καὶ λέγων ὅτι Πεπλήρωται ὁ καιρὸς καὶ ἤγγικεν ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ μετανοεῖτε καὶ πιστεύετε ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ

“The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the gospel!” – Mark 1:15

Jesus Christ said these words to all the listeners first in the region of Galilee. Most of them were going to be alive when human history was going to see a new race of man being created.

Prior the the resurrection of Christ, there were only 2 races that God recognized. Jews and Gentiles. There was going to be a third. Members of the Body of Christ! Whenever someone believed in Jesus as their savior, and got baptized they became a member of this new race. That instant. Not after bible study. Not after the Lord’s supper. But the moment they believed in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

With the preaching of Jesus, the kingdom of God began to be established on earth like it is in heaven. This life is not a dress rehearsal for the “next life”. This is the life that counts! If this life wasn’t so important, why did he preach for 3 years and tell us how to live? Because of this, he told us to repent.

The Greek word  μετανοεῖτε (metanoéite)  means a complete reversal of one’s attitude and values, basically change your mind about your sinful behavior and your allegiance to the kingdom of this world, because we are no longer citizens of the earth. So what happens in your country should have NO bearing on what you do. I’ll even go so far as to say that whatever your country, province or city does, you should have NO part in! Do you REALLY believe that Jesus cared one iota about what happened in Rome? Neither did any of the apostles or the first century Christians either.

Do you think he cared if workers had rights? (A free man never worked for someone else. Only slaves worked for someone else.) He ultimately cared for your soul. It’s true he wants you to be blessed, but if a nation does not obey Jesus, it gets what it deserves.  Sometimes believers get caught in the mess, because people are given free will, and they are free to do evil as well as good.

NOBODY is compelled to do anything. Somebody does drugs by choice. Drugs were never forced upon them. Now, it may be hard to stop drugs without the grace of Jesus, but once we know how much he LOVES us, and the sacrifice he paid, we sin no more! Is it hard to stop looking at pornography? It’s not as hard as the suffering Jesus went through for you.

John chapter 8 tells the prostitute whose sins he forgave to “go and sin no more” Remember, Mary Magdalene heard the words of Christ probably right before he said this to her. So, being SO thankful that Jesus forgave her, why would she go back out and sin AGAIN?

For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good works he planned for us to do. — Ephesians 2:10

For a woman in the first century, if she was once a prostitute, and she no longer was in the business, she was probably going to die penniless. But if she became a follower of Jesus, and joined the community of fellow believers, she would have been supported for the rest of her life by her fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. And everyone who has given up houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or property, for my sake, will receive a hundred times as much in return and will inherit eternal life. — Matthew 19:29

Repentance doesn’t only mean to completely turn away from your previous life, it also means to feel remorse for your evil deeds, knowing that we are now a member of the body of Christ — literally. In Acts 9:4  Jesus said to Paul, “why are you persecuting ME?“. Notice He didn’t say “Why are you persecuting my church?”. Christians literally are all part of the body of Christ on the earth. He does not see any difference between himself and the church. Is that amazing or what??

So, if we truly believe Jesus Christ said what he said, and believe it, and now pledge our allegiance to HIM, we are that  new creation!

So then, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old life has passed away – the new life has come! ^{— 2 Corinthians 5:17}

Thoughts?

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