Discipleship 101
New Believer Lesson #4
Salvation & Repentance
By Andy Madonio
July 24, 2010
Introduction:
Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret.
“Conviction of sin is one of the rarest things that ever strikes a man. It is the threshold of an understanding of God. Jesus Christ said that when the Holy Spirit came He would convict of sin, and when the Holy Spirit rouses a man’s conscience and brings him into the presence of God, it is not his relationship with men that bothers him, but his relationship with God . . .
“Repentance always brings a man to this point: “I have sinned.” The surest sign that God is at work is when a man says that and means it . . .
“The entrance into the Kingdom is through the panging pains of repentance crashing into a man’s respectable goodness; then the Holy Ghost, Who produces these agonies, begins the formation of the Son of God in the life. The new life will manifest itself in conscious repentance and unconscious holiness, never the other way about. The bedrock of Christianity is repentance. Strictly speaking, a man cannot repent when he chooses; repentance is a gift of God. The old Puritans used to pray for “the gift of tears.” If ever you cease to know the virtue of repentance, you are in darkness. Examine yourself and see if you have forgotten how to be sorry.”
Oswald Chambers – My Utmost for His Highest
Repentance:
The word we call “repentance” is a two-part word that in its simplest means, a change of mind. The Greek word metanoeo is divided into meta – after, or change and noeo – the mind, the thoughts. Repentance causes us to think about something, reflect on it, realize we were wrong, and completely change our minds about it. We do a one-eighty.
When you consider the first two lessons – The perfection of God’s Creation and the fall of man due to sin, you can easily come to a point of despair. If your heart is not self-centered, a sorrow, a “Godly sorrow”, overwhelms you, and you begin to ask God to forgive you of what you have done. Lesson three begins to show the light at the end of the dark tunnel, describing God’s plan to deal with that awful sin.
You are probably taking this course because you listened to a message from the pastor, or a friend – the message of the Gospel, the “Good News” of Jesus. You also probably heard about sin and the sorrow it causes God, and you may have responded by coming to an altar, or kneeling, praying to Jesus about your sin, asking Him to redeem you, to forgive you, to make you one of His.
Briefly describe what message you heard and whom you heard it from that
brought you to the point of repentance. Keep that memory in your arsenal to
protect against apathy in the future days when you may struggle and forget
that you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of
the Lord Jesus.
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
As 2 Corinthians 7:10 above says, Godly sorrow over your sins led you to ask God for forgiveness and you were granted repentance. True repentance produces sorrow, bringing you to the doorstep of union with God.
Salvation – Planned from the Beginning:
When you learned in Lesson #3 about atonement and redemption, the main theme was that Jesus was qualified to pay the price required to relieve you of the sins you had committed, and even redeem you from the sin nature you had inherited. You are now a purchased item, bought and owned by Jesus, who came into this world to pay the price you could not, and to cleanse you from an impossible stain.
You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men. (1 Corinthians 7:23 NIV)
In the Old Testament, under the law of Moses, God provided a way for sins to be atoned for by instituting a blood sacrifice. The sacrificial creature of choice was the lamb, and the shedding of its blood and its death has many symbolic meanings. Sin brings death, and the proof of death is blood.
“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our LORD.” (Romans 6:23 NIV)
“In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” (Hebrews 9:22 NIV)
Jesus came to put an end to continual sacrifices and the shedding of blood, and to purchase us once, and only once, for all eternity. He was the perfect lamb, offering Himself freely, as the price required for our salvation.
“But when this priest (Jesus) had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God . . . because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” (Hebrews 10:12, 14 NIV)
God had this in mind and made plans for Jesus to save you even during the Creation event.
“. . . the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world.” (Revelation 13:8 NIV)
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29 NIV)
Salvation is a state that unites us with our Creator, Redeemer, and Savior. Repentance precedes salvation. Jesus preceded everything in the plan of God, becoming the perfect sacrifice, the lamb of God.
Salvation – Union with God:
Madame Jeanne Guyon describes this union, how it works, and what is necessary.
All that is of your doing, all that comes from your life – even your most
exalted prayer – must first be destroyed before union can come about.
The end is union with God!
