Repentance THE GOODNESS OF GOD BRINGS REPENTANCE
Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. Acts 5:31.
My brother and I used to be roommates in college. This was rather unexpected because we had spent much of our time up until then fighting with each other. Our parents used to worry that we would never live to grow up. But we found out when we got to college that we were very close. Psychologists tell us that you have to love someone in order to fight with them--that if you didn't love them, you wouldn't waste your time! Maybe that was the underlying cause of all our arguments. But when we were roommates we got along very well.
We used to clean the room every Friday, for Sabbath. But one week I was behind on some of my studies, trying to finish a term paper before the deadline. When my brother came in, I was still typing away. "Quick! Hurry!" he said, "We've got to do the room."
And I said, "You do it. I can't. I'm too busy." And we began to teeter on the edge of the combat precipice again.
But then he relaxed and said, "That's all right. That's perfectly all right. I understand. You must be under terrible pressure. It must be mighty hard for you. I'll clean the room. I'm happy to clean the room. I'll do it all by myself. You go ahead and work on your paper."
And he broke my heart! I put down my paper and I helped clean the room. We used that approach on each other many times after that. It was a different approach; it was only in fun. But it was a simple illustration of the fact that when someone doesn't act against you, but rather gives evidence of loving acceptance, this wins you--right? The "goodness" of my brother led me to help clean the room.
The Bible says in Romans 2:4 that it is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance. But when we talk about the goodness of God, it's real. It's not faked. It's the only kind of real goodness there is. Are you seeking for genuine repentance? As you come to Christ, study His life, contemplate His character and mission, and understand His great love and acceptance for you, you will be brought to repentance.
Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. Acts 5:31.
My brother and I used to be roommates in college. This was rather unexpected because we had spent much of our time up until then fighting with each other. Our parents used to worry that we would never live to grow up. But we found out when we got to college that we were very close. Psychologists tell us that you have to love someone in order to fight with them--that if you didn't love them, you wouldn't waste your time! Maybe that was the underlying cause of all our arguments. But when we were roommates we got along very well.
We used to clean the room every Friday, for Sabbath. But one week I was behind on some of my studies, trying to finish a term paper before the deadline. When my brother came in, I was still typing away. "Quick! Hurry!" he said, "We've got to do the room."
And I said, "You do it. I can't. I'm too busy." And we began to teeter on the edge of the combat precipice again.
But then he relaxed and said, "That's all right. That's perfectly all right. I understand. You must be under terrible pressure. It must be mighty hard for you. I'll clean the room. I'm happy to clean the room. I'll do it all by myself. You go ahead and work on your paper."
And he broke my heart! I put down my paper and I helped clean the room. We used that approach on each other many times after that. It was a different approach; it was only in fun. But it was a simple illustration of the fact that when someone doesn't act against you, but rather gives evidence of loving acceptance, this wins you--right? The "goodness" of my brother led me to help clean the room.
The Bible says in Romans 2:4 that it is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance. But when we talk about the goodness of God, it's real. It's not faked. It's the only kind of real goodness there is. Are you seeking for genuine repentance? As you come to Christ, study His life, contemplate His character and mission, and understand His great love and acceptance for you, you will be brought to repentance.
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