Mark 1:15 And saying, The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God has drawn near. Repent and believe in the gospel. Acts 5:31 This One God has exalted to His right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.
As used in Mark 1:15, the word "repent" literally means to think differently afterward, that is, to have a change of mind. To repent before God is, on the negative side, to repent not only of sins and wrongdoings, but also to repent of the world and its corruption that usurp and corrupt people whom God made for Himself, and to repent of our God-forsaking life in the past. On the positive side, to repent is to turn to God in every way and in everything for fulfilling His purpose in making mankind. This is a "repentance unto God"; it is to "repent and turn to God" (Acts 20:21; 26:20). In His preaching the Lord told people to repent and believe in the gospel. To repent is mainly in the mind; to believe is mainly in the heart (Rom. 10:9). To believe in something is to believe into the thing which we believe. It is also to receive the things which we believe into us. To believe in the gospel is mainly to believe in the Slave-Savior (Acts 16:31), and to believe in Him is to believe into Him (John 3:15-16) and receive Him into us (John 1:12), so that we may be organically united with Him. Such a faith in Christ is given to us by God (Eph. 2:8) through our hearing the word of the truth of the gospel (Rom. 10:17). This faith brings us into all the blessings of the gospel (Gal. 3:14). Hence, it is precious to us (2 Pet. 1:1). Such precious faith requires repentance to precede it. To believe is to receive the Slave-Savior not only for forgiveness of sins (Acts 10:43) but also for regeneration (1 Pet. 1:21, 23), that those who believe may become the children of God (John 1:12-13) and the members of Christ (Eph. 5:30) in an organic union with the Triune God (Matt. 28:19). (c) Living Stream Ministry.
Bible verses are taken from the Recovery Version of the Bible and Words of Ministry from Witness Lee, Life-study of Mark, pp. 49. Both are published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA. Please visit us at www.emanna.com. Send comments to: [email protected].
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