“Just so, I tell you, there is joy before the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” (Luke 15:10).
Sin, according to Wikipedia, is a word, deed or desire in opposition to the eternal law of God. Jesus taught us that the two greatest commandments are to love the Lord your God with all your heart, your mind, your soul and your strength; and secondly, to love your neighbour as yourself (Mark 12:29-31).
In the Book of Galatians we find examples of sin that will cause us to be excluded from the Kingdom of God. “Now the works of the flesh are plain: immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party spirit, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Gal.5:19-21). The Word also states that the wages (penalty) of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom.6:23).
I stated above that “We are living in the last days” based on my observations of what is happening around us and from my understanding the events that will transpire in the last day as described in the books of prophets including Daniel, Isaiah, Joel, Matthew, John and many others. If the end comes for you today, would you inherit the Kingdom of God? The well-known Bible verse, John 3:16 tells us that God loves us so much that He did not want us to die for our sins and so He allowed His son to die on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin. Through this act, God gave to us the gift of eternal life, in other words, the privilege to spend eternity in His awesome presence as opposed to spending eternity in hell, the unquenchable lake of fire that burns forever.
In order to receive this gift and avoid eternal damnation in hell, we have to repent. The dictionary meaning of repent is to turn from sin and dedicate oneself to the amendment of one’s life. Also, to feel regret or contrition and to change one’s mind.
These are the steps to follow to repent of sin:
- Reflect on your life. Measure your words, deeds and thoughts against the commandments of God. Do your actions, words and thoughts provide proof of your love for God and your neighbour? If not, then acknowledge your sin. Draw up a list and write them down.
- Search yourself whether you accept that what you have written down is wrong, that it is sin. Also, do you have remorse for what you have done and is it your intention not to commit these sins again?
- If the answer to the above is yes, then humble yourself before God. Go down on your knees in your secret place where you speak to God and acknowledge your sins to God. Tell him that you are sorry for what you have done and ask for forgiveness.
- Ask God to help you turn your life around, to help you to not fall back into the sinful ways, lifestyle and behaviours of the past. Submit yourself to the working of Holy Spirit in your life so that you can go forward living in the righteousness of Christ.
We serve a God who loves us and who is merciful. The Word assures us: • “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9). • “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” (Isa. 1:18)
MY PRAYER
Father AhaYah, thank you for Your love and mercy. Father, please help us to see where we have sinned against You and give us the courage to humble ourselves before You. Thank you that You have made a way for us to be cleansed from sin. Father, through the working of Holy Spirit in our lives, please teach us thy ways, Oh Lord and lead us on a level path (Ps.27:11). We pray in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Aman.