Everyone
2 Corinthians 5:19
To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
Notice what this verse says and what it doesn’t say. It doesn’t say “God was in Christ reconciling some Christians unto himself not imputing their trespasses unto them.” Instead it says, “God was in Christ RECONCILING THE WORLD unto himself…”
When you read a newspaper, you read about things that have already happened. They are not reporting prophecy. They are reporting the news. So our real job as ministers of reconciliation is to announce the good NEWS, an accomplished fact, that sin has been dealt with already through the person of Christ. We should be saying, “Now we beseech you, be ye reconciled to God. Change your mind and believe the gospel so that you may partake of that which has already been done on your behalf.”
The Greek word translated “imputing” was an accounting term meaning “to lay to one’s account” Our Father God didn’t send His Son to collect our debt, but to pay our debt. This is what makes Christianity so unique. God didn’t send Jesus to give us some divine revelation of what we had to do to get right with God. He did for us what we couldn’t do for ourselves and then He offered us right standing with His Father as a gift.
All of the other founders of the world’s religions offered instruction about what we have to do to obtain salvation. But Jesus did what we needed to do to satisfy God’s holy demands. He died for us, bearing our punishment, and now offers us a ledger of our account with God that says, “Paid in full.”
“Repent” is likely the most misunderstood word in the Bible today. First of all let’s understand what it does not mean so that we can grasp the true meaning.
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It does not mean to turn away from sin.
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It does not mean to quit sinning.
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It does not mean to feel sorry for sin.
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It does not mean to change your sinful ways before you can be saved.
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It does not imply salvation.
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It is not the means of forgiveness of sin.
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It is not salvation nor does it imply that we should live a sinless life.
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It does not imply sin.
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Metanoeo. This is a compound word. “Meta” means change “noeo” means thinking. This word is derived from “nous” which means mind. So, metanoeo means to “change your mind”
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Metamellamai. This is also a compound word. “Meta” means change
“mellamai” means emotions. It means to have a “change of emotions”.
Some brilliant mind somewhere along the way added “of sin” to repent and came up with the moronic phrase “repent of your sins” and someone else added “and be saved” and came up with “repent of your sins and be saved.”
When someone tries to add “repenting of sin” or emotionalism to the free gift of God he is saying that what Jesus Christ did for us is not enough. We cannot do anything about our sin. This is why Jesus Christ had to die on the cross as a substitute for us.
Notice that “Godly sorry” is not repentance but rather it works to repentance. In other words a person can become sorrowful of his sinful ways and then repent (change his mind about Christ.) Jesus Christ is always the object of salvation not turning away, refraining, quitting or whatever of sin. In Mark 1:15 Jesus said speaking to unbelievers in Galilee “Repent (metanoeo change your mind) and believe the Gospel.” It tells us right here what we are to change our mind about. The Gospel, not our sins. He was speaking to unbelievers who did not believe the gospel. We are condemned because of unbelief not because of our sins:
John 3:18 “He that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already BECAUSE he has not believed in the name of the uniquely born Son of God."
Since we are condemned because of unbelief does it not follow that we should turn from our unbelieving mind and not our sins? We are not condemned because of sin. Repenting of sin prior to salvation is meaningless because God has already judged Jesus for them already. Sin has been dealt with. Changing your mind about Christ is repenting which is salvation. We partake of this forgiveness and salvation when we believe in Christ.
How does this all tie in with the sin to blaspheme the Holy Spirit? Luke 12:8-10 has established a connection between denying Jesus and to blaspheme the Holy Spirit. To deny Jesus is to blaspheme the Holy Spirit. All sins have been paid in full by Jesus. God is no longer imputing sin to anyone’s account. All sin, but the one Jesus said shall not be forgiven… If you deny Jesus you cannot partake of this paid for salvation. Believing is a non-meritorious act and requires nothing of us except a change of mind. Unbelief in ignorance Jesus died for, but those who persist in unbelief will never receive the pardon that is yet possible for them. It is “a state of hardness of the heart in which one consciously and willfully resists or renounces God’s saving power and grace” (Holman Bible Dictionary, p. 198). To again quote the Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Jesus is “not speaking of an isolated act, but a settled condition of the soul” (vol. 8, p. 645). Dr. Gerhard Kittel, in his classic Theological Dictionary of the NT, said, “It denotes the conscious and wicked rejection of the saving power and grace of God towards man. Only the man who sets himself against forgiveness is excluded from it” (vol. 1, p. 624). Your guilty of the eternal sin which has eternal consequences.
In conclusion: 2 Cor 5:19 has established that all sins are paid for by Jesus and sins are no longer being imputed unto anyone’s account. But there is one sin that is not included and does not have forgiveness in any age, to deny Jesus and blaspheme the Holy Spirit or remain in UNBELIEF! There are those who say we have to repent of our sins in order to be saved. No, we have to repent ( Change our minds) only of the thing that makes us unsaved, and that is unbelief.
References:
- Andrew Wommack, bible commentary 2 Cor 5:19.
- Author Unknown, Repent: what does that mean?
