Repentance Comes Before Forgiveness. . .


 You've gotta get this. . . 

God is loving. . .

God is compassionate. . . 

God is not willing that any should perish. . .

God is hugely forgiving. . .

BUT!

Acts 2:38 NKJV  Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 3:19 NLT  Now repent of your sins and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped away.

Luke 13:2-3 NLT  “Do you think those Galileans were worse sinners than all the other people from Galilee?” Jesus asked. “Is that why they suffered?  3  Not at all! And you will perish, too, unless you repent of your sins and turn to God.

1 John 1:9 NKJV  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

None of us are perfect.  

Isaiah 64:6 KJV  But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

We ALL need God's forgiveness, but repentance comes before forgiveness. There is no forgiveness for sin unless you first repent. . . unless you turn away from sin, and begin walking toward God. . . and strive to walk on the path of righteousness. . .  

Luke 13:24-28 NKJV  "Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able.  25  When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open for us,' and He will answer and say to you, 'I do not know you, where you are from,'  26  then you will begin to say, 'We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.'  27  But He will say, 'I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.'  28  There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out.

What a day of bitter disappointment that will be. . . to hear Jesus say, "I do not know you"

I cannot imagine. . . the sorrow. . . the despair. . . 

God is love, but He is also Lord, and if He is truly our Lord, we must obey His commandments. . . 

I love You my God. . . 

❤

Dave

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