The goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance

 Romans 2:4 – Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

2 Peter 3:14 – Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.

2 Peter 3:15 – And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;

Psalms 33:5 – He loveth righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the LORD.

Hey all, new blog today, and a simple thought today. The goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance. Repentance. A missing word from Christianity today. Yet what God commands everyone everywhere to do now, today. Repentance is missing today, people want Jesus, but without repenting of their sin… repentance means change. Just like conversion is going from one thing to another. True salvation involves repentance and conversion. Repentance is godly sorrow over sin, it is when we turn FROM sin TO the Lord Jesus Christ. That’s why John the Baptist came before Jesus Christ, this practically showed us that repentance comes first (preparing the way just as John did for Jesus) and true repentance results in us trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ as the solution to our sins both judicially (penalty for sin) and practically (power of sin over us in our lives).

Repentance is the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts convicting us of our sin and pointing us to Jesus. The Holy Spirit points us to Jesus Christ. After all, why do we need Jesus, did he die in vain? Why did he need to come to earth, why did God have to come in the flesh and die for mankind? Because we are so utterly depraved and wicked and alienated from God by our sins. We are sinners by birth, by nature, we sin, we have sinned. Jesus name means “he shall save his people from their sins”. But hopefully we are not like this with Jesus… Job 35:3 – For thou saidst, What advantage will it be unto thee? and, What profit shall I have, if I be cleansed from my sin? In fact many people the Bible says become so reprobate in their thinking, their consciences so seared that they can’t even blush at their sin… they sin and say they have done no wrong. A scary state to be in. When we repent of our sins and place our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit of God births a new creature in us born of God, this is called conversion, being born again. We become something new, a new creature in Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:17 – Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. How can you be born again, converted… and yet remain the same person? You can’t.

True salvation produces unmistakable birthmarks, as true salvation involves a new birth and thus produces unmistakable results in a person’s life. The inner affects the outer. Suddenly we are different. Because God is in us now. Things that we used to do, we don’t do anymore. Everything’s different now. This is what true salvation is. It’s not to say we don’t sin, or can’t backslide and so on, but because of that inner reality, having the Spirit of God in us, that same Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ in us, we will fall but be picked up by God, we will grow spiritually and go on to glory and press forward. We endure, because Jesus endures in us, he is ALWAYS faithful even while we are unfaithful to him constantly. Of course some Christians do not spiritually grow, they stagnate, because they are disobedient or maybe they’re just unconverted Christians. You can be a Christian, but not be saved, not be born again. Salvation produces holiness, as the Holy Spirit in us sanctifies (separates us) us unto God. He washes us, cleans us up, produces holiness and purity in our lives, transforms our minds and thinking and reasoning. Our previously dark, wicked minds are cleansed and renewed and changed. God is holy, the Holy Spirit is holy, and so a believer should be holy and separate unto God. God changes our appetites, God changes us into the image of his dear Son… after all the first people were called Christians because they had “Christlike” qualities, because after all we have the same Spirit that was in Christ…

But today we are talking about a simple thought. The goodness of God leads us to repentance. Because for all the condemnation which we are under, which can leave us so utterly convicted and shut our mouths before God as we reach a point of complete spiritual bankruptcy recognizing our wickedness and hopelessness before God… we also realize that God is so good. And his goodness really breaks us. Because for all of us, we have not got what we deserved so far in life. God has been good to us. He is full of mercy, he is so long suffering. Think of all the evil and wickedness going on in the world, but on a personal level, how utterly sinful and wicked I am… how long suffering God is to me-ward! Anyone that has been saved, as in 2 Peter 3, should be able to account that the long suffering of God IS salvation. Salvation belongs unto the Lord, and as we go along, we realize just how great and good God is and how helpless and hopeless we are. It truly is all about the Lord Jesus Christ. We say as Mephibosheth said … What is thy servant, that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am? … and as Ruth said … Why have I found grace in thine eyes, that thou shouldest take knowledge of me, seeing I am a stranger?

God has been good to me. I haven’t got what I’ve deserved so far in life. God is full of mercy. Because anyone that has got saved has called upon God for mercy, because we in our sinful state need the mercy of God. Justice demands hell for us, and rightly so. Mercy is not getting what we deserve. Jesus has compassion on us, he will have mercy. But in order to have mercy, God still had to be just, because he is the perfect, righteous, just Judge of all the earth. So judgement has to fall on someone. There is the sin problem, ad HUGE problem. A HUGE debt. Judgement had to fall on all of us. And it fell on Jesus Christ. At the cross, at the cross where I first saw the light, And the burden of my heart rolled away, It was there by faith I received my sight, And now I am happy all the day!

