Why do I need to repent?

               People have asked the question, “Why do I need to repent? If God is so loving and forgiving, then why do I have to change my life?” The word repent means, “to turn around.” This does not refer to turning around your car. This is turning around your life. Turning around your thoughts and actions.

We find in Scripture that we are all sinners. In Romans 3:23, it says, “For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God.” It does not matter how much work we do. We all fall short to the glory of God. The author of Romans, the Apostle Paul, wrote these words. He included himself in this verse. And the only payment for sin in death. We see this in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

However, we have been given a gift. This gift is Jesus. In Romans 5:8 it says, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Christ died for everyone including His enemies. Jesus died for those who nailed Him to the cross. Jesus did not die for the “good people” during this time period. Jesus died for everyone!

When you accept that we are all sinners, we need to proclaim Christ as Lord. In Romans 10:9-10, it talks about that if we proclaim Christ as Lord and He was raised from the dead, then you will be saved. With this new faith, we are called to be a living sacrifice. We see this in Romans 12. This means sacrificing ourselves for someone else. Giving up what we want for someone else. This is simply referring to active faith. This is putting our faith into action. Our works do not get us to heaven, but we are called to exercise our faith.