| The Greatest Story Ever Told About The Greatest Man That Ever Lived |
| Jesus Never Told Us to Stop Sinning |
The first message Jesus preached was “Repent for the Kingdom of God is near”. But what did he
mean? What are we to repent from? Repent means to change one’s mind and direction. So what
did Jesus mean when he said that we should “Change our mind and direction for the Kingdom of
God is near”.
If you ask most Christians what we are supposed to repent from they will tell you…sin. That we
should turn from our sins. But is that what the Bible teaches? Can we really repent from our sins
because according to the Bible we are all sinners who will continue to sin for the rest of our lives
whether we have been forgiven or not. So then, why would Jesus ask us to do something that he
knows we can never do? Or did he?
I will tell you a story about what happened to me. When I first became a Christian, I really wanted
to please God with my life. So I quit drinking and smoking and cursing, and started going to
church and reading my Bible and praying, but the more I tried to be “good” the more I realized
how many faults and sins I had. And I couldn’t stop sinning no matter what I did. I finally got quite
depressed and felt ashamed to face God because I felt like a loser. I simply couldn’t do what he
asked me to. One day I lay in bed thinking about this when I said to God “Why did you ask me to
do something that I can’t do? See how it has ruined my relationship with you”. And this small
“voice” spoke to my spirit and said “I never asked you to repent from your sins”. “What” I said,
“of course you did.” Because that is what I was taught. So I got out of bed, got out my Strong’s
Concordance and looked up every derivative of the word repent, and checked out all the
scriptures…..and He was right. There was NOT ONE scripture that said we should repent from our
sins. I couldn’t find it anywhere in the Bible.
As much as that was a relief, it only posed a second problem. If we were not asked to repent of
our sins, then what are we to repent from? Obviously something, but what was it? I pondered this
for quite some time and then I found the answer in Hebrews Chapter 6 where the writer discusses
the six elementary teachings about Christ, one of which is “repentance from dead works”. There
it was, this is what we are to repent from. So what are dead works?
When Jesus started his earthly ministry he introduced a new way. He said that if we were to
believe in Him, that He would forgive our sins and give us eternal life in heaven. This went against
what the religious leaders of the time were teaching the people which was to obey the Law of
Moses. But Jesus told them that they could never attain righteousness that way and that He had
come to die for our sins so that “whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting
life”. This is where the “dead works” comes in. Anyone who wanted to try and attain their own
righteousness by trying to impress God with their goodness and right living would fail because no
one could ever do that. This is all dead works, trying to do good works to please God instead of
admitting that you are a sinner who needs a Saviour and asking Jesus to forgive your sins. Jesus
was the only one that lived a sinless life, so he was the perfect sacrifice for our sins. And by dying
for us he satisfied the requirements of heaven and anyone who accepted what He did for us could
then be forgiven for their sins and Jesus’ death on the cross would pay for those sins because we
could never pay for them ourselves. Trying to do it on our own would only result in “dead works”
which would not cover our sins or make us righteous. This is what Jesus asked us to repent
from. From trying to do it ourselves because he knew we would fail. No one can pay for their own
sins, if we could we wouldn’t need a saviour and Jesus would not have had to die for us. But we
can’t pay for our sins, that’s why we do need a Saviour. And Jesus provided what we need to be
forgiven.
So Jesus never asked us to repent from our sins, He asked us to repent from trying to pay for our
sins and to instead realize that we need a Saviour and to come to Him and ask for forgiveness.
mean? What are we to repent from? Repent means to change one’s mind and direction. So what
did Jesus mean when he said that we should “Change our mind and direction for the Kingdom of
God is near”.
If you ask most Christians what we are supposed to repent from they will tell you…sin. That we
should turn from our sins. But is that what the Bible teaches? Can we really repent from our sins
because according to the Bible we are all sinners who will continue to sin for the rest of our lives
whether we have been forgiven or not. So then, why would Jesus ask us to do something that he
knows we can never do? Or did he?
I will tell you a story about what happened to me. When I first became a Christian, I really wanted
to please God with my life. So I quit drinking and smoking and cursing, and started going to
church and reading my Bible and praying, but the more I tried to be “good” the more I realized
how many faults and sins I had. And I couldn’t stop sinning no matter what I did. I finally got quite
depressed and felt ashamed to face God because I felt like a loser. I simply couldn’t do what he
asked me to. One day I lay in bed thinking about this when I said to God “Why did you ask me to
do something that I can’t do? See how it has ruined my relationship with you”. And this small
“voice” spoke to my spirit and said “I never asked you to repent from your sins”. “What” I said,
“of course you did.” Because that is what I was taught. So I got out of bed, got out my Strong’s
Concordance and looked up every derivative of the word repent, and checked out all the
scriptures…..and He was right. There was NOT ONE scripture that said we should repent from our
sins. I couldn’t find it anywhere in the Bible.
As much as that was a relief, it only posed a second problem. If we were not asked to repent of
our sins, then what are we to repent from? Obviously something, but what was it? I pondered this
for quite some time and then I found the answer in Hebrews Chapter 6 where the writer discusses
the six elementary teachings about Christ, one of which is “repentance from dead works”. There
it was, this is what we are to repent from. So what are dead works?
When Jesus started his earthly ministry he introduced a new way. He said that if we were to
believe in Him, that He would forgive our sins and give us eternal life in heaven. This went against
what the religious leaders of the time were teaching the people which was to obey the Law of
Moses. But Jesus told them that they could never attain righteousness that way and that He had
come to die for our sins so that “whosoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting
life”. This is where the “dead works” comes in. Anyone who wanted to try and attain their own
righteousness by trying to impress God with their goodness and right living would fail because no
one could ever do that. This is all dead works, trying to do good works to please God instead of
admitting that you are a sinner who needs a Saviour and asking Jesus to forgive your sins. Jesus
was the only one that lived a sinless life, so he was the perfect sacrifice for our sins. And by dying
for us he satisfied the requirements of heaven and anyone who accepted what He did for us could
then be forgiven for their sins and Jesus’ death on the cross would pay for those sins because we
could never pay for them ourselves. Trying to do it on our own would only result in “dead works”
which would not cover our sins or make us righteous. This is what Jesus asked us to repent
from. From trying to do it ourselves because he knew we would fail. No one can pay for their own
sins, if we could we wouldn’t need a saviour and Jesus would not have had to die for us. But we
can’t pay for our sins, that’s why we do need a Saviour. And Jesus provided what we need to be
forgiven.
So Jesus never asked us to repent from our sins, He asked us to repent from trying to pay for our
sins and to instead realize that we need a Saviour and to come to Him and ask for forgiveness.