Two weeks ago we looked at the holiness of God and were reminded that although we are made in His image, we are NOT like Him. Then, last week, we were reminded that our sin drove Christ to the cross. Seeing Him for who He is reminds us of who we are. This morning, Pastor Alex completed the Consecrate series with understanding repentance. Acts 3:19 says, “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord”. Remember, conviction comes from the Spirit, but condemnation comes from the enemy.

REPENTANCE

1. What is the big deal? It gets us to Christ! Repentance is what moves us from death to life. It is a part of the regeneration of our spirit. It is a work of God’s grace through the conviction of sin and subsequent repentance. Repentance is beautiful because it moves you towards God.

2. What is it? “after mind” – thought afterwards, changing one’s mind. We repent into salvation, but we also repent through sanctification (after we are a born again believer). The Holy Spirit is in you and can “knock” from the inside. Repentance is the idea of “turning around”. We are walking towards death, and through conviction and repentance, we turn around and walk towards eternal life.

3. What is the real result? Life and fruit. When we repent, it is an invitation to life. “Come follow Me” – act like Me, think like Me, connect with Me in an intimate way. If we are walking with intimacy with Christ, our connection to Him is supernatural. We demonstrate our repentance through our deeds by bearing fruit. Vertically – forgiveness and life. Horizontally – healing with others.

1. We repent because of the goodness and kindness of God. He draws us to repentance. His goodness is pursuing us to turn around from impending death. Sanctification takes effort.

2 Corinthians 7:9-11:

Worldly sorrow – “When you ask for forgiveness AFTER getting caught”

Sanctified sorrow – “When you ask for forgiveness as a prompting of the Holy Spirit”

2. Confession – to agree to what is already true. When we confess our sin, we are agreeing to what He already knows. This confession is:

A. With Christ unto salvation Romans 10:9-10

B. With us as a Christian 1 John 1:9, 2 Timothy 2:19

C. Horizontally with each other

1. Reflect on a time when you realized that you were holding onto sin that needed to be confessed to God. Why is it important to confess something to Him that He already knows?

2. Have you experienced “freedom” through repentance and confession? How did that change the way you looked at life?

3. How has the consecrate series impacted you and your family?

Prayer

Father, thank you for loving me enough to have an answer for my sin. Holy Spirit, please reveal to me unconfessed sin and gently draw me to repentance. I choose today to walk in freedom and to be ready to do Your will.