I definitely agree if we are sinning we are to stop.
But repentance - metanoia - the exchanging of the mind - is at salvation, when we first come to Christ, having repented of our sin. After He changes us, we have a new mind, and we don't "metanoia" again, but we do stop sinning if we are.
I believe our salvation is found entirely in Jesus Christ, and not in our own behavior.
Much love!
Sorry to have to disagree with you here.....I tend to agree with everything you say but not this time! I disagree STRONGLY !
“ Metanoia” literally means “mind change.” If Faith in Paul’s Gospel , given to him personally by Jesus , is the Promise Of God that we simply have to BELIEVE in order to be saved .....it makes perfect sense that if a person “ changes his mind” from NOT believing the Gospel that saves a soul, to actuallyBELIEVING in that Gisoel That Saves a Soul .....He has done any and All the Repenting that he needs to do....
Repenting From Sins in order to be Saved “ sounds” Good , But NOWHERE in the KJV does it say “ repent of sins to be Saved!
Are we to repent ? Yes. Are we told to repent of sins? Of course! But NEVER “ repent of sins to be saved!” Repentance does not always have to be attached to Sinning! Nobody “ repents “ more in the Bible than God Himself does ! Six times!
The Book that we send beginners to, the Book Of Salvation—- The Book Of John— uses the word “ Believe “ 49 times.....the word “ repent?”......zero.A wise man would learn a lesson from that...
If “ repenting From Sins” is the KEY to Salvation, and if you are saying That Repentance is referring to the sorrow and guilt attached to Sinning, there will be no other greater hero in Neaven than Judas.....he Repented to the point that he actually gave all the money back to the religious rulers.
As a Saved Believer in Jesus and the Gospel ( the Actual things that save me and keep me Saved) , I Repent every day! I sometimes succumb to the “ Sin that besets us so easily” and even James admits that “ We ALL stumble” on occasion.
I sin , I regret it, I apologize to God about it and because this type of “ Repenting” is no fun at all, I try to abandon the sin that caused it all .Befire I was Saved, I didn’t go through any of this stuff.....I Sinned with abandon!
Look....the Sorrow for Sin ( “ that” kind of repentance ) can LEAD to Salvation.....the Holy Spirit opens your Heart and shows you for the Wretch that you are.....then you get Fearful about it for the first time ......you see that you are headed for a well- deserved Hell like a speeding bullet ....and then you understand that you had Better do something about it! The thing to Do is to “ change your mind” about Jesus and who He us and what He has done .....you have never seen the need to Turn to Him for Forgiveness.....you never thought you were “ perfect” or anything, but you thought that you were “ good enough” for Heaven ..
THAT my friends, is the SIN of Self- Righteousness .That is the Sin that is common to all that live in Satan’s “ Fool’s Paradise” where people Believe that they are Fit For Heaven because they are notvlike that guy doing timecin the State Pen—— THEY are the types of people that need Jesus to get to Heaven—- NOT ME!
Until one has his or her eyes opened to the fact that they are Lost Sinners....they ain’t never going to come to God....in their blind eyes, they don’t think that they NEED to. It’s simply Pride.....it’s simply Self - Righteousness . Until you REPENT , or “ change your mind “ about your True State , you are just as Lost as an Eskimo in Times Square. You MUST Repent to be Saved.....but one has to understand what the word means in relation to Salvation.....
The thief on the Cross Repented .....he changed his mind! At first , he was just like the Unsaved Thief.....trying to put Jesus to the test.....if he was the Son Of God he should get them down from those crosses.....there was no Contriteness in Him at first ....later he saw that he was a rotten sinner, admitting that he was “ getting what he deserved.” He had undergone the “ mind change “ ...He was convicted of Sin now at last... He turned to Jesus ( literally” ) .....he had the Faith to Believe that Jesus was who He said He was ( the.Lord) . As a result of all of this ....he got saved!
You can too! REPENT! ........just make sure you understand what the word means.....you think you are “good enough” and don’t need God? You had best “ change your mind “ about that lie and start Believing the Gospel Of 1cor15:1-4 .....Non-repenters need not apply! If you don’t have the Contrite Heart that True Repentance requires .....you will not understand the Gospel ....it will be “ foolishness” to you..... God bless and I apologize for the length if this post.....I get “ carried away” sometimes!