Repentance, even if it is heart-felt and honest, is meaningless in and of itself.  For repentance following a sin to be of any value in the life of the penitent sinner, a commitment to the eradication of any future commission of the sin must be carried out.  This is true of any and all sins of the “old man” who must die in order for a salvation seeker to ever be converted.  By eliminating all sinful thoughts, words and deeds, the “old man” will die of spiritual “starvation.”  Sin feeds him; holiness kills him.  “Old things (thoughts, words and deeds) must pass away, behold, all things must be made new” (2 Col. 5:17).  We must: “do away with the former life of the old man” (Eph. 4:22).  The old man was “crucified with Christ” (Rom. 6:6).  Paul, writing to the Colossian church, said: “you HAVE put off (done away with) the things (thoughts, words and deeds) of the old man.”

Removal of sin from one’s life is not an option for one seeking salvation, IT IS COMMANDED.  If the eradication of sin is not possible, why does God command it?  How could some members of the Colossian church have accomplished the impossible?  And why did He say that sin was crucified with Christ (Rom.6:6)”  Crucifixion means death.  If sin was put to death on the cross, how can it still live in the saint?  It can’t.  But it does live in, and dominates, the life of the false repenter, otherwise known as a “SINNER SAVED BY GRACE.”  Note what God said through Paul in Hebrews 6:6.  When a professing Christian continues to sin he “CRUCIFIES CHRIST AFRESH” (AGAIN) WITH EACH SIN.  This is the premier characteristic of the counterfeit Christian whom Satan has deceived into believing that he (the fake Christian) is saved, sealed, sanctified and born again.  Many of these people preach his perverted gospel and lead the masses in their service to and worship of the master perverter.

Instead of killing Christ repeatedly by living in the sin-repent cycle that is so popular in church circles, one must affect a lifestyle that is completely opposite of his former walk: “Be renewed in the spirit of your mind.  Put on the new man who, having been CREATED IN THE (MORAL) IMAGE OF GOD, has been made righteous and holy” by the removal of all past sins at the time of his justification (Eph. 4:23,24).  The truly repentant God seeker must not merely change directions, he must live a life that is totally reversed from his former life.  Paul tells us that, following justification, liars must speak truth (Eph. 4:25); thieves must work with their hands (vs 28); corrupt speech must be replaced by good speech (vs 29).  Vile thoughts must be replaced with good thoughts, etc.  This total and permanent reversal of life is called CONVERSION. 

At this point I will point out a bit of “fine print” concerning the conversion-salvation-ministry confusion that has gone unnoticed for some 1900 years within church circles.  In the series titled All That Glitters (key word–Glitters) I point out that the disciples were preaching the gospel, healing the sick and casting out devils BEFORE THEY WERE CONVERTED.  They were operating on the power of God while they were still in the “old man” mode of life (Mat. 10:8).  After being sent out to preach and perform miracles, they returned, proclaiming that “… even the devils are subject to us” (Lk. 10:17).  Recall that Judas was a thief (Jn. 12:6) and Peter was used by Satan to rebuke Jesus Himself (Lk. 4:8).  Note also what Jesus said to Peter just prior to His death: “…. when (in the future) you become converted, help your brethren (to be converted)–Lk. 22:32.  Until the Day of Pentecost several weeks later, the disciples–all 120 of them–remained unconverted.  For this reason Jesus told them to go to Jerusalem and wait for God to fulfill “the promise” that He would send the Holy Spirit.  Without the Spirit’s power working from within them they could not resist Satan’s temptations (Acts 1:4,8).  They were converted upon receiving the Holy Spirit.

Do not be taken in by the glitz and glitter of what passes for Christianity.  Do not fall for what the smiling miracle worker tells you.  Don’t be impressed with the world-wide television ministries, enormous crowds, mass “conversions” and the signs, wonders and miracles being performed before your very eyes.  Remember that Judas, Peter and the rest of the disciples preached and performed unbelievable miracles before being justified and converted.  As the Lord tells us in Deuteronomy 13:1-5–GOD IS TESTING YOU TO SEE IF YOU WILL FOLLOW HIS WORD OR FOLLOW THE MIRACLE WORKER.  I was once such a miracle worker.  I thank God that He knew my heart and snatched me out of Satan’s grasp.  To Him goes all the credit.

To CONVERT means to change directions.  True conversion has two components: turning around and walking.  THEY ARE NOT THE SAME, NOR DOES WALKING AUTOMATICALLY FOLLOW TURNING AROUND.  Usually it does not.  Following justification (removal of all PAST sins) one is at that time pure, sinless, righteous and holy.  This is where the NOW WHAT aspect of the Christian walk begins.  Justification enables the former sinner to do a spiritual “about face” which has him facing the opposite direction from the direction faced earlier.  We walk in the direction we are facing.  Prior to conversion we were facing Satan and walking his path (Mat. 7:13,14).  TRUE CONVERSION has us facing God.  Step one (an “about face”) has been completed.  Now comes step two, which only a tiny few salvation seekers are aware that it exists.  And some of those who know about it do not believe it.  And some of those who believe do not take that second step.  As Jesus said, only a “few” believers will do what is necessary to be saved. 

Here is where 99.99% of salvation seekers (myself included) head down the wrong spiritual path.  Instead of walking toward God on His path, seekers walk the path laid out by Satan which leads them into one of his counterfeit (Catholic/Protestant) churches where they are told each sun god day that they are on the glory road to paradise.  That other path, false prophets tell them, is impossible to traverse.  But not to worry, Jesus has walked it for them.  They can continue to walk Satan’s sin-and-win path with impunity.  All they need to do is REPENT, AND REPENT, AND REPENT, AND REPENT repeatedly until death, at which time Jesus will snatch them up to heaven.  Convenient, but totally unscriptural.  L.J.