Repentance

  • Restoration Fulfilled?

    2 Chronicles 36:22-23

    Even though the citizens of Judah returned to the Promised Land beginning around 538 BC, the restoration did not take place as God had foretold — on account of impenitence. Hundreds of years after the return, He sent His one and ...Read More

  • Running Away from God

    Jonah 1:3–16

    We might be tempted to look down on Jonah for fleeing to Tarshish. However, when we remember how many times we ignore God’s call, we realize that we are no better than the prophet. When Jesus commands us to ...Read More

  • Sin That Leads to Death

    1 John 5:16–17

    While we may struggle to understand what the sin leading to death is, this verse encourages us to pray for one another. And even though John does not suggest praying for the person who has committed the sin leading to ...Read More

  • Tender Mercies

    Psalm 51:1–3

    If you have asked the Lord to have mercy on you in Christ and forgive you of your sin, then He has washed you clean (1 John 1:8–9). Moreover, we must imitate God (Eph. 5:1) and be ...Read More

  • Testifying of God’s Mercy

    Psalm 51

    Read John 4:1–42. What did the woman do when she heard that Jesus was the Messiah? What was the result of her testimony? Do you feel compelled to tell others of the mercy of Christ? Think through your ...Read More

  • The Church is Holy

    1 Corinthians 1:2

    Through the blood of Christ, God sees His church as holy, although He is by no means ignorant of the sin that persists in our lives. Yet this declaration of holiness gives us confidence that we can make real progress ...Read More

  • The Deception of Empty Words

    Ephesians 5:6

    There are men and women struggling with sexual sin in all of our congregations. They want to please God and are seeking to mortify the flesh, and we should do all that we can to help them. This means creating ...Read More

  • The Fruit of Repentance

    Matthew 3:7–10

    One of the more neglected tools that can help us grow in our holiness is the confession of sins one to another (James 5:16). It can be difficult to admit to other people that we have sinned, but loving ...Read More

  • The Joy of Forgiveness

    Psalm 32

    We can stand in right relationship to God only if the perfect obedience of Christ is put on our record. If this has happened, the Lord no longer counts sin against us. At the conclusion of our study of repentance ...Read More

  • The Nature of Discipline

    Isaiah 27:7-13

    The passage for today tells us that discipline caused the Jews to repent of building altars to idols and to return to Mount Zion, where they were to worship the Lord. The purpose of discipline is to expose sin, to ...Read More

  • The Need for Repentance

    Matthew 7:21–23

    Repentance does not eliminate the struggle with sin and make us perfect immediately. But it does result in a marked change of thoughts, words, and deeds whereby we do not love our former lusts as we once did. If we ...Read More

  • The Repentant Heart

    James 4:1–17

    When was the last time you spent a day or part of a day in prayer and fasting, reading the psalms, going deep inside yourself before God and crying out to Him? We all need this from time to time ...Read More

  • The Revelation

    Genesis 45

    We often long for things to be “just as they were before [fill in the blank] happened” in our relationships with other people. If we are the main offending party, however, we cannot realistically expect this to happen if our ...Read More

  • The Seriousness of Sin

    Joshua 7

    By our obedience to God’s commands we can by no means earn our place in His kingdom. Nevertheless, that does not mean that our faithfulness to His law is unimportant. As those converted by His Spirit through the preaching ...Read More

  • The Sin of David

    2 Samuel 11:1–12:23

    God mercifully forgave David when he acknowledged his sin, but this does not mean his transgression had no consequences. David also worshiped the Lord even after these consequences were brought to pass (2 Sam. 12:15b–23), showing that He ...Read More