Repent and Believe the Gospel

Okay, welcome to part two, the kingdom of God Bible Seminars. Part two, repent and believe the gospel. Once again, we see Mark chapter 1 verses 14 and 15. Jesus came to Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God and saying, the time is fulfilled. This fulfill means that at a specific point in time, one place in the scripture tells us that Jesus Christ was foreordained before the foundation of the world to be our Savior. So at a specific point in time, the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. And that hand means it is near. In Jesus Christ, the chief representative, ambassador of the kingdom, was there in person proclaiming the gospel and saying, repent and believe the gospel. So at a specific point in time, God has sent his son into the world to save the world from sin and death. In 1 Peter chapter 1 verses 18 through 20, for as much as you know that you were not redeemed, and remember the word redeem means bought back. And why do you need to be redeemed? Because the wages of sin is death, and the death penalty, as we shall see, is on our heads because we have all sinned, as it says in Romans 3, 23, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. Therefore, every person who has ever lived or ever will live will sin at some point and has sinned those who have lived and will be in need of, or they are in need of, at present a redeemer.

For as much as you know that you were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold, in some cases you can be redeemed or someone can go pay the penalty for you. If you get a speeding ticket and they say the fine is $150 and somebody pays the penalty, you are redeemed from that, bought back. But this is much different. You're not bought back with silver and gold from your vain conduct received by tradition from your fathers but with the precious blood of Christ. It was the life of Jesus Christ that bought us back, as a lamb without blemish, without spot, who verily was foreordained. This word foreordained in the Greek is progonosco, and it means that to know beforehand that God and the Word, the One who became Jesus Christ, planned out this great plan of salvation before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, as we have read from Mark 1, verses 14-15, at a certain time when the time was fulfilled. So what about the kingdom of God? How do you enter into the kingdom of God? Jesus said, repent and believe the gospel, as we shall see here. To enter the kingdom of God, participation in the kingdom of God is not a passive affair. You have to be active. So what must I do to be in the kingdom of God? We see a fellow here holding a book who seems to be quite perplexed. So what do you do? What must you do to be in the kingdom of God? The apostle Peter was asked this question, this very question, on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was sent to the Church of God. The Holy Spirit was sent to the Church of God, 31 AD. So the Church of God is about 2,000 years old.

On that day, that day of Pentecost, Peter preached a great sermon, and after he had finished, the people were pricked in their heart. In other words, this conviction that I talked about earlier, a weight was laid on their hearts and minds. And after he preached, they said, therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God had made that same Jesus whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ. Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart and sent unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles. Men and brethren, what shall we do? What do we do with this knowledge? Metanoaio is the word that is used for the Greek word for repent. It literally means after knowledge, then what? What are you going to do with it? After this weight, this conviction is laid upon your heart and mind, what do you do? Peter's answer, then Peter said unto them, repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for their mission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. We mentioned in the first part, the only thing that bridges that gap, that great gulf between mortality and immortality, is the Holy Spirit. Why must we repent? The wages of sin is death. But the gift of God, the good news, the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

We see a woman here probably in some country, though we have a lot of homeless people in this country, and we see one being fed there all over this world, as we've already noted. The peoples of this world desperately need the good news. We all need the good news, and we all need to repent and believe the gospel. The practical meaning of repentance, Strong's Concordance says, to change one's mind for better, heartily to a man with abhorrence of one's past sins. So you see this lady on the left and this man on the right with his face buried in his hand, thinking about something of great gravity. So what do we repent of? We repent of sin because, as we have noted, the wages of sin is death. But we have to ask the question, what is sin? You could ask the average person I've had people knock on my door, religious people, and they want to hand me a tract or something. I say, I would like to ask you one question. What is the Bible definition of sin? I have yet had anyone to be able to answer that question. But the Bible is very clear. Here is the Bible definition of sin.

Whosoever commits sin transgresses also the law, for sin is the transgression of the law. It's plain as day, as they say, in the New Testament, in John's epistle, 1 John 3, verse 4.

