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Understanding Repentance

By Kenneth Etulle

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Kenneth Etulle

First Published: 2016/03/12

Repentance is essentially choosing to give control of your life over to God. It is deciding to turn away from sin, in return for a loving, intimate, eternal relationship with Him. 
To grow your understanding of repentance, pretend you are starving and haven't eaten in days. You need food and you finally manage to find a piece of bread. Then a man comes and offers you a trade. Your piece of bread for the contents of his basket. You can’t see what's in his basket, but he tells you in contains an abundance of food. 

Do you make the trade? 
The decision you make is determined by your opinion of the man making the offer. If you trust Him, if you have faith in Him, you will make the trade. 
If you lack faith in Him, you will refuse the trade. 

There is a question that faces each of us. Do you have enough faith in God enough to turn your life over to Him? Do you believe that He has your best interest in mind? Do you trust that what you will get in return will be of greater value? 

Matthew 16:25 - For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 
To enter the Kingdom of Heaven, you must repent. 
That is, hand your life over to God. Trust God enough to exchange your current life for a new one. Turn away from sin for everlasting life with Him. 

Luke 17:33 - Whoever seeks to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it. 
Ephesians 2:8-9 
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 
9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 
John 3:16 - For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 
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Almeida, Caiky Xavier. ""One Year in Mission" Project, South American Division." Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. November 27, 2021. Accessed March 05, 2024. https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=EIFW.

Almeida, Caiky Xavier. ""One Year in Mission" Project, South American Division." Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. November 27, 2021. Date of access March 05, 2024, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=EIFW.

Almeida, Caiky Xavier (2021, November 27). "One Year in Mission" Project, South American Division. Encyclopedia of Seventh-day Adventists. Retrieved March 05, 2024, https://encyclopedia.adventist.org/article?id=EIFW.