02/02/2023
The Pastor’s Corner
As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
Revelation 3:19
In the book of Romans we read that the goodness of the Lord leads us to repentance, in our text today, we see that the Lord’s love is demonstrated unto us by his faithful rebuke and chastening of his children. Far too often we do not see the correction of the Lord, his chastening and even his scourging as positive things, as demonstrations of his everlasting love for us, we see them as a negative, and as something to escape. But God does rebuke and chasten us in order that we will repent, in order that we will bear the peaceable fruits of righteousness unto his glory. The false convert knows nothing of the chastening of the Lord, for they know nothing of true repentance, deep repentance, repentance which impacts the very heart of who and what they are in this world. The false convert is offended by calls to repentance, they feel no need, see no sin and believe themselves to be fine the way they are. The righteous, on the other hand, always hears the call to repentance as a call directed to them, a call that they need, a call that they must heed, a call to participate more deeply and more fully in the life of Christ, to be more obedient unto him, to be a partaker in full of the sufferings of Christ. Repentance to the righteous in not an act they perform once in a while, but a consistent lifestyle, the righteous person is a repentant person, the truly saved person is a repentant person. This isn’t a popular doctrine, it isn’t widely believed, preached, received or lived out in the lives of multitudes within the church today. It’s far easier to simply go along, to live out one’s life as they se fit under the maxim of “nobody’s perfect”, and “I’m just doing the best that I can”, rather than to seek out the ministry of the Holy Spirit in conforming us day by day into the image of Christ, by leading us day by day in actual repentance, in a changing of mind and thereby a changing of our lives to more fully submit ourselves unto the will of our Lord. This means one will have to admit they are wrong, admit they have failed, admit they have sinned, and admit they must be changed; changed in their minds, their ways, their hearts, holding nothing back from this ongoing process wrought in them by the grace, mercy and Spirit of God. But this is what it means to be saved, this is what it means to be a Christian, this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for all his children. Maranatha!!
