"Prove their repentance by their deeds." By their deeds!

What must we do to have our sins forgiven—the sins already sovereignly forgiven?

According to the Book of Acts we must believe and repent; not just believe, but believe and repent.

While there are numerous verses in the New Testament that stress belief, or faith, there are others that present repentance as being a necessary aspect of having our sins forgiven.

Notice carefully the above: "they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds."

Several times in the Book of Acts we find the Apostles preached believing in Jesus and repenting of our former way of life.

Isn't it enough just to believe Christ has forgiven our sins?

No indeed, it is not enough just to believe! We have to turn to God and prove by our actions that we have turned away from our sins.

The concept of repentance, of turning away from the world and entering a new life in Jesus Christ, is dramatized in the sacrament of water baptism. Repentance, acted out through water baptism and then carried out by choosing each day to put away the lust, malice, and other wickednesses of the world system, is at the heart of the Christian salvation, according to the New Testament.

John the Baptist and Jesus preached: "Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand."

There is no forgiveness of sins until we turn to God and leave the practices of the world behind.

Today we stress "only believe," an expression taken from the Scripture. There is a world of difference between merely believing, on the one hand, and believing and repenting, on the other.

One can be nothing more than mental assent. The other is an action produced by our will as we choose to leave the malice and wickedness of the world and turn to God.

I think Satan today, knowing that God is going to bring revival in our time, is attempting to head off or at least dilute the work of the Lord. He is doing this by encouraging doctrine that is partly true.

In actuality, something that is partly true can lead us to something totally false.

If an individual is told that in order to be saved all he has to do is believe in what Christ has done, and then praise God, he has been told a half-truth. The purpose of a half-truth is to deceive.

The person has not been oriented correctly to the Christian salvation. Therefore his joy shall be short-lived. It will not stand up under the spiritual pressure that eventually will be brought to bear on him.

There is only one correct orientation to the Christian salvation!

The one correct orientation to the Christian salvation is to believe in God's salvation through Christ, and then to turn away from one's past life and to signify this repentance in water baptism. Now he or she has been crucified with Christ and has been raised with Christ to walk in newness of life—not in the former pattern of living!

To be continued.