Buck
There is only one time in the Bible where a person is told specifically to repent of sin.
Acts 8:22
Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps
the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee.
This was not said to a lost unbeliever, but Simon who before he was saved practiced sorcery.
Acts 8:9 But there was a certain man, called Simon,
which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one:
Acts 8:13
Then Simon himself believed also: and when he was
baptized, he continued with Philip, and wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done.
This is the only instance where a person is specifically told to repent of a sin.
Repent means to change your mind or viewpoint. When John the Baptist spoke to Israelites, he told them to repent from believeing they were safe and secure simply because they were the seed of Abraham. They needed to realize they were sinners in danger of perishing.
Matt 3:7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bring forth therefore fruits meet for
repentance: 9
And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.
Do you see how repentance is related to thought?
As I showed in Luke, Jesus said "Suppose ye" and "Think ye"
Luke 13:1 There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And Jesus answering said unto them,
Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things? 3 I tell you, Nay: but,
except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them,
think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, Nay: but,
except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
So repent means to see things differently, to change one's mind or opinion.
And a person must repent to be saved. If you believe yourself to be righteous, you will never come to Jesus for forgiveness. This is the repentance that is necessary.
But no one can promise to quit sinning. Well, you could, but you will never be able to do it. At least I have never been able to do it.
I met a fellow once who claimed that himself and the members of his church had learned to quit sinning. He was dead serious. I said, "I bet you cannot go one day without sinning." He said, "Oh, that is easy, I can easily go a day without sinning."
I said, "Well, you just blew it, the Bible says boasting is a sin, and you just boasted!"
That is a true story. Man, did he get mad.
Back to Simon. Here is the only case in the Bible where a person is specifically told to repent of a sin. And this was said to a saved and baptized person.
A sinner will sin, that is what sinners do. Yes, they can do some good things, but overall they are evil.
Matt 7:11 If ye then,
being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?
So, an unsaved person can do some good things. But a sinner's nature draws them to sin.
It is just like a blind man. He cannot see. And a cripple, he cannot walk. It was only AFTER Jesus healed them that they could see or walk.
Luke 5:30 But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying,
Why do ye eat and drink with publicans and sinners? 31 And Jesus answering said unto them,
They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick.
Here Jesus compares sin to sickness. He is the physician that can heal the sinner of his sin, just as he gave sight to the blind, and made the lame to walk. They could not heal themselves, and we cannot heal ourselves of sin either.
Luke 8:43 And a woman having an issue of blood twelve years,
which had spent all her living upon physicians, neither could be healed of any, 44 Came behind him, and touched the border of his garment: and immediately her issue of blood stanched. 45 And Jesus said, Who touched me? When all denied, Peter and they that were with him said, Master, the multitude throng thee and press thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? 46 And Jesus said, Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me. 47 And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she came trembling, and falling down before him, she declared unto him before all the people for what cause she had touched him, and how she was healed immediately. 48 And he said unto her, Daughter, be of good comfort: thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace.
This woman's disease is a picture of sin. No one but Jesus can heal us of our sin problem. You cannot truly have victory over sin until you come to Jesus.
As I said before, Jesus came to save the ungodly, not the godly. This is what Jesus meant when he said "They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick"
You can promise to quit sinning if you want, but I doubt you will be able to accomplish it. I haven't been able to, and neither could Paul.
Acts 7:15 For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I. 16 If then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that it is good. 17 Now then it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. 18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. 19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do. 20 Now if I do that I would not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
21 I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me. 22 For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: 23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24 O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death? 25 I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then
with the mind I myself serve the law of God;
but with the flesh the law of sin.
And was Paul turning from sin when he was saved?? No. He was going to Damascus to persecute Christians. Of course, when Jesus spoke to him, he quickly saw things differently.