There must be a true and actual abandonment of sin

Image via WikipediaTrue abandonment of sin.Spurgeon said: "There must be a true and actual abandonment of sin and a turning unto righteousness in real act and deed in every day life. Repentance, to be sure, must be entire. If thou dost harbor one of those accursed vipers in thy heart and dost give up every other, that one lust like one leak in a ship will sink thy soul. All transgressions must be renounced or else the gates of heaven must be barred against you. True repentance is a turning of the heart as well as of the life. It is the giving up of the whole soul to God to be His forever and ever."What is biblically defined repentance? The term demands radical conversion, demands a transformation of nature, a definitive turning from evil, a resolute turning to God in total obedience. There can be no going back, only advance and responsible movement along the way not taken. It effects the whole man. First and basically the center of personal life, then logically his conduct at all times and in all situations, his thoughts, words and acts.It starts out, you see that sin is sinful, you see that you are guilty, you see that Christ has provided intellectually and then it touches your emotions and there's a brokenness and a sorrow and a shame and a guilt that pours out and out of that sorrow comes the third element, and that is the volitional. Finally, repentance enacts the will and brings a change of direction, a new determination to abandon stubborn disobedience and surrender your life to Christ.Martyn Lloyd-Jones put it this way: "You renounce the world whatever the cost, the world in its mind and outlook as well as its practices, and you deny yourself and take up the cross and go after Christ. Your nearest and dearest and the whole world may call you a fool or say you have religious mania, you may have to suffer financially, but it makes no difference. That is repentance."It becomes an ongoing way of life. The active continuous attitude of repentance produces the poverty of spirit, the mourning, the meekness that characterizes true believers in the Beatitudes of Matthew 5. Repentance produces a new way of life. What are the fruits of repentance? Simply righteous deeds, holy deeds, godly deeds, transformed life. Luke 3 says: "Let the man who has two tunics share with him who has none, let him who has food do likewise. Be content with what your wages are."What one action will you take this week to "produce fruit in keeping with your repentance"?




You want to know where true repentance shows up? In the character of your daily living. Do you make sure you don't take anything from anyone that you don't deserve? You don't force people. You don't accuse people falsely.