"When they say 'repent', 'repent', I wonder what they meant..."

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Act 3:19 “REPENT therefore AND TURN BACK, for the blotting out of your SINS...”

A dark song from Leonard Cohen, but danged if he didn’t hit the nail on the head with his question. What DO they mean? Seems to be a foggy area in Christianity, but Scripture doesn’t mince words. Nowadays, it’s like if you are not purposely sinning by keeping His commandments, you are mocking grace - What? But if the ‘law was nailed to the cross’ as they say, nobody can sin anyway! What is the need for Messiah if that were true?? Even basic logic has taken a hike, hasn’t it? Let’s look at this mess -

Repent from what? Turn back to what? What is sin? How is it that this very topic of paramount Scriptural importance is so misunderstood? Can you imagine IF everyone knew what this truly meant? We would be, for the very most part, ALL on the same page!

“Son”, says the pastor, “you need to say the sinners prayer and get saved!” That’s usually very basic, and often goes something like this -

"Dear God, I know that I am a sinner and that I need saved. I believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sins. I do now receive him as my Lord and personal Savior. In Jesus' name, Amen."

That’s the very definition of “wing and a prayer” right there (you do it hoping that you have success, although you are not at all prepared for it). Many have BEGAN there, and went on to learn what the terms mean and truly repented/returned; many have not; yet think they are ‘good to go’. What probably was not mentioned were verses such as these (and so many more) -

Luk 14:28 “For who of you, wishing to build a tower, does not sit down first and COUNT THE COST, whether he has enough to complete it?

Mat 7:14 “Because the gate is narrow and the way is HARD PRESSED which leads to life, and there are FEW WHO FIND IT.

It’s not a trifle regard. To truly understand what the terms mean, study is involved. Here is an example of YHUH’s take on the matter, and what IS involved, and understanding what TRANSGRESSION He is talking about - 1Jn 3:4 Whosoever commits sin transgresses the Torah: for SIN IS the transgression of the Torah. Yep, that ‘stuff’ that Messiah said would not change a bit until heaven and earth passed away (Mat. 5:1. “Nailed to the cross” - as if Messiah lied, huh? Anyways -

Eze 18:30-32 “Therefore I judge you, O house of Yisra’ĕl, every one according to his ways,” declares the Master יהוה. “REPENT, and turn back FROM all your TRANSGRESSIONS, and let not crookedness be a stumbling-block to you. “CAST AWAY from you all the TRANSGRESSIONS, by which you have TRANSGRESSED, and make for yourselves a NEW HEART and a NEW SPIRIT. For why should you die, O house of Yisra’ĕl? “For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,” declares the Master יהוה. “So TURN BACK and live!”

Well that was said in no questionable terms; that should remove any uncertainty. But if not, we get a vivid picture of what that NEW HEART and NEW SPIRIT - HIS Spirit - not an imitation - would look like and accomplish BY HIS PROMISE, what >HE CAUSES< to happen -

Eze 36:26-27 “And I shall give you a NEW HEART and put a NEW SPIRIT within you. And I SHALLtake the heart of stone out of your flesh, and I SHALL give you a heart of flesh, and put MY SPIRIT within you. And >I SHALL CAUSE YOU< to WALK IN My LAWS and GUARD My right-rulings and shall DO THEM.

Sounds a lot like ‘new covenant’ stuff also - you know, the one ‘they’ all claim? Jer 31:33 “For this is the covenant...” “>I SHALL< put My Torah in their inward parts, and write it on their hearts. And I shall be their Elohim, and they shall be My people.“

If there is a litmus test, that’s it. There’s the evidence of a new heart and His indwelling Ruach. That is His desire, one of those verses we are told to live by (“EVERY Word that...” Mat. 4:4) and take to heart - our NEW heart. Obedience is the key, this thought carries through all through Scripture -

Act 5:32 “And we are His witnesses to these matters, and so also is the Set-apart SPIRIT whom Elohim has given TO THOSE WHO OBEY HIM.

Heb 5:9 “And having been perfected, He became the CAUSER of everlasting DELIVERANCE TO all those OBEYING HIM...”

Mat 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Master, Master,’ shall enter into the reign of the heavens, but he who is doing the desire of My Father in the heavens. “MANY shall say to Me in that day, ‘Master, Master, have we not prophesied in Your Name, and cast out demons in Your Name, and done many mighty works in Your Name?’ “And then I shall declare to them, ‘I NEVER KNEW YOU, depart from Me, YOU who work lawlessness (no Torah-no true repentance)!’

Rev 1:8 “I AM THE ‘Aleph’ and the ‘Taw’...” It’s no coincidence that He said that about Himself. He is the full embodiment of the living Torah made flesh. Psa 119:1 begins with the Aleph, 119:169 begins with the Taw - ALL about Torah - the longest chapter in Scripture. For an entirely fuller understanding of the depths of this, please watch our video with Eric. I’ll post below in the comments.

One of the major symptoms of a serious heart condition in Scripture is following men and their vain traditions, they go through the motions, but NONE of that counts -

Mat 15:8-9 ‘This people draw near to Me with their mouth, and respect Me with their lips, but their HEART IS FAR FROM ME. ‘But IN VAIN do they worship Me, teaching as teachings the COMMANDS OF MEN’

Ancient Israel got in a lot of trouble for their transgressions, (1Co 10:11 “And all these came upon them as EXAMPLES, and they were written as A WARNING TO US...”) and we would do well to understand how well THEY KNEW what repentance was -

Dan 9:5 “We have SINNED and did crookedness, and did wrong and rebelled, to TURN ASIDE from Your commands and from Your right-rulings.

Dan 9:10 “And we have NOT OBEYED the voice of יהוה our Elohim, to walk in His TORAH, which He set before us through His servants the prophets.

Neh 1:7 “We have acted very corruptly against You, and have NOT GUARDED the commands, nor the laws, nor the right-rulings which You commanded Your servant Mosheh.

THAT IS what repentance is. THAT IS the Scriptural model. Accept no imitation. If you haven’t repented from your VAIN sun-day tradition, repented from eating swine and other abominations, repented from the pagan hell-i-days, etc. - YOU have not learned what repentance is. Thankfully, the Way to Messiah’s true heart, and your new heart, is still open to you IF -

Rev 3:19 “As many as I love, I reprove and discipline. So BE ARDENT and REPENT.”

Rom 3:31 “Do we then nullify the Torah through the belief? Let it not be! ON THE CONTRARY, we establish the Torah.”

Psa 19:7 “The Torah of יהוה is PERFECT, bringing back the being...”

Can’t improve on ANYTHING YHUH calls PERFECT, can you? You can only be rebellious for so long! Time to get in step with Him! Pro 19:16 “He who guards the commands guards his life...”

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