks, that is The Great Commission. It is the foundation of all genuine Christian ministry. If I do not make it a practice to teach people how to obey everything that Christ commanded, then I am failing to fulfill the Great Commission, and I am not really making disciples at all. Again, I'm applying Christ's definition of the term disciple making, I believe what He says, and I am taking Him seriously.
The reason that I took a sidebar into this study series was because as I continued to do my research through sources such as articles from Christianity Today Magazine, Barna Research Institute, various websites among others, together with one-on-one discussions with believers, I began to notice an alarming pattern that clearly indicates that even churchgoing people who consider themselves born-again seem to be more influenced by American business models, mass marketing practices, popular culture, and psychology.
Modern-day Christians are clearly not placing a nearly high enough value on the things that Jesus Christ said, taught, demonstrated and commanded. I know from my own personal experience that obeying what Christ commanded always works, (when I do it), but one cannot obey Christ successfully unless one first learns to value what Christ said, and unless we see the need to obey Him. That is something we are clearly losing in modern-day Christendom, and we must regain it, because we cannot overcome our weaknesses without obeying Christ, and we cannot successfully obey Christ without first valuing what Christ commanded, and then making obedience to Christ our highest priority.
The seven key things to remember which are listed in the blog for Saturday, March 5, 2011 gives us the basic spiritual, doctrinal and mental framework that we need to equip us to successfully obey Christ in any and all of the Commandments that Jesus Christ gave in the New Testament, but they are particularly essential in equipping us to successfully obey Christ's very first public command:
What Does It Mean to Repent?
In the original biblical language, the word repent is metanoeô. It most precisely means to change one's mind, one's purpose, and to change one's direction away from sin and toward pleasing God. So as you can see, true biblical repentance begins with changing one's mind away from sin, and toward what pleases God; which as we have already stated is also the same thing that is required in order to make a biblical confession of sin so that we can be forgiven. In effect we are told to fall out of agreement with our sin, change our minds, and come into agreement with God. So once again having the right mindset is crucial, because you cannot confess unless you agree with God about what sin is and then speak as God does, and you can't repent without changing your mind, so that two concepts are incredibly closely linked. Changing our minds to agree with God is foundational. Without it we cannot confess, we cannot repent, and we cannot walk with God. That's why it's the first principle of Christian discipleship.
Beloved, I'm not writing all this stuff just to be cute and keep you busy until a better opportunity comes along. This is God's best and greatest idea. Nothing better is coming along. If you want to walk with God, you have to let God change your mind so that you will agree with Him, because you cannot walk with Him otherwise, (Amos 3:3; Romans 12:1-2; Romans 8:5-8; Philippians 2:5).
Change Your Purpose Away from Sin and toward What Pleases God:
The word repent, or metanoeô also refers specifically to changing my purpose and my intentions away from sin and toward what pleases God. Changing my purpose is a direct function of my own personal will. If I'm going to metanoeô, or repent successfully, I must make a personal choice of my will to turn away from my sin and toward what pleases God. Even more important, to change my purpose in this context also means that I must newly purpose to evaluate circumstances and make my choices and decisions away from sin and toward what pleases God. To change my purpose is a radical change in the way that I make my decisions. If I don't change my purpose in this manner, then I did not authentically repent.Change Your Direction Away from Sin and toward What Pleases God:
If we have truly and authentically changed our mind and changed our purpose away from sin and toward what pleases God, then with a little bit of practice, our life's direction and behaviors will grow to match our new repentant mindset and purpose. It will probably take practice to change old habits, but if we have truly repented, our lifestyle will progressively change so that our life’s direction and behaviors will turn away from sin and toward what pleases God. If our life's direction doesn't progressively turn away from sin and toward what pleases God, then we really did not change our mind or our purpose. In such a case, we didn't repent, and we are still dead in our trespasses and sins. If we do not repent we will perish (Luke 13:1-9). Repentance is not really an option, it's a must.Some Scriptural Models of Repentance
Jesus gives two very clear examples of repentance in His teachings. One would be Zacchaeus (Luke 19:1-10). He was a tax collector for the occupying Roman army. He sold out his own people Israel for his own comfort and profit. What's more it was common practice for tax collectors in those days to collect more than was required and keep the surplus for themselves. So he was getting very rich by stealing from and oppressing his own people. That's definitely NOT LOVE. In any event he repented and acted consistently with that repentance. This brought the blessings and salvation of God on Zaccheaus and his entire household,(Luke 19:8-10).Another good example comes from the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-25). You can read the story for yourself, but you can clearly see that Scripture says "he came to himself." (v.17). Later it demonstrates that the prodigal son acted consistently with his new mindset by going home (v20).
