REPENTANCE AND RESTITUTION

Repentance means a change of mind. It is a change of mind that results in a change in behavior. Repentance is the result of godly sorrow (II Corinthians 7:10). Godly sorrow is the quality being so grieved by the wrongs committed in the past that there is a determination to turn away from those kinds of actions combined with a determination to do only that which is right in the eyes of God. This sorrow (godly sorrow) is not the sorrow of being caught, but sorrow that is characterized by a broken, contrite heart. Jude tells us that such a one hates even the garment spotted by the flesh (Jude 23). Repentance was described by Jonah when it was said that the Ninevites “turned from their evil way” (Jonah 3:10). When Jesus spoke of the same situation, He stated that they “repented at the preaching of Jonah” (Matthew 12:39-41).

All sin is against God and must be forgiven by God. King David recognized that though his sins involved others those sins were against God. He exclaimed, “Against thee, thee only, have I sinned” (Psalm 51:4). God is not obligated to forgive. Forgiveness is the result of God’s mercy and grace. Forgiveness is through the blood of Christ (Ephesians 1:7). Paul in that passage also referred to the “riches” of God’s grace. God’s grace is sufficient to forgive all of the sins of all of mankind. There is no inadequacy in the blood of Christ. No matter how awful our sin is, no matter how many those sins are we can be forgiven by God. If we are alien sinners (not Christians), we must do those things that God requires in order to receive the remission (forgiveness) of our sins. We must obey the Gospel to be saved from our sins. That Gospel stipulates that we must believe in Jesus as the Son of God and Savior of man (John 8:24), repent of our sins (Luke 13:3,5), confess our faith in Christ before men (Matthew 10:32), and be baptized by the authority of Christ for the forgiveness of our sins (Acts 2:38; Mark 16:16). If we are already members of the church, we must follow God’s second plan of pardon to be forgiven. We must repent of our sins (Acts 8:22) and confess those sins to God in prayer (I John 1:9; Acts 8:22). The blood of Jesus can thus cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

In either case (alien sinner, fallen child of God), the common act required for forgiveness is repentance. It is, therefore, imperative that we understand what is meant by repentance and all that is involved in this act.

Repentance involves restitution. Restitution is restoring to another that which we have unjustly taken in our sins. If we have deprived others of some material thing, then we must restore to that person the thing taken or the value of that thing. If that cannot be done then reasonable satisfaction must be given. If what is taken is intangible, then every effort must be made to remove the effects of the wrong. In simple terms this means that if we have stolen an automobile we must return it if we have repented. We cannot keep riding around in the car if we have genuinely repented. I believe we all have the ability to understand this. This illustration has been used effectively many times. It clearly illustrates the idea of restitution involved in repentance.

If emotions were not so heavily involved in other similar situations, I believe we could see the parallel and apply this idea of restitution consistently with success. But, when “marriage” is the sin, many do not see as clearly as they would otherwise. If a person is in an unscriptural marriage (a “marriage” not authorized by God), then many want to suggest that a person can repent without giving up that which is not rightfully his or hers. Repentance requires restitution where possible. Baptism, in the case of the alien sinner becoming a Christian, does not sanctify an unscriptural relationship. The sin of adultery can be forgiven, but only when repentance occurs which means turning away from the practice of adultery. A person cannot continue in the sinful practice and have God’s approval or forgiveness. A person must stop the practice of whatever sin in order to be forgiven.

Perhaps this additional illustration will help. Suppose a practicing homosexual learned the Truth and wanted forgiveness. It is impossible to have that forgiveness and have a right relationship with God while continuing to practice homosexuality. That sinful practice must stop if forgiveness is to obtained! Baptism will not sanctify such a relationship that is sinful no more than baptism will sanctify an adulterous relationship. If forgiveness is to be obtained, then the sinful practice must stop. That is part of what repentance requires!

Lester Kamp

REBUKING THE SINS OF FAMILY AND CLOSE FRIENDS

If you are a Christian teacher of the Bible who labors to follow Jesus’ example and His New Testament’s instructions in your life and teaching of God’s Word, it is important to understand and prepare yourself for those family members who, whether related to you by blood or law, think they are exempt from being taught Biblical truths that expose and refute their sins and/or spiritual weaknesses. To some of them being related to you means that you do not teach the Bible to them as you do to those unrelated to you. The foregoing is the case with those family members outside of Christ as well as those in Christ who are guilty of sin.

