The Mark of a Christian

The key distinguishing characteristic of a follower of Jesus is living a life of repentance. Another way of saying that is: the mark of a Christian is that he or she bears fruit in keeping with repentance.

Why is repentance is so important?  It's because repentance is the key to enjoying God and His goodness. Repentance is what gives us access to God's grace. In other words, without repentance, hope is impossible. Thus, it is extremely important that we have a biblical understanding of what it means to repent.

Here's the bad news and the good news: judgment is near, but salvation is here. That is what John the Baptist preached: "Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand" (Matt. 3:2). The way we avoid judgment and enjoy salvation is through repentance. 

Furthermore, not only are saved through repentance but we are also sanctified by it. The gospel of grace rescues us from judgment, but it also transforms us. We are saved by grace through faith in an initial moment of repentance; and are transformed by grace through faith by subsequent moments of repentance. 

Here are the six facets of biblical repentance:

1) Driven by humility 

2) Sorrow before God

3) Confession of sin

4) Forsaking of sin

5) Embracing of God

6) Bearing of fruit

If you would like to better understand those six facets of repentance, go to this link and listen to a message on the topic of repentance: http://www.explorechurch.org/media.php?pageID=5

I hope this helps you to better understand what it means to be a Christian: living a life marked by repentance.

In awe of Jesus,

Pastor Rick