Repentance and obedience. In order to repent, one must stop breaking God's immutable spiritual law. Some people have difficulty that because they read about the Mosaic law, the Mosaic law was that which was observed under the terms of the Old Covenant. But the Mosaic law that had to do with washings and oblations and the sacrifice of animals, that was done away with when Jesus Christ came on the scene, and he gave his life, and he shed his blood, that we might be bought back from sin and death, as we've already noted. Another way to say this is that we must start obeying God's immutable spiritual law. One of the places that the immutable spiritual law of God has summarized the Ten Commandments, which everyone basically in the Western world has heard of the Ten Commandments. He that says, I know him and keeps not his commandments, this is reading straight out of the Bible, 1 John 2.4, he that says, I know him and keeps not his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But as we shall see, there's more to the process of having our sins forgiven than just beginning to obey. There's something in addition to that. And once again, that is the faith element. There's a faith element in things that pertain to that which is spiritual. Remember, we read in the first session Hebrews 2.6, which says, For those who would come to God must, first of all, believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him.

And we saw that it is through revelation, revelation from God, and God speaks to us through his word. So it's that revelation from God that we come to understand spiritual things. So you could repent of your sins and begin to obey God, but that does not pay for past sins.

Remember, the wages of sin is death. Everyone is sinned, and everyone has the death penalty on their head unless they have repented and turned to God and exercised faith in the sacrifice of Christ in order for the sins to be forgiven. So in order for sins to be forgiven, you have to exercise faith in the sacrifice of Christ. Romans 3, verses 24-25. Being justified freely by his grace. The word grace means divine favor. It is favor that is without merit.

In other words, we don't deserve this, but God through his grace and divine favor has made it possible through the redemption that is of buying back power that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a perpetuation. Perpetuation means he went in our stead. He went in our stead, and through faith we understand and believe that he went in our stead so that we don't have to die.

Through faith in his blood to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past. See, the only way to get rid of the sins that are past, perfect obedience or beginning to obey is necessary. But the only way to pay for sin is through the sacrifice of Christ. And after we repent and are baptized and receive the Holy Spirit, and you will still sin from time to time, you still go before God and confess your sins, and you exercise that faith in the sacrifice of Christ so that your sins can be forgiven.

God is looking for people who are always faithful. In the background there, you see what they call, oh, faithful the geyser, and this young woman walking toward it says she went in search of happiness, and she discovered love, and she discovered more than she had ever expected. Of course, this is a secular worldly scene in that sense, but those who really seek and call upon God and accept his challenge to be faithful can be faithful, and you can find that happiness if you never expected. Faith in Christ is continuing in Romans 3.

To declare, say at this time, his righteousness. In this case, it means that God has kept his word. He has said, he promised throughout the Old Testament, that he would send a Messiah, one who would pay for sin, that he might be just and the justifier of him which believes in Jesus. So justified means to pay the penalty, to balance the scales, and it's through the blood of Christ that that is done. So where is boasting then? It is excluded by what law of works.

No, as we've already mentioned, even if you obey the perfect spiritual law, it doesn't pay for the sins that are passed. Only faith in the blood of Jesus Christ will do that, blood representing his life essence. No, but by the law of faith. Therefore, we can conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.

But there is a how ever with this. See, Jesus Christ is not the minister of sin. He came to save us out of our sins, not in our sins. So we continue here, is he the God of the Jews only? Is he not also of the Gentiles, the ethnos, or the nations? Yes, of the nations also seeing it as one God which will justify the circumcision by faith, the Jews, Israel, and uncircumcision through faith. So it doesn't matter your racial or ethnic background, male or female, it's the same route.

Do we then make void the law through faith? Do we do away with the law of God as some teach through faith? God forbid! Yes, we establish the law. So how does this establish the law? We go back to the question of what is sin. Sin is a transgression of the law. We go back to how is a person redeemed. They're redeemed through faith in the sacrifice of Christ. See, if there is no law in effect, there is no sin.

And if there is no sin, then Jesus Christ died in vain. It would be a farcical tragedy for one to come, the Son of God, and to, quote, die. And basically, if you read the Scriptures, it says He died for the sins of the world. So if the immutable spiritual law was not of in effect, then the sacrifice of Christ would have been a farcical tragedy of monumental proportions. The Scriptures proclaims that He died for our sins, and sin is the transgression of the law. This logic is irrefutable if you want to depend on the Bible as your source for truth.