The foregoing is also true for some who are your close friends. Their understanding of being close friends means that they are exempt from your rebukes for any sins they have committed. Although in their thoughts or words they have never explicitly (in just so many words) said as much, they assume you have the same view of what it means to be their close friend as they do to be yours―close friends do not deal with each other’s sins as they do with other people’s sins. They expect preferential treatment. It is best described as the sinful “respecter of persons” mentality. When one must deal with the sins and/or spiritual weaknesses of family members and/or close friends in seeking to bring them to repentance, it will not take long to see which of them will thank you for loving them enough to say things to them that they need to hear, which things are painful for them to hear as well as for you to say.

It must have been a painful thing for the apostles Paul and Peter, along with their brethren, when Paul’s love for Jesus, His truth, His church, and Peter’s soul to withstand his fellow apostle, Peter, “to the face” because of the latter’s sin of hypocrisy (Galatians 2:11, 13). But not only had Peter sinned himself, but his sinful conduct caused other brethren to follow in his hypocritical footsteps. Paul’s public rebuke of Peter must have been at the very least a great embarrassment to Peter. However, on more than one occasion during our Lord’s personal ministry Jesus had rebuked Peter, and sometimes sharply, for his sins and spiritual weakness (Matthew 16:33; 13:31; Mark 14:29, 30). But to Peter’s great credit we see how humble, teachable, and correctable the apostle was (Proverbs 9:8; 13:1; 27:6; Ecclesiastes 7:5).

The episode of Paul rebuking Peter because of the latter’s sin did not result in the two apostles being estranged from one another as many times it is the case. There is no indication in the sacred writings that Peter was upset and angry with Paul because the latter publicly rebuked him for his sin. Peter did not cease to speak to or avoid Paul because the former was rebuked by the apostle to the Gentiles. In fact, many years later Peter referred to Paul “as our beloved brother” (II Peter 3:15). All too often when some brethren are publicly or privately rebuked for their sins, especially if the rebuke comes from brethren in the Lord who are family members or close friends, those receiving the rebuke forever hold a grudge against the one who delivered the rebuke.

Peter bore the marks of Christian character traits that all too few exercise when their sins are exposed by one who loves them enough to rebuke them for their sins. However, we who would be faithful in all things must be willing to lose the closeness that exists between family members as well as the closeness of our best friends in demonstrating our love for God, His Word, the church, and the sinner in need of rebuking. All too often those family members and close friends turn out to be only “fair weather friends” and “sunshine patriots.” They are simply not all they would have you to believe they are when it comes to their Christianity.

On the other hand, we who may be on the receiving end of a justified rebuke ought to look to Peter for an example of how to receive a deserved rebuke in being willing to cast down whatever pride we may have hindering us from making whatever corrections we need to make in order to be faithful to God. Moreover, we should be thankful for the child of God who loved us enough to point out our spiritual weaknesses and sins. Surely, if we understand that we have an obligation to God to rebuke the sins of our brethren, then we should also understand that we are to welcome being shown our sins by someone else, especially when we are rebuked by family members and friends, close or otherwise.

In closing this brief message we must realize that none of us who rightfully wear the name of Christ ought to allow pride, emotions, or relationships to cause us to fail in what needs to be said to or done with people in our efforts to get them to repent of their sins. The unforgiven sins in our lives are the only things that can separate us from God. Thus, those sins must be dealt with according to the scriptures. In order to do that, sinners must know and come to grips with the fact that certain actions in their lives are sinful and if heaven is to be their home they must repent of those sinful actions. Of course, if they do not repent, then at their death, or if the Lord returns first, they will be sentenced to eternal torment in a devils hell. No one wants that to happen to anyone―especially one’s dearly beloved family members and close friends. And to them and all others with Paul we ask, “Am I become your enemy, because I tell you the truth” (Galatians.4:16).

David P. Brown

THE LORD IS GOOD

“Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: But thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: For thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back” (Isaiah 38:17).

King Hezekiah, upon his recovery from sickness and the point of death, wrote the above words. He stated that God had cast his sins behind His back. Setting forth the truth of God’s Word, that when God forgives, He forgets—that is He sees them no more. Jeremiah, prophesying of the new covenant God would make with His people, stated: Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, That I will make a new covenant. With the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers In the day that I took them by the hand To bring them out of the land of Egypt; Which my covenant they brake, Although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, And write it in their hearts; And will be their God, And they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: For they shall all know me, From the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: For I will forgive their iniquity, And I will remember their sin no more” (Jeremiah 31:31-34).

