Repentance from dead works
Many times in our daily lives, we find ourselves in situations where we engage in acts of sin knowingly or unknowingly. If you could run your mind through everything you’ve done today, you would easily realize how many times you made mistakes. There were times when you did things you shouldn’t have, had impure and vain thoughts, or knew the thing you needed to but acted of your own will anyway and did the contrary. These acts are nothing new in the sight of God and He is not one to dwell on them, planning your punishment. On the contrary, He is waiting for your complete repentance so that you can have His forgiveness.
WHAT IS REPENTANCE??
Repentance is a showing of sincere regret or remorse for an action. In the Bible, repentance
is translated into two Greek words, metanoia and metamellomia. Metanoia is a form of
repentance where a person changes his mind for the better and has no desire to return to his
previous sins. This is what God looks for in Christians. Metamellomia, on the other hand, is
merely a feeling of regret for a wrong committed.
For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation
not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.
WHAT ARE DEAD WORKS??
Dead works are actions that are not inspired by God. There are good works and bad works, but
even good works can be considered as dead works if they are not inspired by God. For instance, giving money to a street boy is good work, but if he uses that money to buy alcohol which gets him drunk and into an accident, your good work becomes dead work. That’s why it’s absolutely important to be led by the Spirit of God.
Repentance from dead works is for the born again Christian. When you’re born again, the Holy Spirit helps you grow into maturity in Christ. This growth can be tampered with by dead works. When you come into Christ, everything about you, from your works, attitude, thoughts, and words must be dictated not by your own thoughts but by the voice of the Spirit in you. To completely repent from, and prevent dead works, you need to respond more to the life of God inside you and the instructions of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit teaches us all things and we know it all through Him.
But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. 1 John 2:20.
Repentance from sin is different from repentance from dead works. Repentance from sin is a gift
for unbelievers to make them born again if they receive it. This is shown in Acts 5:31
Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to
Israel, and forgiveness of sins.
Maybe you are watching a series on a Saturday night and the Holy Spirit prompts you to sleep early so that you can go to church early the following day but you ignore him and watch on anyway. You may even be doing something else that looks a lot more spiritual or kind on your part. Like building an orphanage or a hospital. You may be doing something good that will impact society but if God doesn’t approve of it, it will count as dead work in His eyes. Matthew 7:21-27 explains it.
SEVEN SIGNS OF TRUE REPENTANCE.
When you’ve repented through a real change of mind, these seven signs will show in your life. 2 Corinthians 7:11
- Carefulness – When you’ve truly repented, you become very cautious not to put yourself in a situation that will
make you commit that previous wrong. - Clearing yourself – Just as when you’re about to leave Senior High school, you make efforts to clear yourself from
the school, you do the same here. You have no wish to be associated with your previous sin after
you repent. - Indignation – You become very angry about what you did. Your previous actions are completely repulsive to you.
- Fear – You begin to fear any situation that might lead you to that sin. You fear the idea of falling back
into that sin. - Vehement Desire – You begin to feel strongly about doing the opposite of your previous sin. You’ll always run in the
opposite direction whenever you sense a temptation coming. - Zeal – You gain the enthusiasm to act against that wrongdoing.
- Revenge – At this point, you begin to advocate against that thing and want to become a change maker and help giver in that regard.
Repentance from dead works can only truly be achieved when we allow The Holy Spirit to take
control over all aspects of our lives. We must acknowledge the Spirit of God in us and live out of
the life of God within us and not of our own accord.
Next principle: Faith towards God
