"Repent... from Dead Works" (He 6:1)
Repent or God Will Judge You with the Hell Fire!
Why do you need to repent of your sins? The
reason is simply this: “God is now declaring
to men that all people everywhere should
repent, because He has fixed
a day in which He will judge the
world in righteousness through a Man whom He
has appointed, having furnished proof to all men
by raising Him from the dead” (Ac 17:30, 31).
Therefore, some day, God will judge all of the people in the world based on Jesus Christ and His gospel. But, “He who overcomes [i.e. repents] will inherit these things [heaven], and I will be his God and he will be My son. But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers [i.e. magicians] and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death” (Rev 21:7, 8).
It’s of 1st Importance
Repentance is recorded by Matthew as the very
first teaching which Jesus preached after He
was baptized, when He first began His teaching
ministry. For example, “Jesus began to preach
and say, ‘Repent’ ” (Mt 4:17). And when He
sent out His twelve apostles, they mainly
taught that men should repent (Mk 6:12). And
Paul also preached that all Jews and Gentiles
must turn to God in repentance (Ac 26:20;
20:21), not come to God as they are, as some
like to say. In Hebrews 6:1, we read that one
of the first and elementary things about Jesus
that a sinner must be taught is the teaching
of: “repentance from dead works”. What are
dead works? They are very bad sins, habits,
and behaviors that lead to death, not eternal
life. God will condemn you for them, unless you
repent of them. So you must understand that
you cannot be saved or get close to God, even
at the start, unless you do what He and His
authorities said to do, to repent. This teaching
must be foremost in your mind as you come to
God through His Son, Jesus.
REPENTANCE DEFINED
1. It Begins with a Sorrowful Afterthought
Have you ever felt sorry after you did something wrong?
If so, then you have experienced the beginning, but
not the end of repentance. The N.T. Greek definition of
repentance literally means “to perceive afterwards”
[Vines Expository Dictionary of Old and N.T. Words].
The prophet Jeremiah explained this well when he
said about those in Jerusalem: “No man repented of
his wickedness, saying, ‘What have I done?’ ” (Jer
8:6). Have you ever said that? Repentance starts
with a sorrowful realization of a wrong word or deed.
It causes a person to have regretful afterthoughts,
such as, “What have I done?” Although repentance
begins in the thoughts or the heart of a person, this is
not the complete definition of repentance. If possible,
you must also right the wrong; correct it.