At a meeting of co-workers, Wang Wei, Ma Tao and Hu Zhi sat engaged in Bible study.
Wang Wei smiled and spoke to the group, saying, “Co-workers, let’s begin by reading a couple of verses of scripture. The Lord Jesus says, ‘Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand’ (Matthew 4:17). ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent you, and believe the gospel’ (Mark 1:15). We can see from the Lord’s words that, if we want to enter God’s kingdom, then we must confess our sins to God and repent. We’ve believed in the Lord for years, however, and although we often confess our sins to Him, we are still capable of committing sin and we live within a vicious cycle of confessing and sinning. It seems as though we still don’t understand what true repentance is, and so we are not yet free of sin. Therefore, being clear on what true repentance is is extremely important to our ability to enter into the heavenly kingdom. Today, let’s delve into this issue together.”
Hu Zhi then spoke contemptuously, saying, “I believe that so long as we wholeheartedly come before the Lord Jesus, pray to Him and acknowledge our sins, crying our hearts out, then that is true repentance. As long as we frequently confess and repent in this way, then we will be able to obtain the Lord’s forgiveness, and when He returns, we can then be raised up into heaven.”
Wang Wei frowned slightly and retorted, “But we’ve prayed and confessed in this way for so many years, giving a reckoning of our sins before the Lord and weeping bitter tears. But the moment we encounter something real, we still involuntarily commit sin and, moreover, we commit the exact same sins over and over. I really worry that we who often live in sin will be abandoned and weeded out by the Lord when He returns.”
