BoldGrace

Believe, and Repent

Talking to a friend the other day, he said to me, "I want to love people like Jesus loved people."

I said, "no you don’t."

He said, "why do you say that?"

I said, "because I know you, and I know you aren’t willing to lay down your life for your friends. That is the ultimate act of love - especially when you think that Jesus did it for no other reason than love. He wasn’t saving a drowning victim of a shipwreck, He wasn’t saving a child standing on the tracks of a speeding train… He did it to save all of Creation. That is a love that none of us can ever measure up to. But it doesn’t matter. He knows we can’t measure up to His mission, yet He demonstrated His love us in the most remarkable way. He was willing to give up His life for His friends (all of Creation), even in the midst of their failures."

We chatted about the idea some more, and he said, "knowing that Jesus’ love was that great opens my heart to love others more. It’s not about loving like He loved, but awakening to the depths of His love for us. Just thinking about it is changing me."

I said, "there you go. Love isn’t something we have to do because we want to be like Jesus. But it is what we do when we understand the heart of Jesus. If we truly know what happened those 2000 years ago, our hearts will melt, and our minds will change."

That’s what repentance (the changing of our minds) is all about. It’s not something we do to be found acceptable, or to feel like we’re somehow complying to an unimaginable requirement, it’s something that happens when we realize the enormity of Christ’s love for us. If we believe Christ’s love is that great, our minds will change. Maybe the writers of the NT should not have said, "repent and believe", but "believe and repent"… if you believe the Gospel, your mind will repent (change) about the way you think about life, love, and unity.

If you believe it, nothing else will matter. If you don’t, nothing else will make any difference. Repent all you want, it won’t change you a bit. It is only a work of desperation to find salvation… a work of your own. And nothing you do will change anything. Repenting won’t bring "belief", but believing will bring repentance. If you believe that the work of the Cross of Christ was the final revelation of God to prove His heart of peace toward His creation, your heart will be filled with His love, and your mind will see the completeness of His work, and will be saved.

All glory to the Creator, who has made peace with us through the Work of His Cross!