The basic requirements for entering the kingdom of God are briefly outlined in Hebrews chapter 6 verses 1 and 2. Seven great doctrines of Hebrews 6, as they are called. Therefore, leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works. Number one there is perfection, and it cuts across the other six. Not laying in the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, the laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.

So you see there these seven. Repentance, faith in God, the sacrifice of Christ, redeem us from sins that are passed, and when we sin at any time, baptism. That's talking about water baptism. The Bible speaks of three baptisms, water baptism that man can do. The laying on of hands, receiving the Holy Spirit, baptized in the Holy Spirit.

We'll read 1 Corinthians 12 verses 13 later. Resurrection, we're to live the resurrected life now after we come up out of the baptism of waters. And judgment is now on those who accept the truth of God. And perfection. So perfection cuts across all of these. It is a process. We start with repentance, and Paul says, let us go on to perfection, not laying again these first six.

Let's really focus on the meat of the Word and where we should go. But you have to start, here's where you start, after you've been convicted by the Word and the Spirit of God, you start with repentance, and you go through this and come to understand.

And then perfection is a process that you go on to perfection. The baptism by water and the Spirit. We mentioned water baptism. We mentioned baptism by the Holy Spirit. The Bible also speaks of baptism by fire. And of course, we don't want baptism by fire. Where it talks about the wicked will be burned up.

And the figure of speech, the metaphor here, has to do with the baptism of fire for those who are incorrigibly wicked. Whereas the body is one and hath many members, and all the members of that one body being many are one body. So also is Christ, for by one Spirit, remember we talked in the first session, we mentioned that there is one Spirit. The same Spirit that is in God is in Christ that is in us. And by the same Spirit that He raised Jesus from the dead, He will also raise and quick make alive our mortal bodies at the resurrection.

For by one Spirit we all baptized into one body. Whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free, have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

As we note here in the second part, where God the Father is the one who baptizes us with the Holy Spirit and begets us to a new life, man can baptize you in water. Before a person is baptized, the minister is going to ask the person, have you repented of your sins? And you take that person at His word, and you baptize him in water. But only God can actually place you in the body of Christ, and that is by giving you His Holy Spirit, giving you the earnest of the Spirit, the down payment on eternal life. And then upon the resurrection, we are born in the kingdom of God, the resurrection from the dead.

Now at the present time, we are counted as citizens of the kingdom, and we are children of God. But it does not yet appear what we shall be. We are still mortal. And notice what it says. Once again, this is the Bible. If we choose to believe the Bible, we either have the choice of believing the Bible or we have the choice of human reasoning. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep. The Bible likens, in the figurative sense, death to sleep. But we shall be changed when, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. And then the understanding of this verse 53 is one of the greatest understandings that you could have. Remember the great lie that Satan told Adam in the even guard of Eden, you shall not surely die? See, man, as we have read, was made from the dust of the ground. He does not have abiding in him, inherit immortal life, or eternal life, or immortality. He asked to receive that which was symbolized by the tree of life, the Holy Spirit, the very essence of God.

So Paul writes here, for this corruptible must put on in corruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. The gospel of the kingdom of God is an invitation to become part of God's ruling family at the return of Jesus Christ. It is an invitation now to train and to qualify to assist Jesus Christ as priest, and as we will see in another place, as kings and priests in the coming kingdom of God. Revelation 1 verses 5 and 6, two of the most important enlightening verses in the whole Bible. Jesus Christ, the witness, the first born from the dead. Here we see birth equated with resurrection. Much of the religious world does not understand this verse or this fact. This word first born in Greek is prototikos, and it literally means first born. The first born from the dead and the ruler over the kings of the earth, who loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, has made us a kingdom of priests to his God and Father. God is the one who raises us from the dead. This is one of the most encouraging scriptures in the Bible as well. We read Romans 8 and 17, it says that we are heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. This, in a sense, tells you how that's possible. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken or make alive your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwells in you. So the same Spirit that he raised Jesus from the dead, he will raise our bodies. We shall be glorious, radiant spirit beings, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Jesus Christ in the family and in the kingdom of God.

