From ‘Whole Bible Christianity’ chapter 2 on Repentance<\/p>\n
Repentance and love for God go hand in hand. We can\u2019t have one without the other. If we repent, we stop going our own way and start going His (1 Kings 8:47<\/a>; 2 Chronicles 6:37<\/a>; Job 42:6<\/a>; Jeremiah 8:4-13<\/a>; Ezekiel 14:6<\/a>; Matthew 11:20, 21<\/a>). The first recorded word out of the mouths of John the Baptist (Matthew 3:2<\/a>) and Jesus (Matthew 4:17<\/a>) for their public ministries was \u2018repent.\u2019 If we are going the wrong way on a road, we would change directions once we realized our error.<\/p>\n \u2018Feeling sorry\u2019 for what we have done or are doing, yet continuing to go the wrong way, is not repentance. It is certainly not love. Joel says \u201crend your hearts, not your garments\u201d (Joel 2:13<\/a>). A lot of times, \u2018sorry\u2019 feelings are very strong, to the point of weeping or other expressions of anguish. Herod was \u201cexceedingly sorry\u201d to behead John the Baptist, and did it anyway (Mark 6:26<\/a>). Sorry feelings are not true repentance if they don\u2019t produce a change in behavior (Jonah 3:8, 9<\/a>; 2 Corinthians 7:9-10<\/a>). True repentance is when we change what we are doing (Matthew 3:8<\/a>; Luke 3:8<\/a>). We go from ignoring His Law to following it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" From ‘Whole Bible Christianity’ chapter 2 on Repentance Repentance and love for God go hand in hand. We can\u2019t have one without the other. If we repent, we stop going our own way and start going His (1 Kings 8:47; … read more