Notice, that this is the new covenant; God would remember their sin “no more.” The writer of Hebrews used this same passage in Hebrews 8:8-13. One difference between the Old and New covenants had to do with this very point—God forgiving and forgetting. To see this difference more clearly, we look at another passage in Hebrews. The writer wrote: “For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year” (Hebrews 10:1-3).

Once “our” sins are cast behind the back of God, He remembers them no more. What a great blessing for us today. Beloved, if there is sin in your life—take care of it now. And, if you can, once taken care of, let it go yourself. Do not carry the guilt of it, because as far as God is concerned—it never happened.

Jimmie Gribble

THE GLORIOUS CROSS

The centerpiece of God’s plan to redeem sinful mankind—yea, of history—is the cross of Jesus Christ. The Gospel is the “word of the cross” (I Corinthians 1:18). The cross is “the power and wisdom of God” (23–24). The cross is the great “peacemaker” between Jew and Gentile and between God and sinful men (Ephesians 2:16; Colossians 1:20). Christians should therefore glory in the cross (Galatians 6:14).

The cross significantly demonstrates so many extraordinary facts

• The awfulness of sin. Most people glorify and laugh at sin, but God and His Son did not and do not. Sin is so repugnant to Deity it took the horrors of the cross to save us from it. The Righteous One suffered on the cross for the sins of the unrighteous (I Peter 3:18). Without His shed blood there is no forgiveness (Hebrews 9:22b). Only by His sacrifice could He “put away sin” (v. 26b).
• The love of God and Christ for Mankind. God’s love caused Him to give His Son to save us (John 3:16). God demonstrated His love for sinners in the death of His Son (Romans 5:8). Christ expressed His love for us on the cross (II Corinthians 5:14). God so loved us that He sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins (I John 4:10). God’s love and the cross are inseparable (John 3:16).
• The price of redemption. Christ gave himself a ransom for all (I Timothy 2:6). He “purchased” the church with His blood (Acts 20:28). He “gave himself up” for the church (Ephesians 5:25; Titus 2:14). He redeemed us “with precious blood” (I Peter 1:18–19). He “gave himself for our sins, the he might deliver us out of this present evil world” (Galatians 1:4). There could be no redemption without the cross.
• The wickedness and cruelty of men. Isaiah foretold that Jesus would be “despised and rejected” (Isaiah 53:6–8). Judas betrayed Him for 30 coins. At Jesus’ first trial, Peter, one of his “inner circle,” denied three times he knew Him. The Jewish rulers so hated Jesus that they violated the law and ignored justice. A frenzied and irrational mob cried for His crucifixion. Pilate and Herod abused Him, and Pilate delivered Him to the cross, publicly admitting He was innocent. The cross revealed the depths of cruelty and wickedness to which sinful men can plunge as they slew their only Savior.
• The nobility of meekness. To the many taunts and wild charges, “he opened not his mouth” in self-defense (Isaiah 53:7; Matthew 27:14). Although His captors spat upon Him, struck Him, mocked Him, scourged Him, and finally nailed Him to the cross, He offered no resistance or defense. “When he was reviled, he reviled not again” (I Peter 2:23). He refused to call the angelic army, awaiting His orders, to rescue Him (Matthew 26:53). Truly, they did not take His life; He laid it down (John 10:18). Jesus on the cross is meekness perfected.
• Unqualified obedience to God. Jesus came to do His Father’s will (John 6:38). He went to the cross because God required it for our redemption—there was no other way (Mat. 26:39). Jesus’ obedience took Him to the cross—the ultimate demonstration of obedience (Philippians 2:8).

The first stanza of John Bowring’s poem says it well for every saint:

In the cross of Christ I glory,
Tow’ring o’er the wrecks of time;
All the light of sacred story
Gathers round its head sublime.

Dub McClish

ARE YOU IN FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD?

Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doc-trine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed (II John 9-10).

