Exalting Vileness

[JohnD]

Only those who try to impose fulfilling the Law of Moses on the Grace of Christ define "Repent" as works of stop sinning, smoking, driving too fast, looking at girls, passing gas... etc. 

The "repent" of our Lord and his Apostles is to repent from trying to save ourselves through the Law, to repent from believing we don't need saving in the first place, to repent from unbelief to belief, to repent from the notion that anything other than trusting God Almighty to save us and keep us... IS what our Lord and his Apostles meant by "Repent!"
 

[JohnD]

Try searching the term "unbelief" in your Bibles.

[Blood Bought 1953]

6 hours ago, JohnD said:

Only those who try to impose fulfilling the Law of Moses on the Grace of Christ define "Repent" as works of stop sinning, smoking, driving too fast, looking at girls, passing gas... etc. 

The "repent" of our Lord and his Apostles is to repent from trying to save ourselves through the Law, to repent from believing we don't need saving in the first place, to repent from unbelief to belief, to repent from the notion that anything other than trusting God Almighty to save us and keep us... IS what our Lord and his Apostles meant by "Repent!"
 

 

 Brilliant post, as always........I would distill this Repentance thing down to its very core.... if one goes from NOT believing in Jesus to BELIEVING In Jesus , that person automatically had a “change of mind” ( Greek Metanoia - literally mind change) and repented .This is why the main Book of Salvation, John ,does not once use the word “ repentance”, yet uses the Word “ believe” over one hundred times. “ Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved”

[1to3]

Repentance in Christianity means a sincere turning away, in both the mind and heart, from self to God. It involves a change of mind that leads to action -- the turning away from a sinful course to God.

 

The Eerdmans Bible Dictionary defines repentance in its fullest sense as "a complete change of orientation involving a judgment upon the past and a deliberate redirection for the future."

 

Repentance in the Bible

In a biblical context, repentance is recognizing that our sin is offensive to God. Repentance can be shallow, such as the remorse we feel because of fear of punishment (like Cain) or it can be deep, such as realizing how much our sins cost Jesus Christ and how his saving grace washes us clean (like the conversion of Paul).

 

Calls for repentance are found throughout the Old Testament, such as Ezekiel 18:30:

 

"Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you, each one according to his ways, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall."

 

This prophetic call for repentance is a loving cry for men and women to return to dependence on God:

 

"Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up." (Hosea 6:1, ESV)

 

Before Jesus began his earthly ministry, John the Baptist preached:

 

"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matthew 3:2, ESV)

 

Jesus also called for repentance:

 

"The time has come," Jesus said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" (Mark 1:15, NIV)

 

After the resurrection, the apostles continued to call sinners to repentance. Here in Acts 3:19-21, Peter preached to the unsaved men of Israel:

 

"Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago." (ESV)

 

Repentance and Salvation

Repentance is an essential part of salvation, requiring a turning away from the sin-ruled life to a life characterized by obedience to God. The Holy Spirit leads a person to repent, but repentance itself cannot be seen as a "good work" that adds to our salvation.

 

The Bible states that people are saved by faith alone (Ephesians 2:8-9). However, there can be no faith in Christ without repentance and no repentance without faith. The two are inseparable.

https://www.learnreligions.com/what-is-repentance-700694

 

The Bible also tells us that true repentance will result in a change of actions (Luke 3:8–14; Acts 3:19). In summarizing his ministry, Paul declares, “I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds” (Acts 26:20). The full biblical definition of repentance is a change of mind that results in a change of action.

 

 

[Blood Bought 1953]

36 minutes ago, 1to3 said:

Repentance in Christianity means a sincere turning away, in both the mind and heart, from self to God. It involves a change of mind that leads to action -- the turning away from a sinful course to God.

 

The Eerdmans Bible Dictionary defines repentance in its fullest sense as "a complete change of orientation involving a judgment upon the past and a deliberate redirection for the future."

 

Repentance in the Bible

In a biblical context, repentance is recognizing that our sin is offensive to God. Repentance can be shallow, such as the remorse we feel because of fear of punishment (like Cain) or it can be deep, such as realizing how much our sins cost Jesus Christ and how his saving grace washes us clean (like the conversion of Paul).

 

Calls for repentance are found throughout the Old Testament, such as Ezekiel 18:30:

 

"Therefore, O house of Israel, I will judge you, each one according to his ways, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall."

