“From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matt. 4:17 ESV)

 Repentance: deep sorrow, compunction, or contrition for a past sin, wrongdoing, or the like.

God wishes for none to perish and all reach repentance

 “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9 ESV)

God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance

 “Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?” (Rom. 2:4 ESV)

 Therefore…

 “The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” (Acts 17:30-31 ESV)

 “And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38 ESV)

 “Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.” (Matt. 3:8 ESV)

 Quote:

 “We must correctly distinguish regret, remorse, and true repentance. Regret is an activity of the mind; whenever we remember what we’ve done, we ask ourselves, “Why did I do that?” Remorse includes both the heart and the mind, and we feel disgust and pain, but we don’t change our ways. But true repentance includes the mind, the heart, and the will. We change our minds about our sins and agree with what God says about them; we abhor ourselves because of what we have done; and we deliberately turn from our sin and turn to the Lord for His mercy.” - Warren Wiersbe

“So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.”  (Rom. 14:12 ESV)

 Nothing is hidden from God who sees all and we must give account 

“And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.” (Heb. 4:13 ESV)

 People will give an account for every careless word spoken

“I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” (Matt. 12:36-37 ESV)

 Therefore…

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.” (2 Cor. 5:10 NIV)

 Quote:

 “Although we have responsibilities to others, we are primarily accountable to God. It is before him that we stand, and to him that one day we must give an account. We should not therefore rate human opinion too highly, becoming depressed when criticized and elated when flattered.” – John Stott

“Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” (Phil. 3:13:14 ESV) 

Forget the sins of others

“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” (Eph. 4:32 ESV)

 “For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” (Heb. 10:12 ESV)

 Forget your old ways of sin

 “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old.” (Isa. 43:18 ESV) 

“As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.” (Psalm 103:12 ESV)

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Cor. 5:17 ESV)

“Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” (Luke 9:62 ESV)

Therefore…

“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Rom. 8:1 ESV)

“I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.” (Isa. 43:25 ESV)

Quotes:

“You build on failure. You use it as a stepping stone. Close the door on the past. You don't try to forget the mistakes, but you don't dwell on it. You don't let it have any of your energy, or any of your time, or any of your space.” - Johnny Cash

“We are products of our past, but we don't have to be prisoners of it.” -Rick Warren

“… I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day…” (1 Tim. 1:3)

Remember others and thank God for them 

“I thank my God in all my remembrance of you,” (Phil 1:3)

Remember prisoners and those who are ill-treated

“Remember the prisoners, as though in prison with them, and those who are ill-treated, since you yourselves also are in the body.” (Heb. 13:3)

Remember your creator in the days of your youth

“Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near of which you will say, “I have no pleasure in them…” (Eccles. 12:1 ESV)

Remember the words of the Lord Jesus

“In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” (Acts 20:35 ESV)

Remember your Christian leaders

“Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith.” (Heb. 13:7)

Remember the poor

“They only asked us to remember the poor—the very thing I also was eager to do.” (Gal. 2:10)

Remember Jesus with communion 

“And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” (Luke 22:19 ESV)

“In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” (1 Cor. 11:25 ESV)

Therefore…

“And you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you…” (Deut. 8:2 ESV)

“I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your wonders of old.” (Psalm. 77:11 ESV)

“I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands.” (Psalm 143:5 ESV)

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” (John 14:26 ESV)

Quotes:

“Put your mind on the gospel. And remember - there's one God for all.” - Mahalia Jackson

“Receiving, reading, researching, remembering, and reflecting on the Word of God are all useless if we fail to put what we learn into practice.” - Rick Warren

“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.” (1 Peter 2:24)

The wages of Adam’s sin brought death to all humanity 

“When Adam sinned, sin entered the world. Adam’s sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned.” (Rom. 5:12)

“For the wages of sin is death…”

Humanity was infected with sin

Because of Adams sin in the garden (Gen. 3:3), all humanity was infected thereafter with a sin nature that they cannot personally do anything about. No matter what they do, they will always fall short!

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Rom. 3:23a)

Jesus died on the cross to pay for Adam’s sin and He made it a free gift 

“… but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom. 6:23b) 

Jesus’ death on the cross was voluntary

“The Father loves me because I sacrifice my life so I may take it back again. No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded.” (John 10:17-18 NLT) 

“How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” (Heb. 9:14 ESV)

“And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12 ESV)

Jesus death on the cross was God’s free love gift of salvation to the world

“That whoever believes in him may have eternal life. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:15-16 ESV)

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Eph. 2:8-9 ESV)

“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom. 5:8 ESV)

Therefore…

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Gal. 2:10 ESV)

“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor. 5:21 ESV)

Quote:

“The purpose of the Bible is simply to proclaim God’s plan to save His children. It asserts that man is lost and needs to be saved. And it communicates the message that Jesus is the God in the flesh sent to save His children.” - Max Lucado

“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.” (Eph. 4:31 ESV

In your anger, do not sin

Everyone becomes angry now and then, and that’s okay, because all anger isn’t bad. For instance, Jesus became angry with the money lenders at the temple. But anger should never be allowed to grow out of control. Otherwise, it may evolve into something much worse, cause you to sin and even become destructive in your behavior. The Bible says “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry.” (Eph. 4:26 ESV). The passage at top warns of 6 things to put away from you: Bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, slander, and malice. When you define them, you can see clearly why you should always be on guard against them. 

