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This Lesson’s Notes:

Salvation will be discussed in detail later. To summarize, we’ll say:

I. In order to have a relationship with God, and be heaven rather than hell, after death, a person must do two things (Mark 1:14-18, Acts 20:21):

1. Repent from sin (Luke 13:1-5)

2. Believe/have faith in Christ (John 3:16-17)

In response, after repenting and believing, a person will:

3. Follow Christ (Matthew 16:24).

II. Entering the kingdom of heaven requires both repentance and faith.

• If people do not repent, they cannot be saved (Luke 13:3).

• And if people do not believe, they cannot be saved (John 3:36).

• If one of these (repentance/belief) are present, but not the other, the person in question would not receive salvation (here’s one example of belief that did not save: John 8:30-32,37,44).

Repentance Summarized:

III. What is repentance?

• The meaning of the word repent is “to think differently / reverse a decision” (definition from Greek word metanoia/metanoeo).

  • Since we are to repent from sin, it means thinking differently about sin, so that you reverse your decision from sinning to not sinning (Hebrews 6:1, Luke 5:32). As such, repentance is a heart-change—it takes place in the heart.

• Repentance begins with sorrow over one’s sin (2 Corinthians 7:10), because sorrow can be a sign of a heart-change. If sorrow is genuine, it will bear fruit (Luke 3:8-9). A true heart-change will produce fruit.

• What is the fruit of repentance? A change of action (Luke 3:10-14). If you’ve truly decided in your mind to stop sinning, and the decision is genuine, your actions will change.

• Therefore, in total, repentance is a change of heart, proven by a change in one’s actions.

IV. To fully repent:

1. Acknowledge that you’ve sinned against God (1 John 1:8-9, Proverbs 28:13).

2. Be sorry that you’ve sinned (2 Corinthians 7:10).

3. Decide to stop sinning, and obey God instead (Acts 26:20).

4. Continue these things always—for your whole life.