Who said to repent from your sin and turn to Christ? A siple word search or reading of the Bible will reveal the truth. I hope that you will daily repent of any and all sin, known or unknown, and that God would find you acceptable in His sight.
So repent [change your inner self—your old way of thinking, regret past sins] and return [to God—seek His purpose for your life], so that your sins may be wiped away [blotted out, completely erased], so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord [restoring you like a cool wind on a hot day]; (Acts 3:19 Amplified Bible)
“The time promised by God has come at last!” he announced. “The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!” (Mark 1:5 NLT).
What's the "good news"? What's the gospel?
First of all, if something is to be "good news", then there must be some bad news. Let's start there. Can you think of anything that might be considered bad news? What comes to mind when you think of bad news?
Do you remember the story of Adam and Eve in the book of Genesis? What happened there? Was there a snake or a serpent involved, also? What happened?
Because of Adam and Eve's disobedience to the Lord by listening to the snake and eating that which God had forbidden her to eat, Adam and Eve brought sin into the world. Adam listened to Eve, and Eve listened to the serpent; both sinned before God. This is the bad news. From there on out, sin has been the separation factor for mankind and God. Sin separates mankind from a holy God; the bad news is that we all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Have you ever told a white lie? Or have you ever had hate in your heart to someone else? According to Jesus's standards, then you have sinned. What does a person who has sinned deserve? The punishment for sin is death; eternally. So, every person who has ever sinned deserves to be cast away forever to eternal lake of fire. Let that sink in. Read it again if you need to.
Idolatry, or having other gods besides the One True God, is sin. That was the first commandment God gave to Moses. Do you remember? Jesus said in the New Testament that even if you break only one commandment, that you are guilty of breaking all of the commandments in his eyes. Do you take a shower every day? Or, every other day? Or once a week?
Just like most people bathe daily, or at least regularly in the natural, so too, in the spiritual way we need to get a spiritual cleansing every day also. How does one do this you ask?
1John 1:9 is a promise for believers in Christ; please look it up. What does it say? What are the conditions for forgiveness? What are the results of confessing our sin to God? We must live according to his word, and confession to God of our sins is one way to receive his cleansing from all unrighteousness.
However, not only do we put off sin in our lives, but we are also supposed to put on something. We are to put on the love of Christ; the good works of the saints. It's not enough to say I'm forgiven and then go on living like a heathen or how you want. Good works must follow or come after one has asked for God's forgiveness through Christ Jesus.
We don't just get to heaven because we want to get there. We must get there because we have obeyed the manual that tells us how to get there. Jesus said, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one gets to the Father but by Me" in John 14:6. What did he mean? Was he talking about good works? Was he talking about our fleshly desires? Was he talking about a relationship with Christ?
Beloved, if you seek him you will find him. What is in your heart today? Do you have a real, living, ongoing relationship with God the Father through Jesus Christ? Do not be "playing church" and think that if you go to a small group or large worship gathering that it makes you safe and saved. Jesus said in Matthew 7:13 "Broad is the road that leads to destruction and narrow is the way that leads to life; and only a few find it." Would you pray to him today and ask him to help you make sure you are indeed on his narrow path? And, if you are not on his narrow path, would you ask him to help you get on and stay on his narrow path to life.
I hope this helps anyone reading it who is sincerely seeking God, Jesus Christ of Nazareth and the Holy Spirit today. Jesus said, 'repent or perish"; the choice is yours. What will you choose today?