It's also noteworthy that there is such a thing as false or negative repentance. This can be described as what happens when one tries to modify one's behavior without first having a real change of mind or heart. Probably the best Scriptural example of this would be Lot's wife. You can see the full account of what I mean in Genesis 19:1-26. She was walking away from Sodom whom God was judging for its severe wickedness, but Lot's wife looked back and was destroyed. The reality was that her feet were walking away from Sodom but her heart and mind were still there in Sodom. That brought the judgment of God and destroyed her. It's also worth noting that our Lord would later command us to "Remember Lot's wife" (Luke 17:32). So, one of the first things we have to learn about repentance is that it's serious business. Jesus tells us to remember Lot's wife so that we will learn from her bad example and not repeat her mistakes (see Romans 15:4).
How Do I Repent Successfully??
So how do we successfully repent? First, I must point out that each individual has their own unique God-given makeup, so the particular details of how to repent will be something that God fine-tunes in each of us individually as we walk with Him. With that having been said, there are some key universal elements that are absolutely required for true repentance:a) We must first recognize sin as being sinful. We must recognize and agree with God that our sinful behavior is in fact sin. Ask God for the courage and grace to recognize your sin the way that He sees it.
b) We must have a genuine change of heart and mind. Ask God to truly gradually and progressively change your heart and mind so that you will love God and his righteousness with all your heart soul mind and strength. Moreover, ask God to help you to truly hate and be repulsed by sin.
c) We must make a U-turn away from sin and walk in God's direction. Stay open to the Holy Spirit and God's word. These are the tools that God uses to bring us to repentance. When God reveals your sinful desires, thoughts motives and actions, remember God loves you. He's not trying to hurt you. He took the hurt your sin deserves on the cross. He only shows our sin to us so that we will recognize that, repent of it and come to him for help. So while it is tempting to become resistant when God reveals our sin to us, we must remain open. We must admit our sin. We must accept the forgiveness that God purchased for us through His Son Jesus the Christ. We must agree and confess what God says concerning our sin, and we must purpose and plan to walk in a totally new and God honoring direction in that part of our lives. Together you and God must form an action plan to help you walk in a different manner than you have previously walked in that area of your life.
Sometimes it is helpful to get in touch with an older brother or sister (make sure that they are reliable and a discrete individual). Let them know how you are trying to repent and ask for their prayer support. Then walk in your new God-given direction and don't look back fondly at that part of your old life. Other New Testament verses commanding us to repent can be found in:
Matthew 3:2 Matthew 3:8 Mark 1:15 Luke 3:8 Acts 2:38 Acts 3:19 Acts 8:22 Acts 17:30 Revelation 2:5; Revelation 2:16; Revelation 3:3
Beloved, I sincerely hope that you have found this Bible study to be helpful and informative. I sincerely believe that if we learn to look at and do define sin, righteousness, confession and repentance (along with every other key term), the way that God does, we will be well underway to walking as successful disciples who overcome the sinful world through our life changing faith in Jesus the Christ.
Remember:
Agreeing with God's standards when it comes to defining things God's way is absolutely critical because one cannot recognize sin (missing the mark of God's highest standards), unless we understand what those standards truly are. Biblically, sin is anything that we desire say or do which is outside the target of love, outside of trusting God, outside of obeying God, or outside of purposely glorifying God.
Remember that God will NOT adjust any of His standards or remove the consequences of sin to suit our personal preferences or comfort.
Remember that according to God's word, the consequences of sin are; Broken relationship with God and other people, bondage, slavery or captivity, death, and ultimately hell and eternal separation from God and His Love. Therefore, it is IMPERATIVE that we radically deal with sin.
Remember In order to overcome sin through Jesus Christ, we must confess and repent. To biblically confess means, "To speak as one," or to speak the same thing. So to confess our sin means that we say what God says about what we did, and how it violates God's standards. Unless we do that, we didn't really confess. However, when we do Biblically confess, God promises to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).
Remember that to biblically repent means to change one's mind, to change one's purpose and to change one's direction away from sin and toward pleasing Almighty God.
If we keep these concepts firmly in mind, then we have laid a solid platform on which we can cooperate with God to build a lifestyle of discipleship for ourselves and our families. Thank you for studying the word with me. May God bless you as you continue to cooperate with God, to repent, and to grow up as a delightful child to Him. Thank you so much for the privilege of allowing me to help you with that.
May God bless and strengthen you, as you set your mind and purpose toward what pleases God and His Precious Son, Jesus the Christ. Amen.
Brother Michel Lankford
This to me is almost the most important study...it in my opinion is the HEART SET of what makes us able to walk daily with Yeshua in close fellowship..bless me with a contrite spirit..!!!
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