 

This prophetic call for repentance is a loving cry for men and women to return to dependence on God:

 

"Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up." (Hosea 6:1, ESV)

 

Before Jesus began his earthly ministry, John the Baptist preached:

 

"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matthew 3:2, ESV)

 

Jesus also called for repentance:

 

"The time has come," Jesus said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!" (Mark 1:15, NIV)

 

After the resurrection, the apostles continued to call sinners to repentance. Here in Acts 3:19-21, Peter preached to the unsaved men of Israel:

 

"Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago." (ESV)

 

Repentance and Salvation

Repentance is an essential part of salvation, requiring a turning away from the sin-ruled life to a life characterized by obedience to God. The Holy Spirit leads a person to repent, but repentance itself cannot be seen as a "good work" that adds to our salvation.

 

The Bible states that people are saved by faith alone (Ephesians 2:8-9). However, there can be no faith in Christ without repentance and no repentance without faith. The two are inseparable.

https://www.learnreligions.com/what-is-repentance-700694

 

The Bible also tells us that true repentance will result in a change of actions (Luke 3:8–14; Acts 3:19). In summarizing his ministry, Paul declares, “I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds” (Acts 26:20). The full biblical definition of repentance is a change of mind that results in a change of action.

 

 

 

 

 

The Bible also tells us that true repentance will result in a change of actions (Luke 3:8–14; Acts 3:19). In summarizing his ministry, Paul declares, “I preached that they should repent and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds” (Acts 26:20). The full biblical definition of repentance is a change of mind that results in a change of action.

“Turning to God “ IS” Repentance...... “ Turn to Me and I will turn to you” Turn to God and He will give you the Holy Spirit......the deeds will follow automatically, a change of action stemming from a changed heart.If you take Repentance to mean “ turning over a new leaf” with a steel resolve to quit sinning and start doing good stuff, your good stuff will be “ Dead Works”.Anything you do to save yourself or keep yourself saved will fall into that category.If you attend church because you enjoy it that is a good work . If you go because you think that you will be lost if you don’t attend church and you go for that reason only—- that would be a dead work. To put it simply, anything you do that you think is earning you Brownie Points with God is a dead work.

 

 

 

[JohnD]

Our deeds being devoid of the troubling manner in which people live in fear and superstition over not dealing properly with the Christ-shaped hole in the soul.

Confidence and boldness with God and our own eternal fate...

Isn't that the prescription that includes people who are misled?

Even the misled (cultists for example) struggle continually with making their "confidence" manifest. In other words they are not confident at all. 

But fear having a lack of confidence will be their downfall.

Atheists... how many do you know are so confident that there is no God that they aren't bothered by the mention of God, In God We Trust on the money, 

Bibles and prayer in school... Creationism taught alongside evolution...

I've never met one.

I always ask them, since there is no God according to you, why does it concern you that others are not

as up to snuff as you are?

If you are really as certain as you act, it shouldn't matter to you at all.

Conversely, how many "Christians" steeped in the Christ-sounding traditions and religions of man

are scared to death they aren't saved? They fear every sin will condemn them to hell or is evidence they were never saved in the

first place... They employ and endear superstitious pomp and circumstance and ritual as sacred and the means by which they are

saved or are somehow confident in their salvation...

Whereas a believer has confidence to know I (for one) am a sinner saved by the grace of God.

Perfection and I have nothing to do with one another, but that's okay. God knew all along (before there was an Earth) all I would say, do, think,

not do...

My salvation, safety, healing, quality of life, is totally dependent upon God. Not me.

Ever wonder how David was a man after God's own heart?

Apply to him the superstitious religious practices of most believers of the traditions of men church, and you will be quite puzzled.

He lied, committed adultery, murdered (Bathsheba's husband), looked the other way when one son raped his half sister...

What was the LORD thinking? Calling him a man after His own heart?

David trusted God implicitly.

He believed God (as was said of Abraham) and it was credited to him as righteousness (the righteousness of Christ himself) ← which more 

than fills in all the gaps of our own feeble, fallible, sin filled walk with God.

The "deeds" are Christ living through us.

Help a little old lady to cross the street as an unbeliever... kudos down here. In heaven, the Law has already condemned you for all the rest of your sins. 

Help that same little old lady to cross that same street as a believer the next day and all heaven rejoices because Christ did this through you after his righteousness

was imputed to your account.

I used to use a walking stick as a prop to explain this concept.

I pointed to my foot heel firmly planet on the floor. This is humanity. I'd raise my toes heel still on the floor.

This is human righteousness.

Then I drew my hand level in front of my face. This is God's minimum requirement for righteousness.

I brought in the walking stick and stood it upon my foot. This is Christ's righteousness imputed to man's account.

It surpassed God's minimum requirement for righteousness (which I marked with my hand at face level).

Then I lifted my toes thrusting the walking stick that much higher. Righteous deeds are that of Christ in us. They are his deeds. 