Spiritual fellowship between men is only possible with those people who are in fellowship with God. People are brought into fellowship with God when they are obedient to the Gospel. What does it mean to be obedient to the Gospel? It means: 1) People must hear and understand the Gospel (I Corinthians 15:1-4); 2) Believe Jesus Christ is the Son of God; 3) Repent of one’s sins; 4) Confess that one believes that Jesus is the Son of God; 5) Be im-mersed in water by the authority of Jesus Christ into the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in order to obtain the remission or forgiveness of one’s sins (John 14:6; 14:15; James 2: 17-24; Colossians 3:17; I Thessalonians 1:8; I Peter 4:17; Romans 10:14; Mark 16:15; Romans 1:16; John 8:24; Acts 17:30; Romans 10:10, 17; Mark 16:16; Matthew 28:19: Acts 2:38; 10:48; 22:16; Romans 6:3, 4; Colossians 2:12; Galatians 3:26, 27; I Peter 3:21; Hebrews; 5:8, 9; Romans 6:17:18; Acts 2:41, 42, 47; Matthew 16:18; Ephesians 4:4; Colossians 1:18; Ephesians 5:23-27; Acts 20:28; Ephesians 1:3). Please study very closely the preceding verses.

The aforementioned is God’s great plan of salvation from sin for mankind (I John 3:4; James 4:17; Romans 3:23; 6:23). More than this God does not require of anyone in order to be saved from past sins and, thus, be brought into fellowship with Him. Less than this and one cannot be forgiven of one’s sins and, therefore, remains lost and out of fellow-ship with God, and God’s faithful children, which children are only in His family, the church (I Timothy 3:15). God’s plan of salvation is that simple, regard-less of what others erroneously teach. Thus, the truth of God pertaining to man’s salvation must be believed and adhered to before fellowship can be obtained with God. Those who have been saved from their sins by their obedience to the Gospel of Christ, and thereby brought into fellowship with God, are authorized by the New Testament to fellowship only those people who are themselves in fellowship with God through their own obedience to the Gospel, and who remain in fellowship with Him by living as the New Testament teaches Christians to live—that is what it means to be faithful in Christ's church.

In II John 9-10, the apostle makes it clear that in order to remain in fellowship with God, and all of those who are in fellowship with Him, one must continue to be obedient to the doctrine of Christ concerning those things the New Testament obligates one to do in order to be faithful to Christ in His church. There is no other way that is acceptable to God. Take it or leave it. Be saved or be lost. It is strictly up to you and no one else. Thus, with the Holy Spirit inspired James, we beg and plead with everyone, by the mercies of Jesus Christ, to “receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls” (James 1:21; also see James 1:25; 1 Peter 1:22; Luke 8:11, 15; John 12:48). Furthermore, we exhort all who are Christians to, “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life” (Revelation 2:10; Also see I Corinthians 15:58; Matthew 25:21).

If you do not have enough interest to take the time to study the scriptures, you don’t have enough interest or time to go to heaven (II Timothy 2:15). No one will accidentally stumble into heaven. It is a pre-pared place for a prepared people (John 14:3). And, our life in the flesh on earth is the only place and time to prepare for eternity (II Peter 3:9; Hebrews 9:27; II Corinthians 5:10).

All of us are but one heart beat away from eternity. Think about the uncertainty and brevity of life in the flesh on earth, be honest with yourself (Luke 8:11,15), and respond to the gospel call accordingly. “For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (II Corinthians 6:2).

Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light (Matthew 11:28-30).

David P. Brown

Scripture Snaps - Isaiah 1:18

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Scripture Snaps 2014 - Isaiah 1:18

Give Me the Truth

If you are my friend, if you are concerned about my soul, give me the truth. Do not flatter me. Do not praise my virtues while remaining silent about my vices. Do not fear the truth will offend me. Do not treasure our friendship, our friendly relations, above my salvation.

Do not think by ignoring my sins can help me. Do not think that being blind to my sins will prove you charitable. However I may react to it, whatever may be my attitude toward you after you have done it, GIVE ME THE TRUTH. For the Truth, and only the Truth can make me free from the shackles of sin, strengthen me in the pathway of righteousness, and lead me to heaven’s joy.

If I am wavering, weak, lukewarm, indifferent, neglectful; if I have been overtaken in a trespass; if I have been drawn into the pleasure of the world; if I have left my first love; if I have been led astray by error; or if I have done none of these, but simply need to grow in knowledge and be edified, GIVE ME THE TRUTH!

Author Unknown