God did not pervert justice, he just provided a substitute for you and for me. That’s what the Old Testament sacrifices foreshadowed… the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Lamb of God. God’s provision for us for our sin. He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin. Who in his own body bare our sins upon the tree. Who became a curse for me. Jesus took my sin upon himself and thus I can go free. Jesus saves, and when someone receives that forgiveness of sin, it does not promote someone to want to go and live wickedly, it changes our hearts and minds forever. The gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ has power, and it has power to transform lives. Because is the the power of God. Receiving the gospel shoots power into our lives, the power of God, after all it is a miracle, we who were dead in trespasses and sins are now made spiritually alive… it’s called being quickened. The dry and barren becomes full of life, and out of us flows rivers of living water. Because he lives in us. Let’s not forget Jesus is alive, he was declared to be the Son of God WITH power by the resurrection of the dead. He did not die and stay dead, he ROSE from the dead in power and glory and is now seated at the right hand of the Father.

If you see the goodness of God to you and being to comprehend how longsuffering he has been with you, that should promote some level of repentance towards God. Because we sin, do so much wickedness and evil, love the darkness, are so corrupt and filthy and nasty and rotten, and yet God still loves us. The Bible says all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. There is none that doeth good, NO not one. The heart is DESPERATELY wicked and deceitful above all things. We are all sheep that have gone astray and turned everyone unto his own way. Yet the shepherd came, that great Shepherd of the sheep… the true shepherd, the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep. We are the lost sheep, and the shepherd comes looking for all of us today. Drawing us back to himself, to the safety of his fold and his pasture. Jesus died for us. God extends forgiveness for sins, abundant mercy. He has stayed the sword on your life, you could’ve died at any point and been in hell, but he has given chance after chance. We breathe on the fumes of his gracious goodness to us. He doesn’t owe us anything, and while we curse him with our lips and lives, he provides for us, he protects us, he sends the rain on the just and the unjust. The entire Bible is full of the goodness of God, look at all the Bible characters, all those in Hebrews 11, God showing the glory of his abundant grace and mercy in all their flawed, wrecked, ruined lives and God coming through on their behalves. Their lives give glory to God, because although they stuffed it all up, and so do we, God’s goodness and glory is on full display. Their lives glorify the Lord Jesus Christ. God was good to them, God was good to many people who rejected him, God has been good to you also. You will not go to hell unloved by God.

God is very, very good, he is abundant in goodness to me and to you. And when you being to see that and recognize God’s majesty and power and compassion and mercy, and yet also the ferocity of eternal wrath and indignation which is rightfully abiding upon you until you get saved, that will result in a changed life. Because if you don’t get saved by believing and receiving Jesus Christ, then you have noone in your place who can pay the debt… after all, YOU cannot pay the debt, that’s why hell is eternal, no amount of time is long enough. Eternal death. It is unthinkable. And right now, God is being good to you, he has been good to you a long time, but the clock is ticking. The Bible says NOW is the accepted time, TODAY is the day of salvation. How long? It is good to recognize the wrath of God against sin and unrepentant unbelievers, but what will really lead you to repentance is also seeing the solution, the goodness of God, and the goodness of God to us is wrapped up in the provision of his only begotten, his beloved Son, a gift to mankind. Free gift of forgiveness and eternal life… you need but take hold on it. The Spirit and the bride say come. Come and take of the water of life, water which will satisfy your thirst forever, and come and take of it freely today.

"Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?" (Romans 2:4, NKJV).

Does the goodness of God lead to repentance? Is repentance the result of truly understanding God's goodness?

The more we learn about God’s goodness, the more we are drawn to the wonderful gift He offers us—salvation through His son Jesus Christ. Because of His goodness and love for us, God gave His only Son, who was sinless, to pay for our sins.

2 Corinthians 5:21 tells us that “God made him who had no sin [Jesus] to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."

Even though we do good things or try to live a good life, we are not good by nature. The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 3:10, “There is no one righteous, not even one.”

Our goodness has to come from the source of all good things—God, who is inherently good. He urges us to come to repentance and, as we read in Romans 2:4, He patiently waits for us: “Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?"

The biblical definition of repentance is "to change one's mind." The Bible tells us that when a person repents, his or her actions change. Acts 3:19 says, "Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord."

Acts 26:20 declares, “I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds.” The full biblical definition of repentance is a change of mind that results in a change of action.