Elijah told the people to repent.
Isaiah told the people to repent.
Joel told the people to repent.
Jonah told the people to repent.
Jeremiah, Micah, Amos, and Malachi all told the people to repent.
John the Baptist told the people to repent.
By contrast today’s preachers are telling people that they have no ability to repent.
But Jesus emphatically said REPENT!
So we have a choice. We can go along with the liquored-up theologians touting man’s inability, or we can squarely put the responsibility on sinners to repent and believe.
The Son of God, and the entire host of preachers and prophets in the scripture, preached man’s duty to repent. Not a single one of them ever told their audiences that they were incapable of repentance and faith. To the contrary, they thundered out man’s responsibility to repent and turn to God.
The terrified jailer asked Paul and Silas, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
Carefully notice that the apostles did not give a 21st-century seminary answer. When point-blanked by this jailer about what he needed to do to be saved, they did not say “wait and see.” They did not say “there’s nothing you can do.” To the contrary, they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved… ” (Acts 16:30-31).
So the choice is ours. Proclaim the divine mandate to REPENT and BELIEVE or repeat empty slogans from popular preachers.
God in mercy overlooked the times of ignorance, but NOW COMMANDS ALL MEN EVERYWHERE TO REPENT (Acts17:30).
Harold Vaughan
