DO CHRISTIANS HAVE TO REPENT AFTER SALVATION?
DO CHRISTIANS HAVE TO REPENT AFTER SALVATION?
Even though we are a new creation after salvation, we have not
become “super human”, or “little gods”….Our spirit has come alive, and is connected with God, and our sins are forgiven, but that doesn’t mean that we can do no wrong after that.
In fact, the enemy is always angry when someone is saved, and he works harder than ever. He knows that he can never have us, and he can never touch our spirit, but he certainly can and will affect our minds and emotions, and make us useless to the Kingdom of God, and help us cause the Holy Spirit to grieve.
A true Christian cannot be possessed by demons, but we can be oppressed, meaning that they can whisper lies to our minds, giving us emotions, such as anger, envy, pride, etc. This is often done in churches between members, as well as families, or individuals.
This is why we need to go to the Lord often in confession and repentance to clean out our hearts and get our minds back on a true course…..“put on the mind of Christ”
Paul talks about needing the full armour of Christ to ward off the enemy’s lies.
James talks about our words lighting the firey darts of the enemy.
Isaiah, even though he was a prophet, beloved of God, knew that he was a “man of unclean lips”…..He needed his lips cleansed by the coals of the alter, and we do also!!!!
Not only do we have demons whispering to us, but we have our own habits and imperfections to deal with. Accepting Christ does not make us perfect, it only makes us forgiven. The Word also tells us that God hates a haughty spirit….We need to humble ourselves regularly before our Lord, and let Him raise us up in His way and His time.
Remember, Jesus said in Mt. 7:21-27 not everyone who says “Lord, Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only those who do the will of God…….So, obviously, there is more to being saved than saying some words, and thinking we’re pure for the rest of our lives!!!!
There is no way for us to hear from God the way we need to, when our ears are plugged with the likes of pride, envy, fear, or anything else that is not of God. This is when the demons and our own minds can play tricks on us and we obey the “imaginations of the heart” instead of the still, small voice of God.
I don’t want to miss ANYTHING My Lord has to say, and I don’t want to cloud by vision of Him in my life, so I want my heart clean before Him.
Repenting before Our Lord doesn’t mean we’re not believing in our salvation, ….on the contrary, it shows that we KNOW we’re saved, and that we’ll be forgiven, but we want to do it God’s way.
Jesus repeatedly said that we must “do the will of the Father”…there is no human way to do that…we need Our Lord’s help, but He won’t go against us if we are allowing ourselves to build up clutter and sin in our lives so that we can’t even hear plainly from Him. He will clean us out, but He won’t force us. We need to be on our face before His Majesty and ask Him to do it. If not, we will think we’re doing well, when we are really wandering farther from Him.
I don’t want to be going down the wrong path so long that God has to chastise me to get me back on track, or go down so long that other people lose their way because of me. OH NO!!! I want to stay on track with the Lord, and constantly be on my knees in my heart, making sure that my heart is cleaned by Him regularly.
I am so grateful for My Saviour that I don’t want to waste even a moment possibly going in the wrong direction.
How about you?
Live in the Light of Our Lord 