ABC SERIES: Repentance and Faith in God

Read Hebrews 5:11-Hebrews 6:1.

“Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God” Hebrews 6:1.

The bible says that as we continue in our walk with God, we are being changed from glory to glory, strength to strength (Psalm 84:7). Change is inevitable. God wants us to change – to grow. But if we are not aware of the foundations of God, our change will not be for the best.

We always want to do something to gain favor from God especially when we do wrong. But the bible says that we can’t earn our salvation.

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- not by works, so that no one can boast” Ephesians 2:8-Ephesians 2:9.

Grace means unmerited favor. Something we do not deserve. The bible says that our salvation is a gift from God. It is something we received that we did not earn. We cannot do anything to earn our salvation. We do not deserve it but God, out of His love for us, freely gave us the freedom from our sins.

It is one thing to grow old and another to grow up. One of the signs of a growing Christian is having the discernment of what is good or evil.

“Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God” Hebrews 6:1.

Repentance is a change of one’s mind, direction and ways. When we are fully committed to growing up in our relationship with Jesus Christ, we need to adjust our perspective.

Dead works are any works or useless rituals that have no bearing in God’s eyes. Men have the tendency to start from faith and go back to dead works, thinking that we need to add up to our faith to remain saved. This false burden is lifted off from us when we realize that despite our imperfections and our failures, God sees Jesus in us.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” 1 John 1:9.

WHY DO WE DO WHAT WE ARE DOING?
We do what we do out of the overflow of our love for God. It is our response to His love for us. Anything that we do outside of love will bear us down.

Regardless of how we feel and what we do, we are still God’s children. His love for us is the same. He still sent us His only begotten son.

NO AMOUNT OF WORK CAN EARN YOUR WORTH

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” 2 Corinthians 5:21.

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” Romans 5:8.