Bitterness: Sharp, or acrid, in either a literal or figurative sense; implacableness; resentfulness; severity; keenness of reproach or sarcasm; deep distress, grief, or vexation of mind. A state of extreme impiety or enmity to God.

Wrath: Strong vengeful, or fierce anger; deeply resentful indignation; ire. 

Anger: A strong feeling of displeasure and belligerence aroused by a wrong. 

Clamor: Vehement expression of discontent or protest; to make a loud sustained noise or outcry.

Slander: Oral communication of false and malicious statements that damage the reputation of another.

Malice: A desire to harm others or to see others suffer; extreme ill will or spite. 

Watch out! Bitterness can make you captive to sin

“For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin."” (Acts 8:23 NIV)

Don’t allow a root of bitterness to spring up

“Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled.” (Heb. 12:14-15 ESV)

Don’t jump to anger

“Be not quick in your spirit to become angry, for anger lodges in the bosom of fools.” (Eccles. 7:9 ESV)

Be quick to listen and slow to anger

“Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.” (James 1:19-20 ESV)

Therefore…

“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” (Eph. 4:32 ESV)

Quotes:

“Do not say, "I cannot help having a bad temper." Friend, you must help it. Pray to God to help you overcome it at once, for either you must kill it, or it will kill you. You cannot carry a bad temper into heaven.”  - Charles Spurgeon

“To be angry about trifles is mean and childish; to rage and be furious is brutish; and to maintain perpetual wrath is akin to the practice and temper of devils; but to prevent and suppress rising resentment is wise and glorious, is manly and divine.” - Isaac Watts

“Bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.” (Col. 3:13 ESV)

Forgiving others always

Forgiveness is a very serious subject and the Bible has a lot to say about it. Christians must forgive others as Christ has forgiven us. We must even forgive others sacrificially, if it becomes necessary. We see an example of this when Stephen asked God to forgive those who were stoning him to death. (Acts 7:54-60). 

Warnings about not forgiving others

• God won’t forgive you - “… if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” (Matt. 6:14-15)

• Sickness, weakness or death - Don’t take communion without first forgiving others. “Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died.” (1 Cor. 11:28-29 ESV)

• Stirred up trouble –“Hatred stirs up trouble, but love forgives all wrongs.” (Prov. 10:12) 

Keep on forgiving

“Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.” (Matt. 18:21 ESV)

Jesus taught to pray this way…

“And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” (Matt. 6:12-15 ESV)

Therefore…

“For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you…” (Matt. 6:14 ESV)

“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” (Eph. 4:2 ESV)

Quote:

“I can forgive, but I cannot forget, is only another way of saying, I will not forgive. Forgiveness ought to be like a cancelled note - torn in two, and burned up, so that it never can be shown against one.” - Henry Ward Beecher

“But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and strife and disputes about the Law, for they are unprofitable and worthless.” (Titus 3:9)

Avoid foolish arguments and strife

In the early church, religious people found many things to disagree on and to argue about. Two examples mentioned above were hot issues of that day, genealogies and the Law. The passage warned to avoid arguing about such foolish things, proclaiming them to be “unprofitable and worthless”. Not much has changed over the following centuries! Today, people still argue over many unprofitable and foolish controversies. Christians should never partake in vitriol matters, yet they do! Social media is aflame with it! The Bible has many warnings on the subject to be taken seriously. 

Be on guard!

“O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you, avoiding worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called ‘knowledge’.” (1 Tim. 6:20)

Refuse foolish and ignorant speculations

“But refuse foolish and ignorant speculations, knowing that they produce quarrels.” (2 Tim. 2:23)

Turn away from those who cause dissensions 

“Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them.” (Rom. 16:17)

Avoid worldly empty chatter

“But avoid worldly and empty chatter, for it will lead to further ungodliness,” (2 Tim. 2:16)

Therefore…

“But flee from these things, you man of God, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance and gentleness.” (1 Tim. 6:11)

“Avoiding strife brings a man honor, but every fool is quarrelsome.” (Prov. 29:3)

Quote:

“Blessed are the peacemakers, and one sure way of peacemaking is to let the fire of contention alone. Neither fan it, nor stir it, nor add fuel to it, but let it go out by itself. Begin your ministry with one blind eye and one deaf ear.” - Charles Spurgeon

“Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.” (1 Peter 2:2-3 NIV)

Grow in faith from start to finish

Some people get stuck in their faith. They reach a plateau and just remain there. That shouldn’t be so! The Christian life should be one of steady growth forward and upward and continue to mature and expand from start to finish as it becomes more perfected in Jesus. This is an ongoing process and not completed until the day we meet Jesus. 

“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” (Phil. 1:6 ESV)

To grow in your faith…

• Read and listen to the Word of God - “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17, NKJV)) 

• Be a doer of the Word - “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” (James 1:22 ESV)

• Have faith: Believe that God exists and rewards - “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” (Heb. 11:6 ESV)

• Constantly train and practice - “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.” (Heb. 5:12-14 ESV)

• Be rooted and grounded in love - So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” (Eph. 3:17-19 ESV)

Therefore…

“Therefore let us leave the elementary doctrine of Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God,” (Heb. 6:1 ESV)

“We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers, as is right, because your faith is growing abundantly, and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing.” (2 Thess. 1:3 ESV)

“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.” (2 Peter 3:18 ESV)

Quote:

“The greatest legacy one can pass on to one's children and grandchildren is not money or other material things accumulated in one's life, but rather a legacy of character and faith.” - Billy Graham