The Bible invites us to repent. Today we are told that God now commands all men (and women) to repent, wherever they are. Repentance is a process that leads to a relationship with the divine.
Acts 3:19: Repent therefore and be converted, so that your sins may be blotted out, and that times of refreshment may come from the presence of the Lord.
Repentance ("halfnoia" in Greek) leads to metamorphosis. The larva's decision to build a chrysalis leads to the butterfly's miraculous new creation. For people it is the same: the miraculous outcome of repentance is to become a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17).
Steps
Step 1. Listen to the preachers:
the first recorded words of John the Baptist (Matthew 3: 2) were: "From that time Jesus began to preach and say: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near!" (Matthew 4:17, Mark 1:15) and was reiterated by Peter after Pentecost (Acts 2:38).
Step 2. Find the meaning:
repenting in the New Testament always involves changing your mind, and never feeling merely sorry, which is a modern non-biblical meaning.
Step 3. Change:
repenting is about abandoning the old towards the new. If anyone wants to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me (Matthew 16:24).
Step 4. Repenting Leads to Belief:
Jesus said "Get converted and believe in the Gospel" (Mark 1:15).
Step 5. Recognize your shortcomings:
whether you are young or old and whether you have been a "good" or a "bad" person, acknowledge the impossibility of equating yourself with the Glory of God. Like Job (in the Old Testament) we have lost our way and must recognize our shortcomings. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).
Step 6. Divine punishment:
punishment can lead to repentance (deciding to do things as God wills) or disappointment (Corinthians 7:10): For, God-given sadness produces repentance that leads to salvation, and of which there is never any repentance; but the sadness of the world produces death. Divine punishment leads to repentance.
Step 7. Be humble:
repenting will also include admitting to being wrong about what concerns God: God resists the proud and gives grace to the humble (James 4: 6).
Step 8. Don't be passive:
You will invoke me, you will come to pray to me and I will hear you. You will seek me and you will find me, because you will seek me with all your heart (Jeremiah 29: 12-13).
Step 9. Expect a reward:
Now without faith it is impossible to please him, because whoever approaches God must believe that he is, and that he is the rewarder of those who seek him (Hebrews 11: 6).
Step 10. Prepare for Baptism:
baptism is an outward sign of a person's preparation to hear the word of God and carry it out. Therefore, those who received his word gladly were baptized (Acts 2:41). And all the people who heard it, and also the tax collectors, did justice to God, by being baptized with the baptism of John; but the Pharisees and the doctors of the law have made the counsel of God vain for themselves, by not being baptized by him (Luke 7: 29-30).
Step 11. Ask and Search and Knock:
it is God's will. As we repent to what Jesus wants and do as he says, especially by caring to receive the Holy Spirit. I also say to you: Ask, and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For whoever asks receives, whoever seeks finds, and it will be open to whoever knocks. And who is that father among you who, if his son asks him for bread, gives him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, does he give him a snake instead? Or even if he asks for an egg, does he give him a scorpion? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! (Luke 11: 9-13).
Step 12. Keep following Jesus:
once your repentance is accepted by God, keep humble and follow Jesus (Peter 4:11).
Advice
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Walk in love - telling others that "There is only one mediator for us, Our Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, who is the Father and Savior of whoever believes, repents and follows him, and receives the Holy Spirit".
"Follow Jesus Christ", through Christian assemblies with people of the same faith, be baptized, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, as a sign of acceptance of your new life in the name of Jesus, pray to God, go d agreement, read the Bible and show God's love with kindness, forgiveness, peace, have a loving relationship with believers.
- In Romans 10: 9 it says: "You confess the Lord Jesus with your mouth." Here "confess" means to say the same thing or agree. You are repenting the moment you put your ideas aside and agree with Jesus' word.
- Repenting before God is not a one-way experience. When repentance is genuine, you can expect God to respond in wonderful ways.
- Even if you aren't sure about God, you can still ask for his help. He says he wants everyone to repent and is able to help. Call on me and I will answer you, and tell you great and impenetrable things that you do not know (Jeremiah 33: 3).
- You don't have to understand everything about the Bible, you just have to want to change and let God change you.
- Don't give up before you get the Bible's answer through the Holy Spirit, then you will know that God has accepted your repentance (Acts 11: 15-18).
- Believing in the Gospel of Christ or the Good News means believing in the power that God has to miraculously transform your life (Romans 1:16, Acts 1: 8, Corinthians 2: 5).
- Humility is the key. Accepting that you don't know everything but that God is omniscient is a good start.
- Religious ideas and the Bible don't always get along, so try to forget your old religious ideas.
Warnings
- Not everyone who claims to be a Christian has repented, so believe in God, not people (Jeremiah 17: 5).
- If you believe that you have repented but do not need to be baptized with the Holy Spirit, it is not true repentance, it is against God's plan (John 3: 5, 6:63, Romans 8: 2, 8: 9, Corinthians 3: 6, Titus 3: 5).
- Repentance is not optional. Jesus said, "No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish" (Luke 13: 3).
