Siamese Twins
It is a freak of nature. Twin babies born, joined together. One
cannot live with out the other. Repentance and faith are like that.
They are spiritual Siamese twins. Repentance is turning away from
our sinful ways. While faith is turning to Christ.
The turning away from sin is repentance. The
turning to Christ is faith. Repentance leaves sin.
Faith embraces the free offer of salvation by Christ. They are like
two sides of a coin.
Repentance is not the payment for sin, rather it is the condition
to forgiveness. The payment for sin is the work of the Lord Jesus
Christ alone in Calvary and must be embraced by faith alone.
Sinners are not to rely on their repentance so
that their sins may be forgiven, rather they are to rely on the
saving work of Jesus Christ alone for the forgiveness of sins
The fountain of forgiveness, the fountain of salvation is free in
Calvary. For a sinner to get his stains washed and cleaned, he must
leave the dark alleys of sin and go to Calvary. The leaving is
repentance. The goint to mount Calvary is faith.
His leaving sin did not wash it away, it was when he got to Calvary
that it got washed away, it was there he got saved. As for the
heart in love with sin it is difficult to leave its pleasures and
comforts. For the heart so enamored with sin, refuses to go to
Calvary to find life eternal. To sinners who refuse to leave sin,
repentance is like a narrow gate, a way so hard and
constricted.
And many people are so in love with sin, they refuse to walk the
way of repentance instead they walk the wide and accommodating
lifestyle of sin pleasing to their flesh, just look around you.
Many indeed are not walking in the narrow way of repentance but are
walking in the wide road which leads to condemnation.
Mt 7:13 Go in through the narrow gate, for wide is the
gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many there
are who go in through it.
Mt. 7:14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which
leads to life, and there are few who find it.
But to those who sorrow and leave the comforts and pleasures of
sin, those who truly walk away from it and start for Calvary will
truly get there and find forgiveness and salvation offered free in
Calvary.
2Co 7:10 For godly sorrow produces repentance
leading to salvation,
..
Again, repentance is the tuning away from sin. Faith is the
embracing of the salvation offered by the Savior in Calvary.
Because where else can one find salvation except in the Savior
alone. Thats why He is called the Savior.
So what must a sinner do?
Repent and believe
[trust/rely] in the gospel [the good news of salvation in Christ
Jesus] Mr 1:15
