UNDERSTANDING THE NEED (Repentance) ROMANS 1
One of the most difficult tasks we have as evangelicals today is
creating in the hearts of persons with whom we dialogue, the need
for repentance, or turn around, in their lives. We know if one does
not see the need for change it is not going to happen. If you market
a product or service, the first goal is to establish the need for your
product or service in the mind of your prospective customer. The
same is true in our task of presenting Christ to a world, hopeless
without Him. We must show who Christ is, needs Christ can meet
and how Christ can effect a dynamic change in the life. To accom-
plish our task we rely upon the Word of God. Our effort at convin-
cing one of such a need through our testimony is limited by a lack
of the power of persuasion. As we take them to the Scripture, the
authority rests with God and does not depend upon our own piety
or persuasive ability. It is surprising how many people who do not
claim a personal relation with the Lord have deep reverence for the
Scripture. (Scripture is the "Living Word" of God) This is our best,
only offensive weapon in an effort to reach the hearts of mankind..
God honors His Word with His presence and power. It is reported,
and is true; if you expose a person to Scripture, who claims a lack
of belief, the Word still has the power to convict and bring to repen-
tance such a person as well as the one who believes it. We must
also recognize the critical roll the Holy Spirit performs, since He is
the only source of power needed to bring an unbeliever to repen-
tance and change a life.
Our first target is to establish the need, so we go to the letter from
the Apostle Paul to the church at Rome. The first chapter gives men
ample evidence of the need for every man to repent as he describes
the darkness and futility of the "natural" man, without Christ.
Expressions such as “wrath of God, ungodliness, without excuse,
debased mind;” a myriad of other word pictures combine to paint
dark images of an environment anyone would wish to escape. He
continues in the following chapters to show Jesus, the Son of God, as
as the only hope for mankind. Scripture shows later in Romans, how
the eternal life Christ gives to all who come to Him brightens pros-
pects, gives purpose to life here and now and hope for the future.
The epistle demonstrates how the new life is received as a gift of God
and cannot be earned. The difficulty with this concept is; we are
bred with a strong reinforcement of the belief, that everything good
is to be earned.
Here we face the task of changing one’s basic belief system. Many
of our brethren in the church fail at this task and settle for a works
based Salvation which is no Salvation at all. If anyone is to become
a Child of God, the first thing he must do is come to the end of self,
and completely depend on the grace of our Lord for salvation. Let’s
face it, if we are “dead in trespasses and sins,” are we capable of
doing anything on our own behalf to effect such a change? Even
faith is said to come by the washing of the water of the Word, God’s
life giving message, through the the Spirit. (God is a Spirit, Holy
Spirit, God the Spirit and the Spirit of Jesus Christ, 3 in 1.)
Luke 8: 11-21, Psalm 119, Titus 3: 4-7
We must also establish the concept of Jesus Christ being the only
hope mankind has for eternal life with the Father. Not only is He
our only hope, we receive Him by faith. In other words, we do not
experience our God with our five senses, we must be given a "sixth"
sense from His Holy Spirit. "Now faith is the substance of things
hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For by it, the elders
received a good testimony." Hebrews 11: 1 (nkjv)
(This is solely my analogy) Again, we are incapable of operating in
the realm of the Spirit while we live according to the flesh. “Flesh
and blood cannot inherit the Kingdom of God.” Again, by faith, we
reckon self to be dead to the flesh, enabling our Lord to begin his
work of changing our trust in the deeds of our flesh and then Sanc-
tification, gradually making us through experience and the study of
and obedience to God's Word, to be like our Lord. (1 Corinthians
15: 50) Again, only through dying to self are we made to be alive in
Jesus Christ, in an eternal, Spiritual life, like His. As we present
the claims of Jesus Christ to persons who are without Him, we rely
on His wisdom, guidance and power. We offer Christ in the power
and wisdom given to us of the Holy Spirit by faith, leave the results
with God. Our personal egos are put to death and we claim no cre-
dit, relying upon Grace, unmerited favor, of our Lord...
When Scripture refers to a "Spiritual body," it must be a body
without discomfort, pain, fatigue or death. "We shall be like
Him, for we shall see Him as He is..." 1 John 3: 2b
Romans 1: 16 - 32, Romans 3: 10-18, 20, 23-24. Romans 5: 8-12.
Romans 6: 1-14. Romans 8: 1-6, 36-39. Romans 10: 6-13, 17.
I would encourage you to read the whole of Romans. Begin with the
first 10 chapters for continuity. Thanks for reading; may the Lord,
God be with you as you put to death deeds of rebellion against Holy
God and are made alive in the Spirit of Jesus Christ, God the Son.
We will all stand before his throne to give account for the deeds
done in our flesh. (Works performed in our own "wisdom," with-
out Holy Spirit annointing) (Romans 12: 36-37, 2: 5-11, Hebrews
4: 14-16) The throne before which we will stand is His Throne of
Grace...AMEN!!! In Christ we will never stand before the Great
White Throne of Judgment...AMEN!!!
donporter 1.26.13 edited 11.04.14 and 2.04.15
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