Page 8 - Microsoft Word - New Believer Devotional (3)

Scripture puts repentance and faith together as different aspects of the one act of coming to Christ for
salvation. It is not that a person first turns from sin and next trusts in Christ, or first trusts in Christ and
then turns from sin, but rather that both occur at the same time. When we turn to Christ for salvation from
our sins, we are simultaneously turning away from the things that have caused us to miss the mark and
fall short of the character of Christ being conformed in us. It’s a miraculous work of the Holy Spirit in a
cherished person that He has been pursuing for a long time! We are so valuable to Him, people of God!
John the Baptist came declaring a message of the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins in order
to prepare the way of the Lord. Recall that “Repent in the Greek means “to think differently or afterwards
(i.e.) = “to reconsider.” It’s a call forward into the things of God.
“As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, saying, The voice of one crying in the
wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make His paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and
every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways
shall be made smooth; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.”
Luke 3:4, 5

The Lord’s intentions are that you are filled and lifted up before His return. However, before we will ever
be prepared for the Lord Jesus, the “mountains” of our pride and self-will must come down. Only to the
degree that we become “valleys” can we expect to be filled up.

Remember, in preparation for Christ, God placed John the Baptist in the Jordan Valley, which is the
LOWEST PLACE in the world. It is significant that the Lord began His greatest work in the lowest
place. True repentance requires a lowering of the soul before God. We must humble ourselves under the
mighty hand of God.

“Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart
departeth from the Lord.”
Jeremiah 17:5

To the humble God will give His grace. And grace is the only way we can see real change. God is asking
for a wholehearted commitment to Christ.
Although we have been considering initial faith and repentance as the two aspects of conversion at the
beginning of the Christian life, it is important to realize that faith and repentance are not confined to the
beginning of the Christian life. They are attitudes of the heart that continue throughout our lives.
What is repentance?

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What does God’s holiness mean to you? How would you describe His holiness? What scriptures did you
use to extrapolate your meanings?
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