Before belief, the toes only rose an inch (helping the little old lady to cross the street).

In belief, the effect of the toes rising (helping the little old lady to cross the street) with Christ's righteousness goes well above the

attention getting righteousness in heaven. Because it's all Christ.

Conversely, once you are saved, the walking stick atop your foot... there is no way to dip back down below God's minimum  requirement for

righteousness. Christ's righteousness fills in all our gaps.

[unworthyservant]

On 9/8/2019 at 11:23 AM, johnthebaptist said:

When I think of vileness, I think of homosexuality and abortion on demand. What about you?

When I think of vileness I think of SIN! Vileness is just one of many English words used to describe many Hebrew and Greek words for SIN. There are too many translations to go into here but in God's eyes SIN is SIN, no matter what we call it. I'm perplexed by the current trend of singling out Homosexuality and Abortion whenever a descriptive word like vile or abomination appears.  It's just a little too convenient to call out those vile sins of Heathen Witch Doctors but you don't hear nearly as much condemnation of some of the sins that hit a little closer to our own lives.

Depending on whose numbers you use (some use only those who actually identify while others estimate those who haven't) there are approximately between 5 million and 9 million Americans who are gay or bisexual and there are less than 1 million abortions per year according to the latest numbers. That doesn't in any way diminish the severity of those SINS on an individual basis but it also doesn't put a dent in the 80 million who are living in SINful 2nd or 3rd or 4th marriages. It should also be noted that when approximately 40% of births these days are to single mothers, there's also a pretty big heterosexual fornication problem as well. With those numbers as a guide, it seems that we are at least 8 times more likely to encounter these sins as we are to encounter a homosexual or someone who is undergoing an abortion. So, just for the record, I think all these things could be considered "VILENESS" along with a host of other stuff but I don't think it wise to debate which sins are vileness and categorize those as any worse than any other sin. It's one thing to point out the sins of those with whom we have little contact but I think we should always address those sins which are closest to our selves because they are usually the ones which we might actually have more ability to influence.

[johnthebaptist]

13 minutes ago, unworthyservant said:

When I think of vileness I think of SIN! Vileness is just one of many English words used to describe many Hebrew and Greek words for SIN. There are too many translations to go into here but in God's eyes SIN is SIN, no matter what we call it. I'm perplexed by the current trend of singling out Homosexuality and Abortion whenever a descriptive word like vile or abomination appears.  It's just a little too convenient to call out those vile sins of Heathen Witch Doctors but you don't hear nearly as much condemnation of some of the sins that hit a little closer to our own lives.

Depending on whose numbers you use (some use only those who actually identify while others estimate those who haven't) there are approximately between 5 million and 9 million Americans who are gay or bisexual and there are less than 1 million abortions per year according to the latest numbers. That doesn't in any way diminish the severity of those SINS on an individual basis but it also doesn't put a dent in the 80 million who are living in SINful 2nd or 3rd or 4th marriages. It should also be noted that when approximately 40% of births these days are to single mothers, there's also a pretty big heterosexual fornication problem as well. With those numbers as a guide, it seems that we are at least 8 times more likely to encounter these sins as we are to encounter a homosexual or someone who is undergoing an abortion. So, just for the record, I think all these things could be considered "VILENESS" along with a host of other stuff but I don't think it wise to debate which sins are vileness and categorize those as any worse than any other sin. It's one thing to point out the sins of those with whom we have little contact but I think we should always address those sins which are closest to our selves because they are usually the ones which we might actually have more ability to influence.

The point I'm trying to make is that the Lord told us homosexuality is an abomination (Lev. 18:22), yet in the world, homosexuality is exalted. If you don't exalt homosexuality, the world will call you a homophobe or a Christo-Nazi. It even happens in the church.

[unworthyservant]

19 hours ago, Blood Bought 1953 said:

Try this: translate the word “ repent” as “ Turn to God” when John and Jesus say it. “ Why would John and Jesus waste their time preaching “ quit your sinning” to the crowds.

I didn't attempt to translate anything. I simply gave the references where the word was used so as to add context to the post about where it isn't. As for literal translation, in the English New Testament translations, "metanoia" a transliteration of a Greek word is what became "repent" in our Bibles. I've heard folks say the word "repent" means to "turn away from" and while that might have been the intent of the English writers most scholars believe that the Greek word meant more specifically to change ones heart or ones motivation for doing the things they do. So, I guess that "turning to God" would indeed be a change of heart. 

[unworthyservant]

16 hours ago, JohnD said:

Repent from?

It doesn't say and I'm not speculating other than to say it's probably your sinful ways.