There is something in this universe which is the very opposite of God; it
is the self. The activity of the self is the source of all the evil nature as
well as all the evil deeds of man . . . It was the entrance of the self, which
came into the soul as a result of the fall, that established a difference
between the soul (of man) and God.
How can two things so opposite as the soul (of man) and God ever be
united?
For two things to become one, the two must have similar natures. For
instance the impurity of dirt cannot be united with the purity of gold.
Fire has to be introduced to destroy the dross and leave the gold pure.
This is why God sends a fire to the earth (it is called His Wisdom) to
destroy all that is impure in you. Nothing can resist the power of that
fire. It consumes everything. His Wisdom burns away all the impurities
in a man for one purpose: to leave him fit for divine union. There is
impurity in you . . . What is the name of this impurity? Self. Self is
the source of all defilement, and it prevents any alliance with Purity.
Jeanne Guyon, Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ, written approximately
1685.
One of the great themes of the Bible is death. Sacrifice involves death. Sin leads to death. Proof of death is signified by blood. Jesus died and shed His blood to give us life. His death gives us life; death leads to life in God’s economy. Throughout the Bible, you will learn that some things sound like they are backwards. This is one of those things:
For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. (Luke 9:24 NIV)
And another favorite:
Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.” (Mark 9:35 NIV)
Self won’t let you die, or choose to be last, that is why Madame Guyon said self has to go. Salvation, union with God, requires a death – of self. Call it pride, call it honor, call it respect, call it fairness. None of those things matter to God until your self is gone. If we are to stand in His presence, we must have died – either in actuality, or spiritually.
“It is not possible for you to see my face, for no man may see me and still go on living.” (Exodus 33:20 Bible in Basic English)
The apostle Paul urged us to get rid of self in the following passage by offering ourselves as a sacrifice to God.
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-- this is your spiritual act of worship. (Romans 12:1 NIV)
The problem with offering ourselves as a “living sacrifice”, as someone once said, is that the sacrifice keeps crawling off the altar. Self must be killed, but in reality, killing it today means it will be back grinning at you again tomorrow. Self must be diligently slaughtered every day, in order to retain the pureness that Jesus' sacrifice engenders and God’s holy presence requires.
What specific characteristic of your ‘self’ would you most like to let die? Ask
Jesus for His help, and ask for diligence to recognize it when it returns
(because it will).
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________________
Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” Salvation unites us with God by placing the Holy Spirit inside us. He will guide us, teach us, and protect our spirit for eternity.
Concluding Remarks on Salvation:
Salvation is the cornerstone of a walk with Jesus. It is, as Watchman Nee said, the very entering of the gate, the beginning of the journey. People come to salvation after they reach a point in their lives when it becomes less painful to die to themselves than to continue to live for themselves. True, lasting salvation occurs when each individual reaches a point where he or she MUST KNOW GOD PERSONALLY. Salvation is a complete change of life. The difficult things you may have heard about Christianity become desirous things. Your vision changes, your heart longs for the peace of Jesus; you are, as Paul the apostle says, a new creation in Christ; God’s perfect Creation is renewed inside you. Your DNA mates with that of Jesus, and your life moves out of its rutted tracks onto a new fresh course.
If this has not happened to you, consider carefully. Many say a prayer along with their pastor, or at the bidding of their parents, friend, or spouse, but never really have that desire, that thirst for Jesus they ought to have. If this is you, ask Jesus to give you the desire for Him you feel is lacking. Will He? Listen to the words of an infatuated lover calling to his bride, and know that this is Jesus calling to you.
“Come, my shy and modest dove - leave your seclusion, come out in the open. Let me see your face, let me hear your voice. For your voice is soothing and your face is ravishing.” (Song of Solomon 2:14 The Message)
Jesus loves you as a bridegroom loves his bride. He desires to see your face and hear your voice, so talk to Him, spend time with Him, He desires nothing more. A marriage relationship is built over a lifetime, and lasts a lifetime when the bride and groom follow after each other. Follow after Jesus; He may seem quiet, but He is there, and He will not disappoint.
See you in Lesson #5!
[Note – This lesson can be downloaded in PDF format for printing or sharing]
