2. From serving idols to serving the One and only true God
Repentance
or conversion entails converting from serving idols to begin serving the One
and only true God as alluded to by the apostle Peter who admonished the people
saying; “Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out,
so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He
may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive
until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth
of all His holy prophets since the world began” (Acts 3:19-21).
One
must take into cognizance of the fact that the world did not know God: For it
is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing
the understanding of the prudent." Where is the wise? Where is the scribe?
Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this
world? For since in the wisdom of God; the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached, to save
those who believe” (1
Corinthians 1:19-21).
Therefore,
we cannot lay aside the commandments of God and follow the customs and
traditions of men because, the Lord cautioned His people to beware of idolatry,
saying; “ Take heed to yourselves,
lest you forget the covenant of the LORD your God which He made with you, and
make for yourselves a carved image in the form of anything which the LORD your
God has forbidden you. For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God”
(Deuteronomy
4: 23-24).
One
very important thing to note with this caution is that, it is confirmed by an
everlasting covenant: For thus says the LORD: “ I call heaven and earth to
witness against you this day that you will soon utterly perish from the land
which you cross over the Jordan to possess; you will not prolong your days in
it, but will be utterly destroyed. And the LORD will scatter you among the
peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the LORD
will drive you. And there you will serve gods, the work of men's hands, wood
and stone, which neither see nor hear nor eat nor smell.
“But
from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you seek
Him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in distress, and
all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the LORD
your God and obey His voice (for the LORD your God is a merciful God), He will
not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which
He swore to them.
"For
ask now concerning the days that are past, which were before you, since the day
that God created man on the earth, and ask from one end of heaven to the other,
whether any great thing like this has happened, or anything like it has been
heard. Did any people ever hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of
the fire, as you have heard, and live?
Or
did God ever try to go and take for Himself a nation from the midst of another
nation, by trials, by signs, by wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an
outstretched arm, and by great terrors, according to all that the LORD your God
did for you in Egypt before your eyes? To you it was shown, that you might know
that the LORD Himself is God; there is none other besides Him.
Out
of heaven He let you hear His voice that He might instruct you; on earth He
showed you His great fire, and you heard His words out of the midst of the
fire. And because He loved your fathers, therefore He chose their descendants
after them; and He brought you out of Egypt with His Presence, with His mighty
power, driving out from before you nations greater and mightier than you, to
bring you in, to give you their land as an inheritance, as it is this day. Therefore
know this day, and consider it in your heart, that the LORD Himself is God in
heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other. You shall therefore
keep His statutes and His commandments which I command you today, that it may
go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong
your days in the land which the LORD your God is giving you for all time" (Deuteronomy 4:
26-40).
Now,
the one way one can be sure that they are not worshiping a false God is when
they adhere to the instructions that the LORD gave to His people saying; “You shall keep My Sabbaths and
reverence My sanctuary: I am the LORD.” And, “The feasts of the LORD, which you
shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts.” 'These are the
feasts of the LORD, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed
times” (Leviticus
19:30, 26:2; 23: 2, 4).
And
let us not forget the fact that, Jesus Christ is the LORD God of the Old
Testament and He is the same yesterday, today and forever: Therefore,
acknowledging these facts is a sign and demonstration of true repentance or
true conversion.
With
brotherly love
Lucius
Joseph
Stay
tuned
No comments:
Post a Comment