Contrary to popular belief in Christiandom, simply saying the sinner's prayer to seek forgiveness of one's sins may not be sufficient to get one saved. The sinner's prayer may indicate that the sinner is remorseful of one's sins, but that does not mean repentance. Repentance means to turn away from one's sinful past, cutting off root ties that hold a person in bondages. While remorseful is fill with sorrow and regret for what one had done, by itself it has no power to change for the better. Repentance is Godly sorrow and it involves mindset change. Scriptures tell us that repentance is toward God the Father and faith is toward our Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 20:21). The significance of this verse will be explained as we proceed along. It is worthy to note that true repentance is required for true conversion in order to receive God's Holy Spirit for empowerment as the change agent.
The problem with an unconverted mind is that the person is either full of himself/herself or with some idol still stuck in the subconscious mind. Pride and prejudice either rules the unconverted mind or some form of idolatry do. God has to humble the person before he/she can be of any use in the work of God. To be truly converted is to be repented - a lifelong process - and be filled with the things of God and not the things of this world. Only repented persons are truly converted, and true conversion is an essential requirement to inherit the kingdom of God to become members of His Divine Family.
A sure way to fill our mind with the things of God is to have the thoughts of God - to think like God from God's perspective. Such is the renewal of the mind that the Apostle Paul talks about in Ephesians 4:23. A kind of mind siege by the power of God's Spirit. When we set our mind on the things above, and not on the things on the earth (Col 3: 2), we are allowing the Spirit of God to fill our mind. In order for the Spirit of God to fill our mind, we have to first empty what is contrary to His will and purposes for our lives. This is a sure way to prevent sin from getting a hold on us.
The goodness of God leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4). The goodness is the divine exchange that God was prepared to die on our behalf to pay the penalty of sin and fulfill the law of God. That is why repentance has to be toward God and not toward man. It has to be godly sorrow and not human remorsefulness. The first step is to recognise any idol or idols and smash them out of our way. Next is to repent of all our sinfulness before God the Father. The third step is to fill our mind with the things of God with the renewal of our mind by the Spirit of God.
God the Father orchestrated the whole plan of salvation for mankind with Jesus Christ taking the cross of calvary in fulfillment of the plan. When we see the goodness of God's plan and the shed blood of Christ we begin to understand why we need to repent toward God and have faith in Christ that only His death and blood is sufficient to pay for our sins. But before one can have his/her mind renewed by the Spirit of God, there has to be true repentance. God is so good that the Father and Son are prepared to sacrifice greatly for mankind. When Jesus Christ became our sin offering, our Heavenly Father also suffered horrifically as the relationship between them was broken for the sake of our salvation that we may have eternal life forever in the kingdom of God!
All of us have some idols in our lives at some point in time. The idols may not necessarily be some man-made gods or someone important. It could very well be the acceptance of your views and opinions by members of your close social networking group! Whatever form it takes, the Lord is not pleased if it takes precedence over the Almighty God. God has to work something in us to yank out the idols in our life for true repentance to take effect. I for one can testify the trials and tribulations that I went through and am still going through toward Christian maturity. Only when we empty of self can the Spirit of God fills our mind to take its rightful place at conversion. When the Holy Spirit of God fills our mind, renewal of the mind takes place. That is what makes the convert a Christian.
A true Christian will have the mind of Christ (1 Cor 2:16; Phil 2:5) as our Lord Jesus Christ was led by the Spirit of God while He walks the earth. To have the mind of Christ is to think the thoughts of God and see events and circumstances from God's perspective. Once a Christian fully understands and practice that, he/she is on the way to become an overcomer. An overcomer of the deceptions of Satan, the lure of wealth and power of society and the temptations of the flesh and pride of life. Such a person will eventually be born again as immortal spirit being to become a son of God to inherit all that the Heavenly Father has planned for His divine Family.
You can become part of His marvellous plan if you trust and obey His word from Scriptures. That will be the beginning of the abundant eternal life - more than just the chemical existence of this temporal life!