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. You have not received the Spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have received the Spirit of sonship. You are literally sons of God because the very essence that God has, he gives to you. Just like when you reproduce as human beings, the essence of father and mother come together to form an embryo, a fetus, and then eventually birth takes place. And so with God, he gives us the very essence of his being, his Holy Spirit. His Spirit bears witness with our spirit, as we shall see here, that we are the sons of God. And upon resurrection from the dead, we are literally born into the kingdom of God, as we read from Revelation 1 verse 5. Jesus Christ, the firstborn. Jesus Christ is a forerunner, the captain of our salvation. You've not received the Spirit of bondage again to fear, but you receive the Spirit of sonship whereby we cry, Abba, Father, the Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. And if children then heirs of God. Now what that means in everyday languages on the same plane of existence. Not yet, but at the resurrection. And joint heirs with Christ. If so be that we suffer with him that we may be also glorified together. That is, made spirit beings in the family and in the kingdom of God. So we could all ask ourselves a question this evening, this afternoon. Are you being called now? Basically, God says before you, I liken it somewhat to a tennis game, that if you have become acquainted with the Word of God and heard the Word of God, and God is opening your mind, just like in a tennis game, the server serves the ball over into your court. You can either return it or you can let it pass. You can always reject God if you want to. Sometimes he may call it whatever to your attention very forcefully, but he never takes free will away from us.

No one can come to me unless the Father who has sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. So God the Father knows each one of us intimately. The Bible says that the hairs on our head are numbered, and that not even a sparrow falls to the ground unless he's aware of it. So no matter what your status in life is, in the church, out of the church, or wherever you may be, God knows you, and he wants you and his family, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. As Peter writes in 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 8, many are called, but few are chosen. And of course, you have to make your calling and election sure. So how should you respond to God's calling? Well, as we started off, we read Mark chapter 1, verse 14-15, where it says, repent and believe the gospel. We plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain, for he says, in an acceptable time, I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you. Behold now is the accepted time. Behold now is the day of salvation. Walk worthy of God, who calls you in his own kingdom and glory. And the prophet Isaiah warned, seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near. There is coming, according to the prophet Amos in Amos chapter 8, a famine of the hearing of the Word. And it talks about how people shall run to and fro, from coast to coast, and wherever they may run to, seeking the Word of God, and they shall not find it. It is very difficult today to find the pure, the pure, plain truth of the Word of God being spoken. You've heard it here today.

Jesus said, Why do you keep calling me Lord? When you don't do what I say, I will show you what it's like when someone comes to me, listens to my teaching, and then follows it. It is like a person building a house who digs deep and lays a foundation on solid rock. Jesus Christ asked the question to the apostles. This is in Matthew 16. He said, Whom do men say that I am? And they began to respond, Some say that you are Elijah, and some say this or that. And then Jesus said, But who do you say that I am? And Peter said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus said, Simon, another name for Peter, flesh and blood have not revealed this to you but my Father who is in heaven. Then he told Peter, I say unto you that upon this rock, he said, Well, I say unto you that you are Peter, little rock. The church is not built on just Peter himself. He said, I say unto you that you are Peter, Petra, little rock, and upon this rock, big rock, Petra, I will build my church and the gates of hell or death. Hades shall not prevail against it. And Jesus Christ went on to say, And I will give you the keys to the kingdom. So we have given here this afternoon the keys to the kingdom. If a person wants to build upon the solid rock upon Jesus Christ, he can do so.

Then shall they call on him of whom they have not heard, and how shall they hear without a preacher? How shall they preach unless they be sent, as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things? And as we've read, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.

Revelation 1.3 says, Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it, for the time is near. We have seen, we have talked about, we see it every day on television, we read it in the newspapers, and we can almost sense it and feel it ourselves. The fear, the anxiety, the grips, the hearts of men in this present evil age that we live in. And we know that somewhere, someday, some way, somehow, something has to give. So remember, the way we started today, the first priority. What is the first priority? Seek you first the kingdom. Seek you first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. What is the most important thing that you have? Well, the most important thing we have is life. Obviously, life. We have been given life, physical life, but we can have spiritual life. No one has lived eternally in the flesh. We can have spiritual life, eternal life.

So at the end of our days, here's what we want to hear. Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. So we have seen here today the keys to the kingdom of God, the way that you can enter into the kingdom of God and live forever.