Repentance
- Is to turn away from our sins and our selfish habits and turn towards God.
- In order to repent we must first be convicted that what we have done is sinful. The Holy Spirit will do this for us and it may manifest as a deep feeling that what we did was wrong.
- After conviction of our sin we can confess it to God by speaking it out, and ask Him to forgive us. It is important to be specific by naming the sin we are confessing and detailing the consequences of it on us and on others. We should want to stop doing those sins we have confessed.
Every Christian needs to repent at some time in their lives. Many of us might think that we have repented, but if we have truly repented, those old worldly habits would no longer have a hold on us.
Jesus' first message at the start of His ministry was about repentance (Mark 1:15); He talked about repentance and led people to repentance throughout His ministry on earth and his last recorded message in the Bible includes messages of repentance to the churches (Revelation 2 and 3).
“It is not His will that anyone should perish, but that all would repent of their sin and turn to Him.” 2 Peter 3:9
Forgiveness
Forgiveness is about releasing the person who has sinned against us from the debt they owe us, even the debt of saying 'sorry' to us.
- Unforgiveness hurts us in many ways; it can ‘eat us up’ and even cause sickness and body-pain.
- Unforgiveness is like drinking poison and hoping someone else will suffer!
Jesus often spoke about forgiveness in financial terms, such as the parable of the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18:21-35: if we have been forgiven much, we also must forgive much.
Forgiveness was a costly thing for Jesus. It cost Him his life. He died to pay for our sins so that we might enjoy eternal life with Him. In honour of Him, we must forgive those who sin against us.
“There is no forgiveness of sins without the shedding of blood.” Hebrews 9:22
