[Biblemat] A) SINNERS CAN CHANGE

[J5827Sasser at wmconnect.com]

Brethren and Friends, Jim Sasser here.  A very good Tuesday
morning to each and everyone.  May God bless you and yours.
Here is an article that recently came my way:

SINNERS CAN CHANGE

     There are times to recognize that characters are bad and
shold be left alone.  Jesus said concerning false teachers,
"Leave them alone.  They are blind leaders of the blind" (Matt.
15:14).  Jeremiah said of Judah, "Can the Ethiopian change
his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good,
that are accustomed to do evil" (Jer. 13:23).  Although some
have given in to evil, the premise of the gospel is that sinners
will change -- they have it within them to serve God.

         "...Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suff-
er, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repent-
ance and remission of sins should be preached in His name
among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem" (Lk. 24:46,47).
Repentance is a change of behavior brought on by a change
of heart, and the gospel is designed to bring these changes
about.

     The city of Nineveh is a great example of repentance.  "The men of 
Nineveh shall rise up in the judgment with this
generation, and shall condemn it: for they repented at the
preaching of Jonah; and , behold, a greater than Jonah is here" (Lk. 11:32).

     When Peter realized that he had sinned by denying the Lord, he "went out 
and wept bitterly" (Lk. 22:62).  He never
was guilty of that atrocity again.  Afterward, he was arrested,
publicly humiliated, and threatened, but he and his fellow
apostles rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer for
Jesus (Acts 5:41).

     When the Jews on Pentecost were shown their sin, and 
that the blood of the Christ was on their hands, "they were
pricked in the heart," and asked what they could do to make
things right.  The instruction from the Holy Spirit was to "Re-
pent and be baptized..."  They were told to change.

     When Jesus healed the infirmed man, He said, "Behold,
thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come
unto thee" (Jno. 5:14).  To the woman taken in adultery, He
said, "Go and sin no more" (Jno. 8:11).

     "Conversion" is a word used by Jesus and the apostles to
explain what happens to sinners when they are exposed to the gospel of love, 
grace, and opportunity.  It is said that Jesus atoned for our sins, something 
we cannot do.  How-
ever, He expects us to change our hearts adn our behavior --
something that we can do.

     So, the next time you are exposed to the idea that people
will sin, that boys will be boys, that folks will be fornicators
and adulterers, or that teens are going to drink or smoke dope; remember that 
they DON'T HAVE TO SIN.  The church
is not an agency for social Band-Aids, and the Bible is not in-
tended to nurse the wounds of sinners.  The goal is to change the hearts of 
sinners, bringing about a change of be-
havior so that men and women will be acceptable to God (Isa.
59:1,2; Lk. 13:3,5).  ------- George Hutto in Tidings, Vol. 22, No. 2, Feb. 
2007.
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