Sabbath:Confession and Repentance: The Conditions of Revival
Read for This Week’s Study: Acts 5:30-32, 2 Cor. 7:9-11, Lev. 5:5, 1 John 1:9, Heb. 12:17, Ps. 32:1-8.
Memory Text: “He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy”(Proverbs 28:13, NKJV).
Throughout Scripture, both repentance and confession have prepared the way for spiritual revival. God has always prepared His people to do a great work for Him by leading them to godly sorrow for their sins. Once we acknowledge our sins and confess them, we are on track to have victory over them.
“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9). Repentance and confession are two prerequisites needed for us to receive the Spirit’s power in abundance.
In this week’s lesson, we will trace the importance of true repentance in the outpouring of the Holy Spirit as it is revealed in the book of Acts. We will also contrast true repentance with false repentance. Most of all, we will discover that repentance is a gift that the Holy Spirit gives in order to help us to reflect Jesus’ love to those around us.
Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, August 10.
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Pomp and pride brokes us from the forgiving power of the Holy Spirit. Christ is always knocking at the doors of our heart but pomp and pride, delusive evasions to truth, indolence and compromise has shut Christ outside as He persistently knocks on. Come brother, come sister and reason with HIM and seek repentence when it is still daylight because night is coming when it would too late and opportunity missed. The light of truth is still shining for us and its time to love the light Jn 3:19. God bless us brethren because the choice to choose is still open to us.
This week's lessons spend most of its time on repentance but that comes about because we have confessed to having sinned and feel a need for change. If we have nothing to confess then there is nothing to repent of. If that is the case then we are truly Laodicean who say that we, "have need of nothing" (Rev. 3:17 NKJV).
Godly repentance and confessions of our uncomfortable past are the ingredients and the hallmark of peaceful Christian life. Without them our experiences become mechanical and incomplete. These two, repentance and confession, are like the gasoline and the oil in a car that activates a car to move and drive around. The car may look beautiful but lacks the power to move beyond its present station.
I truly believe that once we receive the forgiveness we seek when repent and confess our sins, it keeps us in control. The desire to do that sin eventually leaves our system
I am so thankful to have a Savior who loves me so much that He forgives me every time I sin. I'm also grateful that He does not hold my wrong against me when I truly ask for forgiveness. I'm praying for God to help me love Him so much that I will hate sin and love Him more. I realize that I must put to practice truly loving Him and I know He will help me accomplish that goal. I will take Him at His word, that He is not slack concerning the promises He has given me. All things are possible if we only believe that God is able to bless us far exceedingly and abundantly more than we could ever ask or think. We're able to forsake the sins of this world, if we have a made up mind to do so. And if we should sin, I'm so glad to have the salvation of Christ, which comes through the divine power which comes through the Word of God. We are able, by His grace to have true confession and repentance. Thank you, Jesus for making a way for us to someday see You face to face!
I thank God for this is a timely massage to me personally in this quarter. I see christ slowly transforming my character by the power of the holy spirit. I pray that GOD "must " increase my faith in Jesus name. AMEN
Hi Chola, your well thought out message echoes the same feelings in me. Just like David, I pray always for the LORD to create a new heart in me and renew my spirit! May we always look up to our Lord and remember to keep 'our lamps full'. Blessings to all in Jesus Name.
How come? I'm a bit mixed up.
"whoever CONFESSES and FORSAKES them will have mercy"
"REPENTANCE and confession are two prerequisites needed for us to receive the Spirit’s power in abundance."
I am a little confused here. The lesson says I need to confess, forsake and repent to receive the Spirit, but it also states that this is a gift of the Holy Spirit:
"Most of all, we will discover that repentance is a gift that the Holy Spirit gives..."
I have to convince myself of sin or this is the work of the Spirit in me?
I believe the Holy Spirit works with everyone to convince us that we are sinful and need a savior. It works with us to direct us to God. If we are honest with Him, we will see that not all is well and we will have a Godly sorrow for the lives we have lived apart from God. Some of us even while we were "Christians." The Holy Spirit is also given to those who obey God. I want to be like Stephen, a person full of the Holy Spirit. I pray for God to fill me with the Holy Spirit while I also repent and confess any sin I may commit. I may not know exactly how it happens, but I thank God for His mercies to this sinner, his pardon of sins, my savior Jesus Christ, and His gift of the Holy Spirit.
Carlos, it is true that we cannot repent without the Holy Spirit. Every person born on this planet has some measure of the Holy Spirit. (See John 1:9)
But to receive more of the Holy Spirit requires responding to the original promptings of the Spirit to confess, repent and forsake our sins. And none will receive the latter rain without a continual obedience that includes confession, repentance and forsaking of sin.
Does that clarify matters?
God help us to acknowledge hhow sinful we are, so that we honestly confess them to your throne of grace for genuine. repentance to set in our lives IJN ♡☀Å♏ΈN☀♡
let us think of a triangle whose sides are confession, repentance and forgiveness with the enclosed space filled with some beautiful color representative of the holy spirit. God speaking of what it takes Him to forgive sins that are as red as brimstone for the sinner to become white as snow adds ' for my ways are not your ways', God here emphasizes what john simply calls he is faithful in his promises to forgive.
Being forgiven often appears and end in earthly disputes especially between spouses at family level, I thank God for giving us families where we practise miniature repentance and confessions every time we wrong each other. we always feel very relieved when issues are prayerfully sorted out how much more does feel to sort out life and death issues with God when it is still day? when probation has not closed. we need the bitter letters of Paul in 2 cor. 7:8 to experience the sorrow. and pricking of hearts that precedes true repentance and confession! Amen?
[Edited]
It is like this; no one can ever speak of repentance unless they have received the Holy Spirit, otherwise who then will have spoken to them and convicted them of their sinfull state?, so the ultimate goal is finding out how do we receive the Holy Spirit.
1. Accepting Jesus Christ as our only Savior
2. To have a committed and prayerful reading of the holy Scriptures
3. Spending quality time in communing with God through Prayer, as was seen during the day of pentecost Acts chapter 2.
When this is done, the holy Spirit will be given to us and it will convict us of our sins, then confession and forgiveness come into play. God Bless you
I think we all who become Adventists, turned our mind and life from that what we before. That is metanoia or repentance. We changed. So, there is work of Holy Spirit in us.
Issue is why we still consider a need for even more repentance?
That can be normal way of deepening our relationship with Jesus to cleaning from every spot that is on our conscience.
I think it is normal that we still feel not repented enough.
Goran, it is probably not "normal" for the unconverted heart to consider a need for more repentance.
But once we are converted, "at every advance step in Christian experience our repentance will deepen." (Ministry of Healing, p. 160) That sort of repentance is not for specific acts, but for our natural tendency to be self-serving and thus break God's law of self-renouncing love which is the law of life for earth and heaven. (See Desire of Ages, p. 19 ) A greater understanding of Christ's sacrifice for us leads to deeper repentance.