Why Repentance Is so Important

By Vinny Smith

Why Repentance is so Important will walk you scripture by scripture and illustrate that repentance is a condition that must be met before: your sins will be forgiven; you will receive Gods blessings/promises; God will hear your prayers; and you will be delivered. Conversely, you will see that a failure to repent causes many people to suffer. As you read this book, you must keep in your remembrance that you must not say you repent just because you want God to forgive you, hear your prayers, bless you, or so you wont have to suffer; this is not true repentance. You should not be looking to get something in return. True repentance means you think differently. You think differently because you want to be in right-standing with God because you love Him, because you want to commune with Him, and because you want to carry out His plan for your life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Mar 9, 2011
• ISBN: 9781450298438

Vinny Smith

Vinny Smith is Pastor of Believers In Faith House of Prayer in Durham, NC. Vinny has been working in the ministry since 1994. He has been teaching both youth and adult scripture study since 1998. He loves to search and meditate on the scriptures for his personal growth and to be able to impart spiritual knowledge to others. In addition to being an ordained minister, Vinny has a BS from the United States Naval Academy, a MS in Management, and a PhD in Business Management. Vinny has been blessed with a beautiful wife Tonda, and two awesome children Moriah Faith and Caleb Vincent.

Book preview

Chapter 1:

God’s forgiveness comes after a person repents

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1. 1 Kings 8:33-34 33 When thy people Israel be smitten down before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee, and shall turn again unto thee, and confess thy name, and pray, and make supplication unto thee in this house: 34 Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest unto their fathers.

As we begin, there is a crucial fact that we must all understand: asking God for forgiveness is NOT the same thing as repenting. Remember, repentance in the Hebrew means to turn back (hence, away) and in the Greek it means to think differently. If we ask God for forgiveness and we have not repented, He will not forgive us. In 1 Kings 8:33-34 we see the people of Israel were smitten (to push) down before their enemy because they sinned against God. Now the people were told when this happens and they turn again unto God, confess His name, pray, and make supplication unto Him, THEN He will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and bring them back to the land He gave their fathers. Nowhere in this scripture does it tell the Israelites to ask for forgiveness. Receiving God’s forgiveness is conditional upon our repentance; if we do not repent, we will not be forgiven. When we repent of wrongdoing, we come in alignment with God.

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2. 1 Kings 8:35-36 35 When heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou afflictest them: 36 Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, that thou teach them the good way wherein they should walk, and give rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance.

In this passage of scripture we see again that Israel was suffering because they sinned against God. Once again, if (conditional) they will pray, confess God’s name, and turn from their sins, then He will hear from heaven, forgive their sins, and in this case bring much needed rain upon the land. It so vital for us to understand today: If we want our sins to be forgiven, we must repent. It will not do us any good to believe we can just ask for forgiveness alone and God will do it. In Matthew 22:29, Jesus told the Sadducees, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. In order for us not to err, we must learn the scriptures. We will learn the scriptures by being diligent in studying God’s word daily. 2 Timothy 2:15 instructs us to study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

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3. 1 Kings 8:44-52 44 If thy people go out to battle against their enemy, whithersoever thou shalt send them, and shall pray unto the Lord toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house that I have built for thy name: 45 Then hear thou in heaven their prayer and supplication, and maintain their cause. 46 If they sin against thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captives unto the land of the enemy, far or near; 47 Yet if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they were carried captives, and repent, and make supplication unto thee in the land of them that carried them captives, saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness; 48 And so return unto thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies, which led them away captive, and pray unto thee toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name: 49 Then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven thy dwellingplace, and maintain their cause, 50 And forgive thy people that have sinned against thee, and all their transgressions wherein they have transgressed against thee, and give them compassion before them who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them: 51 For they be thy people, and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron: 52 That thine eyes may be open unto the supplication of thy servant, and unto the supplication of thy people Israel, to hearken unto them in all that they call for unto thee.

In this passage of scripture we see the Israelites were God’s people, His inheritance which He brought out of the land of Egypt (v51). Even so, if they sinned (for there is no man that does not sin) and God delivered them as captives into the hands of their enemies (v46), the only way for their sins to be forgiven is if they would repent/return with all their heart, and all their soul, and make supplication unto Him (v47, 48). Today, on a whole, the people of the United States believe we are God’s people because we claim to be a Christian nation. Even if this was truly a Christian nation, then the above passage of scripture shows us what we need to do as God’s people when we sin: we must repent with all of our heart and soul, and make supplication unto Him. If we don’t, our sins will not be forgiven and we will pay the price just as we are paying the price for it right now. This will be explained in more detail later in our passage from 2 Chronicles 7:12-14.

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4. 2 Chronicles 6:24-27 24 And if thy people Israel be put to the worse before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee; and shall return and confess thy name, and pray and make supplication before thee in the house; 25 Then hear thou from heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest to them and to the fathers. 26 When the heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; yet if they pray toward this, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou dost afflict them; 27 Then hear from heaven, and forgive the sins of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, when thou hast taught them the good way, wherein they should walk; and send rain upon thy land, which thou hast given unto thy people for an inheritance.

Here we see that Israel sinned against God, but if they would turn from their sin and return to Him, confess His name, pray, and make supplication before Him, then He will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, bring them into the land He gave their fathers, and send rain upon the land. Again, God’s forgiveness of sin is conditional. We must repent.

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5. 2 Chronicles 7:12-14 12 And the Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him, I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for an house of sacrifice. 13 If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or